Sunday afternoon classical concerts by the lake The Conservatoire of Nyon opens a new year of Sunday afternoon classical concerts at their lovely building by the lake. The next concert is Sunday 28th February 2010 at 17:00 with a performance by the Quatuor Terpsycordes (see their site to find out more about them, it has asection in English) They will be playing Haydn and Beethoven. See details of concert under événements Fondue Demonstration Tues 23 February - " Time out for Women" 19:45-21:45 in Nyon  Costs: CHF10 - refreshments and fondue demo incl. Rue Juste Olivier 6, 1260 ( in Westlake Church building ) RSVP: register with Ann Lloyd annlloyd7@gmail.com by Friday 19th Feb Usine a Gaz celebrates birthday On the 28th February the Usine a Gaz will be celebrating its 15th birthday with a series of concerts over three days, all with free entry. See the site for the full programme Ski instructor If you need ski instructors in this area who speaks English , the Ski School of La Dole has instructors who speak several languages  see site or call 022 3601414

Every year the Conservatoire of Western Vaud (the Conservatoire currently has 1200 pupils and 73 teachers), puts on an original performance for the public. Their Christmas concert this year will take place at 18:30 on Thursday 16th December in St Prex  and will bring 90 pupils and their teachers together for a Christmas themed musical show. The public will see for themselves the work that goes on at the Conservatoire and the various different levels of musical tuition that is offered by the school. Entry is free. For more information contact Marie-Hélène Piotet,  artistic director on 079 579 73 45. Photo above a previous summer concert of the Conservatoire. Brocante and Christmas Fair  on Thursday, 9th December 09:00 to 20:00  485 rue de l'Etraz, Gex, France A last chance to snap up some unusual gifts for Christmas:Brocante (over 500 items).  Christmas Cards and wreaths. Dried flowers, indoor plants and photos and paintings, painted furniture, beads, jewelry, mincemeat. Hand stitched quilts from Bangladesh sold on behalf of the Kajoli community. Tea, coffee and cakes. Call in after work for late night shopping, and a glass of wine. Parking on the road recommended.  Euros and swiss francs accepted - cheques but not credit cards. Tel +33 4 50 41 92 30 or Mobile +33 6 81 36 67 23 for more details

Nyon Regional Tourist Office has recently launched a new tourist pass. For just 12 CHF, you can gain entry to nine museums in the area: The Château of Nyon, The Roman Museum, The Musée du Léman, The Château of Prangins, The Château of Coppet, the museum of old Coppet, The Agricultural Museum (Moulins de Chiblins), the Wine Museum in Mont-sur-Rolle and finally, the Basketball Association headquarters in Mies. Even if you only get to visit a couple of places on this list, this pass still turns out to be good value for money, and is a great idea for newcomers to the area, or residents with visitors over the summer months! The pass is valid for a week after the first visit. Jazz in Nyon and by the Lake - 3rd July to 29th August  "Rive Jazzy" has started in Nyon. This is a series of free concerts held over Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at various venues near the lake or in the old town. Check out the programme here  for July, and here for August. From Blues to Boogy Woogy to Latin Swing and more, there is a varied programme on offer. Meanwhile over in Morge s - Check out the Saturday "folkloric" market from 09:00 -14:00 from the 11th July to August 8th. Artisanal products made in Switzerland on sale at this market. Food and traditional music in the centre of town too.  Click here for more information.  There will also be an artisanal market in St Cergue on the 18th July from 09:00 to 18:00  Click here

The Usine a Gaz in Nyon will be holding a "Black and White (and Red Carpet) party" in Nyon on the 31st December. Dancing, fancy dress and a DJ from 22:00 onwards.   Details here  At midnight on the 31st December, the tower of the cathedral of Lausanne is lit up. A crowd wait below with champagne at the ready! See video below. Details - Lausanne Tourism

A reminder to readers that its the   Léman Expat Fair ! in Lausanne tomorrow Sunday 4th November from 11:00 -17:00 .  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 110 , 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.

