On Sunday afternoon at 15:00 during the last press conference of Paléo 2013, the storm clouds were already beginning to gather over the L'Asse grounds. A massive storm then arrived a couple of hours later just after the last violinist had played the last note and clarinettist Paul Meyer had taken a bow at the classical music concert which is a Sunday tradition at the festival. The  heavens then opened. Everyone ran to shelter to escape the strong winds, rain and hail. This particular storm had been predicted over a week ago and Paléo was prepared. This was in contrast to the sudden and unexpected storm on Tuesday night in which  the festival organisers were only given 30 minutes warning. Nevertheless, despite the obvious difficulties of  the disruption to public transport on Tuesday, and the subsequent cancellation to the final concert of that evening, Paléo has announced that this has been another successful year. The New Arches stage.  The installation of the new Les Arches stage worked well, and the feedback from the public was good. The bigger stage meant that smaller groups could have the chance to reach a wider audience. There were a couple of issues with sound at one or two of the concerts, and a few teething troubles with the circulation of the public between the stage and other areas. They felt that perhaps because of this big new stage, the Detour tent tended to get forgotten so perhaps this area needs to form its own identity a bit more, but the organisers were, on the whole, happy with the new Les Arches. Photo above: A Paléo crowd listening to Paul Meyer and Le Concert Européen in front of Les Arches, the new Paléo stage Music selection Jacques Monnier, Paléos music  programmer (you can read more about him in French i n a Swiss Info interview here ), announced that the big headline acts this year had been very successful. Neil Young (particularly when he played "Like a Hurricane" through  the Tuesday storm!) Dizzie Rascal, Blur, Smashing Pumpkins, Arctic Monkeys and Nick Cave were well received. Also generating a lot of buzz were acts such as the "Bloody Beetroots" concert who played late on Thursday night, along with the concert of Makoomba who played in the Dome and also Les Tambours du Burundi with their electrifying drumming. Photo above: Jacques Monnier - Music Programmer of Paléo Keeping the balance of music right to suit all generations was important to Paléo. Daniel Rossellat explained that the dates of other music festivals in Europe usually coincided with the end of school or university, so the age profile of festival attendees tended to be younger, but as many Paléo lovers have  grown up with the festival and faithfully return each year, their music tastes change as they grow older. Rossellat also pointed out that when visitors come from other festivals to Paléo they are astonished at the relaxed ambiance (mainly due to the thousand of volunteers who work there) and that there are sit down restaurants at the festival with a wide choice of food on offer. The Weather at Paléo 2013 The subject on everyone's lips this year at Paléo was of course the weather which ranged from tropical heat to tropical storms. Not only was it a talking point amongst the public but also amongst the local police who witnessed some amazing scenes on Tuesday night as they directed  fans back to their cars and onto the public transport. Apparently many fans got so completely soaked they stripped off all their wet clothes down to their underwear to head off  home, so there were interesting sights to be had! Photo above: Cooling off at the Swisscom water spray There will be a selection of images of the bands and the sights and sounds of  Paléo 2013 posted on this site over the next couple of days. We hope you have enjoyed the Living in Nyon coverage and in particular, the articles written by Jonas, our resident writer at Paléo. Next year Paléo will be from 22nd to 27th July 2014, the line up will be on April 1st and tickets on sale from the 9th April.

There have been some spectacular photographs of the earth posted on the internet which have been taken by Tim Peake, the British astronaut currently working at the International Space Station.  One of his Facebook posts from May may interest Living in Nyon readers as it shows a clear and wonderful overhead view of Lac Léman, the Alps, the Salève, including Nyon, Morges and other lakeside towns. There is still a lot of snow on the mountains! Photo - Copyright Tim Peake. You can see many other of Tim Peake's photos as he orbits the earth on Flickr here

