Big names and smaller names  at festival - Caribana often a springboard to greater recognitio n. Photo in banner- The band Animen from Geneva. Tinie Tempah     - photo courtesy Caribana festival. The line up of bands and artists due to play at the next Caribana music festival (5 - 9 June) was revealed at a press conference in Nyon on Wednesday morning. As in previous years, the programme includes a mix of names from the well known artists: Kaiser Chiefs, The Kills,  Tinie Tempah, 77 Bombay St, Fun, to artists who are not  necessarily so well known, but are beginning to receive recognition in their field. The Kaiser Chiefs - photo courtesy Caribana festival. Caribana is often a good opportunity to see these bands up close when they perform in the small intimate stages on the lake side. The band Vintage Troubl e who played  at the festival  last year ( see our photos here ) have now gone on to be a major name in the music world; one of their tracks is being used for the trailer to the BBC TV programme. "The Voice" .  Scottish rock folk band Kassidy , who played on the tiny beach stage at Caribana  a few years ago have also achieved success since their performance.   According to Caribana, bands to watch out for this year are Indie/ Rock /Pop band   Imagine Dragons from Las Vegas, Rock N' Roll band The Jim Jones Revue and Andy Burrows from Winchester in the U.K  and many more. The Jim Jones Review - Photo Courtesy Caribana Festival New this year to Caribana is a change of focus for the  final Sunday. Instead of the previous Caribakids - a  day for younger children, the day is now going to be dedicated to teenagers and has been renamed Caribateens. There will be a series of events for children aged 12- 16 , a DJ contest (inscription here) , and a concert by the  Swiss group Tweek.

Welcome back. I hope you had a good Easter and you enjoyed the fine weather over the holiday period. There are many activities coming up on the local agenda which I will be featuring on here over the next few weeks. Last Easter weekend CGN (the ferry company) changed its schedule to a Spring time table and increased the frequency of the crossings across the lake. April, May and June are often a good time to take a cruise, the boats are not as busy as later on in the year during the the main summer tourist season. Don't forget if you have a demi-tarif (half price) train pass , it is valid for tickets on most boat journeys. Still down by the lake, the Musée du Léman has a new exhibition called "Léman Maniac", a varied selection of objects collected by the museum since 1954. Next Sunday, the 19th April it's open day at the Tennis Club of Nyon from 11:00 onwards. On this day you can test the courts out and have a game for free. There will be a fashion show at 16:00, a bouncy castle for children, and the chance to test your tennis speed of service! This Thursday 16th, the line up for this year's Paléo music festival is released and tickets go on sale the following Wednesday 22nd at 12:00 Next week, the Visions du Réel documentary film festival comes to Nyon. I will be watching some of the films in advance and reviewing them on here, and giving you full details of when and where they are showing so you too, can go and see them. This week's Living in Nyon column on Friday in La Côte newspaper will be all about chocolate and what the dark stuff means to different nationalities. Check it out! Finally, a bit of an advance warning, in May, this site will be one year old! Its hard to believe but it has been a full twelve months since it began in a small way with a just a bit of online information and news. It has come a long way since then so there will be a Living in Nyon event for readers to celebrate this, and as usual a special invitation and welcome to newcomers to Nyon. At this stage I am not sure whether it will be a pizza evening event, or a "drinks" evening and the date has to be confirmed but whatever it will be, it will be a celebration!

