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Tuesday 20th and Friday 23rd December are the two dates this year when it's the "Nocturnes à Nyon" (late night shopping). The shops will be open in the town until 22:00 to get those last minute Christmas presents.  Meanwhile over at the Signy shopping centre on Saturday 17th December, between 10:30 and 17:00 and Wednesday the 21st between 14:00 -18:00, "Father Christmas"  will be on hand for those children who want to have a photo taken with the man himself. Two lakeside events this weekend plus other events . Saturday market in Nyon - Living in Nyon will be at the market on the 17th December with a stall selling the book "Living along Lac Léman" (please note there will be no stall in bad weather). The book is also available for purchase in Nyon in the "The Reading Duck" , Catambo, Payot Nyon, Payot Geneva, see here for all retail outlets. Also Saturday in Place St Martin in Nyon from 13:30 to 18:30  "Un million d'étoiles". L'Association Asolac and Caritas Vaud will be lighting hundred of candles in the square. Each candle bought by a member of the public will go towards the charity. La Côte column.  The Living in Nyon column in English  (that appears in in La Côte newspaper each Friday) is today entitled "Talking Turkey" . This is the last column of 2011 and the next one will appear on January 13th 2012. Note:  La Côte recently launched an "app" facility enabling subscribers to access local news and information from their phone. See site for more details. Saturday 17th it's the "Bains des Lumières" down by the lake. Soup and vin chaud will be served from 18:00 to 21:00  at the Plage de Trois Jetées.  There will also be a light display by Sophie Gayot. Free entry to the sauna at this event. See the site for details  Note: If bad weather on the night the event will be cancelled. On Sunday 18th it's the last Puces de Nyon (flea market) of the year also by the lakeside. An ideal opportunity to pick up an unusual Christmas gift from one of the stalls. Sunday 17:30  Carol Concert (in French) at the Eglise de la Colombiére in Nyon Noël en Choeur. Free entry Church Service in English at La Côte Anglican Church in Gingins.  Also on Sunday there will be an all age Holy Communion with Christingles followed by festive refreshments - mulled wine and mince pies - at the "stand de tir" further up the road. "Les Hivernales" the winter rock festival which takes place in several venues across Nyon in February revealed its line up this week.  With a mixture of bands from around Switzerland such as Portobello, The Bianca Story, The Mondrians and bands and singers from the U.S.A  such as Grouplove and Nadéah from Australia, the festival will take place from the 9th -12th February. Tickets go on sale  from the 21st December. See Les Hivernales for more details and ticket prices. More info on this festival coming up on this site.  See the video teaser below for an exerpt of the music and bands coming to the festival.

Happy New Year to all readers! The traditional Three Kings (galette des rois ) parade will begin at 18:30 today at the place du Midi (opposite the La Combe shopping centre) in Nyon. This parade is fun for all the family, it winds through the town and ends up at the Place du Château where a big galette/ cake (baked by local bakers) is served up to the town's citizens. Wrap up warm (although there is usually vin chaud on offer for adults at the end of the parade)! Photos below from a previous year's "galette des rois" event.

