Photo above - crowd at Paléo 2011.  There was a mad rush for Palèo tickets when they went on sale yesterday at midday and festival organisers announced that it took just 5.5 hours for all tickets to be sold-out. Concerts for the Sunday sold-out in 14 minutes, those for Thursday, Friday and Saturday in less than 45 minutes, and those for the Tuesday and Wednesday by 17:30. Missed out on tickets?  Two other opportunities If you missed out yesterday there are two new opportunities to get tickets, the first is the traditional "bourse aux billets" . This platform will be begin on the Paléo site on 9 May at midday on and makes it possible for anybody to sell and/or buy tickets at a fair price and safely in an effort to fight against the black market. The second opportunity is that 1,500 tickets will be on sale each morning of the festival at 09:00 for the same night and through Ticketcorner outlets (no phone orders). No tickets will be sold on site. Check out Paléo for dull details.

On Sunday 21 June at the Théàtre de Grand Champ in Gland, there will be a conference with an exhibition and workshops dedicated to Hergé, the Belgian cartoonist and author, and best known as the creator of "The Adventures of Tin Tin". For "Tintinologists" there will be a chance to see some of the ancient cars and the old fire engine featured in the "The Calculus Affair" (l'Affaire Tournesol). This book contains local Swiss references in the story; including Geneva Railway Sation, The Cornavin Hotel and Nyon itself. Hergé also spent several holidays in Gland in the late 1940's.  More info here on Swiss Info "On the Trail of Tin Tin in Switzerland".  The conferences will be in French. Entrance is free to see the old cars and the Tin Tin exhibition itself. Drinks and snacks will be served and entertainment provided for children. Full details below.  The event is organised by "La Page Cornée", a French literary group based in Gland.

iframe> Yacht race this weekend - Photo above cnp From the 17-19 June, the fabulous yacht race the "Bol D' Or" will take place on Lac Léman. Yachts begin the race in Geneva on Saturday and sail as fast as they can down to the other end of the lake to Le Bouveret and back again. It's also a fabulous photo taking opportunity! The above photo on the banner was taken by the Living in Nyon editor in 2007 (and used on the Bol D'or website!)  Best to get up early to get those shots though. Here's the website ( English section ) with details of the full programme and departure times of the yachts. New events website A new website launched yesterday called "inanyevent.ch"  . This is a very useful online guide to events and activities that are happening across Switzerland. The site also comes with accompanying videos to some of the events mentioned, such as one on the "Hope Exhibition" at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, and another on the "Calvin World Photography Exhibition" in Geneva. Living in Nyon will be alerting its readers to events featured on this new site that will be of interest locally. Big stock sale on the 16,17 and 18 June. Catambo the shop in Rue Perdstemps in Nyon that sells all manner of interesting gifts and items from around the world, (some of these are Fairtrade gifts) is having a massive warehouse sale on the 16, 17 and 18 June from 09:00 -18:00.  Note: this sale will be at their warehouse which is situated at Route de L'etraz 62 En Clarens in Vich (this is where Catambo originally used to be). Call 076/376 97 52 for more info. The staff speak English.  Also this weekend it's Fete de la Musique!   More on this to come on this site.

