Where are the swans?

It is with great concern that I look out my window every morning. Is this the effect of global warming?

Last year I commented on the large number of swans -- most days I counted 170 swans on this side of the Lalinde bridge -- but that there was not a single breeding pair.
I was wondering then whether they knew anything that we don't.

But the news gets worse. This year there are not even a dozen swans above or below the Lalinde bridge. Where have they all gone? Why are they not returning to their old haunts? The fact that there were no cygnets last season, does that mean there are no swans this year?

There is only one couple in front of the chateau this year-- and the good news is that they seem to have made a nest behind the trees on the opposite bank. I am hoping that they will breed this year!

I shall keep my eye on them -- so watch this space for further updates!

The swan couple below my window this morning

Related articles:
Swans on the Dordogne River
Climate change in France
The swans are back
Dordogne swans in the news in Oz


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Learning French : One phrase a day

se tenir informé

to stay informed

J'écoute la radio pour me tenir informé de l'actualité

I listen to the radio to keep myself informed of the news




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The festival of the river in Bordeaux - and activity holidays

In June each year, the whole city of Bordeaux celebrates one of its two fundamental assets - the vine and the river - alternating between them from one year to the next.

This year both were celebrated - during the same week! The Wine Week in Bordeaux is huge -- and accommodation is at a premium, and yu would do weel to book now for next year!. As for the Festival of the River -- this is a colourful and exciting event and not to missed!
This year, the fifth edition of "Bordeaux fête le fleuve" focused on the river and was dedicated to the port city's relations with the world. It began on Saturday the 16th June with the arrival of three exceptional ships: the Belem, the Cuauhtemoc and the Recouvrance.
Make the most of the many activities - 'ports of call' - (see the full schedule. There is something for everyone -- volleyball, football and rugby tournaments in the sand arena on the right bank, the giant picnic at midday on Saturday along the quaysides (left bank), the nautical parade and of course, the swim across Bordeaux -- which took place today.
And then there is, as always, the music programme, with 4 concerts held this year on the right bank.
The Tourist Office offered a Visitors Pass and turnkey breaks.
Book now for next year June -- this is something quite wonderful!

Feel like an Active Weekend in the Périgord Dordogne?

This is an example of what is on offer for visitors to the region : A sporty weekend specially for you in the Périgord with the focus on open air activities. To start with, you can enjoy a morning given over to horse-riding (in the village of Tamnies) or to golf (in Périgueux), and afterwards half a day on a mountain bike, another half a day canoeing, both with state-registered instructors on hand for beginners. The local heritage is part of the fun with the Visit of Périgueux, to the Gallo-Roman or Medieval and Renaissance part. The programme also includes a typical – and therefore revigorating – dinner in a restaurant in town to be chosen from a list provided by the Tourist Office.

For your accommodation, you can choose to suit your pocket, from camping to a 4-star hotel. Price (per person): from 114 € in a campsite to 246 € in a 4* hotel (double room). As well as accommodation, the price includes the visit of the town, a Périgord dinner, a morning's horse-riding or golf, half a day's mountain biking and half a day's canoeing. Tourist or resident, this sounds like the perfect weekend for those who enjoy an activity holiday!

Related Links:
Buying property in France
Bordeaux; Feast for body and soul
Canadians build new resort and estate near Bordeaux
The Bordeaux Renaissance
Tourism and property in France


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Two new Flybe flights into the Dordogne

Flybe has started two new services into Bergerac, one from London Gatwick and the second from Manchester. This will be good news for all the British expats in the area -- and great that Ryanair are given some competition.

Flybe also recently announced its acquisiton of BA Connect, the regional part of British Airways, apart from BA Connect's London City and Manchester-JFK routes.

This acquisition and the creation of 11 new routes will make Flybe Europe's largest regional airline, with 152 routes operating from 22 UK and 34 European airports. Manchester-Bergerac flight single fares will be from £39.99 including taxes and charges, and London Gatwick-Bergerac flights will offer fares from £42.99 one way.

There are twenty other new Flybe routes previously run by BA Connect.

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Nude cycling for a cleaner planet

Thousands of cyclists took to the streets in Paris, Montréal, Madrid, London and Mexico City today to show their commitment to the war against pollution and global warming caused by motor vehicles and motor bikes. To make sure that the media will pay attention, they left their clothes behind and cycled in the nude!
Well done and thank you, ye Bold and ye Brave -- Way to go!

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Buying property in France

There are as many articles written about buying property in France as there are people buying property in France! It is a phenomenon in its own right. Probably because France is one of the most retirement friendly, investor friendly and DINKY- and DITKY- friendly countries -- where property can still be bought for very reasonable money and growth and increase in value is almost 100% assured. In particular the SouthWest of France, here in the Perigord Dordogne, the non-French - as well as the French themselves, are streaming in to profit from the low prices, the number of available properties with potential for restoration and DYI improvements, good weather, friendly locals, diversity of interests and job opportunities and of course the very good and healthy life style.

I have been writing quite a bit about Bordeaux -- the city that is undergoing a renaissance which is remarkable and wonderful, as well as about the developments that are happening in the area, where off-the-plan homes can be bought in comfortable and attractive estates.

Related Links:
Bordeaux; Feast for body and soul
Canadians build new resort and estate near Bordeaux
The Bordeaux Renaissance
Tourism and property in France


In an article by Lucy Alexander in The Times a few days ago, she writes:

Posh pads that pay their way
Fancy an affordable luxury home in Bordeaux?