Third candidate now in the running! The storm over Nyon last night was spectacular, noisy and loud with lots of lightning and thunder. This weekend the forecast is predicting more unsettled weather, and by the sound of it there is a bit of a storm brewing on the local political scene. In her previous post*, Bernadette wrote that local politics were going to get interesting and she was right! Here is the latest from her on what's been happening lately. "There are no longer two but three candidates now in the race to become the seventh "municipal" of Nyon. There were even rumours of a fourth man (the former mayor of Eysins) but he withdrew for health reasons, before the closing date of September 1st. The third candidate is Jean Meyer and is standing as a candidate despite no formal political party behind him. He is a member of the workers party, the POP, but they are considering throwing him out. The POP officially supports the radical candidate Maurice Gay. It’s very clear that the real race will be between Maurice Gay and Daniel Rossellat . Maurice Gay is supported by all the right wing parties (UDC; Liberal party, Radical party and the Independent party of Nyon). Daniel Rosselat is supported by the Socialists and the Green party. It’s a choice between on the one hand Maurice Gay, who has a lot more political experience, and on the other hand, Daniel Rosselat a candidate with a more strategic vision and a much larger network." So voila! The next instalment is eagerly awaited! The posters are now going up around town as the campaigning hots up. It's interesting to see which side of this poster each candidate has been placed. On Wednesday 10th September at 20:00 there will be an opportunity to hear and see all three candidates in a debate which is open to the public and will take place in the council offices (Ferme du Manoir) building. * For Bernadette's previous post, scroll down to 22nd August Please note! Latest info! This event below is not in the actual chateau, it is near by. This Saturday 6th September it will be "cave ouverte" near the Chateau-de-Crans with an Annual Open Day from 10:00 - 20:00. You can visit the wine cellar for a wine tasting. There will be art exhibitions and from 11:00 - 15:30, the "Valdensis quartet " will be playing music from baroque to the Beatles, and the "Swing Session" will play traditional jazz from 16:30 - 20:00. Finally on Monday, at the Nyon cinema the V.O film (this means Version Originale ie: in its original language) will be Mamma Mia! It starts at 21:00, but its always advisable to get there early to get a ticket and a seat, these V.O nights are usually very popular.

The weather remains warm here in Nyon and if you want to go to one more outdoor music festival, then the Jval festival held in the vineyards above Begnins is in a lovely setting and a great way to round off the summer. On the programme tonight (Friday) is punk Evelinn Trouble from Zurich, (she performed at Paléo this year). Check out the full programme, tickets available from Disques Service in Nyon. Learn a language The new Migros Ecole club brochure is out now with a full listing of all the courses that it runs at its further education centre in the centre of town (just below the supermarket and where you can pick up a brochure). There are classes in French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, Russian and other languages. There are also classes held in English such as drawing and painting, art history, and gourmet cooking. There are even various walks offered under the sports section such as a walk to see the sunrise on Mont Blanc and there are classes in information technology too. Check out the site Photo exhibition Over in Prangins at the Swiss National Museum, the exhibition of Swiss photography from the 1930s continues until the 25th October.

Insurance Questions?   It's that time of year when readers are looking to renew their insurance policies for health, household or financial products. There are two insurance companies right in the heart of Nyon and both of them have English speaking representatives that can answer your questions on insurance. Bertrand Jean Daemers from Generali Insurance specialises in helping clients with financial products, mortgages, household and car insurance. He works out of the Nyon branch of Generali and is available for private consultations. He can be contacted via email bertrandjean.daemers@generali.com  or give him a call on Tel 078 638 9806.  The Generali building can be found not far from the Place du Temps car park and the railway station at Avenue Perdtemps 23. Isabelle Tenaille from CSS insurance specialises in helping clients with their health insurance questions for both individuals and families and through every stage of life. The CSS office can be found in Rue de la Gare 18 (entrance door next to the Brasseurs pub) Isabelle can be contacted  isabelle.tenaille@css.ch  or you can call her on 079 230 2468