Even though I have been living in Nyon for over eight years, there are still many small villages and hidden places in the area that I have yet to discover. So last week I was delighted to be taken on a fabulous, personal tour by A Different View to introduce me to some of the things I have been missing. This small specialist company organises personal tours in the Lake Geneva area. Their trips are away from the typical tourist destinations that most of us are familiar with (such as Chateau Chillon etc). Last week I had restaurants recommended to me along the way, we visited a farm where we bought freshly made cheese direct from the producer, and tasted delicious spicy sausages (the farm has its own *herd of Highland cows. Photo above: Jeremy Rouze - cheesemaker with cheeses from the Association Burnet-Kursner. Goats' cheeses come either plain and simple or with garlic and parsley, garlic and chives, herbs of Provence, pepper and more! This association supplies local shops with their produce. We went on to a tiny but prestigious chocolate shop hidden in the hills, I was shown where some famous people have lived and lodged in the past, from Peter Ustinov to Winston Churchill. To where some famous people live now (though some of these places will remain a secret to protect their privacy)! We stopped at lovely places for walks and went to some interesting hamlets and villages and auberges for food and refreshments. The sun was so bright and weather was so hot that day that many of my photos were a bit"washed out" but there some superb photo opportunities on this trip. Autumn Brisolée. Every autumn during the grape picking season, there is a tradition here to gather chestnuts and make a meal called Brisolée. This consists of freshly roasted chestnuts and other specialities of the region: rye bread, mountain cheese, dried meat, grapes, apple slices and moût, (the unfermented juice from the first pressing of grapes). A Different View will be organising various walking tours to savour the brisolée and the moût, along with taking their customers around some fabulous scenery and to more hidden places. I have yet to try to Brisolée so I will definitely be on one of their tours for this! Check out their site for this Autumn's itinerary and also see the feature on them in Time magazine (and the stunning photo that accompanies it). * I read on Wikipedia that although groups of cattle are generally called herds, a group of highlands is known as a "fold". They were also known as kyloes in Scots. (I'll check this out to confirm).

Late Night Shopping in Nyon If you haven't managed to finish all your Christmas shopping by now, help is at hand as local shops will be open late in Nyon next week on Monday 21st until 20:00, Tuesday 22nd and Weds 23rd December until 21:00. There will be "animations", music, vin chaud on sale, and a Christmas party atmosphere in the streets. There will be free buses into Nyon too so you don't have to worry about finding a parking spot!

Nyon may be thousands of miles away from the beaches of Ipanema, but this Friday 19 and Saturday 20 October, Brazil will be coming to Nyon with a big SambaFest!   It's the first to be held in the  town and there's lots of activities and music planned on its agenda. According to Meteo Suisse , the sun is due to shine too, although the temperature may not be as hot as in Brazil !   At the SambaFest there will be Samba of course, Brazilian food, workshops, Capoeira plus "lambada and many other authentic South American dance forms will be on display and lessons will be available for all those who want to get into the spirit during the festival!" There will also be a performance by Brazilian guitarist  (and resident of Nyon), Jose Barrense Dias.  According to the Samba Fest site, "International critics have designated Jose Barrense Dias as one of the great masters of Brazilian guitar and ambassador of deep and unalterable music" . He will be the guest of honour at  the opening of SambaFest tonight Friday, October 19. For the full programme of events, see the website (which has information in English)   here See the short video clip here.

If you are planning a wedding or you know of someone who is planning one in the Vaud area, here are a few tips and recommendations to make the special day go smoothly Recommendations  If you are looking for hotel rooms for your guests: book 10 rooms or more at Base Nyon (the new apart-hotel in Nyon, see previous article here)  and this hotel will offer the bride’s parents a free night on the night of the wedding - just a small help towards the rather large costs of this special event! The hotel can also host a pre-wedding drinks for guests at their Base Balcony & Bar the night before the wedding (numbers limited to a max of 25). This stylish rooftop bar of the hotel is due to open shortly for the summer season and is a great place to view the lake and town from high above.   Contact Base Nyon here to ask about this wedding offer. Vom Fass,  the oil and whisky shop in Nyon ( see previous article here ) can supply individual wedding favours, a choice of personalised bottles of spirits or oils to hand out to guests at the wedding. A nice local touch to the event. Traditional wedding caterers can be very expensive so don't hesitate to see if your favourite restaurant arranges catering.  Falaque, the healthy takeaway food restaurant in Nyon also provides outside catering for large groups. See their choice here Here are some other recommendations based on a reader's experience plus a brief summary of the official procedure required. ABC taxis in Nyon for friendly service, they can provide a bridal car, minibuses, coaches. Caroline Miles, seamstress in Mies, does an excellent job. Karin Oprach,  personal concierge, for logistical running of the day, help with set up and organisation on the day. Discreet, with a calm head and very helpful. Official procedure (please note, this is not an exhaustive list) Firstly, phone the cantonal authorities to announce an impending marriage and they will send you all the forms to sign. If you have a date in mind for the civil ceremony, phone up exactly six months to the day at 08:00! This is important because it's on a first come, first serve basis. You will then temporarily book your spot and it will be confirmed when all the paper work has been confirmed. Foreigners will have to provide papers from their embassies and verified birth certificates. A meeting is required with authorities for non-Swiss residents and they ask the happy couple to attest the truth of their papers and their birthplace etc. They will ask the woman if she wants to change her name or not. In Switzerland, double-barreled names are no longer an option, so the bride to be either takes the husband's name, or the husband takes the wife's name, or they both keep their own. They also have to put down a name for their potential children, this can be either the husband's or wife's, again no double barreling. This can be changed within a certain time frame after the children are born. English speaking churches in the Nyon region. La Côte Church Westlake Church

