Two films shown at the Visions du Réel film festival this year both feature the main protagonists in a state of transit.  Heart-warming scenes in "Calabria"  In the film Calabria by Pierre Francois Sauter, two undertakers in Lausanne are tasked with transporting a deceased man back to his home town in Calabria. The man was an immigrant from Italy, one of the many who came to Switzerland in the 1950s and '60s looking for work. Like many from that time, they came for a short period but ending up staying in the country for the rest of their lives. Photos above and below - courtesy Visions du Réel The undertakers in question are themselves immigrants; José is of Portugese origin and Jovan is a Serbian Roma. The two make the road journey in the hearse with the deceased all the way from Vaud down to the toe of the country's boot shaped peninsula. The camera follows them throughout the journey from inside the hearse. We hear their conversations, they discuss love, romance and the meaning of life, they teach each other phrases in their respective languages. Jovan, an extremely talented musician sings and plays the guitar, José recites poetry. They take it in turns to drive the long route down to Italy whilst  remaining immaculately dressed at all times and keeping the dignity of their employer and respect for their "passenger". There are some wonderful heart-warming scenes in this film through their conversation.  Most of the focus is inside the vehicle but occasionally the viewers get to see the changing scenery as they move further away from the snow and cold and nearer to the warmth of the Mediterranean. The two men break the journey to sleep and look for a hotel but their GPS directs them down narrow Italian streets and they get stuck, and end up having to manouevre the hearse in the dark. Once in the hotel, Jovan goes to his room, brings out his guitar and sings love songs, José lays on the bed in hie rooms and reads.  When they finally arrive at their destination they hand over the deceased to the waiting family and take a short break to venture down to the sea. Whilst in Calabria, José looks at the beautiful scenery around him and asks; "Why would anyone leave such a beautiful place?"  The answer of course, was for work and for better opportunities and their Italian passenger it seems, found both in Switzerland. This film has now been screened at the festival but is worth looking out for in the future if it appears on Swiss TV or in the cinema, however, the following film,  Transit Zone  ( review by Suzy Nelson-Pollard) will be screened on Friday the 22nd April at 14.30 as part of the "first steps" screenings at the Colombière Grande Salle. Tickets here.  Transit Zone – A touching short film about refugees and migrants in Calais This short film, directed by Frederik Subei as part of his MA in Film Directing at the Edinburgh College of Art, follows some of the men stuck at the “Jungle” camp in Calais, attempting to cross to the UK to apply for asylum. Day-to-day life, living in abject squalor and perpetual mud, is a struggle for these men and families chasing the English dream. Their frustrations are shown, as well as their tender moments together, singing or sharing a pot of pasta. Some of the men open up, as to why they seek to reach the UK and how much they fear for their families back at home. One of the quotes that stuck out the most was from a young man from Sudan: that perhaps when we look at these guys living in the mud, we just see them as refugees, or as migrants, but that he had “a hundred things in his heart”. What a perfect way to express the dreams, hopes, frustrations, anger, sadness and desolation of each individual making a journey. This film is well worth viewing to witness the one of the worst slums of Europe where human rights have been annihilated, yet solidarity and friendship still reign.

The St Prex Classics, the prestigious music, dance and opera festival which for the last eight years has been held in the pretty lake side town of St Prex (just past Allaman and before Morges), is now moving to Nyon! Nyon already proudly carries the slogan " Ville de Festivals" with  its  "Les Hivernales" - the winter rock and beat  festival in February, "Visions du Réel" - the documentary film festival held every April/ May,   "Caribana" - the lake side pop and rock festival in June, "Paléo" - one of the biggest rock festivals in Europe in July,  F.A.R - the festival of living  arts in August and it can now add The St Prex Classics to its list. The festival will now be renamed "Luna Classics ". The festival has grown from strength to strength since it first began, but has now outgrown its original venue in the old town of St Prex.  The 13 day festival will now take place at the Place du Château in Nyon, under a big tent called the "Luna tent". Last year, violinist Nigel Kennedy performed at the festival along with many other musicians. The actor John Malkovich came to St Prex to play the part of a serial killer in a theatrical piece mixed with opera  see here .  See documentary  (in English) about the festival as described by festival founder , Hazeline Van Swaay. The full programme will be revealed next week.