This year Living in Nyon is delighted to have two reviewers  at Visions du Réel. Trish Thalman (who reviewed films for this site last year) and newcomer Kathy Morf. They will both be giving their reviews of the films that they have seen at the festival. Many of these reviews will be of films that will be shown again so keep checking the site on a daily basis to see what's coming up. The first review from Kathy is of  "Born under Z"  which will be shown tonight  8th April at 20:00  at the Capitole 2 Cinema.   This film is a world premiere here in Nyon. Kathy says "this is a deeply moving film and door to the past of what really happened to one of the 5,000 children that was separated from his Vietnamese mother and sent to France in 1954 and definitely worth seeing". Children sent to France to strengthen the Motherland A ship filled 5,000 children leaves the Saigon harbour (actual Ho Chi Minh City). It is 1954 after the fall of Diên Biên Phu, Vietnam. The French are sending home carefully selected, healthy children to France. They are needed to strengthen the motherland. These half-cast Indochinese children’s French blood overpowers the Vietnamese blood and gives them the right become a French citizen.  Robert Vaesa is one of the children sent to France at the age of ten. He lived with Vietnamese mother and knew his French father for two years before he was injured and sent back to France. Robert is sent to a strict Catholic boarding school with other half-caste children like himself. They are taught in French and little by little loose their Vietnamese identity to be replaced with a French one. Robert recalls having received everything a child could need: food, clothes and an education. The only thing that was missing was a family. Waiting in vain by the school gate for his mother Robert's mother, Mrs. Khiem worked for the French. When Robert is first sent to boarding school she comes to visit him every Sunday. He waits for her by the gate every week. As the months go by she comes less and then no more. He still waits for her every Sunday until he is forced to realize that she will not come again and that he is now alone. He is deeply hurt and feels abandoned.  Today Robert now lives in France with his wife and ttwo children. He slowly begins to reveal the separation with his mother that he has, until now, buried deep down. He never knew if he even had any relatives. He never saw his father again and grew up in an orphanage in France. His French cousins tried to locate him for years, having heard of him through their uncle, Roberts father. They searched under the name Vaeza (with a z) but couldn’t find anyone. His name had been intentionally changed to Vaesa (with an s) to blur out any hope of ever finding a family member. When the older cousin retires she redoubles her search efforts and finally locates Robert. She leaves him a message asking if he could be the long lost cousin they have been looking for. Robert makes the trip to meet the family he never knew existed. The camera follows a gentle but shy man that hesitantly walks towards these strangers who warmly welcome him.  Cousin Sylvia explains that when she was sick her mother gave her a box of photos to look at as a girl. She discovers Roberts picture and asks her mother who the Vietnamese boy is. When she finds that he has been ripped away from his mother and sent to France she feels a great injustice. As a teenager she begins her search to find him and does not give up until 50 years later. Robert listens carefully to his newfound family and begins to remember the past he tried to forget so long ago. He never told his children about his previous life. A door to the past has been opened   A party is organized with some of the Indochinese orphaned children. He hasn’t seen them in over 40 years. They exchange stories of their childhood and how they remember playing together. A door to the past has been opened. Robert travels to Paris, visits the overseas archives and finds his file. He stares at a picture of himself as a young boy and chuckles. He cannot understand why he was abandoned if he was not bad looking and had been well behaved. What had he done wrong? He discovers a letter written by his mother to the school asking for his news. He looks hurt that this information never reached him while he waited in vain by the school gates week after week for his mother to visit.  He walks along the streets of Paris searching for links to the Indochinese colonial past in sculptures, buildings and street names. He tries to understand what happened 50 years ago and begins reading books about the children of the colonial past. He is shocked to learn that the departure of the ship that he was on was well planned in advance. France was doing them a favour by saving them and bringing them “home”.   He meets veteran soldiers that served in the French army at the time. They reveal to him how they were first struck by the appalling poverty and how the army was cruel and unjust with the locals. Pretty Vietnamese women were forced into prostitution. It was a custom for many of the soldiers to marry a local woman, even if just for a month.  He feels foreign in his own country Half a century after his departure, Robert is ready to travel to Vietnam with his wife and children. As he steps out of the taxi in the busy, noisy and colourful streets of Ho Chi Minh he does not recognize anything. He searches the streets he once knew for sings of his early childhood. An elderly Vietnamese man helps him and asks the locals if they remember any of the places Roberts draws on paper out of his memory. He looks at the boarding school, Catholic Church, French prison, streets and buildings he once knew and does not recollect anything. He feels foreign in his own country as if he does not belong here or really in France. His biggest wish is to find his mother: to hold her and to tell her that he is not angry with her anymore and that he forgives her for what happened which was out of their control. Film directed by Frédérique Pollet Royer - France/ Belgium 75 minutes length  Kathy Morf works as a graphic designer in Geneva. She loves to travel and write about her adventures on her blog (click on link )  kathyand theworld . She grew up in Quebec, Canada and moved to Switzerland at seventeen. Her love for writing encouraged her join the Geneva Writers’ Group and a small critique group that meets once a month. She is currently taking an online journalism course and will travel to London this spring for a travel writing class.