Buying property in France may be a costly tangle of red tape, but that doesn’t seem to deter the Britons who own more than 200,000 properties there, according to figures from Rightmove.com. France’s obvious attractions combined with low property prices would seem to be an effective analgesic for the headache induced by VAT, wealth tax, residents’ tax and legal and agency fees.

If your dream is to buy and renovate a rundown farm, an element of expensive hassle is inevitable. But if you’re seeking a holiday home that doubles as an investment, France’s leaseback scheme, which offers tax breaks on the purchase of buy-to-let properties, is an attractive option. The quality of leaseback developments varies, but more luxurious ones are becoming more common as the purchasing power of the pound grows. The Canadian resort operator Intrawest has spotted a market in France, and is now building its first non-ski resort there.

She talks about the difficulty foreign buyers encounter when they come up against the tax laws, inheritance laws and wealth tax, VAT, residents' tax and red tape in general. When I bought property and moved to France, it took me an entire year, expensive legal advice, relocation advice, surveyors' reports, and much more before I finally took possession of the keys and moved in. Then I would have agreed with Ms Alexander - and the general perception of the difficulties one has to deal with in buying property in France.
However -- last month good friends of mine from Australia came to Bordeaux for one week, found an exceptional apartment to buy - with a terrace and view over the river - signed the Compromis de Vente within two hours of seeing the apartment for the first time, and all the red tape, all the papers -- every single requirement, within the next couple of days. The contract is with the notaires and the final deed of sale is expected to be signed and possession taken the first week in September.
Admittedly, they did do their homework beforehand -- but -- all research was done in Australia and all over the internet, they did obtain a local bank approved loan before they came, and I did spend a little time in Bordeaux looking at the best areas and apartments that were for sale, and -- they did buy the apartment through a reputable estate agent. No doubt that helps enormously. The money that you would save on agents' commission is just not worth the energy and headaches -- and other hidden costs you would have otherwise.

If you are interested in investing in property in France, do not be put off by the red tape involved, or by the horror stories you hear from people who have come here before you. Equip yourself well with the plethora of information that is available to you about buying property in France, do your research, do your homework, make sure you have your bank behind you and you will find it is as easy as - enjoying a glass of Bordeaux wine! - Or you can of course attend one of the excellent Relocation and Orientation Courses offered right here in Château Lalinde - be it with the view to come and live in France or simply to spend your holidays in France.

You can still buy a large, lovely honey coloured stone house in the Dordogne, ---or a gorgeous two bedroomed flat with visible 600 year old oak beams and exquisite light, a balcony looking out onto the cobble-stoned streets and in a restored stone building in the heart of the old, historic quarters of Bordeaux - to let out to the thriving and growing tourist market or to use as a pied-a-terre when you visit France - and all for less than €200 000.

So -- what are you waiting for?


Two highly recommended and very good value for money
Chambres d'Hotes - B&B - Bed and Breakfast in Bordeaux:

Une Chambre en Ville
Pedroni Guesthouse





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Pedroni Guesthouse : detail

Learning French : One phrase a day

J'ai bien du mal

I find it hard/It is hard to

à garder mon serieux

to keep a straight face
to be serious




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21 June : The National Day of Music in France.........

.....and in all francophone countries.


Can it already be a year ago that I wrote about the National Day of Music in France? How time flies!

Here we are again on the 21st of June and all over France and worldwide every person who can make music, is doing so -- no matter where, be it a formal recital or performance, a small venue and audience, in a grand hall or in the streets -- we all celebrate life with music!

Here in Lalinde we celebrated the Day of Music on Saturday and the entire village, young and old, man, woman and child, came to the streets of the village and the square to listen and play and sing and dance until the early hours of the morning -- every kind of music, from ancient traditional to jazz, the blues and heavy metal -- something of everything for everyone! -- And of course, in true style and according to tradition, the Lalinde Rugby Club was out in full force to provide the delicious barbecue saucisses, frites, steak - and the wine and beer!


The Fête de la Musique was first started in France back in 1982 by the then Minister of Culture, Jack Lang - after the concept of Marcel Landowski in 1981, and it soon became an an international celebration of free live music in more than 300 cities worldwide including New York, Berlin, Rome, London, Bamako, Suriname, Bahrein, Havana, Tel-Aviv, Cairo, Luxembourg, Mexico City, Sydney, Johannesburg and of course, Paris -- where the now famous Les Nuits Blanches have become an annual event to which hundreds of thousands people come. Amongst those performing tonight in the Hippodrome of Auteuil are Mika, Avril Lavigne, Tokio Hotel (they of what-the-heck-ARE-they??-fame), the inimitable Fatal Bazouka, Christophe Maé, Yannick Noah, Calogero, Christophe Willem, Shy’m, Vitaa, Kamini, La troupe du Roi Soleil, David Guetta, Laurent Voulzy, Bob Sinclar, and many more. (But what possessed Tele2 to get the dodo, Olivier Minne to emcee the event?? He has absolutely no idea of how to do it and leaves the artists dangling in mid air, has big silent pauses, is ill at ease and absolutely no stage presence...........do I sound disgusted? I am!)

Here a group of young Swiss children performing in a street (Photo: Musicfest)




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The National Day of the Mills : Journee Nationale Des Moulins

17 June 2007 once again saw the National Day of the Mills -- and in the Perigord Dordogne alone there were 21 beautiful ancient wind- and water flour mills to look at.