Take a look at these photos of Nyon taken via a cool app called Paper Camera . See Nyon in a neon light! Photo above taken from the window of the Appunto café in Nyon looking across the street. Photos below taken from the same angle using a different format, followed by photos of the inside of the café and of Nyon railway station.   Keeping on the photo theme  it's the last few weeks of  the Best Press Photographs exhibition in Prangins. The Château de Prangins is the only venue in French-speaking Switzerland to host Swiss Press Photo 11 , featuring the best press photographs from 2010 in the following categories: Current Events, Everyday and Environment, Portrait, Art and Culture, Sport, and Foreign.  Geneva based Christian Lutz won the main prize with his series on the oil business in Nigeria. There is also a special tribute to René Burri, who received the Swiss Press Photo Lifetime Achievement Award marking twenty years of Swiss Press Photo. The exhibition began in December and runs until the 18th March.  Opening hours Tuesday - Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00. Thursday 23rd February Jazz and Wine at the caveau of Nyon in the castle. Doors open at 17:00, concert begins at 18:30  with Bertrand Neyroud and Thomas Winteler.  Further info call Stéphane le Bidre  at the caveau de nyon 022 361 95 25 or 079 639 65 56. Also on Thursday 23rd February   in Geneva, a BSCC  (British Swiss Chamber of Commerce ) event. “Speaker’s Corner at the Crowne Plaza”.  Keynote speaker: David Kirk, Chief Criminal Counsel, Financial Services Authority (FSA), London, “Financial Regulation in Good Times and Bad: the Art of the Possible.”  Plus two BSCC Small and Micro members on the soapbox: Tim Boyse of Fresh Look Consulting and Mathieu Trepanier of Tsquared Consulting Partners SA.  18.30-21.00. Crowne Plaza, 75 ave Louis-Casaï, 1216 Geneva. Friday 24 February at the Club 1306 (in the old town of Nyon) " "Sigue Volando" at 20:30  Afro Cuban jazz fireworks, carnival time with 9 musicians.  Free entry hat passed round for musicians at end of evening. See Club 1306 for more info.  For other events in the region, check out the  Nyon Tourism  site.

The Morges Literary festival gets bigger and better each year and this year there is a good selection of English speaking authors on the line up either speaking individually about their work, or taking part in panel sessions and debates with other authors.  Debates take place at the festival along the lakeside, in the old town or on the CGN ferry boats which cruise up and down the lake.  For the full programme (in English and French) click here  Authors on the line up this year include the following: Louis de Bernières, Jonathan Coe, Jenny Colgan, Paul Lynch, Elif Shafak, Christos Tsiolkas, Esther Freud and Amanda Hodgkinson. Journée de la Smart Attitude  Also on Sunday 6th September, at the Musée du Leman in Nyon it's "Journée de la Smart Attitude". Everything you need to know (in French) about your mobile phone, repairs, etc. Info on "big data" and the telephone of tomorrow. Hints and tips on how to keep your mobile phone for longer. Click here for more info

The town of Nyon is once again gearing itself up for another six days of music, fun and fans as the 34th Paléo festival kicks off tomorrow. As usual, shopkeepers and local businesses have been doing their bit to promote the festival with posters and windows displays. Up at the festival grounds, final preparations are in place to make it another great event. This year there is much that is familiar, the Grande Scene, the Chapiteau, the Club Tent, the field full of sunflowers etc. but this year as every year, there are new attractions and developments. These include: An art installation called "Mangroove -Back to the Roots A series of structures to walk through and a mudbath in the centre as a special commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of Woodstock. The Paléo volunteers on hand were happy to dive in to the mud to recreate the scene! The weather forecast is looking good so hopefully there will no actual mudbath over in the fields themselves. In the "Village du Monde" the theme is India and the area will be decked out in Indian finery. There is also another art installation called the "Ghats of Teppakulam" made up of steps leading down to a water tank. Annedominique Chevalley -Head of Village du Monde (below) Daniel Rossellat, founder and President of Paléo Environmental Awareness Paléo this year has an even bigger commitment towards its environmental awareness by adopting various measures: The building of a new "Terrasse" (Terrace area) completely made out of wood, using mainly recyclable materials. The wood used is Spruce and Pine and comes entirely from local Swiss forests. The structure includes a public zone on the ground level with nearly one thousand seats. The structure will be entirely dismantled and stored away each year (it is expected to last 15-20 years). By providing reuseable plastic cups. If you buy a drink this year (hot or cold) you will pay a CHF 2 deposit, then when you hand your cup back either at any bar or Ecopoint you get the deposit back and the glass is then washed, thus reducing its environmental impact. Paléo is also encouraging a greater use of public transport by publishing a leaflet with all the public transport times to and from the festival grounds and strengthening the network with a free bus service to meet the special night trains in Lausanne and Geneva. Note: traffic warning on side bar. And there's much more planned from the circus acts to street theatre, and of course the music. Empty chairs and stage today- Full tomorrow Final preparations If you can't make it, Living in Nyon will be there every day to send back reports and give you a taste of what its like. If you want to go , don't forget 1,000 tickets are on sale online each morning of the festival. Tomorrow kicks off with Gossip, Kaiser Chiefs, Placebo, Sophie Hunger and many more bands.