Living in Nyon has recently received a few questions from parents who are about to move to the area and who are considering putting their children into the local public schools.  For those parents who have questions you might like to know that the canton of Vaud has recently produced a helpful website with the key facts to public schools in Vaud. This information is in English with helpful charts comparing the Vaud educational systems with those of various other countries (including England). Here is the link   to the site. In addition for your information here are some of the questions this site has received and replies that parents have given. Please note these answers come from the personal opinions of  parents and obviously experience varies according to each individual's situation. The photos in the article are of children from local schools in the "end of school summer parade"  in the centre of Nyon. Question on integration "Hello, we  have just arrived and are staying in Geneva this week to look at the area. We think that we will probably move to Nyon in January, and will put our kids in the public schools. However, we would like to visit one of the primary schools to discuss their integration programs. I have searched web sites and the Know It All Passport but can not find the address for a primary public school in Nyon. Can you help out? Thanks! Reply from a parent "In Nyon, you're assigned a primary school depending on the street in which you live. The level of support for each child depends on the school and on the age of the child. The good news is that I've only heard positive things about the primary schools round here - we're certainly very happy with Ecole de Centre Ville, which is in the town centre. I don't know about other primary schools, but our experience is that children in 2nd Year Enfantine (CIN2; ie age 5) who need help with their French get one specially-devised French lesson a week as part of a small group, plus help with vocabulary from their class teacher. In 1st Year Primary (CYP1; age 6+) this goes up to twice a week, and my daughter gets extra help - "appui" - for 45 mins on Wednesday mornings when she would otherwise be free to come home. I don't know what the catchment areas are, but I'm sure the Admin office for the Primary Schools of Nyon would be able to help." Etablissement primaire de Nyon (CIN, CYP) Ch. de Prélaz 5 Case postale 2307 CH-1260 NYON 2 Tél. +41 (0)22 557 55 55 Fax +41 (0)22 557 55 56 Secrétariat : ouverture au public 7h30 - 12h et 15h - 16h30 ep.nyon@vd.ch Question on Geneva versus Vaud schools? "In your opinion, would schools in the Geneva canton have better integration programmes for non-French speaking children, or are the schools in Vaud just as good?  In the US, there can be big differences in the quality of the schools and teachers within the same city.  Is that also the case in Nyon?  Is there a primary school (or schools) within Nyon that are known to be better with non-French speaking children?" Reply  from a parent "When we moved here, the relocation company assured us that state education in Geneva and in Vaud was of an equally high standard. I don't know anyone who's moved between the Geneva and the Vaud schooling systems, and I don't know anything about the Geneva set-up, so can't helpfully compare them. Maybe one of your colleagues has children of a similar age who are schooled in Geneva and who might be able to shed some light on the subject? There are certainly lots of 'international' children in schools in Geneva. However, the area between Geneva and Lausanne ('La Cote') is also very popular with expats and there are children from non-French speaking families in most of the schools in towns and villages close to the lake. Once you head away from Nyon and into the villages, it's more likely that children will be allocated to the primary school that has space for them, which might not be in their village but a bus-ride away. Likewise, specialised classes like French for non-native speakers, may be held in a different location, with children coming in from several villages nearby. Schools in Nyon and Geneva have a large enough non-native population that they deal with this 'on site'. As far as Nyon is concerned, again I can only speak from experience. We have friends with kids in a couple of different primary schools here (Tattes d'Oie and Couchant) and in villages nearby (Trelex/Gingins) and they are happy with the standards and the level of support they are getting. But there are no 'league tables' and I guess you have to go by how well you feel your children's individual needs are met, which in our case has been really well. As Nyon is relatively densely populated, the schools are all pretty close together, and all have a sizeable proportion of non-native children, who enter at all levels. On starting at Ecole de Centre Ville, in the old town, both of my children had other kids in their class who spoke English, which made it a bit easier, and kids who didn't speak French, so they certainly didn't feel isolated. There are certainly quite a few English-speaking parents that I've got to know in the playground! My best advice is to have a look round, decide which area you'd like to live in and have an informal peek at the schools nearby. At least that's what we did!" Reply from another parent "I can only speak from anecdotal evidence but I have heard that the public schools are better in Vaud (and I think they came out better in a survey in a  magazine article, but this could have changed).  From personal experience our daughter arrived from England at the age of 10 here too (speaking no French)and the support she received in her Nyon school was excellent.  Having said this there are some things that take adjusting to;  you will find that the Swiss system is not the same as say in the UK where there are more parent/teacher associations and involvement in school life, here the parents do not seem to be given the opportunity to get involved in school activities. As to which school to choose according to which area the school is in or the quality of the teachers in each school  well like everywhere in the world,  there are good and bad teachers in every school, public or private, you could choose a school because of a good teacher etc only to find they leave the next year and don’t forget Nyon is a small  town there aren’t really any “ghettos” as there can be in some U.S. towns." Entry date/Cut off date  for children to local schools. "I have a 3 year old, currently at pre-school. I understand that their are 2 public primary schools in Nyon. (We will be looking to send them to public school). Am I able to choose which one and are they much the same? My daughter like us only speaks English.    She will be 4 on September 2nd 2011, can she start Primary school in 2011, or is their a cut off age/date?" A parent's reply " Our kids go to l'Ecole de Centre Ville de Nyon, which is our local primary. They were 4 and 5 when they joined (one in Premier Enfantine, known as CIN1, the other in Deuxieme Enfantine - CIN2) at the beginning of the school year 2009. Although the first couple of months were pretty tough - new language, new town, new friends - they settled faster than I'd anticipated, and are both on their way to being fluent in french, having started with none at all. There are quite a few children at school who come from non-french-speaking households, and the school is well set-up to help them, with extra 'French for foreigners' classes from CIN2 onwards. In fact, there were a couple of other English-speaking/bilingual kids in both classes and I've met even more British/US mums in the playground this year. As far as I understand, you're allocated the school nearest to where you live - there are quite a few evenly spaced around town, and they all look quite nice. We certainly had a nose around our school before we signed our rental contract, just for peace of mind. For more information on the school system, the best place to look is  here . When we started, children had to have turned 4 by 30 June of that year to get a guaranteed place in CIN1. I've met a couple of people who appealed and had younger children accepted if they had already been at school in their country of origin or if their birthdays were in the late summer, but I'm not sure how this works or if the cut-off date still stands. The academic year 2011/12 starts on 22 Aug 2011 so I'd imagine you'd be in with a chance especially if you can prove that your daughter has been assessed as 'school-ready' by her current teachers. If not, there are quite a few preschool options available, both French and bilingual, some semi-run by the local council, others private. We're pretty lucky in Nyon, as the childcare situation isn't as dire as it is in other cantons, although it is still quite a way behind the UK in terms of cost and number of places available - see this link   for details of the 'state' provision. As it happens, I went with a friend to pick up her kid from the Croque'Lune the other day, and it looked really good. This sort of childcare is very carefully regulated, and they have strict rules about proportion of staff to children of various ages. The cost of the 'state' nurseries here in Nyon is means-tested (as is the cost of the lunch-clubs "Classe Tartines" for school-age kids) but I don't know what that means in terms of actual price. A good starting place to find information about private nurseries in and around Nyon would probably be the Know-It-All Passport, which is a directory of all things expat in Geneva/Vaud (see www.knowitall.ch ). Probably the best people to ask about preschool/creches would be the Moms in Vaud group, who meet up every Weds morning and have an active Yahoo group .  There's also a Mums and Kids group called GEMS (Group of English-speaking MotherS - !) who meet weekly at the Westlake Church in Nyon and seem to have a great time - their blog is at  and the Mums and Kids section of the International Women's Club of Nyon