In just over a week's time it's the Léman Expat Fair ! This event will take place in Lausanne from 11:00-17:00 on Sunday 4th November. This fair, now in its 6th year is where expats and members of the public can go to find around 140 business, services, clubs and groups all under one roof.  All of these have experience in serving the English-speaking community.  Living in Nyon will be present at the fair at Booth Number 100 , so do come and say "Hello!" It's a good opportunity to ask questions about living in the Nyon area, but also to buy the "Living along Lac Léman" book. This book is a collection of columns that have been published in La Côte newspaper (in English), together with other articles and photographs, it's a light hearted look at living in the lake Geneva area. It makes for the perfect gift, Christmas present and is useful to have if you have just arrived here and want to know more about the customs and traditions of living in the Romandie part of Switzerland. Read a review of the book here by Diccon Bewes , author of Swiss Watching ( Best book of 2010 - Financial Times) Come and have a copied signed by the book's author (also the Living in Nyon editor).   Note: the editor will not be at the stand until approximately 13:30 on Sunday 4th , but there will be a representative of Living in Nyon  to sell books and answer questions from 11:00 onwards. According to the organisers of the fair, no matter what your current level of integration is, "whether you're here for a lifetime or just passing through, you're bound to find something new!" Check out all the exhibitors that will be at the fair here . There will also be  light snacks and lunches available all day at the coffee corner and restaurant. There will be sand art and face painting for children and opportunities to speak to experts  on hand during the day to help you with your expat questions.  There will be an "Art Corner" to view paintings, photographs, sculpture, etc, and to find art courses! There will also be "career enhancement" advisers  present.  Want to know more about job hunting in Switzerland? Listen to this (recently broadcast) radio programme about the mistakes expats make when job hunting in this country. At the fair there will be performances from the theatre group the "Village Players".  Listen to an interview with them here on World Radio Switzerland  recorded at the beginning of this year. So there's a lot going on at the Léman Expat Fair.  There are prizes to be won too such as  a night's stay in Gstaad, a dinner voucher for 200chf,  wine tasting for 10 people,  and 500 chf worth of travel on CFF!  See you there! For  full information on the fair, location, parking directions etc, see the website here.  French/ English conversation exhange A living in Nyon reader has contacted the site to see if there is a reader who would like to exchange his French conversation with English conversation with another reader. For further information contact  Régis-email  regis_boudet@hotmail.com

Caribana the music festival continues over in Crans sur Nyon (report of last night - see end of this post) . Tonight's line up include Plan B (winner of  the 2011  Brit Awards best male artist award), Morcheeba, Solange le Frange, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the dark and more, see full programme here . A reminder that on Sunday it is "Caribakids" this is the day for families and children with free entry and entertainment. Face painting, music, dancing , bouncy castles, football workshops, chess workshops and more. See the days programme here . Photo above cnp - Caribakids Friday's "Living in Nyon" column in La Côte newspaper. This Friday's column is entitled " Frequently and (Stupidly) Asked Questions" and it lists just some of the more unusual questions that the tourist office in Morges have received over the years. Check it out! The Friday edition of La Côte newspaper has an agenda page which lists events going on around this area. You can pick up a copy at most newsagents. Sculpture park in Morges Meanwhile over in Morges the Sculpture Symposium continues until the 19th June.  This symposium was created in 1992 by Ewald Brigger and it unites around 40 sculptors from about 20 countries from around the world. The work of these sculptors can be seen in the courtyard of the castle of Morges. The symposium has its own website for full details maps, competition winners etc Jazz concert next Wednesday Next Wednesday it's the end of year concert of the teachers and pupils of the jazz section from the COV- ( Conservatoire de L'ouest Vaudois). The concert will take place down at the Usine a Gaz at 18:00 on Wednesday the 15th June. Free entry. If you are interested in learning to play an instrument, to be part of a choir, to learn more about classical or jazz  music or theatre, check out all different courses that  the COV offer. Just click on the logo on the side bar of this site. The COV is situated in a lovely lakeside building in Nyon. Caves Ouvertes in Vaud this weekend For wine lovers, this weekend its "Caves Ouvertes" for wineries across the canton. This is a good opportunity to try and taste the local wines in situ. There is a full programme on their website here with map, list of participating wineries.   There is a 20%  reduction if you travel to this event on the the train too! Caribana last night Here is a short report from a Caribana fan (a student at the University of Géneve) on last night's concerts. There was a great atmosphere at Caribana last night, as the rain held out and at one point the Australian band  Wolfmother eagerly to pointed out the sun peeking through the grey clouds. Scottish band Kassidy played the early set on the smaller stage, and gave a heartfelt thankyou before their last song, seeming to genuinely appreciate the Caribana vibe. Wolfmother started off with a small crowd but then attracted a decent "foule" by the time they played "Woman", "White Unicorn" and other well known songs. The band kept the crowd entertained with guitar and piano solos, their massive afros, and cheeky smiles. The Hurts , a synthpop band from Northern England appeared on stage with various musicians, main singer Theo Hutchcraft and two dancers in long black death reaper cloaks. The first glimpses of the band reminded several people of the Adams Family! However, the main singer's voice, the rich full sound and dancers made for a good spectacle.