Wow! What a superb way to start a film festival. The avant première film of Visions du Réel that was screened in Nyon last night, not only brought a standing ovation from the audience, but kicked the whole evening off with a great atmosphere as it came with a few surprises too. One of the surprises and certainly the most exciting one, came after the screening of the film "Aisheen -Still Alive in Gaza" . Here the audience was treated to a satellite link up to Gaza itself on the night. As we sat in in our shiny new seats in Nyon (another surprise as the seats have now finally been updated), and were waving at our cameras, we were able to see a whole group of people sat in their seats in a club setting in Gaza waving at their cameras. A truly great collaborative affair and and an exchange of bonhomie between nationalities. It didn't matter that there was a considerable time delay in the sound, the idea worked and worked exceedingly well. The film itself is an intimate look on life in Gaza after the war. The film maker Nicolas Wadimoff filmed various families going about their daily life over a relatively short time frame. From the clowns entertaining the children in the schools to cheer them up in hard times, to the frustrations of the zoo keepers who had no food to feed their animals, to the humour of the boys who named one of the monkeys "Sharon" ("he's vicious and he attacks"), these individuals stories were superbly documented. See a U Tube trailer of the film here.   Then we saw the patience of the mechanic on the fairground who stoicly kept on repairing bits of machinery in order to get the fairground running. There was a sublime ending to the film at the sight of a solitary happy teenager as he spun around on a finally working fairground attraction.  Filming in Gaza obviously comes with risks and we saw and heard these risks as a bomb fell very close by when the cameras were turning. Daily life also meant that the Gaza citzens had to queue for food supplies and the chaos and claustrophobia of people becoming squashed in the queue was palpable. We could see their obvious and painful discomfort from the comfort of our new Nyon seats. Conversations among families were captured, the poignant talk from a grandfather to his grandaughter who had lost her mother in a bombing. He advised her to take heart and look positive and to try to look after her brothers and sisters. There were students who talked about their demotivated teachers, but we also saw teachers trying their best in the face of adversity, encouraging acting and role playing to ease tension and one teacher getting her little pupils to dip their hands in bright coloured paints to create wall hand paintings. Then we saw what was to become one of the main focusses and highlights of the show, a rap group called the DARG team   rehearsing in a small room and on that particular day with no electricity. Improvisation took over and the boom box was created by their voices,  the rappers worked on a song along while a toddler in the room accompanied them banging out a beat with her balloon.  The rappers were then later interviewed on Gaza radio and had to listen in to a barrage of criticism from listeners who said that their music wasn't representative of the people, the rappers took it all in good grace They have now gone on to record an album and this is where the evening last night really came into its own as they then performed via satellite for the Nyon audience. A collaborative  group of rappers from Geneva then came on stage to accompany them. The audience loved it and responded by standing and clapping, some danced and the theatre resounded to the sound of rap. A great inaugaration, a great film. You can catch the film again on Monday 19th at 17:00 in the Salle Communale and Wednesday 21 at 14:00 in the Théatre de Marens. It will also be shown in cinemas in French Romandie from May 19th. Note: Films that are shown in both the Salle Communale and the cinema screening room Capitole 1 will be provided with  interpreters giving simultaneous translations if the subtitles are not in English.  In the other venues including the Theatre de Marens this is not guaranteed . The full list of programmes is available in the Visions du Réel brochure which can found either in the tourist board or in the Usine a Gaz (central area of the festival) or at the cinema itself in an outside rack on the exit.

