Living in Nyon spoke to expatriate Sandra Wilmer who moved to Rolle in July 2009. Sandra, originally from Johannesburg in South Africa, tells us why she loves living in Rolle.
"Rolle is a magical and charming town. Even though it has a population of just *5,000 people, it has everything one needs to go about one's daily business, with a butcher, baker etc. Rolle has the most beautiful waterfront that is set away from the road, making it a quiet place to go for a stroll. The Chateau is a working chateau, there are administrational offices that are run from within the building. There are also exhibitions held in a gallery space in the castle and a wonderful market at Christmas too.
Art Exhibition held inside the Chateau
Rolle is peaceful which I love even though it is still very close to the other towns of Nyon and Morges. Lausanne, Coppet and Geneva are a short drive or train ride away. We have wonderful wineries on our doorstep and we are within walking distance to Mont sur Rolle. We often go to Fechy for wine tasting, lunch in St Prex or Perroy, which is just around the corner from us.
There is an international feel to the place due to the A1 Business centre, but there are still many Swiss people here, although you don’t hear as much English spoken as in our neighbouring towns. I have always found everyone to be friendly and when I try to speak French, people are very helpful and patient.
We often take our bicycles in the summer and just ride around the apple orchards and vineyards and we stop to pick apples that have fallen on the ground, there are also opportunities to pick grapes in the Autumn season too. There is a local gym in Rolle and a beautiful conference centre along the lake side.
The local Rolle Green Bus travels around the town regularly and picks up people at designated spots and takes them to the train station in a very timely fashion so it's all very convenient. The train station is very clean too and very accessible to most everywhere. If there was just one thing I wish for, that would be that were more trains from Rolle, the frequency could be improved.
We have a very well known fish restaurant called Café du Port which has an excellent reputation.
There are many other nice restaurants too. Rolle also has a shop called the Tournesol (sunflower) which is an organic food store and there is also a market on Tuesday and Friday mornings, with fresh produce, pasta, cheese, meat, olives, fish, flowers all on sale.
However my favourite shop of all has to be La Boîte à Thé which is a very special shop indeed. You can sip tea or drink coffee at the back of the store, while looking through all the photos of the owner’s travels.
The owner Ursula Selig, sources many products while she is travelling in other countries and there are teas and interesting products for sale from all over the world in this shop. I have spent hours here as it is so peaceful and interesting too!
Rolle also has a ferry dock, and the ferries cross over the lake to the main towns and villages in the summer. All in all, I think Rolle is a very special little place and I love living here." Editor's note: Rolle is also home to Le Rosey the prestigious international boarding school (said to be one of the most expensive schools in the world) See previous post about the A1 business centre in Rolle * The population of Rolle (December 2009) was 5,686 The official website of Rolle also incudes the communes of Allaman, Bursinel, Bursins, Burtigny, Dully, Essertines, Gilly, Luins, Mont-sur-Rolle, Perroy, Rolle, Tartegnin and Vinzel. Rolle also has a tourist office in the centre of the town which has its own website