I would have loved to have gone to see more, but only had time for four -- mills in various state of repair and restoration. I visited one wind mill -- that of Le Bournat at Le Bugue, which is in a perfect condition, being there all year round for visitors to come and admire. I then drove some distance through the most beautiful countryside, tine narrow lanes and thick oak forests. to finally arrive at Le Coux and Le Moulin de Ladiere which sits on the Le Boule stream. Here I was welcomed by a gorgeous farmyard of horses, chickens and a delightful Billy Goat --- and a charming young man who acted as a most informative guide, explaining the entire intricate workings of a water mill with enthusiasm and an obvious pride and pleasure. From there I continued on along the Dordogne river to Vezac where I visited the almost completely restored Moulin de L'Eveque which is situated on a tributary of the Dordogne, namely the Pontou. My last port of call was close to home, the mill of Lalinde -- which is in fact just outside Sauveboeuf, Le Moulin du Milieu a Sauveboeuf. This mill has been restored to its pristine original state and is in full working order -- a fascinating process to watch -- in particular as one realises that what you see is exactly what one would have seen 500 years ago! Several happy visitors walked away with soft white flour which had been milled right there in front of them.



This is one industry which is nowhere near ready to hang up its boots!



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Arts and Crafts -- and ancient traditions in the Dordogne

On a misty Sunday in June in the Dordogne there can be few pleasures as special as going on a journey of discovery of the ancient and traditional arts and crafts of the countryside.

Last Sunday was such a day -- and what a wonderful discovery it was! Not only seeing the old traditions kept alive and thriving, but discovering that it is the young people that are doing so.

One would have expected these old crafts and traditions to be practised by the older generation whilst the youth are out and about and enjoying their electronic gadgets and toys and pastimes. But no! Whether it is the art of felt making, basket weaving, imprinting cloth with leaves from the walnut tree or platting wheat, the average age of all the artisans I saw on Sunday demonstrating their amazing skills, could not have exceeded 30! And wherever there was a wrinkled old man or woman showing us how it their specific art or craft should be done, there was always a young'un close by watching and learning and trying it out. There is such a variety of arts and crafts to learn -- and ideal reason to rent a chateau -- come to Chateau Lalinde during the summer, and organise a superb activity holiday for yourself and the family!

And then, driving from beautiful Limeuil's hill top arts and crafts fair, to continue my day of discovery -- by visiting some of the many old mills in the Perigord, my surprise was even greater when I was welcomed by quite a few of the old mills by gorgeous young boys and girls who proudly demonstrated and explained the workings of a wind - or water mill to everyone who showed an interest. Some of these mills have been beautifully and meticulously restored, whilst others are in the process of - or waiting to be restored, and once again, it was not the older generation that shared their excitement with me, but the grand- and great grand children of the owners of the mills.


Contact details for excellent artisans - and lessons - in the Dordogne:

Basketry:
Abdre Pineau
24380 Lacropte
Tel: 0553 067252

Tiane et Marc Cattet
24380 St Mayme de Peyerol
Tel: 0553 045426
www.laclairiereauxpaniers.com

Daniel Breillat
85240 Nieul sur l'Autise
Tel: 0251524956
LESSONS available

Francois Desplanches
24380 Lacropte
0553 081522
f.desplanches@wanadoo.fr

Knitted Art, designs, clothing
Me-tissages
33640 Portets
Tel: 0556 675950
http://jetisse.googlepages.com
anne.tisse@club-internet.fr

Woven articles in natural home-spun and coloured wool
Hilary Hunter
24160 Excideuil
Tel: 81748904

Hat creations:
Brigitte Paillet
19560 Saint-Hilaire Peyroux
Tel: 0684124342
www.meschapeauxetmoi.com
www.le-clapotis.net

Annelie Petitqueux
32170 Aux Aussat
Tel: 0562 675315
annelie@annafibre.com
http://www.annafibre.com
LESSONS Available

Vegetable colouring and printing of fabrics
84360 Oauris
Tel: 0490084048
www.couleurgarance.com
LESSONS available

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Bordeaux : A Feast for the body and soul

Bordeaux : Centre of Wine, Food, the Arts and Shopping -- A Culture Vulture's paradise!
As Alain Juppe, the Mayor of Bordeaux says:

The world capital of wine, famous for its excellent lifestyle, Bordeaux also features some of Europe's most charming and impressive examples of 18th century architecture.
Located in the heart of a region offering countless attractions, Bordeaux combines celebration, great wines, and first class cuisine.

The excellent public transport makes getting around so easy -- the tram system introduced a few years ago has revolutionised Bordeaux and probably made it one of the visitor-friendliest cities in the world. The trams are convenient and quick and excellent value. There are many underground parking garages all over the city and finding ones way into the city is made easy with many clear signs indicating where the different areas and the different parking garages are.

The Quartiers of Bordeaux:
The Triangle
The triangle is formed by the Allees de Tourney, Cours Georges Clemenceau and Cours de l'Intendence. This is the city's heart where every kind of shop, every type of restaurant, and every class of hotel can be found to suit every person's taste.

Rue St Catherine
Stretching from the aristocratic Place de la Comedie to the student district at Place de la Victoire, it is the longest pedestrian-only street in Europe. It is lined with many of France's best known retail outlets -- and it is crossed by the other very interesting pedestrian streets such as Rue de la Porte Dijeaux, as well as the bigger arterials such as Rue Alsace Lorraine and Cours Victor Hugo. A giant open air shopper's paradise!