Whether you are new to Switzerland, or have been here for a while, it's well worth visiting  the Léman Expat Fair. There is always lots of useful information for the international community at this fair which will take place from 11:00 -17:00 on Sunday 3rd November in the Beaulieu in Lausanne This fair is now in its seventh year and gets bigger and better each year. Living in Nyon will be there with our own stand (booth 54) so come and say hello! It's also a good opportunity to purchase a copy of the book Living along Lac Léman (while stocks last!) Competition Entry is free to the Léman Fair but if you register in advance,  you can enter a draw to win a range of prizes ranging from a voucher for one night and two dinner and breakfasts at the lovely Hôtel Palafitte on the water in Neuchatel, CFF vouchers, entrances to spas and more.  You can register here for the draw English Book Exchange There is also an English book exchange too at the fair. Bring your used books and CDs  and OFFER them to other expats!   Full details here Lots of exhibitors Take a look at all the exhibitors at this fair from A-Z here Workshops and Presentations There are will be a range of presentations and workshops at the fair including a short presentation by Diccon Bewes on his book "Slow Train to Switzerland" - reminder Diccon will also be coming to Nyon on the 25th November for a fun evening event plus apéro see here . One of the presentations at the Léman Expat Fair at 13:30 -14:00 will be on "What steps are needed to start your own business?" by Julien Guex - Chamber of Commerce Vaud This presentation  will give an overview of what one needs to know before setting up their own business in Vaud. Our speakers of the day, from the CVCI (Chamber of Commerce of the Canton of Vaud ), will cover the technical and legal aspects involved when setting up one's own business. Information will also be provided about the different existing organizations specifically dedicated to supporting emerging businesses and start-ups in the region. There will be another presentation from  15:00 - 16:00  on the "Canton of  Vaud School Education System" ,  followed by CVCI with a presentation on apprenticeships in Vaud. See you there at the fair! -   Directions on how to get there by public transport and bus  here

The opening film at this year's Visions du Reel festival "Love and Engineering", to be shown Friday 25th at 1930 at the Theatre de Marens and Saturday 26th at 1200 at the Salle Communale in Nyon, is a documentary about a Bulgarian computer engineer living in Finland who thinks he has developed a scientific formula which will provide seductive powers to those who apply it. He explains the theory to his fellow (male) colleagues and lets them loose in and around the streets, nightclubs and cafés of Helsinki to test out his theories. His colleagues are a mixed bunch, from the silent, quiet types (who spend most of their time programming or playing video games and who are far more comfortable with a virtual world than a real one), to those who are slightly more adept in chatting to the opposite sex, but still haven't found love and long term relationships have eluded them. There are some poignant, almost painful scenes in the film: men being rejected by women, men sat in cafés desperately trying to make conversation with a blind date, men telling jokes which don't really make the women laugh. The experiment in using the formula for love continues - along with lots moments of levity including a moment when one lonely man says, "I don't end a woman to do the cleaning, I have a cleaning robot to do that" yet there is also a profound sadness to the mens' dilemma and their inability to find a soul mate. Apart from the inclusion of one scene where we see a female professor chatting to the men, (she gives some sound advice to these men who are full of theories) we don't hear from any other women in this documentary, we don't hear their side of the story of what they felt on the blind dates or what they felt about the men themselves. This tactic only adds to the allusion that women are a mystery, this plus the emotive electronic music throughout makes it a fascinating film. Director Tonislav Hristov has found a winning formula with this documentary unlike his protagonists men who are still searching for the formula for love.

