Photo above: the temperature in Nyon on Thurday morning.

Do the freezing conditions in the Nyon area right now make you want to simply stay inside and curl up with a good book?  If so, there are various local places where you can find English books both in local shops and in libraries.

Nyon library has a small selection of English books on the top floor of its building and it also has selection of  music with both rock pop and classical  CDs to rent. These are to be found in the reading room on the ground floor where there are also a good variety of journals, newspapers and other publications that can be read on the premises.  Nyon library is in a lovely old building directly opposite the Place Perdtemps car park and it is open on Saturdays mornings.   However this Saturday the 4th February it is ”Le Samedi des bibliothèques Vaudoises” with events going on throughout the day.  See previous post here about the library.  The village of Crans près Céligny also has an English section in its library for its readers, see previous post on this library here. 

If you prefer to to buy your books, then Payot in la Combe shopping centre in Nyon has a good selection of English fiction and non fiction books. The “Reading Duck” in Grand Rue in Nyon also stocks a small collection of English childrens’ books and a large selection in French. Both shops stock the Living along Lac Léman book too!

A Site for Fondue Lovers which lists some of the Best places for a Fondue in the area

If you are on the hunt for a good fondue, did you know that the Fondue of the Month Club has a website that highlights “the best (and some of the less than best) fondues that are available in Geneva and the Canton of Vaud”?

The site says  ”We don’t pretend to be gastronomic experts but we do know what we like. Browse through the more than 10 years of reviews and you’ll see we have plenty of experience to share”.  There is a detailed chart on their site of many fondue venues. The chat  rates each place for ambiance, and for the fondue, flavour, texture, digestibility!  

There is even a blog post  from last July of  “Worst Fondues” and “Top Fondues”. It makes fascinating reading and is a real gem of a resource. If you also know of a good fondue spot that is not on their list, the club invites you to help them out by adding your own comments and taste test results. 

Living in Nyon is taking a short winter break and will be back at the end of January. In the interim if you would like to know what events are happening this month around the area, the best place to check in the first instance is Nyon Region Tourism Office (link here) .  

 Alternatively check the “agenda “, the monthly page published by the tourist office, this is also published weekly in La Côte newspaper. You can also check out ”Know It all Passport”,  and the “In Any event” site (both links on bottom of this site) for more information.  Anglo Info, Geneva Lunch, and Glocals are three other good resources of news and information. Photos in banner and in post are of the cosy  “Bains de 3 jetées ”café ( this is to be found by the lake side with the sauna next to it and is open from November to April )  Link here 

Coming up on the site later, other events happening around the area. Photo in banner and below, scenes from the “Three Kings” evening on the 6th January in Nyon. 

 Photo above: Lac Léman on the 25th December 2011

Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year (when it arrives!) to all readers. Living in Nyon apologises for the recent lack of posts and updates on this site.  We experienced a  few technical difficulties over the Christmas week, but all is well now and we are back on course for 2012 and another year of information, articles and posts all about living in the Nyon region. There will also be a newletter going out to all subscribers in  the early part of January, so if you haven’t subscribed to the newsletter, why not do so? It’s free, just click on the box in the right hand corner of this site.

 Photos of cupcakes for sale at the Nyon Saturday market from the Heidi Bakery. Themed cupcakes for all occasions!

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. 

Caribana (the summer music festival down by the lake in Crans sur Celigny) have announced that Keziah Jones will play as part of the line up on Saturday 9th June 2012.   Caribana will also be opening a permanent festival office in Nyon on the 2oth December and they invites music lovers to visit the office that evening during the late shopping night.  It’s an opportunity to have a glass of vin chaud and meet the designer of the 2012 Cariban poster,  buy a Christmas ticket “abonnement” or Caribana merchandise. There will be a DJ present that night to liven up the event!  See here for full details

Other news: Mama Rosin ( a band often mention on this site-  they have featured on the BBC’s “Later with Jules Holland” ) will be playing in Nyon’s old town at La Parenthèse  tonight 8th December at 21:30.  They promise a fun night of zydeco, cajun, blues, rock etc. L a Parenthese is an underground venue Grand Rue 22 bis in Nyon.

Firstly tonight, Monday night 5th at the Capitole Cinema in Nyon there will be a screening at 20.15 of the film “Steam of Life”  This film won the prize of the Interreligious Jury at the Visions du Réel Documentary festival 2010.