Quartier Saint-Pierre
The Saint-Pierre district is a maze of cobble stoned streets and alleys amongst the beautiful stone buildings of Bordeaux -- many of which are craftsmen’s and artist's studios and galleries. The district also features avant-garde showrooms - and some of the most spectacular examples of the massive restoration project which the entire Bordeaux is undergoing. Saint-Pierre's many little squares tucked away amongst the buildings offer outdoor restaurants and cafes and wherever you decide to sit and enjoy a meal or a glass of wine, you will also have a lovely - and often entertaining view of your surroundings.

Quartier St Michel
This has always been a district where beautiful antiques and unusual second-hand items can be found. There is a flea market as well as a second-hand and bric-a-brac gallery, and a colourful variety of Mediterranean and especially Moroccan grocery shops and bazaars -- with a feast of colour and smell and sound. People who enjoy hunting for good deals will just love this area, which is also much appreciated by students - and tourists in the know.

Les Chartrons
This is a virtually self-sufficient district with a village atmosphere and plenty of quality boutiques. The district includes Rue Notre Dame, a street full of antique dealers, second-hand shops and art galleries, as well as Rue du Faubourg des Arts which has recently become the area for serious artists and designers. Les Chartrons is reputedly the developing 'in' place to be in Bordeaux and there are still some interestingly-priced properties to be had for the prospective buyer, but you will have to be quick, as the prices are going up as we speak.


When you wander through the market, you may see a table with a hot plate and a large pot of soup simmering........ Bring a vegetable, take a seat in the shade under one of the lovely trees, peel your vegetable and then give it to the man with the bright floral apron. While he is cutting up your vegetable into the soup pot, you can enter a small cubicle and listen to someone tell you a fascinating little two minutes story............. And comes lunch time, return to the table under the trees and the man in the apron will give you a delicious cup of the 'composed' soup! ----What a lovely way to spend a Saturday morning!
 


On the river there may be a cruise liner from some exotic shores that is in port for the night, or there may be a opera costume festival where you can try on well know opera figures' costumes, or an interesting exhibition in the Aquitaine Museum, or street musicians performing for passers-by - for the pure pleasure of it, or perhaps a slightly more formal dinner and music recital in Cafe Louis adjacent to the Opera House... always something going on and always something for everyone's taste....

Related Links:
Bordeaux: Renaissance of a City
Morocco comes to Bordeaux
Wine Tasting in Bordeaux

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Women in Revolutionary France -- the 1789 revolution -- as well as the current one

"The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France." - could well be the book title of a book written in our own time. Only, the title would probably read "The lives and times of eight Women in Revolutionary France" -- as I reported on the seven women in Sarkozy's government -- and then we would have to add the eighth, namely Cecilia Sarkozy, who, I have no doubt, is going to leave her deep footprints in this era of this current revolution in France.

In the New York Times this week, Judith Warner reviews a book about the women that marched to Versailles in October 1789.

In 1791, Olympe de Gouges, a radical pamphleteer, published a response to the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which proclaimed France a constitutional monarchy and gave all men of property the right to vote. “Woman is born free and lives equal to man in her rights,” reads the first article of her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen, which demanded full political rights and responsibilities for women. Since “woman has the right to mount the scaffold,” Gouges noted, “she must equally have the right to mount the rostrum.”

The book, "Liberty", is subtitled "The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France." and is by the author, Lucy Moore. (HarperCollins)
The review:

Gouge’s ideas were considered so laughable that they didn’t threaten — or even interest — the revolutionary powers of the day. She plastered the walls of Paris with her posters, the British historian Lucy Moore writes in her marvelous new book, “Liberty: The Lives and Times of Six Women in Revolutionary France,” but no one cared. “One sees them, stops for a second, and says to oneself, ‘Ah, c’est Olympe de Gouges,’ ” a government spy reported.

And so it went with women’s efforts to include themselves in the effervescence of liberté, égalité and fraternité that swept France in the revolutionary period. France’s citoyennes were used in the streets of Paris as stooges and enforcers or idolized as keepers of the revolutionary home and heart, but when they drew attention to themselves as individuals rather than symbols, they were disdained, despised and sometimes, like Gouges, condemned to death. Women soon discovered, Moore writes, that “the ‘rank’ of citoyenne carried with it neither civic liberties nor political rights,” and “any woman who did have a voice in 18th-century France, from the queen down, was denounced for immorality.”

As the revolution unfolded, female influence came to be associated with the corrupt court intrigues of the ancien régime. Robespierre, Moore observes, was a particular misogynist, hating the “flesh-and-blood” degradation he associated with womankind. In deference to — and, it seems, genuine belief in — the prevailing sentiments of the day, women like the liberal aristocrat Germaine de Staël and the civil servant’s wife Manon Roland, who kept the most influential salons in revolutionary Paris, took care to distance themselves from overt expressions of ambition or ownership of ideas.

De Staël had a particular talent, a contemporary wrote, of declaiming for the benefit of her male guests “in strokes of fire the ideas they thought they held.” Roland, who lived, breathed and wrote about politics until her dying day, let it be known that she would rather chew off her fingers than publish her thoughts. Yet her attempts to ape respectable female modesty couldn’t save her; because of the influence she wielded in her husband’s world, she was called a monster by the press and sent to the guillotine. “Even though she was a mother, she sacrificed nature by trying to raise herself above it,” wrote one contemporary journalist. “The desire to be learned led her to forget the virtues of her sex.”