Photo above: Waiting for the results of  the vote on Sunday afternoon. There was a high voter participation (44.39%) in the local Nyon elections on February 28th to elect members of the municipality. There was also a good turn out (43.41% voter participation) to elect the 100 members of the town council. In the Federal vote there were four different initiatives proposed: 1. To automatically deport foreigners who commit certain crimes. 2. A ban on food speculation. 3. The building of a second Gotthard road tunnel 4. Tax breaks for married couples. Local participation in this Federal vote was also high at 62.12%.  See here for  general info (in English) on the result of this Federal vote.  In Nyon, three out of the seven members of the municipality, Daniel Rossellat, Fabienne Freymond Cantone (Socialist Party) and Stephanie Schmutz (Socialist Party) all kept their seats whereas there was not an outright majority for the remaining 4 seats and they are still up for grabs, consequently there will be a second round of voting for these seats on the 20th March. Photo above - Maurice Gay ( Centre Right party) waiting to be interviewed The Municipality is elected by majority vote whereas the Conseil communal (100 councillors) is elected by the proportional-representation system,  all of these councillors have now been officially confirmed and are on now listed on the town website. See here  Photo above - Olivier Mayor (Green Party) being interviewed Photo above - The results are announced The breakdown of seats for each party in Nyon council is as follows: 01 Parti Indépendant Nyonnais 15   02 PBD VAUD Centre Droit Moderne 0 03 Union Démocratique du Centre 13 04 Vert'libéraux 5 05 Parti socialiste 25 06 PLR. Les Libéraux-Radicaux 26 07 Les Verts 16

Photo above -  Sledding and skiing in La Givrine near Arzier If you  are about to move to the Nyon area, and want to know what it is like to live in the village of Arzier , then read this article by Laura Covino Kerpelman. She recently moved to this village in the Jura hills and has written about the beauty of the place, a little bit about the social life, she also touches on the current state of the housing market. You can read Laura's biography at the end of this post. Living in Arzier  Motivated by my love of nature and beauty, I recently moved to Arzier, and am very happy here. There are some wonderful views to be had living at a high elevation,  you can often see the sharp profile of the Alps against sunrises of delicate pale pink skies, and the majestic silhouette of the Mont Blanc emerging from the mist. All this beauty conveys a feeling of living inside a Ferdinand Hodler painting. Every season has its delights in Arzier Spring and autumn are colourful and cheerful. In summer, cows are out in the pastures, (you hear the sound of their bells all day long!) Hiking, biking, and VTT are popular sports nearly all-year-round. Winter is an especially festive, fun time. For winter sports lovers, Arzier is just minutes away from  the St.Cergue - La Givrine- La Cure area. This provides great opportunities to practice downhill or cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and dog sledding in a landscape of stunning beauty. Ski lessons and equipment rentals are available for all ages, and mountain restaurants offer fondues and other delightful regional specialities. A “Green” Attitude  The commune of Arzier-Le Muids includes two villages: Arzier and Le Muids. Both are part of the Nyon district. The village of Arzier is located at an altitude of 881 metres. One of its greatest advantages is that the village is on the Nyon-St.Cergue-La Cure train line, which connects Arzier up to St.Cergue, La Givrine and the La Cure  and down to the town of Nyon. It is then 17 minutes to Cornavin (Geneva train station) and a few minutes more to Geneva airport.  Arzier is an approximate 15 -20 minute drive distance from Nyon and is provided with a wide and well-maintained main road. The commune includes 71% of wooded areas, which makes Arzier a true nature lovers’ haven. Choosing to live here means embracing a whole living philosophy, and an attitude well tuned with the spirit of nature. Woods, wildlife,  snow and skiing are definitely a big part of daily life here!  Hedgehog crossing warning signs, a mountain train  breath-taking scenic walks through woods are just a few reminders of the place that nature occupies in this community. Road signs reflect the “eco-friendly” spirit of Arzier. Social Life and Attractions Arzier has a rich social life with its schools, local associations, a yearly arts and crafts market in early November, a ski-club, a badminton club, choir groups, different walking and fitness groups, the yoga center Yoga Arzier ,  and more. It also has a public library, and a day-care centre. On August 1 st , the Swiss National Holiday, the commune throws a very popular party for all the villagers and their friends, featuring great food and an impressive  firework show.  On December 1 st , Christmas trees are distributed to the village residents at no charge. Many local businesses have flourished here, and you can find out more by browsing the local website   Both Arzier and Le Muids have a few good shops and restaurants. A couple are listed below.  