The sound of jazz and classical music drifted over the lake on Tuesday evening as pupils from the Conservatoire of Nyon (COV) played at the official opening of the Villa Niedermeyer. This villa, which is situated next to the Villa Thomas (the current home of the Conservatoire) had remained empty for many years and it was becoming increasingly dilapidated. It was given a new lease of life when in 2010, the municipality gave the green light for the COV to renovate it and to use the premises.  This Sunday there will be a "Fête d'inauguration" (opening party) for the public at the Villa Niedermeyer with events  taking place on the lake side and in the building itself.   Click here for the full programme  beginning at 10:00 and continung right through until 18:00. The weather is predicted to be sunny and hot on Sunday, a perfect opportunity to sit by the lake side and listen to music in this lovely setting. Louis Nidermeyer was a composer and musician and was born in Nyon in 1802 and died in Paris in 1861. Flea market and country music Meanwhile, for all brocante lovers on Sunday 26 June and further along the lakeside, it is the monthly flea market in Nyon.  See site here . Also on Sunday  over in the square by the Roman columns in Nyon, country music band "Tex Mäx" will be playing from 11:00 to 13:30 as part of the summer Sunday lunch concerts of the Association de la Place ds Maronniers. See their site here Brazilian music tonight Friday 24 June On Fri 24 June Brazilian music is on the programme at the 1306 club (the small private night club in the old town) with  "Miriam do Rio e convidados".  More details here .  Entry is free - note there is a hat passed around for contributions for the performers at the end the evening. On Saturday 25 June at the Usine a Gaz, it's the end of year fete of ADAC (Académie des Art Creatifs) with performances by its pupils.  It's an opportunity to find out more about the courses offered by the association. You can also read about them on their site (section here in English) . Sailing regattas on Tuesday nights in Nyon The photo in the banner was taken from the lakeside on Tuesday night. Did you know that Tuesday nights are also "regatta nights" for Nyon's sailing club?  On these nights in the summer season, you can see the yachts sailing and competing in competitions on the lake.  To find out more about Nyon's sailing club see their site here Open day weekend at the Clinique de Genolier and in the Commune of Trélex The private hospital La Clinique de Genolier is having an open day weekend on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 June . This hospital is situated above the village of Genolier and overlooks the valley below. You will be able to visit the operating theatre, see the rooms that are available for patients and observe workshops. For more information and times see here . It's also open day on Saturday in the commune of Trélex. From 13:30 to 16:00, the administrative offices and the salle de reception wil be open to the public. Photography exhibition The small photography gallery Focale  (in the corner of Place du Château), will be holding a vernissage on Friday   evening  24 June with a new exhibition at the gallery called " Insomnies: rencontre en Palestine". The vernissage will be at 17:30 in the presence of the photographer Reto Albertalli. The gallery is then open Wednesdays to Sundays 14:00-18:00. Nyon's Capitole Cinema Finally this weekend, "Midnight in Paris" the film directed by Woody Allen (shown in the original version in English), is still on every day at 19:00. Films in French  are  "Handover Part 11", "Kung Fu Panda 11",  "Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides" and "Rio".

