Film student Fanny Leyvraz reviews  "Tu Y Yo" - directed by Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada and which was shown at Visions du Réel earlier this week. It took two years to create this faithful documentary of two women living together. Four people were included in the creation of “Tu Y Yo”. Both writers and directors, the two young artists Natalia Cabral and Oriol Estrada made their first long feature film together in the Dominican Republic. In front of their camera, there is “you and me”: Francisca Pérez De Sosa and Paula Lebrón. One is a wealthy, retired, educated woman who is employing the other. The employee is a young and hard-working woman, very poor and illiterate. Frames of coexistence The retired rich woman isn't totally idle, she has a big garden on her roof-top balcony, and she likes to sew. Even if she spends some of her time criticising the work of her employee, she does appreciate having company to share the day with. It's the same with the young woman, even if she can be fed up with the demands of her employer, in the end she is grateful to be with someone rather than completely alone. As different as they may be, both share the same question in their minds, how can one overcome solitude when one shares a living space? How does one get along with people from opposite social classes (especially in the Dominican Republic where the differences are extreme and problematic). The film, using different scenes of their daily routine, shows us that they both need each each other in a special sort of way, even when it's not easy. Even if the audience logically sides with the housemaid, ever so silent, always working, and respectful compared to the one giving her orders, needy, controlling and sometimes - actually most of the time - making inconsistent demands. The movie has perhaps too gentle a pace, with its too many lengthy quiet shots and a total absence of music (except the bawling of the novella TV-show). This can somewhat boring, but the frame is always interesting, and the vision du "réel” it offers is quite well achieved and the camera captures with authenticity, the everyday life of this heterogeneous duo.

Its the Spring Market in Nyon tomorrow in venues all around the town. Stands galore. Jazz music Take away food. Stalls are open until 1800

Film in English "The Big Short" will be shown in English at the Capitole Cinema on Monday 8th February in Nyon at 20:30. This film, starring Christian Bale, Ryan Goslin, Steve Carell and Brad Pitt, centres around the financial crisis of 2007 -2008. See trailer below.

FAR (the festival of living arts) is the fourth and final big festival that will take place in Nyon in 2016. The festival begins on Wednesday 10th August and continues until the 20th August at various venues around the town. The theme this year is entitled Ailleurs (Elsewhere) and there will be a variety of arts performances that will address the subject of migration. One of the performances on the 10th and 11th August will be a dance production called Jutyar t hat has evolved out of a workshop with recently arrived migrants to Nyon and it will feature a migrant who has made the journey from Iraqi Kurdistan to Switzerland. Also in the 10 day programme, there will be an event called Nightwalks with Teenagers  -  a performance orchestrated by teenagers. They will lead night walks through the city of Nyon on the 18th, 19th and 20th of August at 21:00 and will share their experiences of the neighbourhood with the audience, and reveal their favourite spots. This event is by the Mammalian Diving Reflex company from Canada Nyon residents may have seen various billboards around the town that are part of the festival. These are works created by Meriç Algün Ringborg based on her own experience as a migrant moving from Turkey to Sweden. With Billboards , the artist shows  the bureaucratic realities involved in migration by using questions taken from visa application forms. For the full 10 arts programme - click here

There are 2 x 2 free tickets up for grabs for the Crimson ProjeCKt concert coming up on the 7th March at the Usine a Gaz in Nyon.  The normal ticket price is 35 CHF per person. The Crimson ProjeKCt is a King Crimson offshoot featuring  three current members of the historic band, primarily focussing on repertoire from early 1980s through to the mid-90s. Three members of the band Belew, Levin and Mastelotto still have a large influence on popular culture due in part to their critically acclaimed work with some of the world’s most influential artists, such as Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Peter Gabriel, David Sylvian, Talking Heads, XTC, Paul Simon, John Lennon etc. To be in  with a chance to win tickets to this event just email i nfo@livinginnyon.com by Tuesday 4th March with all names of those interested in winning tickets.

There are various venues in the La Côte region where football enthusiasts can watch the Euro 2016 Championships with other members of the public. The biggest Fan Zone is at the Emil Frey garage at Route de Champ-Colin 1, in Nyon. This zone has two big screens, food and drink stands at the venue. Also in Nyon is the Bar Lounge La Jetée  at the Place de la Grande Jetée with a big outside screen (unless it is raining) There are also exterior screens at the following restaurants, bars and hotels. Café des Moulins - Ruelle des Moulins in Nyon Pub de la Gare - Place de la Gare 1, Nyon Fisherman's Pub - Rue de Rive 37, Nyon Interior screens at the Le Débarcadère restaurant Rue de Rive 34 and the Mumbai Bar at Place du Marché in Nyon. Other venues outside Nyon Screen plus bbq - La Barcarolle hotel - Route de Promenthoux 8, Prangins. Exterior screen and bar at the La Copétane Grand Rue 30, Coppet. Big indoor screen at Les Cystises - Rue de la Gare 2, St-Cergue.