The Village du Monde, situated in the upper left corner of the grounds, is the area dedicated each year to world music. The concept is to invite a different area of the world to each festival, this year's guest of honour being the Far-East. The Dôme hosts concerts by bands exploring the traditions of their culture, as well as expressing their contemporary identity. It is always a great place to discover smaller bands and artists who are usually very talented, and often at the meeting-point of avant-garde and tradition. Tuesday night saw a succession of Mongolian Folk/Rock complete with polyphonic throat singing ( Tulegur ), Korean Percussions ( Noreum Machi ) and Chinese Rock mixed with traditional songs ( Second Hand Rose ). Noreum Machi are actually playing again on Wednesday, and are worth the walk up to the Dôme. But the Village du Monde isn't just about the music. The idea is create an area with its own visual identity, celebrating the far east through the decorations and the food stalls. If you want to eat a pot of Thai noodles with a delicious coconut sauce, while sitting on the edge of a beautiful Zen garden, or eating Sushis while walking under Japanese arches, this is the place to come to. The decoration team have done a great job decorating the Village du Monde - as they do every year- and it has a very serene feel to it. The Village du Monde is completed by a second tiny stage, with beautiful golden decorations, where some of the bands playing at the Dôme come and do smaller intimate showcases. It's the perfect way of enjoying a band you loved in a different setting, or catching up on one you missed. There are also other animations on such as dancing and DJs.  The programme for this stage, called L'Escale, can be found here. As I mentioned above, the many food stalls offer a culinary adventure across Thailand, Tibet, Malaysia, Korea, Japan and more. The Restaurant, situated haflway down the left side of the stalls is the perfect place to eat in a calmer atmosphere, and includes traditional Japanese low tables, where people sit cross-legged on Tatamis to eat. You can book a table and find more information here . If you're looking for vegetarian or vegan food, quite a few stalls do a vegetarian dish, including Owen's noodles (just next to the delicious ice-creams of Le Bougainvillier ). You get to choose between 6 different sauces, and it is also gluten free. Another great place is Tashi , where you can eat delicious Momos, Tibetan dumplings and Thukpa, a soup that takes me back to my travels in Ladakh. They have an incredibly spicy sauce you can add on, which is worth the try! If you're looking for something to sooth your parched throat, head right down to Le Palmier. This bar, located right at the back of the Village du Monde, not only serves Cocktails and Granitas, but will be giving all of the profits to charity. You can also try taking part in a karaoke whilst cycling or pumping weights, something of a fad in Asia apparently. Lots of great fun guaranteed! Meanwhile, elsewhere on the grounds Let's not forget the concerts which took place last night! A special mention to Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp , who played early in the evening at Le Detour. Not only do this Swiss band have an amazing name, their music is wacky and melodic, the combination of many different instruments. They play with style and energy, and had every one under the tent grooving pretty fast. It would be hard not to mention this year's most expensive band, Kings of Leon . They apparently managed to bring even more lorries than Robbie Williams, (six!), and provided their own security members in front of the stage. Used to playing in huge stadiums in the States, they weren't daunted by the massive crowd that had gathered to see them play their hits. Basically all of Paléo was in front of the main stage, leaving the rest of the grounds empty and calm. Playing under a huge screen that mixed visual animations and views of the crowd and the musicians, they delivered their concert without really engaging with the crowd. Despite the singer telling the crowd that "we don't have many concerts this year so we're going to try and have as much fun as we can", the Kings of Tennesse didn't seem to be fooling around on stage that much. On an other scale, Alo Wala , the reunion of Chicago-born rapper Shivani Ahlowalia and Danish based Tropical Bass pioneers Copia Doble Systema, who played under the Club Tent, had a totally different attitude to the crowd. Her frenetic flow and the heavy bass delivered by the group had everyone one moving with passion and fire. She frequently interacted with the crowd, making them shout and explaining what a great first time in Switzerland she was having. You'll be reading more about her as I managed to catch up with her before the concert and ask her a few questions for an article which will be up on the site in a couple of days. On a last note, if you are coming to the festival tonight- Wednesday- a storm has been announced, so come prepared!