If you are looking for a final bit of entertainment before the end of the Christmas/ New Year Holidays , check out the " swimmers' party" in the lake in Nyon on Sunday 4th January from 11:00. There will be vin chaud, soup and other surprises in store!  Members of the public can join in the swim if they dare! (registration on the day) . Details here This event is organised by the members of the voluntary association of the "bains de trois jetées". This association erects the small sauna by the lake each winter which is open to the public.

If you are new to the area and would like to discover more about the local wines, or if you know the wines already and want a fun day out, the two "Caves Ouvertes" days on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th of May between 10:00 and 18:00 are an ideal opportunity to taste and drink local wine. To take part, just purchase a "passport" at the information desk at Rolle, Gland or Morges railway station or at the first winery you visit. For just CHF 15 you receive a souvenir wine glass, wine tasting from a wide choice of wine cellars and a free ride that operate between the cellars and Morges railway station. There is a full timetable of the free buses here . See the routing here Also, on this Sunday it's the fabulous Navale parade in Rolle, this is when all the CGN "Belle Epoque" boats gather together and parade on the lake, ending in a grand choreography to music and  the release of thousands of balloons into the air from the boats. For full details see site here

A Very Merry Christmas to all readers!

Photo above: Swiss Quote building in Gland On Tuesday May 17th at 19:00 there will be a presentation by Diccon Bewes, author of "Swiss Watching", along with Swiss Tourism at Brillantmont International School in Lausanne.  A representative from Swiss Tourism will talk about some of the enchanting treasures that Switzerland has to offer.  Then, Diccon Bewes will go behind the scenes of his hugely successful book, and the audience will discover that Switzerlandgoes beyond cows, trains, chocolate, and private banking.  This is a Léman events production. Here's more info about the book "Swiss Watching".  One country with four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.7 million people (but only 80% of them Swiss): there's nowhere else like it in Europe. Switzerland may be almost 400 km from the nearest drop of sea water, but it is an island at the centre of Europe. Swiss Watching is a revealing historical journey around Europe's most individual country. While seeking Heidi and meeting Tell, it relives a bloody past and explores an uncertain future. It's also the story of its people, who have more power than their politicians, but can't speak to one another in the same language – and who own more guns per head than the people of Iraq. As for those national clichés, well, not all the cheese has holes, cuckoo clocks aren’t Swiss and the trains don’t always run exactly on time. For registration for this event click here   Swiss Tourism presentation at 19:00. Then author Diccon Bewes speaks at 19:30  Q & A followed by an apero, networking, book signing and possible tour of the school from 20:15.

