The Geneva English School , set in lovely grounds in picturesque Genthod with view of the lake and Mont Blanc, is holding an Open Day on Saturday 14th March from 09:30 - 12:00. The school is a not-for-profit co-educational international school for children aged 3 to 11. The Open Day is is an ideal opportunity to visit the school, see the classrooms, talk to the headmaster and find out about the school's curriculum which is based on the English National Curriculum and which includes a strong French programme for all groups throughout the week. It's also a good opportunity to check out the Library Learning Centre with its cosy new reading room which was opened by children's author Anne Fine in October last year.   Register here Photo above - A room with a view and a choice of children's books! Online reading and a cosy sofa!

The Geneva English Drama Society will be presenting their first production of 2016 with the play " Rabbit Hole"  by  David Lindsay-Abaire from the 1st of March - 5th of March at the Théâtre de l'Espérance in Geneva. Performance times -  Tuesday - Friday 20:00 Saturday 19:00  Ticket prices: CHF 30, students CHF 20. Tickets here Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize "David Lindsay-Abaire has crafted a drama that's not just a departure but a revelation—an in-tensely emotional examination of grief, laced with wit, insightfulness, compassion and searing honesty." — Variety. Synopsis: Becca and Howie Corbett have everything a family could want, until a life-shattering accident turns their world upside down and leaves the couple drifting perilously apart. Rabbit Hole charts their bittersweet search for comfort in the darkest of places and for a path that will lead them back into the light of day.

"The Little Foxes" by Lillian Hellman and directed by Charles Slovenski, begins on Tuesday 12th November at the Théâtre de Terre Sainte in Coppet  until the 16th November. Performances on Tuesday to Friday at 20:00. on Saturday at 19:00.    This theatre has a nice bar for a pre-show drink! Free bubbly after the show on opening night. ”The Little Foxes is a tale of cunning, greed and sibling rivalry set in Alabama in the early 1900s, but its tale of big business versus social responsibility has many parallels in today’s world". The Hubbards are a greedy and ambitious cotton-farming family who are forging a deal with a wealthy Northerner in order to build a cotton mill that will hugely increase their profits. The two brothers, Ben and Oscar, are prepared to use every means at their disposal to acquire the funds they desperately need to secure the deal. Their sister, Regina, is determined to have a share in this dreamed-of prosperity by getting her dying husband, Horace, to release his money for the cotton mill. Horace, realizing the Hubbards’ plans for riches will further exploit the black and poor-white workers of the town, hopes to stop them. But Horace is ill and may not have much time left. Cast: Christopher Bailey, Emanita Bailey, Gillian Barmes, Gabriel Bird, Katharine Cullen, Julian Finn, Malcolm Grant, Chaitan Jain, Natalie Pernick and Gregoire Yameogo. Tickets: CHF 30 (seats numbered). Booking details see here    More information on GEDS (The Geneva English Drama Society) see here Tomatis Conference "Better Listening Means Better Learning" Tuesday 12 November, 20:00 The Tomatis Centre, 17 Ch.du Couchant, Rolle. Find out about the Tomatis Method : Improve Auditory Processing. Learn a new language twice as fast. Get better results at school. Enhance self esteem, motivation, concentration and memory. Feel at home in a new linguistic and cultural environment. Further information from Marsha Staubli 076 377 64 84 marshastaubli@bluewin.ch     Tomatis Conference "Better Listening Means Better Learning" Tuesday 12 November, 20:00 The Tomatis Centre, 17 Ch.du Couchant, Rolle . Find out about the Tomatis Method : Improve Auditory Processing. Learn a new language twice as fast. Get better results at school. Enhance self esteem, motivation, concentration and memory. Feel at home in a new linguistic and cultural environment. Further information See Tomatis Rolle  or contact Marsha Staubli 076 377 64 84 marshastaubli@bluewin.ch

If you are wandering around Nyon this Easter weekend, look out for the decorated fountains. They are an annual tradition in the town. Decorated by local groups and associations, they are always a popular attraction. The local butcher's shop in the centre of the high street, (the photo directly below) also has an Easter display this year. To all Living in Nyon readers. Happy Easter! Down by the Rive yesterday in Nyon, the weather was (just about) warm enough for an ice cream . Check out the small but interesting photo exhibition by photographer Bertrand Reyon Burma at the Focale gallery. Exhibition on until 13 April.