De Staël, buttressed by her enormous wealth and privilege, avoided the guillotine but was denounced as an intriguer and a nymphomaniac. Most pitiably of all, Théroigne de Méricourt, a former courtesan who believed she could escape the bounds of her “ruined” life by joining forces with the friends of the revolution, was publicly whipped by a band of virtuous street women. Reviled as a whore, she descended into madness and spent the rest of her days chained to the walls of an asylum, raving about liberty, equality and royalists long after the revolution had ended.

The women of the Paris street, represented here by the chocolate-maker Pauline Léon, were repudiated as “bloodthirsty Furies” and in many cases arrested. No woman with any kind of public standing was safe; even the “delectable” Thérésia de Fontenay, who, Moore suggests, probably took an initial interest in politics because it was fashionable to do so, emerged from the revolution “wearing diamond toe rings and anklets to hide — or perhaps to draw attention to — the scars on her feet and legs from the rat bites she had received in prison.”

In Moore’s telling, only Juliette Récamier, the “icon” of womanhood in the Directory and early Napoleonic period, enjoyed renown but escaped the revolution more or less unscathed. In the public imagination, she was, apparently, a woman emptied of all bodily reality, living in what was said to be a white marriage — pure abstraction, pure projection, made flesh.

The revolution, Moore shows, brought women many tributes to their maternal graces, their high-minded morals, their “natural” homebound virtues. Yet the veneration of Woman and hatred of real women were one and the same. “Ah!” Lucile Duplessis, later the wife of the revolutionary journalist Camille Desmoulins, wrote of the men in her world. “That they would worship us less and set us free!”

It is going to be very interesting to see what roles such strong independent women as Cecilia Sarkozy, Rachida Dati, Penelope Fillon and 'MAM'will play in the new revolution that has started in France today -------- this might well be a space worth while watching!...........


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Japanese Manga comic boosts Dordogne wine sales

"Taste of heaven: Manga spreads 'Drops of God' in Asia" reports Sophie Hardach in Reuters today.

Apparently "Wine reviews with a twist are a speciality of "Kami no Shizuku" ("The Drops of God"), a manga comic series that has taken Japan by storm, is conquering Korea and China and has boosted European wine sales along the way.
Written by a brother-and-sister duo of wine enthusiasts, the manga comic combines a mystery plot with a playful introduction to European wines. Think "The Da Vinci Code" set in a Tokyo bar.

"The minute it was translated into Korean, we had calls from three importers," said Basaline Granger Despagne, whose family has grown wine near France's Dordogne river for 250 years. Their Chateau Mont Perat 2001 Bordeaux appears early on in the manga. With this sudden interest, the producers are getting calls from all over for shipments of wine. Basaline Granger Despagne said her family had been approached by distributors in mainland China but had so far found no one they felt comfortable selling their wine to.

"When it was translated into Chinese, people called us from Taiwan saying, 'I bought some Mont Perat and sold 50 cases in two days because of the manga'," she said in a phone interview. In Korea, businessmen drop names from the serialised book into chats with reporters and shops display "Drops of God" signs.

Wine industry experts believe part of the manga's appeal is that it teaches readers enough about wine to understand the drink and impress their friends, but does so in an entertaining way. The main character of the manga, a young man called Shizuku Kanzaki, discovers the beauty of wine after his father, a famous wine critic, dies and leaves an unusual will: a description of 12 wines he considers to be the best in the world, comparing them to Jesus Christ's disciples. The first person to find these "disciples" will inherit the father's wine collection, a contest that pits Shizuku against his adoptive brother, Issey Tomine, who works as a sommelier."

The authors say the manga is not sponsored by anyone and they choose the wines based on their own independent research, including trips abroad and tastings.

Japan probably has the most developed wine scene in the Asia. At a recent wine tasting in Tokyo's Grand Hyatt hotel, row after row of Japanese wine lovers were expertly slurping, spitting and taking notes as German sommelier Markus Del Monego explained what they were drinking.

Early next year, "The Drops of God" will be published in French, possibly followed by Italian. The original book series is expected to continue for another five years or so, and there is talk of a film.

© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

Related post:
Asterix vs Manga : Japanese comics conquer the hearts of France

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A Saturday night in La France Profonde

During the summer there is something going on all the time and everywhere!

If you live in France, or you are lucky enough to be here, in the Dordogne, on holiday this summer, and you find yourself at a loss for something to do on a Saturday night, simply look around -- there is bound to be a community dinner-dance in one of the local village halls.

All you need to do is take your own plate and knife and fork, and the local community will provide the rest -- delicious food, wine, music, dancing, lots of laughter and hospitable conversation.

Whatever you do this summer, do not leave the Dordogne without having treated yourself to at least one of these events!



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A Sunday in the countryside in the Dordogne

L'assiette gourmande is an unassuming home-converted-into-restaurant in amongst the green rolling hills of the Dordogne. Not far from Alles-sur-Dordogne, somewhere between Cadouin le Buisson and Limeuil, on a little country lane, is this little gem of a restaurant. They do not take bookings and if you are in a group of more than six people, you will be seated at neighbouring tables, and the dining is outside in the garden under umbrellas and trees, unless very cold or very wet.

Open all day every day -- one of the very few places in France where one can roll up for lunch at ANY hour, is the gorgeous home and garden where you can spend a leisurely and pleasurable few hours on a beautiful summer's afternoon, enjoying the simple but delicious fare of Sylvie and one of the special wines out of Michel's cellar, watching the donkeys graze in the field below and the butterflies playing amongst the roses.
A symphonie pastorale.........