Photo above - The Delachaux Bakery Deliciously appealing, the Delachaux bakery and tea-room is right in the village centre. It is the place to stop at during the week or on weekend mornings after having picked up up your fresh newspaper for a treat of fresh bread, pastries, sandwiches and croissants. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Delachaux also own the St.Cergue bakery  Open all week except Mondays.   Boulangerie Delachaux,  rue du Village 14, 1273 Arzier,  Tel +41 22 366 3940  Photo above - the  Auberge de L'Union Inn , Arzier Recently refurbished and tastefully decorated, situated in the village centre with an exceptional view of the Alps and Lac Léman, the Village Inn “ L’Union ” features a lovely hotel and restaurant. It is a wonderful place to try out if you wish to enjoy exquisite gastronomic meals in an peaceful, elegant setting, or to spend a few days in a relaxing environment. The restaurant is open all week and closed Sunday night, Monday, and Tuesday noon. Reservations are highly recommended. “L’Union” Village Inn, rue du Village, 1273 Arzier,  Tel +41 22 366 2504    www.auberge-arzier.ch The Housing Market in Arzier  Initially a small farming village, Arzier  soon became a preferred summer and winter holiday destination for Geneva-based families. Its proximity to the St Cergue and La Givrine ski domains, the great views of the lake and the Mont Blanc, as well as the extensive walking tracks network contributed to make Arzier a very attractive location for residential living. The village has been steadily expanding in these past few years. Compared to other locations in the area, the great advantage of the local housing market is that in Arzier you can still have more for less.  If you are looking for property in the area then Bellini Immobilier / Real Estate is the specialist of the housing market for Arzier and the surrounding region. The agency was started in 2005 by Milena Bellini-Sheppard, and proposes a wide array of customised services that cover real estate transactions including house-search for expatriates intending to relocate in the area,  legal counsel for foreigners who want to relocate or buy property in Switzerland. English, French, Italian are spoken.  Bellini Immobilier / Real Estate, chemin des Granges 19, 1273 Arzier, Tel +41 79 321 0164; milenabellinisheppard@gmail.com A lawyer by training, Laura Covino Kerpelman is a free-lance writer with work published in the  Environmental Law and Policy  magazine She is also an artist, and an art therapist. Her on-going projects are: producing an art book dedicated to the region she inhabits,. Laura has lived in Switzerland since 2005, and in Arzier since spring 2012. She has two grown-up sons, Michael and Alexander.   Contact: lkerp@bluewin.ch

Photo above: Deckchairs on the terrace of the "Balise", the weekend café, part of the Bains de Trois Jetées association. News: The café is now licenced to sell beer and wine!  It's a great place to have a drink overlooking  the lake. The association is also looking for volunteers to help serve and run this winter café (last day 22nd April). Open Days at two local schools Oak Hill school in Nyon will be holding an Open Morning on Tuesday 13th March from 10.00 until 11.00. Oak Hill is a local school which offers a half-day programme designed for students with learning differences such as dyslexia and/or A.D.D. (ADHD). There wil be a demonstration reading lesson. Everyone welcome. Full details see Oak Hill   See previous article on this school here . Lake Léman International School in Morges is also holding an Open Day  on Saturday 10 March  from 11:00 to 15:00 .The LLIS  School starts with Kindergarten (from 3 years old) to Primary School (11 years 0ld) at its premises at Morges-Gottaz. The Secondary school will open from the school year 2012/13.  See previous post here about this school. Full Moon Event Saturday  A  "full moon" fondue event  will be held this Saturday down by the lake organised by the "Bains des 3 Jetees" Association. This event has now become an annual tradition. The sauna is free for this evening only and will open at 18:00, the fondue begins at 19:00  Cost 19 CHF . Note: you must reserve your place for a fondue in advance by emailing info@bains3jetees.ch See site for full details Music this weekend from Classical to DJ sets Sunday 11th March (also by the lakeside) at the Villa Thomas the Chamber Choir Zeugma  under the direction of  Philippe Savoy with Florence Desbiolles-Binz and Juan David Molano at the piano. This choir of twelve professional singers will perfom a programme of romantic music (Schumann, Brahms et Huber) and modern music in the Salle Cortot in the Villa Thomas. The Villa Thomas is on the Route de Geneve and in a lovely lake side setting.  Entry 20chf  AVS  and students 15 CHF  Reservations  TEL. 022 994 23 60, info.nyon@cov-vd.ch  Click for site here Usine a Gaz music on Friday 9th March - Yves Jamait (French solo singer), Saturday 10th - Meian (electronic music group) followed by DJ set The Alkalines playing until 04:00 in the morning. See Usine a Gaz for more info.