Photo above taken on the Jazz Boat - a regular event at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The boat cruises around Lac Léman with live bands that play on board for music lovers. Late last night, the sad news came through here in Switzerland that Claude Nobs, founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival had passed away at the age of  76 after suffering a cross country skiing fall during the Christmas holidays. You can read the statement from the festival's own website here There is an interesting interview with Mr Nobs here on World Radio Switzerland broadcast in  April 2011 . You can hear how the festival first began, how he got the name "Funky Claude" in the famous Deep Purple - "Smoke on the Water" track and how he introduced Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull, to Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones at his chalet, high in the hills above Montreux. In this video link here , you can see inside the chalet where he entertained the stars that performed at the festival each year. You also can see Mr Nob's vast record collection, model train collection, and some of the instruments that were played by famous musicians in jam sessions at chalet.  The video is in French and was broadcast on June 2012.

There are lots of activities going on this week in Nyon as part of Anti-Racism week. One of the events will be happening tomorrow 22nd March in the central square of Nyon at 12:00. This is an opportunity to meet other nationalities over a drink and to share food from around the world.  See link here and poster below.  Music - Rock, jazz and classical concerts all on in Nyon over this weekend. Plus films in English in Nyon and Aubonne  Friday 21 March COV (Conservatoire de L'ouest Vaudois) lovely venue right on Nyon's lake side.   Tri I Dve  - concert begins at 20:30. More details here Usine a Gaz - Swiss artist "Heidi Happy" performing at the Usine a Gaz  at 21:30 . Doors and bar open at 21:00.  See her own website here  Below - video of her singing "Dance with Another" 1306 club    in Nyon  -  "Jazz and so" group - 20:30 Saturday 22nd March  La Parenthèse - "Rhythm Junks"  - Belgium blues rock group playing at this small but fun underground venue in Nyon's old town.  Films in English Cinema Nyon -     19 - 25 March "The Grand Budapest Hotel" showing every day at  17:00.  Also, "Saving  Mr Banks" showing Friday, Monday and Tuesday at 18:00 plus also showing on Monday 24th at 20:30 as part of the Monday English movie series.   See cinema listings here Cinema Aubonne  "The Grand Budapest Hotel"  Sat 22nd March at 17:30,  Sunday 23 at 20:30  and Tuesday at 20:30.  Monday movie 24th March - "Monuments Men"   See cinema listings here

Photo above - the first meeting of Nyon Toastmasters  in July 2012 Toastmasters is a nonprofit educational organisation that operates clubs worldwide for "the purpose of helping members improve their public speaking and leadership skills" .   There is already a branch in both Geneva and Lausanne, and on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month, from the 26h September onwards, there will be a new club in the heart of Nyon! Photo above - Nyon Toastmasters club president Laura Penn with Gerard Penalosa, co-founder and the club's Vice President of Education.   As more and more schools and  businesses and  people are moving into this region, there is now an increasing demand for opportunities which can help improve personal and professional skills, espeically those which are Anglophone. The new International Toastmasters Club of Nyon will offer bi-monthly meetings to "foster learning, self-discovery and personal growth in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere". Who is in the Nyon  Club? The twenty founding members of the new Nyon club are from a wide range of professional and cultural backgrounds and look forward to meeting new members at the next meeting on September 26th at the HQ of UNI Global Union at 8-10 Avenue Reverdil, 1260 Nyon) from 19:00 - 21:00. Photo above - Toastmaster John Zimmer at the first Nyon meeting For more information about Toastmasters see  site here.  For more information about the Nyon club, contact the club President, Laura Penn, at lpenn00@gmail.com. Take a look at the video below to find out more about the worldwide organisation.

