Good shoes, a picnic slung over your shoulder, and you are ready to discover the wood ant colony in Chalet-à-Roch. It's probably not the largest concentration of wood ants in the world but it is the largest known in Europe, and the fruit of lots of research.

Regarding anthills, you should know that these domes made of twigs can attain 1.5 m in height and are often located at the edge of wooded plots or in small glades.

Sometimes located underground, with built-in ventilation systems, anthills can house anywhere from 20 to 5,000,000 ants. At the centre, protected by the workers, is the queen, who lays up to 500 eggs a day.

There are nurseries in the anthill, with eggs, larva, nymphs and cocoons looked after by nursemaids who attach the greatest importance to their charges.

According to the species of ant, there can also be giant mushrooms, grown and consumed by the ants, where aphids live, protected and fed in exchange for their honeydew, a sweet liquid flowing out of their abdomen.

Since 1966, the federal law on the protection of nature and the landscape protects all the species of wood ants in Switzerland. The protection of wood ants was decided as a means of protecting the forests. Several other countries, such as Germany and Austria, also decided to protect these insects. In Italy, anthills were even transplanted as a means of biological pest control, an action that would merit up-to-date scientific study.

Another feature of the Parc is its dry stone walls (67 km of low walls) that were built to demarcate its boundaries and contain its livestock. Inseparable from the Jura landscape, they are often more than a hundred years old and constitute a heritage which is worth protecting.

http://www.parc-jurassien.ch/

Photo : Monique Grange-Haehl

Vineyard and wine lovers must be patient: the Lavaux Vinorama will not open its doors for the 2009 grape harvest. They will have to wait till the spring of 2010 to explore this space dedicated to the world of vineyards and wine. This delay is due, in part, to different problems linked to the specific layout of this location, at the heart of the terrace-cultivation vineyard of Lavaux, which recently became a UNESCO world heritage site.

This project, which plans to showcase more than 300 Lavaux wines, is the culmination of a long venture which started in 2001 with the creation of the « Moulins de Rivaz » foundation, the buying out of the buildings in the area, several architecture competitions and a number of difficulties due to the topography and the necessity of ensuring rail and road traffic safety. The Vinorama, which should open next spring, promises a wine-tasting facility with wines from all Lavaux - from Pully to Montreux - in addition to various activities, including an audiovisual presentation showing a harvest year through the eyes of a wine-growing family from Lavaux.

Information: www.lavaux-vinorama.ch

Science fiction, utopia and extraordinary voyages: the Maison d'Ailleurs is certainly the only Museum of its kind in the world. Its very creation looks like a dream: that of Pierre Versins who, in 1952, while staying in Leysin to recover from the vicissitudes of the War, receives the first four volumes of « Anticipation ». It was the beginning of a passion for Science Fiction and a gigantic library which has continued to grow over the years.

In 1976, this avid collector, who has meanwhile founded the Futopia Club to bring together lovers of Science Fiction, donates his fabulous collection of 30,000 books to the city of Yverdon. The "Maison d'Ailleurs" was born: it set up its headquarters first at rue du Four 5 before moving in 1991 to the renovated former prison of the Place Pestalozzi. Created as a foundation, this new kind of centre has a double vocation: it provides public access to temporary exhibitions, to tens of thousands of books, some of which are unique or very ancient, but also offers the facilities of a research and documentation centre.  As such it has coordinated studies financed by the European Space Agency to find in the works of Science Fiction imaginative inventions in the fields of aeronautics and technology associated with the conquest of space. So, ready for a little voyage beyond reality?

Contact et informations: www.ailleurs.ch

Place Pestalozzi 14
1400 Yverdon-les-Bains
Tél + 41 (0)24 425 64 38
Photo: © CCA

This is where the monks' Father Superior, the Prior, received prestigious and passing guests who set out on the long Saint James pilgrimage route. This kings' residence, erected in the 13th C., has been able to preserve its treasures, among which are rooms decorated with mural paintings from the Middle Ages. The owners of the premises, Katharina von Arx and her late husband, contributed generously towards this miracle. These two enthusiasts fell in love with Romainmôtier in 1960, bought the castle, then in ruins, and renovated it gradually, which proved challenging at times. Today, they have started receiving visitors again. They offer a very cosy tearoom, dormitory beds set up in the attic, and events ranging from musical brunches to « Murder Mystery » evenings.

Information and contact: http://www.eventsetsaveurs.ch/51
Access map and practical information: www.eventsetsaveurs.ch/220
Visits (guided only) through the three rooms

Related articles:
Walking dicovery: Romainmôtier in the Nozon Valley
The Romainmôtier Abbey: a jewel of romanic art 
Romainmôtier: where time has stopped
Romainmôtier in the Nozon Valley
Romanmôtier: locate

Photo: CCA