Last year, an article called "My Perfect Weekend" appeared in the UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph in which the singer Petula Clark included a visit to Nyon as part of her perfect weekend. She says it is an "enchanting town" with its "wonderful shops and castle". She then says that after visiting Nyon, she would go on to the nearby vineyards to buy Swiss wine and then head off over to Montreux. Petula Clark lives in Geneva and she, like many other famous folk who live around here all know what a beautiful place the Nyon area is. You can read the article in full here. This weekend there were many people out and about taking advantage of the wonderful snow up in the Jura. On Saturday there were lots of families toboganning, cross country skiing around La Givrine. Some skiiers were lucky enough to be pulled up the hill by snowmobile! On Sunday down by the "rive" a few brave souls sat in the outdoor cafés or they walked along the lakeside to catch some rays of the winter sun that made an appearance, albeit briefly.

If you've walked through the centre of Nyon on a Wednesday or Saturday morning, you could well have seen and heard a harpist standing in front of Manor entertaining the passers by. If so, then you will have heard the beautiful Paraguayan music of David Franco Llamosas. David comes over to Switzerland for three months each year and plays in Lausanne, Solothurn, Lausanne, Geneva, Morges, Nyon and other Swiss cities. For the other nine months he helps his on his father's hacienda by selling fruit and teaching harp at the Conservatoire of Asunción, but it's his Swiss summer work that really helps supplement his income. David came to Nyon by default three years ago one summer, en route to somewhere else. On a whim he got off the train to take a look at the town, he started playing and discovered that the people of Nyon liked and appreciated his music which is why he returns. But he says: "I try never to outstay my welcome, I only play two mornings a week here, I am careful in alternating the cities that I visit so people don't tire of the music". David is married and his wife Raquel de Franco travels with him and she too, plays the harp. If they are playing in the same city, they never play in the same spot and in certain towns they even have allocated times when they can play. "In Lausanne there are quite a few street musicians so we register our names on a list to play so everyone can get a fair share." David has relatives who moved to Geneva and Morges over 26 years ago so he and Raquel always have accommodation for when they are here. When I asked him if the cost of the flight from Paraguay doesn't wipe out any money he earns he says: "It is still worth our while to come here, but then we do play every day of the week apart from Wednesday and Saturday afternoon when we give ourselves (and our hands!) a bit of a break. We have seen some lovely parts of Switzerland doing this job and on a summer's day it's good to be out and entertaining the public. But it it's hard work, as some mornings we start at 07:00 to earn money and of course it's tough when it's raining and the weather isn't good". At some stage David and his wife would like to stop their itinerant lifestyle and stay permanently in their own country, to settle and raise a family of their own, but says: "Until our economic situation improves, this is what we do". I wondered about the logistics and cost of bringing the harps over to Switzerland so asked if he had to pay a heavy luggage charge on the plane when he flies over each year. "No, the harps stay at my aunts here in Switzerland, we have others back in Paraguay. My two brothers also play, so there are always instruments available in our family". When I asked him why he plays near Manor and not nearer the castle (where there are possibly more tourists), he said: "It's the people of Nyon who are the most generous, not always the tourists". David and his wife return to Paraguay on the 1st October so there are a few weeks more for you to catch his music if you are out and about in Nyon on a Weds or Saturday morning. If you think South American harp music might provide the right atmosphere for any social event you may be organising then David and Raquel do play at private events. David can be contacted on 078 842 43 39 or email mensajerodelarte@hotmail.com

There was a mellow, soulful mood at Caribana at the start of day three with the early performance of Ben Oncle Soul on the main stage. There was also a very hot, humid atmosphere and it was only matter of time before dark clouds began to appear and the heavens opened.  Many festival goers scrambled under cover wherever they could or went looking for the free raincoats handed out by one of the sponsors. It didn't dampen the mood for some and they carried on dancing in the rain. Although the storm continued for a while, it stayed off during part of Danakil's concert on the lake stage and he lifted the audience energy level up by an engaging performance, some of it to a background of lightning and thunder.  Let's hope it stays dry for tonight's Caribana. There are still tickets available, on the line up on the main stage are Selah Sue, The Cardigans and Marlon Roudette. Click here for details