L'Assiette Gourmande : Michel or Sylvie at 0553 63 22 38.


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Beautiful gardens in the Aquitaine

One of the many pleasures of living in France or coming here on holiday, renting a chateau or a gite and spending time discovering the beautiful Dordogne, is visiting the magnificent gardens of the region. Whether they are formal gardens, such as at Marqueyssac, or the garden of a friend in a private home, such as Josette's garden in Couze, this is a garden lover's paradise and choice abounds.

This weekend, for the third time, La Chartreuse du Colombier, near Paunat opened their gardens for visitors. A chartreuse is "not a manor house nor a farm house, but something in between -- a place in which to dream and to remember, to live well and to have harmonious conversations with friends . Often at its side a pigeon coop, surrounded by vineyards, terraces, a walled garden -- the perfect place in which to practise the very fine - and refined art of living....." -- Such is the way Christiane de Nicolay-Mazery describes a chartreuse, and in particular La Chartreuse du Colombier, in her book "Maison de famille, le temps retrouve".


A map of all the gardens one can visit in the Aquitaine.

Dordogne

1. Château de HAUTEFORT
2. Les Jardins de l'Imaginaire - TERRASSON
3. Château de Losse -THONAC
4. Manoir d'Eyrignac - SALIGNAC
5. Jardins de Cadiot - CARLUX
6. Jardin tropical - LA ROQUE GAGEAC
7. Jardin de Conty - SAINT GERMAIN DE BELVÈS
8. Jardins de Marqueyssac - VÉZAC
9. Bambous de Planbuisson - BUISSON DE CADOUIN
10. Jardin de la Chartreuse de Monbrun - VERDON
11. Jardins de Sardy - VÉLINES
12. Limodore, jardin sauvage - CERCLES
13. Jardins de Clauzuroux - CHAMPAGNE-ET-FONTAINE
14. Domaine de Pouthet - EYMET
15. Jardin de la Brande - FOULEIX
16. Jardins du Château de Montréal - ISSAC
17. Jardins du Château de Jumilhac - JUMILHAC-LE-GRAND
18. Jardins de la Bigotie - MARSALÈS
19. Jardins du Château Monestier la Tour - MONESTIER
20. Parc botanique du Château - NEUVIC-SUR-L'ISLE
21. Jardins de la Chartreuse du Colombier - PAUNAT
22. Jardins des Arènes - Jardin de Vesoire - Chemin de Halage - PÉRIGUEUX
23. Jardins de l'Albarede - SAINT-CYBRANET
24. Jardins du château de Caudon - DOMME
25. Jardin du plantier et de la sous-préfecture - SARLAT-LA-CANÉDA
26. Jardin de la Bourlie - URVAL
27. Jardins de Chaunac - VITRAC

Gironde

1. Jardins du château de VAYRES
2. Château Branda - CADILLAC
3. Jardin Botanique - Parc de La Rivière - BORDEAUX
4. Parc du château de Lanessan - CUSSAC-FORT-MÉDOC
5. Parc bordelais - BORDEAUX
6. Château de Montgénan - PORTETS
7. Parc Chavat - PODENSAC
8. Château de Malle - PREIGNAC
9. Jardin des vignes du Château Nairac - BARSAC
10. Jardin du Château de Malleret - CADAUJAC
11. Jardin Médiéval de la Commanderie Sallebruneau - FRONTENAC
12. Parc du Château de Thil - LÉOGNAN
13. Jardins publics du Parc de l'Epinette / du Poilu / du square du XVe Dragon - LIBOURNE
14. Parc du domaine du Coq - MÉRIGNAC
15. Parc du Château de Cazeneuve - PRÉCHAC
16. Musée et labyrinthe gourmands "Oh! Légumes oubliés" - SADIRAC
17. Jardins du Château d'Yquem - SAUTERNES
18. Jardin de l'abbaye de la Sauve-Majeure - LA SAUVE

Landes

1. Parc du Sarrat - DAX
2. Plantarium de GAUJACQ
3. Les Prés d'Eugenie - EUGÉNIE LES BAINS
4. Parc du Château de Ravignan - PERQUIE

Lot-et-Garonne

1. Pépinières Latour-Marliac - TEMPLE SUR LOT
2. Parc de la Garenne - NÉRAC
3. Jardin de Jayan - Parc de l'Hôtel du Département - AGEN
4. Jardins de la Guite Basse - AURADOU
5. Jardin de Boissonna - BALEYSSAGUES
6. Vegetales Visions - COLAYRAC-SAINT-CIRQ
7. Iriseraie de Papon - LAPLUME
8. Parc de la mairie - LAVARDAC
9. Serres municipales de la ville et jardins du carroussel - MARMANDE
10. Jardins paysagers du Mézinais - MÉZIN
11. Domaine de Barolle - MONTESQUIEU
12. Le jardin de Baque - MONTGAILLARD
13. Jardin Carlane - PENNE D'AGENAIS
14. Jardins du Claou - SAINT-SYLVESTRE-SUR-LOT

Pyrénées Atlantiques

1. Jardins du château de Mascaraas - GARLIN
2. Jardin du château de VIVEN
3. Les Parcs de PAU
4. Jardins du château de Momas - LESCAR
5. Château de LAAS
6. Château de TROIS-VILLES
7. Villa Anarga - CAMBO LES BAINS
8. Florenia - URRUGNE
9. Jardin du Château de Mongaston - CHARRE
10. Jardin de la Lézardière - ESPOEY
11. Roseraie de Barbary - SAINT-VINCENT
12. Domaine de Chocha - USTARITZ



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Celtic Festival in Rennes, Brittany

Last night the annual Celtic Festival took place in Rennes, France, where the ancient and traditional sounds and colours of the Celts filled the night sky, as it did in the beginning of time.