Last chance to visit the zoo this weekend before it closes for two months. Photo above:courtesy @zoo de la Garenne The Zoo de la Garenne in the pretty village of Le Vaud will close on Saturday 31st January and re-open in a brand new building on the 19th March. The zoo rescues and helps injured wild animals, is used to educate the general public (particularly school groups) about the biodiversity of the region. It houses many varieties of European animals and birds. Animals include wolves, lynx and foxes, and many reptiles. There is a cafeteria on site and a play area.   Opening times and ticket prices here Directions here

Tomorrow Saturday 10th November, the  IWCN ( International Women's Club of Nyon ) Big Charity Bazaar will take place in Nyon. This bi-annual event is a big fund raiser for local and international charities and a great opportunity for expats to meet over a bite to eat at the bistro at the bazaar, to buy second hand English books, toys, home made jams, and gifts, Christmas presents etc. There's a tombola too with lots of prizes too. The event will take place in the centre of Nyon at the Salle Communale from 10:00- 16:00 and makes for a fun morning or afternoon out for everyone.  See you there! Photos above and below of previous bazaars. More second hand English books this weekend in Geneva  If you are in Geneva, you don't need to miss out on the opportunity to buy second hand books as the English Library is also having their Autumn 2012 Book Sale which will take place over the next three days.  It begins on Friday from 10:00 -18:00, Saturday 10:00- 17:00 and from Sunday 12:00- 16:00.  Around 20,000 second-hand books in English will be on sale, fiction and non-fiction for children and adults, classified by subject including  special books and collectors’ items, DVDs and CDs.  See site for details

There are 5 pairs of free tickets on offer to the Avant-Premiere of  the film "Paddington" which will be shown in English in Nyon on Monday 1st December at 20:30. To be in with a chance of winning tickets, send an email with your full name, the name of the other person (or little person) who will be accompanying you and the towns or villages that you both live in to info@capitole-nyon.ch Closing date Saturday  29th November 2014.  The film is only 95 minutes long so not too late for little ones!

Expat Fair On Sunday 27th September there will be an Expat Fair held in Morges from 10:00 - 17:00. This fair is now into its third year and gets bigger and better each time. It's a perfect opportunity to meet other expats, pick up information on clubs, schools, churches, businesses in the area, all which can help you integrate into a Swiss lifestyle. Living in Nyon will be there so if you have any questions about living in Nyon and area or you just want to say "hello", then come along, I will be on the stand (booth 67) along with "Know it all Passport" , the guidebook to this area a book full of information on living here. Entry to the fair is free and it is organised by Léman events . Along with organising the fair, they also hold various events throughout the year with guest speakers. Check out all the details on the Léman Expat fair site. Cows coming down from the mountains The Desalpe in St Cergue will be held on Saturday the 3rd of October. For those of you who are new to Nyon, this is when the cows are brought down from the mountain to be wintered in the barns. The village of St Cergue, along with other villages in Switzerland mark this occasion by decorating the cows and then they parade them through the village. It starts early, the first cows come down from 08:30 and it continues until 11:30. In the village there are stands, with food (and wine of course) usually there is a choir, Swiss flag throwing etc. It's a good family day out, if you have never been before, it's worth a visit. There are extra trains arranged for this day on the Nyon to St Cergue line as it is a very popular event. Parking can be very tricky, it's much easier to take the train. Play in English in Divonne Also, a date for your diary, there will be a play in English 'Someone Who'll Watch Over Me' by Frank McGuinness performed on October 7th over in Divonne in France just 15 minutes over over the border from Nyon. It is the story of the determination and imagination of an American doctor, an Irish journalist and an English academic who are being held hostage in the Middle East. They use imagination to keep their spirits up, balancing the grim reality with moments of humour and poignancy. This is not a political play but focusses entirely on the power of the human spirit. McGuinness wrote it after several conversations with Brian Keenan who was taken hostage in 1986 and kept hostage for four years before being released. The English newspaper, The Guardian, wrote ' funny as well as moving...a wise and wonderful play'. The three actors are Alan Leather, Ian Farley, Gary Bird and it is directed by Sue Humphreys Oct 7. 8:00pm @ Salle Ausone, Esplanade du Lac, Divonne les Bains, France. Tickets 12 euros Reservations tel: +33 450 20 12 32 or at the door. Actors from GEDS are staging this production independently in various venues across the region. For further info call Sue Humphreys Tel: +33 450 20 12 32

