Also known as "Swan Island" or "Rat Island", Salagnon is the last of the five islands in Lake Geneva (Peilz Island, Choisi Island, Harpe Island and Rousseau Island)... and the only inhabited island on the lake!Until 1880, there was only one set of rocks, "les roches aux mouettes", in front of Clarens. During the construction of the railway from Le Bouveret to Evian, the Tonkin, the Montreux engineer Joseph d'Allinges loaded barges of Meillerie stones and poured them onto this set of rocks to form an island which he surrounded with a wall. He named it Salagnon in reference to the salt from Burgundy which was formerly presented to the customs in Clarens before being transported to Valais. The island was bought 10 years later by a French painter, Théobald Chartran, who had a sort of Florentine villa built there, by the architect Louis Villard, as well as a small port. Chartran used to organize sumptuous evenings there with illustrious characters and fireworks. When he died, the island was taken over by a Russian count, a Zurich merchant, and then an American, Mary Shillito. In 1947, Salagnon became the property of a Zurich resident, Baron Pflüger. Then in 1950, the small port of Le Basset is built, which will be quickly enlarged and which then seems to bring the island closer to the coast. The property was only accessible by boat; at the time, a boatman, who was rung with a bell, made the trip. Today the island, as well as the villa, are classified as cultural property of national importance.
Additional purchases will be combined if bought same day, for one low shipping rate. Sales Tax may apply. Please read and accept my terms of sale below before you bid.
You will find that the originals of the photos below are often larger than what ebay provides above.
1) COMBINED SHIPPING/POSTAGE: I happily combine shipping where possible, but orders over $10 will require tracking now because of Postal Service delays. Tracking/delivery confirmation speeds up shipments. DUE TO LIMITATIONS OF THE EBAY PLATFORM, THERE IS NOW ONLY ONE WAY TO RECEIVE ANY POSSIBLE DISCOUNTS FOR COMBINED SHIPPING CHARGES ON MULTIPLE ONE-DAY PURCHASES, both Auction and Buy-It-Now formats. There are no longer Ebay refunds for postage once payment has been made:
a. Auction Purchases: Wait for combined shipping invoice on multiple auction wins prior to payment. This may take up to a day based on my schedule, and does not affect your prompt payment status. The message line of the invoice will reflect that the postage has been combined.
b. Buy-It-Now Purchases: If you plan to buy more than one item from me, add them to your shopping cart on a computer (not a phone or tablet), DO NOT USE BUY IT NOW BUTTON. Once you're completed adding to your cart from my listings, go to the shopping cart and click on the button at top of cart page that says "Request Total From Seller." You will be prompted to commit to the purchases, at which point nobody else will be able to buy them. A notice will be sent to me to package your items together and combine your shipping charges as much as possible, and send a hopefully reduced invoice. This may take up to a day, depending on my schedule.
c. International Buyers: You must be logged in to the US eBay site (www.ebay.com) in order to use the shopping cart to request combined shipping invoice. Log out of your country specific eBay and log in at the US site. Note: listings using the eBay Global Shipping program are not subject to combined shipping.
d. No refunds will be made for those who cannot wait for a combined invoice. Please don't bid/buy if you don't agree to this.
2) POSTAGE: All USPS postage rates are calculated using the most affordable (not the quickest) shipping class, based on a pre-sale estimated weight and size of the package. If you want to upgrade to a quicker, more expensive postal class, you must let me know BEFORE you pay.
3) SALES TAX: Ebay has taken over all duties for sales tax collection for all states that require it. I have no control whatsoever over who pays sales tax, it is out of my hands. Please direct all questions/complaints to the good folks at Ebay.
4) INTERNATIONAL BUYERS: Please Note: Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding or buying. We won't under-value merchandise or mark the item as a gift on customs forms. Doing that is against U.S. and international laws.
5) LISTING DISCREPANCIES If the Title, Description, and/or Photo on a listing do not match, for gosh sakes don't buy it. Let me know instead so I can fix the listing. If you do buy, the item described in the Title of the listing takes precedence over anything else. If you don't agree with that, I will cancel the purchase at your request.