Open Air Cinema in Nyon until 25 th August- Some films in English! The open air cinema has set up its screen until the 25 th of August at the Promenade d'Italie. The following films will be shown in English: Wednesday 14 th 21:00: Wolverine 3D Friday 16 th , 21:00: RED 2 Sunday 18 th ,21:00 : Star Trek, Into Darkness 3D Check the whole programme and book tickets here. “ Mid-summer festival” in St-Cergue, Saturday 17 th August A tradition apparently dating back to the 1930's, this day of festivities gives the cowherds a break from the alpages as everybody gathers in the village for bovine beauty contests, pig races and “toupin” (ie the huge cow bells) ringing. There will also be alphorn and rides in horse-drawn carts. The event takes place all day, in the middle of the village . Check the programme out here. African Folk Music in Nyon, Sunday 18 th August The Compagnie Yankadiy will perform traditional and contemporary music and dances from Burkina Faso, in traditional dress. This takes place at the Esplanade des Marroniers from 11:00 to 13:30. Barrel Organ Festival and Boat Parade in Rolle, Sunday 18 th August 25 organists along the lakeside will turn the handle of their barrel organ for the pleasure of all, from 10:00 . There will also be animations for children and a “Limonaire”, a huge and complex barrel organ ( you can see a picture of one here ). From 11:00 , there will be a “canot” (small motor or rowing boat) parade. The day ends with a free concert in the Castle courtyard at 17:00 Dinner in White on the Ile de la Harpe in Rolle, Friday 23 rd August Initiated by bunch of friend in Paris in 1998, the “Diner en Blanc” is a concept where people meet up in an unknown but picturesque location, all dressed in white, with their own food and drinks to share a meal. This has now spread across the world, with more than 10 thousand participating in Paris and other cities, including Rolle. The next edition will take place on the Ile de la Harpe, just outside Rolle. This is a great way to meet new people in an exciting way and beautiful surroundings. Transport to the island is organised from the Casino. Inscriptions and more information here . Kids' Saturday, Nyon Saturday 24 th August Organised by the SIC- the commerce and industry association of the area, different events in the town centre, to have some fun before term starts. “ Fêtes des Pirates” in Nyon, 24 th and 25 th August The Nyon pirates organise two days of festivities, tying in with the traditional flea market that takes place every last weekend of the month. Free tours aboard the “Nyolue”, their boat, “Pirate Village” and different animations are organised. Eat fresh fera from the lake and meet Nyon's very own Pirates! Country and Rockabilly music with Rocky Sandona, Nyon Sunday 25 th August This band of accomplished musicians will take you back to the 50s with their music inspired by Johny Cash, Elvis Presley etc... From 11:00 to 13:30 at L'Esplanade des Marroniers

Summer may seem a long way off right now but plans are already afoot for the line up of Caribana in June as it has been announced that the rockers ZZ Top will open the first night of the festival on Wednesday 10th June. For those of you new to the area, Caribana is the first of the music festivals to kick off here, and it's a lovely one. It's right on the lakeside in Crans sur Celigny just outside Nyon, it's big enough to attract the big names (last year The Stereophonics and the Manic Street Preachers appeared) but small enough to remain intimate and to see performers on the stage close up. With ZZ Top apppearing, bikers are expected too and a space has already been alocated for 120 bikers to roll into town (presumably on Harleys) with beards flowing, and ready to rock and roll. More details on this festival as they are released. Should be fun and something hot to look forward to in this cold wintry weather.