Search

If you are new to the area and would like to discover more about the local wines, or if you know the wines already and want a fun day out, the two "Caves Ouvertes" days on Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th of May between 10:00 and 18:00 are an ideal opportunity to taste and drink local wine. To take part, just purchase a "passport" at the information desk at Rolle, Gland or Morges railway station or at the first winery you visit. For just CHF 15 you receive a souvenir wine glass, wine tasting from a wide choice of wine cellars and a free ride that operate between the cellars and Morges railway station. There is a full timetable of the free buses here . See the routing here Also, on this Sunday it's the fabulous Navale parade in Rolle, this is when all the CGN "Belle Epoque" boats gather together and parade on the lake, ending in a grand choreography to music and  the release of thousands of balloons into the air from the boats. For full details see site here

A Very Merry Christmas to all readers!

Photo above: Swiss Quote building in Gland On Tuesday May 17th at 19:00 there will be a presentation by Diccon Bewes, author of "Swiss Watching", along with Swiss Tourism at Brillantmont International School in Lausanne.  A representative from Swiss Tourism will talk about some of the enchanting treasures that Switzerland has to offer.  Then, Diccon Bewes will go behind the scenes of his hugely successful book, and the audience will discover that Switzerlandgoes beyond cows, trains, chocolate, and private banking.  This is a Léman events production. Here's more info about the book "Swiss Watching".  One country with four languages, 26 cantons, and 7.7 million people (but only 80% of them Swiss): there's nowhere else like it in Europe. Switzerland may be almost 400 km from the nearest drop of sea water, but it is an island at the centre of Europe. Swiss Watching is a revealing historical journey around Europe's most individual country. While seeking Heidi and meeting Tell, it relives a bloody past and explores an uncertain future. It's also the story of its people, who have more power than their politicians, but can't speak to one another in the same language – and who own more guns per head than the people of Iraq. As for those national clichés, well, not all the cheese has holes, cuckoo clocks aren’t Swiss and the trains don’t always run exactly on time. For registration for this event click here   Swiss Tourism presentation at 19:00. Then author Diccon Bewes speaks at 19:30  Q & A followed by an apero, networking, book signing and possible tour of the school from 20:15.

The sky around the aerodrome in Prangins on Saturday was full of aeroplanes looping the loop, planes taking passengers for individual flights, vintage planes, and all things aeronautical. The weather was cloudy but bright, and the airshow proved to be a great attraction for its visitors. Photos and report on the fête du musique last weekend, coming up here tomorrow.

There will be a juggling performance/show this weekend at the Elastique Citrique (the acrobatic/circus skill school) in Nyon. Photos here.   The school is at la Caserne, 11 Rue des Marchandises, Nyon. This can be found very near to Place Perdtemps car park (look out for the red building!) The performance will take place on 19:00 on Saturday the 30th and at 17:00 on Sunday the 31st January. Tickets - reservations here . Tickets can be collected 30 minutes before the start of the performance.

Review by Jonas Parson The second night of Caribana turned out to be another very warm and successful evening (the second sold-out night in a row, tickets are still available for Friday and Saturday night) and the acts headlining that night attracted a completely different crowd  to that of the night before. Trooper boots, spiked necklaces and heavy make-up were swapped for lighter, more colourful clothing, as the Marilyn Manson(read a quick review of his concert below) fan base was replaced by a younger audience come to see Bastille. The night wasn't all about lighter music and polite bands though, as DJ, producer and band leader Parov Stelar was one of Thursday's headlines. One of the major influences in the development of Electro Swing, the Parov Stelar Band were there to play their latest album, the Demon Diaries. Mesmerising vocals, edgy saxophone solos and heavy beats turned the front of the main stage into an open-air dance-floor. Playing both new songs and all the popular hits to a very elegant visual background(including a quote by German philosopher Immanuel Kant!), the band was the highlight of the evening. Before what looked like a full moon came out in the night sky, the grounds also vibrated to a lot of mostly electrified music. From Swiss duo Elvett , who played their own brand of acoustic-electro, complete with the enchanting voice of Lyn who kicked off the evening on the lake stage, to Metronomy who gradually brought together the crowd in front of the main stage. The English band, all very elegant in their matching outfits, delivered their dandyish mix of electro and pop with great class and loads of punch. London-based band Bastille were obviously one of the headlines of the evening, and the many teenagers on the grounds was a sure sign of that. The indie pop sensation whose hits combine catchy tunes and compelling choruses. Very polite, albeit slightly too well behaved, the band surely pleased the younger fans. Other bands included young Irish rock band the Strypes with their rather classic style of rock, and electro/deep house artist the Avener . The charm of the lakeside with the leafy grounds and warm night air were perfect to dance to the organic beats of the French musician. To all the fans of Ben l'Oncle Soul, but who can't make it to Caribana this evening, his concert will be live-streamed on the website . The concert starts at 19:30. Make-up, heavy metal and theatrics Late on Wednseday night, the crowd waiting in front of the main stage wore mostly black, with the usual spiked bracelets, big boots or torn clothing. All were waiting for one of the most infamous metal bands, Marilyn Manson (people tried to have his last two concerts in Switzerland banned, in 2005 and 2012, accusing him of Satanism and whatnot). The demographics were actually quite diverse, as Manson appeals a lot to younger fans of the genre.The heavily made-up singer, now well in his forties, delivered a show with his usual sense of theatrics, from the various microphones adorned with knives and knuckledusters to the smoke billowing up behind him. Playing songs from nearly all of his albums, including his great version of Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams (a personal favourite), Marilyn Manson delivered a good concert, although slightly lacking in punch.