There are five pairs of free concert tickets up for grabs at the "Usine a Gaz"  to the Shantal and Bucovina Club Orkestra on Friday 6th December and 5 pairs of tickets  to the special DJ  90's dance night "Coquillages and Crustaces" in Nyon on Saturday 7th December. For those who haven't been to the "Usine a Gaz " before, it's down by the lake in Nyon and is the town's official permanent cultural and music venue (and it did indeed used to be a place where gas was sold!) Find out more here in a previous Living in Nyon post called  " behind the scenes of the "Usine a Gaz" .  Artists playing rock, hip hop, rap, funk jazz (theatre  for both adults and children) all perform here. There is a bar for pre-concert drinks too. Shantal and Bucovina Club Orkestra on Friday 6th December are a band from Germany with a "Balkan Beats" sound. Check out their video "Disko Partazani" below To receive a pair of free tickets for the this concert, send an email to info@livinginnyon. com with the subject title "Free Ticket - Usine a Gaz, 6th December" please include full names of those requiring a ticket. There are five pairs of tickets up for grabs for this event. There are also five pairs of tickets for the  special DJ  90's dance night in Nyon on Saturday 7th December called "Coquillages and Crustaces".  Send an email to info@livinginnyon. com with the subject title "Free Ticket - Usine a Gaz, 7th December" please include full names of those requiring a ticket. Other events  in November CPR for Babies and Children course,  Thursday 7 th  November, 18:30-22:00, Oakhill School, Nyon Could you help a choking child?  Would you know what to do in a drowning situation? Could you give CPR? Tailored course focussing specifically on babies and children will help you learn and practice important skills and provide the opportunity to have your important worries and questions answered. For more details , see website here  What's on in Nyon's museums   Musée du Léman -  "Views - At the time of steam navigation on Lake Geneva 1841 - 1941"  Exhibition until January 5, 2014 Roman Museum in Nyon  -  " Wheat and the other Roman Gold"     Exhibition until February 2, 2014 Château de Nyon,   - Gonzenbach Jongkind, Bard & other acquisitions - From November 29 2013 to February 16, 2014 (Official opening  Thursday, November 28, 2013) 18:oo  to 20:00 Elevator Pitches at Brits in Business Got a business you want to pitch?  There are four "Elevator Pitch" slots on offer (five minutes maximum and no power-point) at the next "Brits in Business" event on Tuesday 26th November from 18:00 to 20:00. If you want to attend or simply pitch your business see the Brits in Business website

Who needs the sea when you have Lac Léman? Not only was there a windsurfer on the lake today in Nyon, but a wakeboarder too, both taking advantage of the strong breezes and glorious sun after the torrential downpours of yesterday. Folk queuing for the ferry got a fabulous view of these watersports enthusiasts weaving in and out between the jetty and the boats, then whizzing by on the waves with the backdrop of the town behind them. Let's hope the weather stays fine for the Jval Rock Festival . It starts this Thursday 14th August and goes on until the 16th. I have it on good authority that there are fabulous views to be had up from the venue which is on a private vineyard in Serreaux-Dessus just above Begnins. The festival's philosophy is to promote Swiss and French Music and this year there is a three day programme from Rock to Electro Pop to Jazz. One of the bands Mobile in Motion originates from Nyon so it's a good chance to hear local music. The festival started four years ago when two brothers (who live on the wine estate), invited their friends and a few bands to come and play. Such was its success they repeated it the following year. Now in its fourth year, the festival has its own website and has navettes organised from Gland to take music lovers up to the venue. Check out the programme for the full listing of bands. I have never been before but plan to this year as it looks great. Photo below from last year's festival (courtesy of Jval) As there are just 400 tickets available for each night the festival will never become too big as space is limited by the area. Gaeten Fragnière who is part of the Javal team says; "The size means we will never lose our soul and we can keep it intimate". The age range of festival goers starts at around 18 -60, a healthy mix indeed. Why "Jval?" Well if you say it out loud it sounds like "horse" (cheval in French), a name that the organisers thought would be easy to remember! Also You may have seen signs around town advertising a festival called F.A.R . This means "Festival des arts vivants" (festival of living arts). The festival gets under way today the 13th until the 23rd August with a full programme of artists who will perform theatre, music comedy, dance. in venues around the town. The Usine a Gaz is decorated up to welcome them. More on this festival in a next post.