More than 400 musicians and dancers from Britain, Scotland, Ireland and even from l'Acadie -- the ancient 'province of France in North America/Canada (New-Scotland, New-Brunswick and the Island of Prince Edward)-- and of course, France, congregated in the capitol town of Brittany for an unsurpassed spectacle of light and sound.

All the great names of Celtic music were there --- Alan Stivell on the Celtic harp, guitarist and greatest Breton cornemuse player, Dan Ar Braz, as well as the talented pianist Didier Squiban, to name but a few. British Airways even sponsored a pipe band from Scotland and the famous mariner group of Bagad de Lann-Bihoué also graced the planks. And no Celtic evening would be complete without the Irish river dance dancers, the bagadoù dancers from Auray, Locoal-Mendon, Pontivy, Lorient, Saint-Navaire, Pont l’Abbé, and Saint Evarzec.
Even the biggest sceptic would have to agree that Celtic music is as alive and as well as it ever was and enjoyed all over the world!


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The Foie Gras debate

Agence France Presse reports that former James Bond star Roger Moore is calling for a ban on the sale of foie gras in Britain. The actor, who starred in films including "Live And Let Die" and "A View To A Kill", has written to lawmakers urging them to support calls for the move by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
"I wholeheartedly support this campaign and with your help, I believe that we will soon see an end to this brutal and inherently cruel 'delicacy,'" he wrote. The letter and an accompanying DVD, which highlight the "cruel" process used to produce foie gras, also call on legislators to sign a parliamentary motion supporting a ban which has so far been backed by 83 of them.
The motion notes that, to produce the delicacy, "12 week old ducks and geese are restrained and grain is forced down the throat through a gavage pipe, a process that often results in physical injury." It adds that the process swells the birds' livers to up to 10 times their normal size causing "great pain" and calls on the government to ban the sale of foie gras in Britain.
Earlier this month, nearly 9,000 members of the public signed a petition calling for a ban submitted by a local councillor from York, north England, to the website of Prime Minister Tony Blair's Downing Street office. In the United States, California and Chicago have already banned the sale of foie gras, while production is prohibited in countries including Germany and Italy.

Spot the Difference:


An 'adored' family pet dying a slow and painful death caused by the clogging up of arteries and too much weight pressure on joints and limbs and spine and the 'gavage' of a goose


An obese child on a couch with bowls of junk food and geese on a foie gras farm roaming free in wide space and open air

“One of the most common causes of overweight in children is overfeeding,” according to Dr. Philip Nader, a paediatrician and professor emeritus at the University of California at San Diego. Lead researcher Rachel Kimbro of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, USA, adds to this non sequitur: “These children are already disadvantaged (because often their families are poor,) and by age 3 they are on track for a lifetime of health problems related to obesity.”
The MSNBC site reports that some 17 percent of U.S. youngsters are obese, and millions more are overweight. Recent statistics published in Britain were equally disturbing, and serious measures are planned to change an entire nation's bad eating and exercise habits. Obesity can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, sleep problems and other disorders — and the problem starts early. Overweight preschoolers have a five times higher risk of being fat at age 12 than do lean preschoolers.

I am loathe to use one negative to defend another. It solves nothing. But my question in this debate is why do people become so vehement in their fight for the plight of the fowls that are bred and raised to provide an important product -- important in the livelihood of many very hard-working farming communities - while back at home their children are more likely as not under-exercised and overweight because while their parents are out there fighting for the rights of ducks and geese, they are left at home to fend for themselves with take-away pizzas and MacDo double whopper hamburgers and French fries, packets of crisps and cola's. And let's not forget their pets which are equally overfed and under exercised and dying a slow death of malnutrition and weight related medical conditions.

I will never defend any practice, for whatever reason, where animals of any kind are abused, caused pain or kept in inhumane conditions. Unfortunately there will always be those who will cause pain to animals. There is also no denying that there are cases where the birds are injured in the 'gavage' feeding process - just as all animals on all farms are exposed to possible injury. However, in the foie gras production business, each bird is literally worth its weight in gold, so it very much in the best interest of the farmer to treat them with the best and gentlest of care, to keep them in good health and the best possible environment, so rather fight for more inspections, closer monitoring, stricter licensing for foie gras producers -- and concentrate the animal-rights fighting energy for such things as bear baiting and travelling circuses.

There are many reasons why celebrities, such as Roger Moore make sure they get easy and quick media attention by getting involved with animal rights movements -- but that is another story........Generally speaking, I realise that possibly the main reason that there is such an outcry against the production of foie gras, is firstly the fact that this is a luxury item -- it costs a lot of money for a small portion of foie gras (it is such a small micro-industry and the production process so labour intensive that the volume is of course limited) and therefore only a small handful of people can afford to ever eat it, and secondly the fact that it is consequently not a necessary or important food item for the consumer.


The recorded historical background of Foie gras goes back to Egyptian times.
The Egyptians observed that wild geese and ducks binge-eat - or 'force-feed' themselves before undertaking their seasonal migration in order to build up vast quantities of fat reserves in the live. They used this natural phenomenon, except that, when domesticating the fowls, they started inducing the natural over-feeding all year round. When, later, the Romans continued this practice, they went one further and used figs to fee the fowls -- from there the origin of the word foie (liver) -- from "ficandum" or fig. Jewish immigrants introduced geese to Alsace and served goose on their feast days as an alternative to the pork that was common in the area. For a long time these Jews of central Europe were the only ones to know the secrets of good foie gras.