Started in 1994 by François and nini Pythoud, Nyon's circus school has grown to become an important part of the cultural life in Nyon and the region. Over 300 children take circus classes there every week, and out of those half a dozen have continued to become professional circus artists. To celebrate their 20th, they have decided to re-imagine their first show ever with these professional artists and their partners. The show Rouge, will be played seven times at the théâtre de Marens in Nyon. The première is on Thursday the 25th and the show is on until Thursday 2nd of October, building up to the weekend of the 3rd-5th of October, which will be a weekend of celebration at the Caserne, next to the Perdtemps square. Four different shows will be played by the different troups of the artists who started of at l'Elastique Citrique, as well as a disco party on Saturday the 5th with Time Machine, an 70's-80's disco and funk cover band. There will also be an open stage showcasing acts from some of the younger members of the school, and a big brunch on Sunday morning, followed by a ballon release to celebrate in style. Food and drinks will be catered by the team from "La Roulotte". L'Elastique citrique also created an act which was performed at the beginning of the Knie show which was in Nyon last week. For the whole program and to book tickets for the shows and for the brunch, head to their website. You can check out some of the artists performing in the show here Vaud athletics championship The cantonal athletics championships take place on Saturday the 27th at Colovray stadium . Athletes will compete from 8:00 to 18:00 , and the entrance is free La Côte Church Autumn fair As a reminder, this Saturday, La Côte Anglican church is holding its  Autumn Fair in Founex. Check previous post for more information on the event. Annual exhibition and music L'alpage, an artist's studio cum art school is holding it's annual exhibition. Paintings made during lessons will be exhibited and there will be music and rock showcases. Sunday the 28th, from 14:00 to 18:30, at 4, ch. de Bonmont. More info about l'Alpage here New Paléo poster out! Paléo has brought out next year's poster. Created by an agency from Geneva, it's actually three different posters, which link up as a big one, showcasing some weird creatures inspired by the wacky Paléo crowd. The line-up won't be released until early April 2015, but week-long tickets will be on sale in December , and are a perfect Christmas gift.

There is a lot on the agenda this weekend in both the Nyon and Morges areas, with a bit of careful planning you could attend all events should you wish.  Read on and take your pick! Wine Festival in Nyon Focussing on the town of Nyon itself. The annual Fête de la Vigne (wine festival) kicks off on Friday night 3rd October at 17:00 with wine and live music outside the Place du Château. At 18:00, the band "Red Night) (A Swiss tribute band to Californian group Green Day) are on the line up, followed by "Bruce Copeland" at 21:00. On Saturday 4th the wine festival begins in earnest and continues all day with events from 10:00 in the morning to 22:30 at night.  The official ceremony is scheduled for 14:30, and at 15:00 the actual grapes will be picked from the vines near the castle in the gardens above the La Duche car park  and then they will be pressed in the old wine press.  Members of the public can take part in the grape picking!  For the full programme see here .  See video below of last year's event on Nyon TV. Vues sur l'actu du 17 septembre 2014 Autumn Fair in Nyon - Oktoberfest The annual Autumn Fair in Nyon has been renamed Oktoberfest this year, along with the lovely colourful Autumn stands along the streets of Nyon, there presumably will be beer on sale too! The fair continues all day, from 07:00: to 20:00. UEFA open day in Nyon  A reminder that it's Open Day at UEFA on Saturday the 4th October from 09:00-16:00. This open day is a chance to see inside the building, to take part in competitions, to see behind the scenes and look at   exhibitions all about the beautiful game.  Details here Ski Club Troc in Bassins It's the "troc" (second hand sale) of ski gear in the Grande Salle in Bassins on Saturday the 4th Ocotber. A great opportunity to get equipped for the coming winter season and to find out about La Gamelle (the ski club) itself.  Got ski gear to sell?  Then you can deposit it between 10:00 and 11:30. The actual sale begins at 13:30 until 15:30 and unsold goods must be collected 16:00 and 16:30. British Classic Car show in Morges   It's the annual Classic Car show in Morges on Saturday 4th October. This takes place along Morges lake side from 10:00 to 17:00. This car show is  gathering of over 1500 British classic cars and motorbikes of all makes.  Entry is free for both participants and the public.  See here for full details Big Expat fair - Sunday 5th October in Geneva  This Sunday it's Expat Expo in Geneva from 11:00 to 17:00 at La Praille shopping centre. Meet 100s of exhibitors from all over Switzerland. These expat fairs are very useful if you have recently moved to Switzerland and want to know about the services that are on offer for expats. Banks, insurance companies and small English speaking businesses will be all there under one roof, along with experts on hand to answer questions about living in this country. Also - Living in Nyon recommends you visit table number 5 at the Expat Expo where you can meet the authors of  the latest "Know it all Passport" guide and  of "Education Guide Switzerland" .  Note,  there will be a review of the latest  "Know it all Passport" guide in a future Living in Nyon post along with a chance to win a free copy. Watch this space!

From the 24th July to the 26th August, an open air cinema will be installed near the centre of Nyon. Over 34 evenings of films are planned to be screened in the area called "Parc de la Combe"  (this is a temporary name for the park  at L'esplanade la Combe on the Promenade de 'lItalie )  See location on map here This area, not too far from the lake and the town,will be open at 19:00 for film lovers to come and meet for a drink or to eat before the film (there will be a temporary bar and food stalls set up in the area). Films will then be screened at 21:00. In this 1200m2 area of park, there will be seating for up to 600, a screen of 100m2,  a covered area and a VIP area (available for rent for private events). Jean-Pierre Grey who is responsible for the programming of films at the permanent Nyon cinema, is working alongside Monsieur Phillipe Bertholet an expert in running open air cinemas. This exciting new summer Nyon venture will be called CinèAir Nyon. Even more good news for Anglophones is that Mr Grey intends to show many films in digital form and in English, such the classic  "An American in Paris" starring Gene Kelly. The full programme for all the films will be released at a later stage  after the Cannes Film festival.  Open air cinemas are very popular across Switzerland, particularly in the Swiss German speaking part of the country where there are at least 60 set up in towns and small villages each summer. However there are only six open air cinemas in Swiss Romande, so citizens of this area are very lucky to have one installed in their town to address this balance!  More news on this project will be reported here on this site.