Despite the local newspaper La Côte publishing an April fool today saying that Paléo was moving the whole festival over the border to Divonne in France, the bands and artists announced for the 2014 Paléo festival line up were no joke. Photo above - The Black Keys from the U.S   playing Schizophrenic blues rock - photo courtesy Paléo festival. From Elton John to Stromae to James Blunt and The Black Keys, the full programme was released to the press with a taster of the music that will be played from the 22nd to 27th July on the L'Asse grounds, just a stone's throw away from the centre of Nyon. A choice of music for every generation over the six days Never been to Paléo before? It's one of Europe's biggest rock and pop festivals and there is always a choice of music over the Paléo six days for every generation. There is even classical music played on the final day of the festival, and this year conductor  Gautier Capucon will direct the European Orchestra playing Rossini and Haydn. Living in Nyon has been reviewing  the bands and artists at this festival for many years, just type in Paléo in the search button on this site to read about previous festivals. Tickets go on sale on the 9th April at 12:00 and tickets sell out fast! Get on line or in line at the various retails outlets to secure your tickets! Details here. Full line up here This year the area of Paléo called Village du Monde features music from the Andes and the festival has invited groups and solo artists from Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. Jacques Monnier, head of music programming at the festival, explained that Paléo has tried to find a balance of traditional music from the Andes region along with new and upcoming talent. Above -  La Chiva Cantina  -punk fun from Colombia. Photo - Nicolas Moins Lores - courtesy Paléo Elton John and the Black Keys are some of the many English speaking headline acts to play at Paléo including Jack Johnson, The Prodigy,  Sea Sick Steve and James Blunt. See two YouTube videos below of  Jack Johnson singing "Upside Down" and Seasick Steve (boogie and blues) perfroming on Jools Holland  with  "Dog House".

Over the past few weeks I have been sent lots of great suggestions for topics to add to this site. These have varied from information on child care, to walks in the area, to a list of Nyon estate agents who speak English, and many more other ideas. So I shall add all these in the coming weeks, thankyou for the suggestions and do keep them coming. As the Monday holiday was such a beautiful day, I decided it was a perfect opportunity to start on one of those ideas by going on one of the many walks near Nyon, and then writing it up for the site. The Jura looks particularly spectacular in Autumn, and the leaves on the trees have only just started to change colour, so this local walk is going to be particularly good in the next few weeks. It's an easy walk. It involves taking the "Red Train" from Nyon to La Givrine , walking for around 8 km to Les Fruitières de Nyon, and then to St Cergue from where you can take the train back to Nyon. The walk takes in forest paths, track, field, farms and a great view of the "Arc Lemanique" from the three-quarters-mark viewpoint. If you time it right, you can also buy fresh cheese from the farm shop en route and perhaps get to see the cows being herded in for milking (see photo at the top). The bext map for this walk is the Carte D'excursion 260T which covers "St Cergue/Vallée du Joux/La Dôle and La Côte. You can buy these maps in most major bookshops. The walk has good signs all the way - look out for the yellow sign posts or markings on the rocks or trees. Otherwise try and follow this explanation... Take the little red train from Nyon to La Givrine. Here's the link to the train timetable. This is a great little train if you have never been on it before. It climbs up though some pretty villages and ends up over the border in La Cure in France. The train is used by commuters to Nyon during the week, and then walkers, families and mountain bikers at the weekends and holidays. La Givrine is 16 stops from Nyon and it's a "request" stop, which means you have to press this button on the train (see photo below) to let the driver know you want to descend. Once you are in La Givrine, head off immediately up hill away from the tracks, and to the left of this notice board. After 100 metres there is a sign pointing to the right directing you to St Cergue. Carry on along this forest road for about 2.5 km. This forest road will take you past lots of trees and piles of Spruce and Birch logs waiting to be transported. Good to see that the wood in these forests is FSC certified wood. (see photo) After about 2.5 km you will come to a tarmac road. Turn left. You will see this sign: Les Fruitieres is the name of the farm you are aiming for. At the top of the rise, turn right to the farm that is on the top of the hill. A great view beckons. Go past some drystone walls Past the cows and up to the farm where you can buy cheese as long as the farmer is not having a siesta (13:30-16:00) Fresh Tomme cheese Here you will come out on a spectacular view. The day this was taken, there was quite a bit a cloud hanging over the Alps, but on a completely clear day, the vista is stunning. Now head off to the left of the farm, past the pigs in their pen, past farm machinery and through a metal turnstile, down a farmtrack (rather overgrown with grass) in the direction of Lausanne in the distance. After a kilometre you will leave the pasture, go through a forest and back into a pasture. Past the faded sign which indicates the height and age of two of the three trees standing in the background. One is three hundred years old, the other a young thing at just two hundred! Follow the road, turning left downhill before eventually coming to this sign below. Here you need to turn right towards St Cergue. You will start to see chalets on the road. Above. Back at St Cergue Station. If you don't want to go back to Nyon straight away, there are places you can eat in St Cergue, and 400 metres up from the station is a restaurant called Basse Ruche where you can have a fondue (instead of the final turn left down the hill into St Cergue, turn right to go back up the hill). I've never been here so can't report back. If you go, let me know what's its like. Une bonne balade = A good walk Please note. These directions are as accurate as I can make them, but things do change, woodpiles, cows and sometimes even signs get moved! Best to get a map to be 100% sure you are on the right track.

