Film, Le Mans and advance tickets for Star Wars in Nyon The Monday movie in English at Nyon cinema on the the 2nd December will be "Le Mans", starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale. Screenings at 17:30 and 20:30 - Tickets here Synopsis  -The true story of a team of eccentric American engineers led by the visionary Carroll Shelby and his British driver Ken Miles, who are sent by Henry Ford II to build a new car that will dethrone the Ferrari competition of Le Mans from 1966. Note, the cinema is also taking advance reservations for "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker", which will be screened in Nyon from the 18th December 2019.

Caribana Festival has announced part of the line-up for 2020 The Offspring from the U.S, playing on Wednesday 17th June, Five Seconds of Summer from Australia  on Thursday 18th, and Rudimental from the UK playing on the 19th, are just some of the artists on the programme. Check the other bands and artists here. Note - Caribana offers a kind of EasyJet type booking system. The earlier you book, the cheaper the tickets! This is the first of the summer music festivals near Nyon and will take place from 17-21 June 2020

The Christmas trees are now up in front of the château of Nyon and the Christmas market will be soon be in town (13-24 December) - more details of the market coming up. Over the next few weeks, Living in Nyon will be suggesting Christmas gifts that can be sourced from in and around Nyon or from further afield. This first suggestion would make a great little stocking filler for those who love hiking in the Alps. Alpine Flowers -  How to recognise 230 alpine flowers by Gillian Price - published by Cicerone   This is a really useful  pocket field guidebook for identification of the most commonly found alpine flowers of the Alps. Categorised by colour for quick identification, each alpine flower has a photograph and description of its key features. Flower names are given in English, French, German, Italian and Latin, with notes on curious facts and origins of names. This book is available as an ebook or as a hard copy book from Cicerone . Note: Payot can order this book and many other books for customers, books can then be collected from the Nyon store (in La Combe Shopping Centre). Cicerone also publish a large range of pocket sized books in English just on Switzerland, from 100 Hut Walks in the Alps , T he Trekking Tour in Mont Blanc to the River Rhone Cycle Route

Following from our first Christmas present suggestion , here is idea number 2, a ticket to the musical and family show "Wind in the Willows" by Alan Bennett performed by GAOS. This will be performed in Nyon on the 6th, 7th, 8th,  13th, 14th and 15th December in Nyon at the Théâtre du Marens. Times vary - see poster below.  For ticket details click here.

Here's suggestion no 3 for Christmas presents that can be bought in Nyon or from further afield. Le Cercle du Thé in Rue Perdtemps 3b (very near to the Place Perdtemps car park in Nyon), has a great range of teas to drink either on the premises or that can be bought including some interesting, mature compressed "Pu' Erh" tea from China. Like wine, its value increases with age. See photo below. This shop/tearoom also sells some beautiful gold and green handmade candles, and many other goodies which would make great stocking fillers!  See their website here.

The 9th Jazz Carols event in Nyon organised by La Côte church. A creative "twist" on many loved and well-known Christmas Carols. From 19:00 - 22:00 at the Temple in Nyon on Saturday 14th December. Admission free, reservation required - link here

Angelika Chollet is a cool boutique shop on Rue de Rive 30 in Nyon (almost opposite the ferry embarkment point). The shop is famous for its window displays and stylish products. This year the shop has some some lovely Christmas decorations for sale, from small ceramic houses with tiny lights inside, to ceramic snowmen, to classy wrapping paper (this shop also offers a gift wrapping service). The shop also stocks some beautiful kitchenware, Alessi products, plus children's wooden toys, little bags of salt from the Alps, gorgeous Christmas cards and more. It also has a stock of felt mobile phone covers (in different sizes) that come with an elastic strap around them - useful to hold cards, notes etc.  They also sell hanging magnetic postcard holders, perfect for displaying Christmas cards, postcards or artwork. See photo below.  The shop also has a small but interesting range of rings and jewellery. The shop does not have a website. Opening hours  Tuesday - Saturday 10:30 -18:00. Tel - 022 361 65 13 Angelika speak English, French and German.

The final touches to the mini wooden chalets are being made ready for the Nyon Christmas Market which starts tomorrow, the 13th December and continues until Christmas Eve on the 24th.  There are more chalets this year which wind around the streets of the town. Along with lots of goodies for sale, there will also be mulled wine, brass bands, jazz bands, choirs etc. Living in Nyon will be there to report back when it officially opens. The local buses will be free from 20:00 to save customers the hassle of parking! This year there is a tent with activities for children where Father Christmas also makes an appearance and Mother Christmas tells stories. This year, as in previous years, there will be a Solidarity Tree in the Place du Château to help the underprivileged children of Nyon and area. Volunteers have confidentially collected the wishes of these children which are then transferred to cards hung on the branches of a Christmas tree. Everyone wishing to purchase a gift is invited to remove one of the cards, to buy the gift (maximum 40 francs) and to deposit it in the shed (near the tree). The presents will then be given to families between December 23rd and 24th.

Five Outdoor Fitness Challenges in the Nyon area suggested by a local fitness coach Thanks to Sean Seale for this article on how to keep fit using the lovely town of Nyon and region as your outdoor gym! 1. Running near the castle Photo above - starting point of the run Sample workout 2. Swimming Pool of Colovray Sample workout: 3- Colovray Sports Centre Sprint Ramp Sample workout  4 - Cycling the Route du Vignoble between Gland and Rolle Sample workout: 5 - The Parcours Vita in Trelex Sample workout: Conclusion Got any questions? Call Sean on 076 394 96 73  Sean also writes a fitness blog

If you see this envelope in your letterbox, don't throw it away! It's the town's handy "waste" guide that's issued to all households with info on when, and where you can recycle in 2020. It includes the dates when old Christmas trees will be collected in the different sectors of Nyon, the opening hours of the recycling centre, the location of the eco-points around town and the days when organic waste will be collected. Nyon council is encouraging us all to recycle household organic waste if possible (and not to throw it in the plastic bags) as the town has a system in place to convert this waste into Biogaz, a source of renewable energy. If you have thrown out the envelope - here's a link to the pdf  and we have converted it into an image below.

The Nyon Christmas market is now in full swing and this year there is a "Village du Père Noël" in the Place du Château. Father Christmas and Mother Christmas have been paying a visit to children inside the tent in the centre of the square and rumour has it they will be back again on Friday 20th from 18:00 - 19:00, Saturday 21st 14:00-16:00, Sunday 22nd 11:00-16:00, Monday 23rd from 18:00-20.00 Photo below - The "Sapin Solidaire" Solidarity Tree to help the underprivileged children of Nyon and surrounding area. Volunteers have confidentially collected the wishes of these children which are then transferred to cards hung on the branches of a Christmas tree. Everyone wishing to purchase a gift is invited to remove one of the cards, to buy the gift (maximum 40 francs) and to deposit it in the shed (near the tree). The presents will then be given to families between December 23rd and 24th.

If you have a last bit of Christmas shopping left to do, the shops in Nyon are open tonight (the 23rd of December) until 20:00. Why not partake in a warming vin chaud from the volunteers at the Sauvetage de Nyon  ( lake rescue) stand at the same time? All money raised helps towards equipment, training etc.