Run by the ebullient German duo of Jan and Georg, the hotel is a mix of traditional and understated luxe - my quarters had an austere aesthetic, but fine finishes and designer lighting added sass, while the peerless view of the valley served as an ever-changing live-action nature movie. My lodgings for the duration were high above Ernen: hotel Chaserstatt - a wooden-chalet type structure with additional accommodation in a converted cable-car engine room - is set at 1,777 metres. I was heading to the village of Ernen, justifiably famous for its annual week-long festival of piano, jazz and Baroque music. The region is a breeze to access with the famously efficient Swiss transport system I had a Swiss Pass, which made matters even easier, as it allowed me to jump aboard the first train out of the airport, which sped through the Swiss Riviera's lacustrine landscape. Drinking fountains of thirst-quenching mountain water dot this nation, from Zurich's cosmopolitan streets to the peaks of the gorgeous Goms district in the canton of Valais, my destination for the weekend. That's Switzerland for you even the loos are in another league.Ĭoming in to land at Geneva a few days previously, I'd been struck by the robin's-egg blue of the snaking rivers below the crystal-clear waters of this landlocked nation are but one point of difference among many that mark Switzerland out as special. But needs must, so I flung open the door and, like Dorothy arriving in Oz, entered a place so fragrant, so beautiful, it seemed like a dream. Despite my pressing need, I hesitated past super-stinky encounters had left their scars. I'd impressed myself, ascending to 2,300 metres in the thin air and summer heat, but the wine enjoyed lakeside had nature calling on speed dial, and the blue loo's appearance seemed like heaven-sent salvation. I'd just climbed the equivalent of 127 floors, and taken 13,088 steps, traversing 4.9 miles of the Binntal's Landschaftspark to picnic at the glorious Lake Massersee, which is fed by mountain streams that run to the mighty Rhone. The July sun was at its zenith as I eyed up the plastic structure that sat somewhat incongruously on the Swiss slope.
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Meanwhile the vineyard itself has become a sort of pilgrimage site for the free spirited, a place dedicated to freedom, love, peace and living the good life, values Farinet has come to embody.It's not often a Portaloo merits mention, but this was no ordinary latrine. The vineyard was bequeathed to the Dalai Lama in 2000, and the proceeds from its modest sales go towards helping disadvantaged children. But what it lacks in size it makes up for in charitable spirit. With only three vines, it’s registered as the smallest in the world. In 1980, Farinet’s generous reputation inspired a group of fans calling themselves the ‘Friends of Farinet’ – among them French actor Jean-Louis Barrault, who played the counterfeiter in the film – to plant a tiny vineyard above Saillon in Farinet’s name. It also explains how the man became a myth through a 1932 novel, Farinet ou la Fausse Monnaie, by Swiss writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, and a 1938 film Farinet ou l’Or dans la Montagne, which romanticised the story, painting Farinet as a freedom-loving hero of the people. The legend is paraded in the village’s Museum of Counterfeit Money, which displays a copy of a court judgement convicting the famous forger, and one of his fake coins. In 1880, at the age of 35, Farinet was finally cornered by police in a gorge above the medieval Valais village of Saillon where he fell, jumped or was possibly killed – a mysterious death that only added to the intrigue of his life.
In doing so, he not only evaded capture for many years but also liberated local people from debt, something that later earned him the nickname ‘Robin Hood of the Alps’. To court favour with the poverty-stricken locals, he was generous with his forged currency, in return gaining food, shelter and protection from the authorities who pursued him. A roguish charmer, a lover of wine and women and an escaped convict, Farinet was a 19th-Century counterfeiter and a legend in these parts, even if the myth that now surrounds him is more colourful than the reality.Īfter fleeing from authorities in his native Italy where he was wanted on counterfeit charges, Farinet arrived in the Valais in 1869 and once again began minting fake money – specifically, 20 centime coins dated 1850.
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