Crans – Coffee, Tea, English Books and Art.

There aren't many places you can get a cup of coffee or tea for 1 Swiss Franc, browse through English books and look at art at the same time. But in Crans-Près Céligny you can.

This is because the public library (in the salle communale in the centre of the village) has a whole section of English books that are available to borrow. Above the library there is a spacious gallery which is open to the public where artists can show their work and hold "vernissages".

The library has been offering this service since 1974 when the library was first opened and founded by Denise Meier. Artists and photographers who show their work vary from those starting out on their career, to that of the famous Nyon artist Jean Knechtli, to current exhibitor Claude-André Depallens.

Photos below: Art from Monseiur Depallens, watercolours of the roofs of St Prex

Art painted on the old wooden boards used for cooking Vacherin Mont D'or cheese

The artist

Krystyna Dislich works as a volunteer at the library and is in charge of the English section and says: "We try to keep up to date with the latest books and a new book is added to the collection each month (this month's addition is "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer)."

There are a considerable amount of English speaking people in the village here and we are catering to a need, we have a cosy reading area for children and kids books in English. We also have an English reading group that meets to discuss books too. For the exhibition space, artists can show their work for around 4-5 weeks, each time there is a new exhibition we inform everyone on our mailing list, so the villagers get the chance to meet others at the vernissage and it's a good social gathering.

Membership of the library is just 20 chf for residents of Crans, 30 chf for those from other communes. Opening times are Monday 19:30 -21:00 Wednesday 14:00-15:30 Friday 14:00-16:00 and Saturday 10:00 -12:00 The Library also accepts gifts of books too to add to their collection. If you would like to donate any or have any questions about the library contact either Krystina Dislich (she speaks fluent English) or head librarian Agnes de Boer.

Living in Crans.

The Village of Crans -Près Céligny is just a few miles from Nyon and has some lovely old buildings, a small supermarket, post office, butcher, restaurants and a chateau. It also plays host to the Caribana festival down by the lake in June. The village has its own site with more information (in French) from when the recycling and rubbish will be collected, to the opening times of its public buildings and offices. Note: There will be a Troc de Jouets on 31st October in the Salle Communale from 11:00 -15:00 (whats a troc? see previous post with explanation) Items on sale such as ski wear, bikes, books and DVDs and and baby equipment. For more information click on "Troc de Jouets" on the village page on "plus d'infos ici" More on living in this village in in a future post.

The butcher's shop in the village