Another successful Paléo for the organisers - promise of a party next year to celebrate 40 years of the festival. Photos above and below from Sunday's  Youssou N'Dour concert. At Sunday's final press conference of Paléo 2014, Daniel Rossellat, president of Paléo and Jacques Monnier, programming coordinator, summed up the previous five days of the festival and concluded that despite the weather, it had been a very successful event. Rossellat explained that there actually hadn't been that much rain at the festival itself, the problem lay with the volume of rain that had fallen in the preceding weeks which had made the ground wet to begin with. 350 tonnes of straw and 100 m3 of wood shavings were used at the festival this year to cover up the mud! Cars parked across and around Nyon Rossellatpraised those in charge of transport who had to deal with all the parking issues (festival car parks were closed for the final two days), but then went on to say that he was always amazed that music lovers still made the effort to get up to the grounds, cars were parked across the whole of Nyon stretching for miles and he was pleased that that many took advantage of public transport. Stromae a massive success Jacques Monnier said it was always difficult to summarise in 5 minutes all the concerts at the festival, but undoubtedly the concert of Stromae will go down in Paléo history, not only did it attract record numbers to the grounds, but the concert itself "was spectacular and something "out of the ordinary".  Paléo is very pleased to have brought Stromae to Nyon and they say they are interested to see what happens to his career next as the artist aims to win over the American public. Photo above -  courtesy Paléo. Records crowds for Stromae As to the other Paléo 2014 concerts, some of the highlights were artists such as Seasick Steve, "he stripped everything down to the basics,  just him and one other musician and he still produced a great sound", Parov Stelar "their concert went on until 0300 a.m and was a real hit", Plaza Francia in the Dome  (read a previous Living in Nyon review of this concert here ) and Akua Naru in Le Detour tent  (read Jonas's  review here) . Although Monnier didn't quite say so outright, there seemed to have been some disappointment with the Elton John concert, and Living in Nyon agrees, although he was in fine voice,  he didn't really engage with the audience.  Monnier repeated there had been many other concerts that had been a success with the public, too many to mention. Paléo is always pleased to be able to showcase Swiss artists and this year there were many on the line-up.  Music programmers from  Glastonbury in the UK, to Roskilde festival in Denmark to other important world festivals come to Paléo in the hunt for new artists, so playing on a Paléo stage gives bands a great opportunity to promote their work. Above - Swiss band - " The Silver Firs" from Berne Screens and Sounds  There was some small discussion at the press conference on the fact that if one band is playing at Les Arches and another is playing at the Club Tent (or even on the main stage), then at times the music can clash and both bands can be heard at the same time. However Monnier said that this doesn't happen often, it was more to do with the wind direction that day and if it did occur, it was only for 15 minutes due to the careful scheduling.  The alternative, he said, would be to eliminate one stage completely which they didn't want to do as it would limit the music choices on offer to the public. Nevertheless , they were always looking at how to improve the layout of the stages, but he said this clashing of sounds issue is not unique to Paléo, it can also be a problem at many other festivals. This year there were more screens placed around the grounds, particularly for the Stromae concert due to concerns about safety and to ensure all the public could watch the concert, so the question was raised by a member of the press if they should do this more often, however Paléo is slightly reluctant as they really want to attract the public to be near the stages as it lends to the atmosphere. The only slight negative to this year's Paléo was that drink sales were down by about 10%. Rossellat says this often happens in poor weather. The bars and restaurants at Paléo bring in approximately 20% of its revenue. Aside from that, is was concluded that it was a successful Paléo and there was much promised for next year which will be celebrate 40 years of the festival.  There will probably some kind of party or celebration planned in the town itself and all will be revealed on the 14th April along with the line up. Tickets will go on sale on 22nd April and the festival  itself will take place from 21 to 26 July 2015. The music from the  Village du Monde area will be from the Far East. Living in Nyon will be there of course to report on it all including writer and student Jonas Parson (photo below) who covered the festival  this year. Below - other  images of Paléo 2014 Above - Namaân - The young French reggae artist Above - guitarist from Chico Trujillo Above - The European Orchestra playing on Les Arches stage. Above and below the famous massive "tartines" served at Paléo Above - scene from the Yossou NDour concerr Serving meat at the Argentinian asado in the Village du Monde area Above - Focussing  the heavy cameras onto the crowd