Today, 90% of France's foie gras is produced in the Perigord in southwest France, by far the largest foie gras-producing region in the world. The French consume 75% of the world production. Between 1992 and 2002, French production doubled, with 95% of the foie gras coming from ducks and 5% from geese.

The primary objection that some people have to foie gras is the feeding method used to produce the product. The birds must be overfed in order to create the fattened liver. The liver enlarges over the course of the feeding process known as gavage. Claims have been made that the enlarged liver is "diseased". This is not true. In fact, it has been shown the liver shrinks back down to its normal size when a bird returns to lesser amounts of food intake. There is no evidence that the tube feeding method used to produce foie gras is inhumane. Being fed through a tube may sound unappealing to humans; however, it is important to remember that the oesophagus of a duck or goose is very different from ours. In nature, these birds are accustomed to storing fish and other foods in their oesophagus, sometimes for long periods of time. I have spent a lot of time with friends who raise geese and ducks to produce foie gras, and have seen how the birds crowds around her when it is feeding time, clamouring to be the first to be fed. I have also seen these same friends sit with tears streaming down their faces, killing their few hundred birds rather than confine them to an enclosed and cramped space when the law demanded it during the bird flu scare in France.

The perception of foie gras as a luxury–and therefore wasteful product is another objection sometimes voiced by foie gras opponents. Contrary to what some people believe, almost every part of the mallard ducks that are raised for foie gras are used, more than any other bird raised for human consumption. The breasts, legs, wings, carcasses, tongues, feet, intestines, feathers and duck fat are all utilized. In fact, it is probably one of the few animals of which every possible part is used.

Based on expertise borne of generations of experience, France has defined this business and set strict limits on what can be called foie gras in France. Very strict inspections are regularly conducted on all producing farms, vaccinations, food quality, environment quality and the general well-being of the animals are of utmost importance to keep the standards of the highest quality, as well as in the interests of the birds. For a country where most other animals do not enjoy too many humane concessions, the geese and ducks are the conspicuous exception. From the very old and highly respected firms to the many specialized local markets and the stays or cooking classes offered by small producers, foie gras in France is much more than business: it is a highly cultural aspect of life and society.

Nutritional Facts
Per Serving Size of 2 oz or 56g
Calories 250
Calories From Fat 220
Total Fat 24g 37%
Saturated Fat 7g 33%
Foie gras is surprisingly low in bad fats and high in good fats. Many studies conducted by well-known and respected authorities have proven foie gras is as healthful as any other meat, although moderation is the key. We know that France consumes the largest portion of the world's foie gras production; yet, there are far fewer cardio-vascular diseases in France than in the USA, for instance, and the life expectancy is higher in France as well.

• Foie gras cru - raw foie gras
• Foie gras frais - fresh foie gras: This is usually purchased from delicatessens and is cooked in pots. It will keep for about one week in the refrigerator.
• Foie gras mi-cuit: foie gras semi-cooked: This preparation is sold in cans and will keep for 3 months in the refrigerator once it is opened. It can be labelled in a variety of ways.
• Foie gras de conserve - preserved foie gras which is sold in jars and preserved in its own fat, it will keep for years and improves like wine.

Glossary:
* Foie gras d'oie entier - whole goose foie gras
* Foie gras de canard entier - whole duck foie gras
* Foie gras au naturel - Pure whole livers
* Bloc de foie gras or parfait de foie gras - liver compacted from small pieces and may include truffles
* Pâté de foie d'oie - whole goose liver coated with forcemeat.

Where should we rather start?



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The Perigord Noire Classic: discovering the beautiful Dordogne in a vintage car

What a wonderful way to discover the beautiful Dordogne -- in a classic vintage car rally! The PERIGORD NOIR CLASSIC takes place from 7 to 9 September 2007, and this is what they say: "Between Vézère and Dordogne valleys, there is a magic and magnificent land, a charming destination where can be found some envied gems, and other to be discovered : the Périgord Noir.
This country, situated in south-east of Dordogne department, has this name due to the darkness of its forest foliage, it is know to be the Human Land, the humanity birth-place. It became with the time an obliged walkway and it was and remain in great demand, for its culture richness, its hospitality, its humanism, and its famous gastronomy.
There are few kinds to discover Périgord Noir, but one of the most original, matching past, culture and passion, is, without contest, with a classic car. It is the reason why we have created Périgord Noir Classic.
The 2007 edition will make you discover the chateau valley, Beynac, les Milandes, Castelnaud, but also St Cirq la Popie, les grottes de Lacave, Collonges la Rouge and other beautifull things. 3 days of discovery and foie gras, for 2 persons : 1250 €


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The Norman Conquest in 4 minutes

I have never ventured into the domain of film clips on my blog. A am never sure of what my readers are able to download or access, and even the number of photographs on the blog, I know, may slow down many systems and consequently stop people from coming here to read.
But -- this little film clip is such a little gem, a four-minute clip that uses the Bayeaux Tapestry as a basis for an animated film of the events that led to the Norman Conquest. I simply had to share it with you. It should not be too difficult to view -- as it is in YouTube, so simply click on the URL and enjoy ---
"The Norman Conquest for Dummies"


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