Steam of Life by Joonas Berghåll and Mika Hotakainen

Synopsis provided by Visions du Reel: “Naked Finnish men in saunas speak straight from the heart around the warmth of old stoves and cleanse themselves both physically and mentally towards the film’s deeply emotional and unforgettable finale. The film travels through Finland joining men of all walks of life in many different saunas to let us hear their touching stories about love, death, birth and friendship; about life. In all its simplicity the camera records the raw and rare beauty of landscapes, saunas and men in almost magical pictures. The presence of the characters and the depth of their emotion reaches a limit where it is almost intolerable for the viewer to watch. Steam of Life reveals the men’s naked souls in an exceptionally intimate and poetic way”.

 

 Smooth Jazz and Christmas Carols

This Jazz and Carols evening is an alternative and relaxed Christmas event and take place this Saturday 10 December from 18:30 to 19:45 in the Temple de Nyon (rue du Temple). The evening is free, but please register by clicking on the link here   Don’t delay – tickets are going fast!

 This concert is being hosted by La Côte Anglican Church, which has just celebrated its Silver Jubilee.  Twenty-five years ago the first service in English was held in the village of Trélex and thereafter in the larger church at Gingins, to meet the needs of the growing English-speaking population in the Nyon area. 

 The church community has grown dramatically from the few families who formed the initial congregation 25 years ago, but it retains its informal and welcoming atmosphere and serves both the expatriate and local communities in many different ways. As well as services in English every Sunday at 16.00 in Gingins village church and twice a month in Divonne, there’s a Sunday Club (for children and teens), crèche, home groups, pastoral care, social action, regular get-togethers for newcomers to the area, and fund-raising events such as the popular Quiz Night, Spring Fair and Christmas Market (Sat. 3 Dec. 11.00-15.00 at the Divonne Eglise Réformée parish centre).

 If you’d like to join their mailing list to find out more information – especially at this time of year to find out more about our Christmas services

Pplease  contact the Chaplain, Carolyn Cooke, at carolyn.cooke@lacotechurch.ch 

 Tel: 022-364- 0030, or Assistant Chaplain, Julia Chambeyron, at julia.chambeyron@orange.fr  Tel. 0033- 450.20.1937.  You can also find more information on their website:

Nyon Christmas Market

It’s the Christmas market in Nyon on Sunday 11th December down by the Rive from 08:00: 18:30. Lots of artisanal  stalls and gifts for Christmas, Living in Nyon will be there with a stall selling the “Living along Lac Léman” book.  Why not come along and say “Hello”! 

Due to a poor weather forecast, please note there will be no Living in Nyon  stall at the Nyon Saturday market on the 3rd December. If you would like to purchase a copy of Living  along Lac Léman  see here for all retail outlets.

Photo above, the  ”Rue des Belles Filles”- The Street of Beautiful girls” (who wouldn’t want to live here?) from the article “Being Streetwise in Switzerland” from ”Living along Lac Léman”.

Diccon Bewes, the author of “Swiss Watching” ( Best Book of 2010 -Financial Times) and travel writer (Lonely Planet and Holiday Which) has just reviewed ”Living along Lac Léman” , the Living in Nyon book.

He says; “The book contains a varied selection of Catherine’s columns from La Côté newspaper over the past three years, so it makes for perfect dip-in-and-out reading. Short pieces about life along the lakeshore, fitting in as an expat, Swiss foibles and learning French. And that’s what I loved most about it. There’s such a mix of subjects, you don’t have to know the area that well to enjoy it. For sure, some of the articles have a distinctly local flavour – not just the Paléo festival in Nyon but street names in Geneva or tourist howlers in Morges – but most are about something anyone in Switzerland can relate to: eating fondue, getting to know your neighbours, talking about the weather and kissing friends hello. All crucial subjects for every expat who has been here more than a few weeks.”

 Photo above from article in book: “Don’t worry be happy” - ”Pas de Souci”

He also goes on to say; “Adding more than a touch of depth are Catherine’s photos alongside each text. They cover, of course,  the gorgeous views and festival revellers but also more mundane things like fresh bread, football crowds and spring flowers. Not every book has the luxury of great colour photos, as I know all too well, but this one makes the most of that by using them to add some real local colour to the already engaging text. Of such things, I can but dream”.

You can read the full review here and find out more about Diccon and his book here. 

If you would like to purchase  a copy of  ”Living along Lac Léman”

 just click here to order and to see the list of  local retail outlets.  Here’s another review by Know it all Passport 

 Other news, the BSCC Business Awards ceremony took place last night at the Beau Rivage in Geneva. Living in Nyon was one of the finalists in these awards and although the site didn’t take home the top prize at the end of the evening, the editor was delighted to be nominated in the first place and recognised for “their contributions to business success in Britain and Switzerland”. In the words of Michael Mckay BSCC Chairman-Geneva Chapter, “all the finalists were winners to get to the stage of being selected”. You can see the full list of winners here.