The sky around the aerodrome in Prangins on Saturday was full of aeroplanes looping the loop, planes taking passengers for individual flights, vintage planes, and all things aeronautical. The weather was cloudy but bright, and the airshow proved to be a great attraction for its visitors. Photos and report on the fête du musique last weekend, coming up here tomorrow.

There will be a juggling performance/show this weekend at the Elastique Citrique (the acrobatic/circus skill school) in Nyon. Photos here.   The school is at la Caserne, 11 Rue des Marchandises, Nyon. This can be found very near to Place Perdtemps car park (look out for the red building!) The performance will take place on 19:00 on Saturday the 30th and at 17:00 on Sunday the 31st January. Tickets - reservations here . Tickets can be collected 30 minutes before the start of the performance.

Review by Jonas Parson The second night of Caribana turned out to be another very warm and successful evening (the second sold-out night in a row, tickets are still available for Friday and Saturday night) and the acts headlining that night attracted a completely different crowd  to that of the night before. Trooper boots, spiked necklaces and heavy make-up were swapped for lighter, more colourful clothing, as the Marilyn Manson(read a quick review of his concert below) fan base was replaced by a younger audience come to see Bastille. The night wasn't all about lighter music and polite bands though, as DJ, producer and band leader Parov Stelar was one of Thursday's headlines. One of the major influences in the development of Electro Swing, the Parov Stelar Band were there to play their latest album, the Demon Diaries. Mesmerising vocals, edgy saxophone solos and heavy beats turned the front of the main stage into an open-air dance-floor. Playing both new songs and all the popular hits to a very elegant visual background(including a quote by German philosopher Immanuel Kant!), the band was the highlight of the evening. Before what looked like a full moon came out in the night sky, the grounds also vibrated to a lot of mostly electrified music. From Swiss duo Elvett , who played their own brand of acoustic-electro, complete with the enchanting voice of Lyn who kicked off the evening on the lake stage, to Metronomy who gradually brought together the crowd in front of the main stage. The English band, all very elegant in their matching outfits, delivered their dandyish mix of electro and pop with great class and loads of punch. London-based band Bastille were obviously one of the headlines of the evening, and the many teenagers on the grounds was a sure sign of that. The indie pop sensation whose hits combine catchy tunes and compelling choruses. Very polite, albeit slightly too well behaved, the band surely pleased the younger fans. Other bands included young Irish rock band the Strypes with their rather classic style of rock, and electro/deep house artist the Avener . The charm of the lakeside with the leafy grounds and warm night air were perfect to dance to the organic beats of the French musician. To all the fans of Ben l'Oncle Soul, but who can't make it to Caribana this evening, his concert will be live-streamed on the website . The concert starts at 19:30. Make-up, heavy metal and theatrics Late on Wednseday night, the crowd waiting in front of the main stage wore mostly black, with the usual spiked bracelets, big boots or torn clothing. All were waiting for one of the most infamous metal bands, Marilyn Manson (people tried to have his last two concerts in Switzerland banned, in 2005 and 2012, accusing him of Satanism and whatnot). The demographics were actually quite diverse, as Manson appeals a lot to younger fans of the genre.The heavily made-up singer, now well in his forties, delivered a show with his usual sense of theatrics, from the various microphones adorned with knives and knuckledusters to the smoke billowing up behind him. Playing songs from nearly all of his albums, including his great version of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (a personal favourite), Marilyn Manson delivered a good concert, although slightly lacking in punch.

There was a steady drizzle yesterday at the Easter Market in Nyon, yet despite this, the stall holders made a big effort to inject some colour into the day, with interesting and bright coloured products on sale. In particular was the stall that sold soft shoes for children and adults, bright bags with funky designs, hats, cases for storing glasses and flower decorations for the house, all made out of super soft felt. The owner of the stall Ulziibat, is from Mongolia and she her partner Hartig Alexandre, travel to Nepal and Mongolia to bring back the soft felts from both countries to make into bright products here in Switzerland. Nyon is one of the towns "Modern Nomad" (the name of her stall) visits, along with other venues across the region. To find out where they are next visiting call 076 278 0818 At the market on Sunday there was also the more traditional Easter goods on display, from the decorated fountain by the Maitre Jacques to the stalls selling decorations for Easter including a stall selling  plates with the names of various Swiss cheeses hand painted on them.