There was a steady drizzle yesterday at the Easter Market in Nyon, yet despite this, the stall holders made a big effort to inject some colour into the day, with interesting and bright coloured products on sale. In particular was the stall that sold soft shoes for children and adults, bright bags with funky designs, hats, cases for storing glasses and flower decorations for the house, all made out of super soft felt. The owner of the stall Ulziibat, is from Mongolia and she her partner Hartig Alexandre, travel to Nepal and Mongolia to bring back the soft felts from both countries to make into bright products here in Switzerland. Nyon is one of the towns "Modern Nomad" (the name of her stall) visits, along with other venues across the region. To find out where they are next visiting call 076 278 0818 At the market on Sunday there was also the more traditional Easter goods on display, from the decorated fountain by the Maitre Jacques to the stalls selling decorations for Easter including a stall selling  plates with the names of various Swiss cheeses hand painted on them.

If you are wondering why there are lots of folk all with binoculars and all staring out at the lake this week, it's because there a sailing regatta on. Each evening until the 11th you can catch the beautiful sight of yachts sailing around Nyon on Lake Geneva. On Tuesday night there was a bit of wind and the sky had some superb cloud formations. What a perfect way to end a working day either by being on a boat itself or just watching from the port. Take your binoculars down there and enjoy (although watch out for the noise of the starting gun!) Boats leave the port at 19:00

After the great success of the "Fun Fondue" night for newly arrived expats back in February this year, another "Welcome to La Côte" event has been organised by Nyon tourism, Migros école- club Migros and Living in Nyon.  This second event on the 22nd May is in response to the survey that was carried out at the fondue evening. Please note, places are limited for this next event, please register by May 5 . Click on the flyer below to see full details in larger print.

On the day of the U.S presidential elections, American readers of this site might be interested to know that World Radio Switzerland will be broadcasting coverage of the elections on Wednesday 7th November from 02:00 a.m.  There have been many programmes on WRS throughout the past seven days which have covered  issues concerning Americans living in Switzerland. One of these programmes (called The Connectors), discussed American patriotism from afar, taxation, banking and the Foreign Accounting Tax Compliance Act (FACTA). If you are interested in hearing this programme again, just click on this link here . On a lighter note, Living in Nyon came across this busker yesterday playing guitar in the underpass under Nyon railway station. Brian from Charleston-South Carolina, is touring the world whilst playing flamenco to passers by. He was previously in Spain, but he moved on to Switzerland as he says "not only are  the people generous and friendly here, but as this country is in a better economic shape, I can earn more money (particularly in Geneva and Nyon) I can even "save a little!" Brian also predicted that the Barack Obama would win the U:S presidential elections.  This time tomorrow, we should know the answer and if Brian the Busker is right!

Here are some events coming up that may interest our male readers in particular: an action packed movie, an adventure movie and a Gentlemen's Ride event with vintage motorbikes in Nyon followed by a rock concert. Monday Movies in English in Nyon at the  Capitole Cinema Monday 21st September - 20:30 "Code Name U.N.C.L.E" Monday 28th September - 20:45 "Everest" -  see trailer below Music   On Saturday the 26th September at 15:00 there will be a Gentleman's Ride Party event at the Usine a Gaz followed by a vintage rock concert in the evening with bands Duck Duck Grey Duck and The Staches. During the day in the courtyard of the Usine, there will be vintage motorbikes on display and other events are planned. The Gentleman's Ride Party is a world wide event to raise funds for prostate cancer and awareness.  Click here for more info  For the family The Comptoir Suisse continues until the 21st September in Lausanne. This is a massive fair with a lot on the agenda and a ferris wheel! It makes for a good family day out too - there is a good description of what it is all about on the Lausanne Mom blog Circus in Town - A reminder that the Knie circus is in town so parking is restricted in Place Perdtemps car park in Nyon between the 18th and 20th September

New Arrivals and "Living in Nyon" on the TV and in the newspaper! Hot news! Although "Living in Nyon" has been around for a while, it is only recently that I have concentrated on its publicity, and what a few weeks it has been because of it! The site has been featured in the newspaper and on TV, so it's all good news, consequently visitor numbers have shot up. Firstly here's the TV coverage The section is called "Info Hebdo" which means daily info/news. The total length of the video link is 7 minutes 30. There are two features before me and "Living in Nyon" is at the end at 2 minutes 16, You can forward it to the exact point by sliding the bar at the bottom of the screen to 2.16. When you see a shot of the Nyon rooftops, that's the beginning of the piece. Here's the link. http://www.nr-tv.ch/flash_infoh/aaplay_h059.html Not so keen on seeing myself on camera mind you, the sun that was was very bright that day so I look quite pale, and I don't seem to smile a lot, which isn't really me, but.... the coverage of the site itself is just great! and the Yvan Mulone, the interviewer and cameraman from Nyon Region Television was very friendly, and is a nice guy. The interview was filmed on the terrace of the chateau and Mont Blanc was looking magnificent. I said that the view from where I was standing was was one of my favourite views in the world, and Mr Mulone said it was his too. The interview is in French by the way, my very poor French mixed up with a bit of Spanish..... Secondly Here is the newspaper article that was featured in La Cote Other News/ New Arrivals ! Very shortly there will be new categories added to this site including 1. Fitness/ jogging routes around Nyon 2. Places to stay (Bed and Breakfast) 3. More information on accommodation under the "frequently asked questions" 4. And a fun section on the familiar faces that you often see in the streets of Nyon. If you have any suggestions for new categories you also want to see on here, then let me know.