Living in Nyon is delighted to announce that from July onwards, this site will feature interviews with artists, and will report on art events in galleries and venues across the region. These articles will be written by Stephanie Fonteyn , a professional artist who is based in Duillier (a village just a few kilometres above Nyon). Stephanie says her objective is "to make art accessible to everyone", she is keen to promote the local art scene and to make it more visible to those living in Nyon and the surrounding area. Stephanie Fonteyn originally from England, started to teach herself to paint back in 2002 and has never looked back since then. Her work so far has includes painting of nudes, abstract works, (often compared to Piet Mondrian and Jackson Pollock in style), and portraits. She has exhibited her work across Switzerland, including a much talked about show called “Couleurs Jazz”, held in Montreux in 2010 during the famous jazz Festival .  This year she will be returning to Montreux at the gallery " En Beauregard" and she invites all living in Nyon readers to the vernissage on Saturday 9th July from 14:00 to 18:00. The exhibition runs from 5th July to 6th August - Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 09:00 to 11:30 and 14:00 to 18:00 and  Saturdays from 11:00 to 17:00. Stephanie's latest collection of paintings is called "L'époque" and these will be exhibited at Geneva’s Cité du Temps ,  from 27 July to 4 September. This exhibition presents a nostalgic trip to the world of the 1950s. Iconic subjects in the paintings include distinctively shaped cars, Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. Stephanie says;  "All of the pictures on display reflect the optimism of the post-war era using a retro-expressionist style and are inspired by Pop Art". Discount for readers for Stephanie's art classes (for children). Stephanie also runs bi-lingual (French and English) creative workshops for adults and children. These are a great way of helping expatriates to integrate with the locals whilst also stimulating their creativity! Special offer for Living in Nyon readers. Stephanie is offering  a CHF 50 summer reduction for creative painting workshops for children this August. Children aged from 5 to 6 and 7 to 11 can participate in the weekly workshops from the 2nd to the 19th of August from 10:00 to 12:00 or from 15:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday. The workshops will be held at La Combe shopping Centre  in the centre of Nyon, on the first floor. This is an artistic initiative organised by YUMY to introduce local artists to the public as part of the 30 years of La Combe celebrations. Workshop bookings can be made by directly by email. Please reference Living in Nyon to receive your discount: stephfonteyn@gmail.com To find out more about Stephanie's work see her own website  here.  Read an interview here in "Voyou" magazine. More of Stephanie's work below.

Photo above: courtesy of Hublot Here is a summary of some recent local news taken and translated from La Côte newspaper.  Don't forget, there is an English column in La Côte each Friday written by the Living in Nyon editor, it's a light hearted look at living in this area. It can be found on the inside of the front page under the "Forum" section. Living in Nyon is also on Facebook . Click the "like button" to add Living in Nyon to your favourites and to get the latest posts from the site. Royal visit to Vufflens le Château The first bit of news is that on the 19th May, King Juan Carlos of  Spain and Queen Sofia visited this area and had lunch at the hotel/restaurant "L'Ermitage  in the village of Vufflens le Château  . This village can be found just above Morges and has a population of around 780.  The restaurant L'Ermitage is categorised as one of the "Les Grands Tables du Monde ". Photo above: Courtesy of L'Ermitage  -  A table set for a king and queen. Here is what was on the menu for this special occasion.   Velouté de petits pois doublement écossés, Méli-mélo de légumes,  Agnolotti basilic,  Pain brioché tomate. This was followed by  Omble Chevalier du Lac Léman en saveurs d’hysope, Gourmandises d’asperges, Féra et écrevisses, Pain aux sept céréales cuit au four à bois de L'Ermitage. Finally, Mille-feuille de bricelets au kirsch du Chef Bernard Ravet, Fraises vaudoises et glace à la vanille de Bali.  Café et mignardises d’Isabelle.   To see the wine served and to disover more about this restaurant see the restaurant's own blog .    Maradona in Nyon Another famous name to visit this area recently was footballing legend Diego Maradona , as on the 10th May he paid a visit to Nyon to the watch manufacturers Hublot , who have a factory in the town. On the visit he  looked at the watches and watched the skilled craftsmen and women at work. Permanent buvette by the plage Other news is the Buvette at the plage of Nyon is now going to be open year round and not just in the summer! The tender to run the buvette this year has been given to Raymond Dumuid. He also runs the popular Bains des Pâquis in Geneva which is open throughout the year. This is good news for the association of the Bains des 3 Jetées who have been instrumental in bringing this area of the lake to life during the winter months, by installing a temporary sauna and organising events for the public duiring the year.  The new buvette will be self service. Photo above: the temporary winter dutch tub installed by the plage in Nyon in 2010 by the Bais des 3 Jetees Association. Bike hire in Nyon available from mid June There is work going on at the moment behind Nyon railway station with the installation of bike stands as part of the velopass scheme . The scheme is due to be oficially inaugarated on the 18th June. Bikes will be available to hire at a reduced rate and can be rurned to various locations between Nyon, Gland and Prangins. More details to follow here on this site, you can also see info on Nyon town website