From the Elastique Citrique to Circus Space and beyond.... Lili Parson, a Nyon native has joined the troupe of the Royal Opera House's latest co-production- a modern version of Monteverdi's Orfeo , one of the first operas ever made. Part of the Elastique Citrique , Nyon's circus school since she was 5, training, performing and teaching there until last year, she left for London in August to join the National Center for Circus Arts (aka Circus Space) with the aim of becoming a professional circus artist. She is currently doing a year's preparation course before auditioning for several Circus schools across Europe and the world (Brussels, Stockholm, Quebec, London...). Although she has already had some pretty impressive experiences, performing this year in Denmark at the European youth circus festival, and participating in 2013 in Labo'Cirque, a three week program aiming to give a near-professional experience to promising young Swiss circus artists through the creation of a show, the Orfeo performance is of another scale. Produced by the Royal Opera and the Roundhouse, this daring new version of Orfeo uses an English translation of the original text, is performed on the circular stage of the Roundhouse and features a collaboration with the East London Dance Company . Lili is one of 14 young artists from dance or circus backgrounds chosen by the Company to support the singers throughout the play in a series of acro-dance pieces, giving the Opera a grounded and embodied bonus. Although Lili's main discipline is the Cyr Wheel- a huge ring in which she turns and performs acrobatics ( you can see her in action here ) she is a multi-talented artist and has been taking dancing and theatre classes as part of her year at Circus Space. She auditioned alongside some 30 people and was chosen to perform in this great experience! The rehearsals- a whole day a week since the end of October, and some more intense work over the Christmas holidays- were added to her already full schedule of training and getting ready for the Circus auditions at the end of the year, a pretty spectacular achievement! Orfeo started on the 13 th of January, to appraising critics acclaiming the freshness and directness of the production. The Royal Opera has decided to offer a free live streaming of Wednesdays the 21st's performance, on its website. The Opera will begin at 20:30 Swiss time, at this location. You can read a review of the Opera here . You can catch a glimpse of Lili in this sneak-peak video.