Woody Wade is a futurist and author. In his role as a consultant to Swiss organisations planning their future strategies, his role is to help them visualise how their business environment might change, depending on how trends and uncertainties unfold over the next few years. “I help managers of companies get ready for changes they might face in the future by first, recognising what those changes could be,” he says. “That’s already a big step.” Living in Nyon asked Woody, a native of Indiana, how he came to be living amongst the vineyards in Grandvaux  (a village with a population just over 2,000), above Cully in the heart of the Lavaux wine-growing region.  “The Reader’s Digest version of the story,” he says, “is that I came to work in Switzerland intending to stay ‘for three years’ – that was in 1982. As happens with so many people, Switzerland quickly got its velvet claws in me, so thirty years later, I’m still here, very happy and in no hurry to leave. For the first seven years, I lived in the German part of the country, but then I had a chance to move to Lausanne, and I’ve never looked back.  Where I live now, in Grandvaux, I’m perched 300 metres above the lake with a panoramic view that is always changing, always energising. It’s a wonderful place to live and work, an easy drive to Lausanne, Vevey, or the Geneva airport.  Peace and quiet, some good restaurants and caveaux nearby – I’m really very privileged.” In Woody’s new book Scenario Planning: A Field Guide to the Future, he explores several ways the world might be different a decade from now – and he makes the case for using a structured approach called scenario planning to try and foresee how the changes could arise – and how different the world may be if they do. What is an example of a trend that could change companies’ competitive footing in the future? “One of the biggest changes going on all around us, but so slowly we almost don’t feel it, is demographic,” Woody says.  Birth rates have dropped.  So a world with fewer young people than a generation ago could realistically change the “landscape” 10 years from now. This has huge implications for anyone that wants talented young people to join their organisation – and that means just about everybody. When Woody gives presentation to companies he often illustrate the challenges ahead by using the Swiss Army as an example of an organisation facing a shortage of human resources in the future – although he is quick to point out, we will all be in the same boat, not just the Swiss Army.  “We will be living in a world where the pool of talent will be shrinking ,” he says.  Simply put, lower birth rates mean fewer kids.  A little further down the line, fewer kids mean fewer graduates, fewer apprentices, fewer new hires – and for the Swiss Army, fewer 19-year-old recruits. So what can the Swiss Army – and any organisation – do now to get ready for this situation? Woody shows alternative ways the army might address the problem, from forging rather unusual strategic alliances to outsourcing military bands. “I make light of it this in subject in  my talks, but it’s a serious issue, and companies really do need to be thinking about it today,” he says. You can find out more about Woody's work and contact here via  his own website.

The "Thank goodness it's Friday" drinks evening tonight will be at the Sixteenth Century Hotel in Nyon in Place du Marche from 18:30 to 20:00. If the weather remains nice we will be in the courtyard of the hotel (chairs are usually out on the cobblestones or under the arches). If it is raining, then inside. Please note because the walls of the hotel are so thick sometimes there can be signal problems when using mobile phones in this area.  Click on "plan d'ccess" on the hotel's own website for directions.

The CentreVille school in Nyon marks it 100th year anniversary this year with a full day of activities planned on Saturday. One of those is an opportunity for children to take a dictation test which was set for seven year olds, and was part of the curriculum back in 1908. There's also an opportunity for adults to take a maths test too! The day's celebrations begin at 10:00 and go on until 16:00. There will be a rally taking place in the basement throughout the day (with prizes for winners such as a trip to Europa Park, cinema tickets, chocolates etc ) There's a guided visit by an architect of the building from 10:30 -11:00 and 14:00- 14:30. An exhibition of pupils' art A concert by pupils (in the church next to the school) at 11:15- 12:00. There will be even be an ex pupil there; Madame Nelly Wuichet. She was at the school in 1940 and she will recount what her school days were like! (13:15 -14:00 register for this event at the entrance) The dictation test for 7 year olds will be from 10:30 -11:00 and again at 14:00- 14:30 The maths test for adults will be at 15:00- 15:15 Snacks and drinks will be on sale throughout the day.