Phil Collins on Lake Geneva And The Home of Other Celebrities
That one can not force love; Phil Collins can sing a song about that. The earlier drummer and singer of the group Genesis is as a soloist a world hit composer - from the queen revered but unfortunately also hated from many others. In March 2006, the British rock star announced that he is getting divorced from his 20-year-younger wife Orianne Cevey after only 6-years of marriage. After his separation in 2006, the 58-year-old has left the small village of Begnins on Lake Geneva where he lived with Swiss born Orianne and their children since 1997. If one had said to me years ago that I had to leave England, I probably would not have gone voluntarily to Switzerland. With my earlier wife (his second was Jill Tavelman); I had this crazy idea to spend fifty percent of my time in the USA. We actually had a house in Beverly Hills. What nonsense! I still can not believe that we ever thought about something like that. Phil Collins bought a new residence of 355 m2 in the wine village of Fechy to be close to his two young sons. Although he and his ex wife Orianne Cevey from the Canton of Vaud with Thai roots are going separate ways, they look together after their children. He has no intention to move away and says that Switzerland is like England in earlier times. When one enters a restaurant, they say "Good evening" and when you leave again, the staff wishes you a "Good night" - insanity! When you ask Phil Collins that he moved to Switzerland for tax reasons only, he will give you a clear answer. If you make a lot of money and have to pay a lot of taxes, you still possess enough of money afterwards. Therefore, I never complained about paying taxes in England. They can not take more than half anyway, and half of a lot is still enough. When you look around Lake Geneva, it becomes clear that the Swiss Riviera is actually a very comfortable place to live. About a third of the foreign Celebrities in Switzerland live here, from Geneva on the Westside to the village of Villeneuve on the Eastside of the lake. To name a few of the superstars are Shania Twain who lives close to Lausanne – The City of Wine or Nana Mouskouri who relocated to Geneva – The Smallest Metropolis in The World in the mid sixties. In the summer of 2007, Phil Collins has started to a European tour and has given 20 concerts with his group Genesis. Even if the founder of the group Peter Gabriel was not part of it, the fans came in masses. A year earlier in May 2006, he met Dana Tyler, a CBS news anchor while interviewing him about Tarzan opening on Broadway. Shortly after, Collins became her boyfriend. Now, please do not get the impression that only celebrities and multimillionaires discovered Switzerland to live here. Many sports people like almost all Formula one car drivers have settled on the Swiss Riviera, professional bicycle racers to Lugano – The Mediterranean City or some of the women tennis players in the city of Geneva. Business people or start up entrepreneurs settle usually in the cities of Zurich – The City of Money or Zug – The Tax Paradise. A growing number of people from England move even the residence to a Swiss Ski Resort and than oscillate to London for work, but that is another story. Return from Phil Collins to Celebrities in Switzerland Return from Phil Collins to High End Travel Switzerland Home Page |