On Wednesday 5th June, the lake side around Crans près Céligny will be rocking to the sound of Motor Head and Skunk Anansie, two of the headline acts playing on the first night at the 2013 Caribana festival. Photo above: Skunk Anansie  - courtesy Caribana Festival This festival first began 23 years ago when a group of friends headed by Tony Lerch  (now director of the festival) organised a small  musical event at the port of Crans. That first free event  focussed on tropical and Caribbean music, since then the festival has evolved into one of festivals in Swiss Romandie playing a variety of genres of music from rock, to reggae, folk, indie soul, grunge, blues and more. Living in Nyon spoke to Tony Lerch  to find out how the festival manages to attract the major names in the rock and pop industry to play at the lake side venue.  Photo above: Tony Lerch - Director of Caribana Music Festival A "Welcome Programme"  from sailing to wine tasting - A mini-holiday for the artistes “Having a stunning setting helps. It’s pretty special, the artists love it. We also give them the opportunity to discover more of the area before they go on stage.  The bands and singers receive a “Welcome Programme” when they arrive here with a list of activities available to them. We offer a sailing trip on the lake, that in itself is beautiful. We sail past some interesting sights on the way, we point out the UEFA building, Michael Schumacher’s house, the Chateau of Prangins, Ernesto Bertorelli’s house ( the 2003 America's Cup winner) . Not only is a boat trip impressive but with the backdrop of the Alps and Mont Blanc behind them, it’s a pretty cool way to warm up the artists before they go on stage! If they don’t want to go sailing, they are given the option of cycling or walking in the vineyards with a chance to visit a local wine cellar. The only thing we ask them not to do is to participate in any risky sports, or swim too long in the lake and catch cold. We want them to stay safe be in good shape to play on the stage that night. Jim Kerr and filets de perche I think the artists love it, it’s a sort of mini-holiday for them because although it’s a big named festival, it still remains very intimate. They can walk along the side of the lake and mix with the public if they want to. There was an occasion a few years ago when Jim Kerr of “Simple Minds” chose not to eat at the artiste’s restaurant but to wander down to the port and have “filets de perches” there. Brian Ferry came back to visit and ate at a restaurant that he remembered when he played here. Photo above: First night at Caribana 2011 - C. Nelson-Pollard Having said that our very position right next to the lake means that it’s not that easy for the roadies. We have a bizarre shaped ground for a festival, and it’s not ideal for shifting stuff around. In addition it’s a very narrow path to carry gear down from the trucks to the stage, and the roadies have to carry and transport everything by hand. These days most rock festivals have automatic loading equipment. Some of the bands comment on this and say it’s like playing at rock festival from many years ago. Although it obviously makes it tricky for logistical purposes, it also add to the atmosphere, everyone lends a hand to get the show on stage. Imagine Dragons to play - Robbie Williams, the one that got away. In addition to the setting, word of mouth helps to attract some of the big named bands: they hear about its reputation and want to come along. We are proud that we often identify bands at the start of their career just before they take off and we manage to book them early on. We are really pleased that  “Imagine Dragons” are playing with us on Saturday night this year - they have recently become a huge hit.  There have been musicians that we identified and we booked early on that became so massive in the following months they simply became too expensive for us to take. A case in point is Robbie Williams, we booked him in October 1997 for the following year’s Caribana. He then released  “Angels” which went on to become massive, his album skyrocketed and he was in great demand. We could no longer afford him which was a great shame.  It was the same kind of story with “The Corrs”. Having said that, there have been quite a few names who have played here first as a relatively unknown on one of the smaller stages and they went on to  do bigger things, such as Faceless, Charlie Winston, and Nelly Furtado who we did book early on in their careers. The bands and artists on the smaller stages here at Caribana are always definitely worth going to see - they too may go on to greater success and you will have had the chance to see them close up at Caribana. 32,000 spectators in 2010 As to Tony Lerch’s own favourite type of music? “Well it’s no secret  that I am a big fan of  The Police, and I really like reggae, but I’m interested in all kinds of music. We have had some great nights with big and small artists over the past 20 or so years. We peaked at 32,000 spectators back in 2010 and since then have levelled out at around 30,000. The financial crisis has affected us and other festivals a bit, tickets aren’t selling as fast as they used to. All festival organisers are finding times as bit tougher. I think there are many, many festivals over Switzerland over the summer so competition is keen between us all, but conversely this means it’s good for the general public. They get to have a big choice of where they can go and spend their money.   