Picture above - the Bol D' Or - Art by Rita Mancesti, see more about this artist below. Cinema The film showing tonight (20 August) at the Open Air cinema in Nyon is the classic (and digitally restored) film comedy  "Some Like It Hot" directed by Billy Wilder starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon.  A most appropriately titled film for the current weather that we are experiencing right now!  The film begins at 21:00, there is a bar and small café on site for pre-dinner  snacks and drinks. See cineair.ch Wine Tour in English in September Interested in finding out more about  local Swiss wine?  Then you might like to go on this wine tour on the 1st September which will take place in and around the vineyards above Morges. See flyer below for details. Autumn and Winter Music events coming up. Even though summer is still with us, many of  the local arts and music venues have now released their new Autumn/Winter programmes. The Usine a Gaz is Nyon's own permanent arts and music venue and their programme (which is scheduled right up until May next year)  can be found here.  Music La Parenthèse, the small underground bar in Nyon's old  town, has also released its programme of  music  for September.  Bands from Australia, Canada and Switzerland are on the line up, see their site here and a previous article on this music venue. Art There are two local artists who have ongoing projects at the moment. Firstly, Rita Mancesti who runs her own gallery in Coppet (and has previously been featured on this site), currently has an exhibition in the Clinique Genolier gallery called  "Du coté de la Lumière" . The Clinique regularly features art exhibitions in its gallery space and is open to the public from approx 07:30 to around 19:00 each day. This exhibition is due to end on the 1st September and you can see and hear more about it in this video below from Nyon Regional TV (from approx 09.21 minutes onwards). Art O'Baz du 21 juin 2012 par nyonregiontv Have your portrait painted in an art project!  Stephanie Fonteyn, another local artist who has also been featured on this site, has recently launched a new art project called The 100 Faces Project in which she will paint 100 portraits in 360 days.  Image above - Crystel - One of the faces in the "100 Faces project". When she has finished painting the 100 faces, they will be exhibited as a collective giant portrait mosaic measuring 4m x 4m.  If you would like to find out more about this project (or your face be part of it!) see the website here for more details.

An informal early evening/ after work drinks evening will take place this Wednesday 29th September from 18:00 -20:00 at the "Roulotte", the temporary café just behind Nyon railway station. Please note, this is an outside venue (so dress warmily!) However, the weather forecast is looking fine for Wednesday, so it will be good to have a final outdoor drinks before Autumn is upon us. Photos above and below are of the café. This is a good opportunity to meet other Anglophones and readers of this site. If you have just arrived here it's also a chance to ask the editor and others questions about living in the town and area. There is no need to reserve for this evening however if you would like to attend then it would help if you sent an email to cnp2@ bluewin.ch for an approximate idea of numbers. The Roulotte serves wine, beers, snacks and some food. If for any reason the weather changes dramatically and is too inclement to hold the event, then there will be an update on this site on Wednesday.