Happy New Year and Defining a decade in Nyon

Happy New Year!

Caravan Palace performing at Paléo in 2009

A shorter version of this article below appeared in La Côte newspaper (18 December). Each Friday there is a column in English snuck on the inside front page under "Forum" (next to the readers' letters). The next column will be on January 15th.  Check it out!

Defining a decade in Nyon

The year has come to an end and newspapers across the world have reflected on the year that’s been: the highs, the lows and the big stories of 2009 and they have reviewed the past decade. Is it really ten years ago that we were all preparing to welcome in the new millennium? Back on 31st December 1999 during the day on the television, we saw the sun rise on the celebrations beginning over in the Southern hemisphere. Later on, fireworks exploded with abandon over many cities, from Sydney to Stockholm. It was a joyous occasion. It was also when we had that slight nagging doubt as to whether our computers would work when we switched them on the following day. Remember the “Millennium Computer bug” threat? What happened to that? I think it just crawled away, having fooled the lot of us. I have no idea of what it was like to celebrate the arrival of 2000 in Nyon because I hadn’t yet moved here. On December 1999 I was busy celebrating Hogmanay ( New Year’s Eve in Scotland). Over there it’s a BIG event. There are traditions involved, along with Scottish country dancing, singing the song “Auld Lang Syne” (which most people know only the first few lines of). I’d never heard of the night of "Saint Sylvestre" and I didn’t know much about Switzerland, let alone Nyon. However I relocated here the following summer so I too have been reflecting on Nyon’s past nine years. The first thing I realised is that Nyon is a great place it is when there is a major football tournament on, whether its the World Cup or the Euro, with Nyon's international profile there's lots of fun in the town when the fans come out in force. So far its all been good spirited with healthy competition between team supporters, young and old and a great atmosphere in Nyon's streets.

Scenes around Nyon from Euro 2008

Nyon's Music, Film and Arts Festivals

Over the past nine years I've seen how the two fabulous music festivals Paléo and Caribana have continued to delight music fans who come from all over Switzerland to hear great music and the Visions du Réel documentary film festival and FAR the arts festival has become bigger and better each year. Note:you will see that reviews of all these three festivals are now available to read under their own section (see sidebar). The other small events such as the regular Sunday concerts by the Roman Columns, the Rive Jazzy music keep locals entertained in summer weekends and the Conservatoire has continued to produce some wonderful concerts. There have been some changes around Nyon,the train that goes up to St Cergue used to wind through the centre of the town has now gone undergrpund, the chateau has now reopened, there is a new mayor and a fancy new underground parking by the lake. Thankfully some things have remained the same as they have for many years : the stunning view from the castle terrace over the rooftops of Nyon to the Alps and lake below, the Saturday market in the same cobbled square in the exact same place where the Romans also used to shop, the beautiful Jura behind us, the glorious vineyards nearby. Let’s hope Nyon remains like this for many more millennia. It’s a great place to be. Photos below: In and around Nyon

Happy New Year to you all and Meilleurs Voeux pour 2010!