Whether you are Father Christmas or simply a normal passenger, from the 11th December if you board a train without  a valid train ticket you will be fined 90 CHF in addition to the price of the ticket itself. This will apply to both long  distance and regional trains. See the CFF website to find out more about this new ruling and the reason why (explanation in English).  On the 11th December the train timetable will also change so keep an eye out for possible new timings for your regular commute.  Don't forget you can always buy a train ticket in advance via a mobile phone  see the options here  and most stations have electronic ticketing machines with the option of following the instructions in English to purchase tickets. CFF have a comprehensive site listing the different options available for "abonnements"  (travel cards) whether you are regular commuter for work or leisure.

The Rowing Club of Nyon and the Nautical Club of Divonne are holding a regatta this weekend on Lake Divonne just over the border in France. Rowing clubs from French speaking Switzerland and France are competing for different prizes in the juniors, seniors and veteran category. On Saturday the lake was calm, but the atmosphere exciting when supporters shouted from the waters edge to encourage their teams. When the sun came out, the colours of the Autumn trees and the rowers on the lake made it a lovely scene. If you want to go see the rowers in action, the regatta continues tomorrow (Sunday) from 09:00 -16:30

Photo above: the famous sunflower field at Paléo - an annual tradition In just over three weeks time (on April 5th), the line up for the Paléo music festival will be revealed. For those of you new to the Nyon area, Paléo is Europe's second biggest outdoor music festival. It takes place just above Nyon and attracts over 230,000  music lovers. You can read more about Paléo here, its history here and its philosophy and values here  . Check the video out at the end of this post to give you a flavour of the festival. You can also read more about the festival through Living in Nyon's previous coverage of the event. Just click on "Music and Film Festivals - Paléo in the sidebar above, scroll down to "older posts" from the past three years with music reviews and interviews. The dates for Paléo this year are from the 19th to the 24th July.  Tickets go on sale on Wednesday 13th April at 12:00. If you want to go to Paléo, put this date down in your diary as tickets sell out very fast on the day!  Caribana tickets are now on sale! The other "not to be missed" music event in the area is Caribana  which is set along the lake side at Crans sur Nyon. This year it takes place from 8- 12 June 2011 .  See previous coverage of Caribana under "Music and Film Festivals" in sidebar above. The line up and tickets are already on sale for some of the nights, these include: 8th June - Justin Nozuka , Texas , Marc Sway   9th June - The Hurts from the UK, Interpol from New York 10th June  - Morcheeba Volunteering at Caribana Fancy being a volunteer at Caribana ? The festival is now recruiting volunteers, young and old to help with a variety of  jobs over the five day event. Volunteering is a good way to meet lots of local people and other nationalities and it is also an opportunity to hear some great music too! See the site  " Wanted - Nous Recherchons des Bénévoles ". " Paléo 2011 - Clip de présentation par paleo

For those readers heading off to the talk on Swiss schooling tonight, a reminder that the closest parking is at La Combe shopping centre. The Perdtemps car park  is approximately a 10 minute walk from the Uni Global Union. Nyon train station is a 5 minute walk from UNI Global Union.  For all parking options in Nyon, see link here UNI Global Union is at 8-10 Avenue Reverdil, 1260, Nyon.   See link and street view here

The Aula theatre of Nyon will be transformed into a little bit of New York this weekend (29/30/31st August) when the Really Youthful Group (part of Geneva Amateur Operatic Society ) put on "Guys N'Dolls". If you don't know the show, it's a musical comedy set in New York and evolves around Nathan Detroit, the organizer of a "crap" game. He bets fellow gambler Sky Masterson that he can't make the next girl he sees fall in love with him. The next girl he sees happens to be Miss Sarah Brown, a Salvation Army-type reformer. Needless to say there are complications on the way and as always, great songs, music and dancing. Some of the songs you may recognise from this musical are "Luck be a lady tonight"and "Sit down you're rocking the boat". These productions have a tradition of being performed at the end of the summer holidays. It's a great way to send the audience back to work and school with a "feel good" factor and an opportunity for Anglophones to catch up with other at the bar during the interval. Tickets are available to book online at Theatre in English . There's map on there too of how to get to the theatre. Always allow a few minutes to walk from the car park to the theatre. The photo above is of the cast in rehearsal. Also, there is now a new and updated version of Know-it-all passport out in the bookshops right now. Last time I looked there were two copies in Payot in La Combe Shopping Centre in Nyon (look under the section "Voyage Tourisme"). You can order them if they have run out. This book is jam packed with useful information on Geneva,Vaud and neighbouring France and has categories on renting, accommodation in the area, health issues and well-being to jobs and money matters, shopping, trips out. It's an absolute mine of information and gets better each issue. You might like to take a look at page 599 where the section on Paléo Festival was written by yours truly.