Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-11-07
BY MARGARET b. DOWNING.

| A BOUT Lake Geneva during the
! ~ past summer. the usual crowd OF
| ~ TOURISTS generous quota of
Americans-enjoyedt the familiar
| pleasures of Vevey. Montreux. Vile
| neuve and Territet. But the more dis
| eliminating of the tourists to whom
| the Swiss side of the lake offers more
! in natural beauty, in quiet and pic
! turesque surroundings than the gay
; whirl of social life and an amazing
display Of fashions. found the small
| towns of Nyon. Gland and Celigny
| somewhat changed. For instance. from
Prangins, Nyon and Gland. an hours
walk through an enchanted woods of
| linden, maple. oak, cedars and arau-
carias brought one out to a secluded
harbor of the lake, where clustered
! romantic-looking fisher huts and an i'm
memorial lighthouse onered mate material al
for sketch or an hours musing or
some calm hours devoted to Isaac Wal
tons philosophy.
However. a certain distance in the
forest the pedestrian meets a guard
pacing along a high fence. who courte-
! ously turns the stranger oack, poin.lns
| out a path which will lead to another
| outlet of the lake and which Is not on
| the private domain of the former en-
peror of the dual monarchies Austria
Hungary and their many dependencies.
| Villa Prangins lies in the heart OF the
great woods and seemingly the Swiss
have granted ex-territorial rights to the
exiles for they are guarded ana Sc.
cluded as they would be in the splendid
chateau Of Schoenbrunn, in Vienna.
X X X \
Villa Prangins has for centuries
offered asylums to various KINDS OF
exiles-political, religious and inteilec-
tai The spot is filled with memories
| of Calvin, who occupied lodge IN the
! woods to get away for a season from
the chatter and excitement OF Geneva.
| Voltaire lived at the villa proper Tor
time. Nine. de Stael took over her
| fathers retreat up the lake. and NJ.
| Necser occupied the same rooms in the
| tower from which the last OF the Haps.
burgs looks down on a changing and
forgetful world.
After the abdication Of his brother.
Joseph Bonaparte bought the villa and
] snent many years Of exile in Its lonely
forests. In a later period, many OF the
Bourbons, hurled first from one throne
tn another. took over this quiet and
| neacefuI home, the rulers Of Naples be-
ing the last to live there before the
REvangeiical Lutheran Church of Switz-
erland. to become a home for their
brotherhood. This religious community
sold the villa and its hundreds OF acres
early in the ninetieS to the Count De
PourtaIes. whose son Raymond was
married-in Washington to the daugh-
| ter of the German ambassador; Won
Bernstorn Former Emperor Charles
nurchased directly from Count de Pour
| tales. who is a Bavarian and Catholic
a sympathizer with the lost cause OF the
Perhaps it is because Charles en-
joyed the perogatives OF his hiEh Of
zoe so briefly, that seemingly he re-
rrets them SO little. From the lake,
tourists and residents of the little
Swiss towns frequently see him ana
his children walking, sailing. hshlng:
as calmly as the other inhabitants OF
the castles nearby Ex seIaa to o., pre- RE
Hansburg family mingle on easy
terms with whoever they meet; The
three boys. Otto. Robert and Felix. go
to the Grisons for the winter months
where they skate, sleigh and toboG-
San. unattended except by their u.s.