I am glad they are still choosing Caribana! Photo above: Caribana 2012  - C. Nelson-Pollard Volunteers welcome! Like many festivals in Switzerland, Caribana depends on the good will and enthusiasm of its volunteers on site and on the committee which works throughout the year  to help run such a big event. “There isn’t anyone on the committee who is paid to do the job including me - we all do it for the love of the festival. We value our volunteers enormously, it’s getting a little bit harder to take on young volunteers between the ages of 16 and 18 due to new laws that have been implemented in Switzerland, but if anyone is interested in volunteering on site here, even if their French isn’t that great, we will happily consider them for a future festival. Putting the area on the map Back when we first started the festival, very few people used to know about the grounds that we use here at Caribana, just  the local residents - now we have really put it on  the map. We also keep evolving: this year the Sunday is for teenagers, with "Caribateens" . We saw that other towns were offering events for teenagers but there wasn’t much in this area, so we came up with the idea of a day dedicated to them.  This year we have other changes on the grounds for the public: there will be steps down onto the beachside, and there’s more. We look  forward to another good year and thankfully the weather is  now improving and looking very promising for another great festival. At the time of publishing there were still tickets available for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (Saturday is sold out). Click here for more info . if you are not able to go, Living in Nyon will be reporting from the festival each day, on the bands, the new changes on the site, the atmosphere, and of course, the music!  Photo above: Party Time at Caribana 2012 - C. Nelson-Pollard

The above photo was taken from the terrace of the château of Nyon just a couple of weeks ago. The snow has now melted but it is forecast to return tomorrow. So Nyon may just have a "white Christmas" this year and Bing Crosby won't have to dream any more... Wherever you will be on Christmas day, Living in Nyon wishes you Seasons Greetings and a very Merry Christmas! We will be back next week with an end of the year update and news on articles planned for 2011

A reminder to readers that tonight (Tuesday 19 June) it's the English movie night at the cinema of Nyon. The film to be schown is  " My Week with Marilyn ". The film portrays the making of the 1957 film "The Prince and the Showgirl", and stars Marilyn Monroe (Williams) and Laurence Olivier (Branagh).  The film starts at 20:30 See the cinema website here . There are two outdoor theatre performances on the calendar this week and both are taking place in the courtyards of  local chateaux. Firstly in the wonderful setting of the Château de Prangins -  "Macbeth" will be performed in English on Thursday 21, Friday 22 and Saturday 23 June 2012 at 20:00. Sadly this will be the last of the series of professional English-language theatre performances brought to the Geneva area by Howard Productions.  See here for ticket availability . All tickets are CHF 40 and seats are not numbered,  - first come, first served!    Meanwhile over at the Chateau of Coppet from the 18th to 24th June, there will be a performance of "Autour de Madame de Stael". Read more about the life of this fascinating woman in this Wikipedia entry (in English) here.    Ticket info on site here  You can also find out more about her in this interview on Léman Bleu TV here below (in French).

If you are heading off to Paléo and at some point during the evening you want to get away from the noise of the stages and the busyness of the crowds, one place you could head off to is La Ruche area. Jonas, Living in Nyon's on site Paléo writer has already talked about this area in a previous post here . La Ruche is dedicated to street theatre so it's not completely quiet, but it has more of a laid back and family feel to than the rest of the main Paléo grounds, and this year it has created a theme of a giant sitting room with lampshades and armchairs and an area with music and djs playing chilled music amongst a lot of old Bakelite and vintage radios. There is a small bar with tables here too. Note: Children under the age of 12 are admitted free to the festival, provided they are accompanied by an adult. There is also a dedicated play area for them called Miélmelo (just past La Ruche) a non smoking/ non drinking area with entertainment provided by volunteers and the area is open until 22:00. See here The food area next to the entrance to La Ruche is dedicated to Swiss food, Malakoffs, Raclette etc and this can be a little less hectic than the food zone in the Latin Quarter (one of the main food sections). Some of the food areas in the Village du Monde can be a little quieter depending what time you eat. Queues tend to be at their longest before concerts start and after they have finished on the Grande Scène/ Main stage. If you want to eat in style, sit down and be served at at table, there are six restaurants on site where you can do this. Full details here.