That is because the lions are so well-fed, they will not eat the prisoners! In the book, the Roman governor complains that he cannot put on a proper gladiatorial circus. Imagine a British advertising agency pitching such a slogan in London!' And the most famous language school uses the tagline ' The Strict School'.

We swim in freezing rivers, we play deliberately discordant music, and we voted overwhelmingly against having more holidays. It's clearly July! No Swiss would eat fondue in summer! It's so wrong, I could cry!'īut what about the masochism? 'Oh, yes, that's a big part of the Swiss national psyche. 'In the story, they pick an Edelweiss in full bloom during conference season. 'No, no, no, this is totally wrong!' So says S. A guest whose bread falls in the pot positively quivers with excitement at the prospect of his punishment. Those who drop the bread in the cheese are beaten with sticks, whipped, or dumped in Lake Geneva. In the comic, the first thing we see of Switzerland is a fondue orgy.

'Switzerland is the go-to destination for all your medical and pharmacological needs, whether it's asthma medicine, mountain-top anti-smoking clinics, or humane end of life solutions.' 'Yes, definitely,' says a spokesperson for the Swiss pharma industry. He sends our hero Asterix and his friend Obelix to Helvetia. In Asterix in Switzerland, the village druid, Getafix, needs a rare ingredient to make a healing potion: Edelweiss.

(The identities of my sources have been changed for their protection.) When Asterix and Obelix visited Switzerland in 50 BC, they experienced a fair amount of culture shock.īut just how accurate is the portrayal of the Alpine nation in the popular comics by Uderzo and Goscinny? After interviewing experts in Swiss culture, banking, and tourism, I am revealing seven solid facts you can take to the bank - and am poking holes in four cheesy myths.

Asterix fondue