Who will govern Nyon's 17,812 inhabitants ? In just over a month, Nyon goes to the polls. You might think this is nothing unusual, there often seems to be the "Vote Here" sign up in the centre of town. However, what you might not be aware of, is that local politics has recently become very interesting. So I'm absolutely delighted that Bernadette Nelissen (in photo below) has volunteered to outline the situation in English for this site and to keep us updated on current happenings and events.Bernadette is Dutch and her job brought her to Nyon in 1994. She’s president of la Balle au Bond (a children's "after school" service) and she was one of the driving forces in creating the new Children’s Library in the town. She works in the financial sector in Geneva and is mother of four girls. Over the years she has become more and more interested in local politics and this is the first of her reports, (with a few photos added by me). "Some people think Swiss politics are boring, I can assure you they’re not. Especially not in Nyon, it has been very lively lately and will be even more exciting this autumn. A lot of issues in Switzerland are decided on a local level (far more than in most countries). Therefore it’s useful to become a bit more familiar with the decision-makers of this beautiful town." How is it organised and who’s who? in local Nyon politics? The people of Nyon vote to elect their *conseil communal" and their "municipaux" every 5 years, (last time was in the summer of 2006). * Nearest translation "council" and "municipality". The conseil communal has 100 members, elected by the voters and divided over seven political parties. They meet ten times a year and several times a month in smaller committees. All these members are volunteers. If you go to the following site you can click on your quartier (area) and see who are the members of the conseil communal living close to you. The 100 members of the conseil communal are divided over the political parties as follows (from left wing to right wing): Parti Ouvrier Populaire (Workers Party) (POP) 7 membersParti Socialiste (PS) 28 membersParti des Verts (The Green Party) 14 membersParti Indépendants Nyonnais 13 membersParti Radical 12 membersParti Libéral 19 membersUnion Democratique du Centre (UDC) 7 members There are normally seven municipaux in Nyon. They get paid on a part-time basis (two days a week), despite the fact that they are usually working practically full-time. If you are a regular reader of La Côte you will certainly recognise their names: Claude Dupertuis - Workers party - Urbanism & Construction, Town Planning, ad-interim mayor Monique Boss - Socialist party - Culture & Green spaces Fabienne Freymond Cantone - Socialist - Finance, IT and Utilities Olivier Mayor - Green party - Social Services, Sports, Schools & Religious Faiths Claude Uldry - Independent - Human Resources & Buildings Elisabeth Ruey-Ray, Liberal - Police, Mobility & Fire Services Here are all their photos Over a dispute concerning his place of residence, (a municipal is obliged to live in Nyon) the last syndic (mayor) of Nyon, who used to be member of the socialist party, Alain-Valéry Poitry, was forced to leave in the spring of 2008 (this was quite a local drama) so for the last few months Claude Dupertuis has acted as ad-interim mayor. On the 28th of September there will be elections to finally bring the number of municipaux back to seven. There are two candidates: Maurice Gay (radical) Here is his site and Daniel Rosselat, (officially without a party but linked to the Green Party), better known as the boss of the Paleo-festival. Here is his site In a second election a new mayor will also be chosen, this will take place on November 9th (with, if needed, a second round on November 30th) Nyon is buzzing with rumours about these elections. The radical party hopes to gain back their position in the municipalité with Maurice Gay, and the left wing parties could strengthen their forces if Daniel Rossellat is elected. There’s a lot at stake for all parties involved and it will be even more exciting when the election for mayor will take place early November. It’s going to be “chaud” this autumn, so we’re looking forward to it! " Thanks Bernadette, it looks like it's "hats off " now with local politics. It's going to be fascinating. Please note: Bernadette and I have tried to be as accurate as possible, but translation errors may occur and some fine and latest details may be omitted, but we have tried to give a broad overview for you.

The Ecole Moser school in Nyon will be holding an "Open Day" on Saturday 19th March from 09:00 -12:00. If you are currently looking at educational opportunities for your children, this is an excellent chance to find out more about this friendly, bilingual international school which is situated in the heart of the town. On Saturday amongst many other activities, there will be  language workshops, iPad workshops, and scientific experiments on show. The school is at 4-6 avenue Reverdil (very near to La Combe shopping centre). For further details,  see website or telephone the administration. Tel: o22 593 88 88

If if you're looking to buy or sell a second-hand bike, then there is a good opportunity to do both on Saturday the 28th May in at the annual used bike sale in Nyon. This will be held from 09:00 just outside the château of Nyon. All bikes in good condition are accepted. At 09:00 take your bike along for valuation and agreement of the selling price by the organisers Between 10:00 and 12:00 the bike sale is open Between 11:30 -12:00, collection of any monies (minus 10% commission for the organisation) Tomorrow is also "Day of the Bike" - so check out the other bike related activities in the town. See here  Spring Market Also on Saturday 28th, it's the Spring Market in the centre of Nyon. Stalls, music, events and much more. Swiss Wrestling, all weekend in Eysins. If you want to see a Swiss tradition this weekend, head off to the village of Eysins near Nyon as it is the Fête des Lutteurs on the 28th and 29th May. This will take place on the grass both days from 08.30 onwards until 17.00 near the main hall in the village. Over 200 wrestlers will be taking part in the week-end competition. There will be a buvette, flag throwing, yodelling and other Swiss traditions on show.