The Aude Times Issue 01

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAGAZINE FOR THE AUDE

Issue 1 July 2013

www.theaudetimes.com

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THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE MAGAZINE FOR THE AUDE 1

AT July 2013

Contents THE AT 04 05 06 07 09 10 11 12 13 17 18 19 25 25 26 28 28-31 31

Never Miss An Issue: Visit www.theaudetimes.com and subscribe now

Editorial Letters My Place And Another Thing Apicius Dines Out Wine Times Business / Legal Garden / Nature GTBY Lifestyle What’s On History E-Male Subscribe Recipe Times E-Male Classifieds Sport

For your consideration

AT Features

ATArt

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Eating Out - Carcassonne

Calendar Events

Tambourin

‘Smacking’ in France

The Legendary ‘Duck’

Art - Charles Cullen

Competition Win a 2CV for the day courtesy of Cornelia Rent-A-Duck Take a convertible 2CV out for the day and feel the wind in your hair. Experience this French classic and get the ‘Duck’ bug.

To win answer this question.

When did the ‘Duck’ first roll off the production line?

The HT Online

Win a fantastic hamper from Gourmanéo fabulous hampers of French regional specialties accompanied by recipes written by Michelin- starred chefs, orderable on-line, then sent to your door so you can prepare a three course meal in the comfort of your own home.

To Win send us an email telling us who won The Tour de France in 2012?

To enter all competitions send your answer by email to:

Text Us

competition@theheraulttimes.com

The AT Charity An IFA Writes

Food & Wine7

Cancer Support France

The AT is proud to support Cancer Support France

Sud de France Affected by cancer ? English speaking ?

We can help.

CSF is a self-funded and voluntary organisation doing wonderful work in the region.

If you can help or donate to this important charity please do.

Cancer Support France offers emotional, linguistic and practical support to cancer patients and their families through our teams of trained volunteers.

See our local website for further information: www.csf-suddefrance.webs.com

Local helpline: 04 68 69 01 37 3

The AudeTimes 1 Grand Rue, St Thibery,34630 Publisher: Gatsby B Editor : Emma F Advertising Director: Tom Buchanon Art Editor: Daisy B Art: L.A.

July Editorial

EDITORIAL editor@theaudetimes.com

he Aude Times.

Should we say hello or just jump straight into thanking you for reading? I guess both are appropriate so I’ll start with hello. The goal of The Aude Times is to provide a vehicle for news, commentary and information that you want to read. We are not trying to re-invent the wheel, there are a lot of excellent publications out there, we just hope we can bring a little something to the table. ** A new issue is always good for goading the emotions and this month is no different: Note the battle of the bulge synonymous with speedos (Letters) – well really! And whilst some readers might like to delve into swimming trunks, so Stephen Morris delves into the infinitely more interesting mind and art of Charles (Charlie) Cullen and his journey into the works of James Joyce; horse breeder Camille Auguste talks to us in My Place and Louis Duluth presents the emotive issue of ‘smacking’ in France.

We eat at the Restaurant L’Als’Assiette and don’t forget to take note of Rosemary George’s advice on where to find the best co-operative wines in the

PUBLISHER gatsby@theaudetimes.com gatsby@lapublishinggroup.com SUBSCRIPTIONS www.theaudetimes.com/subscribe or contact us on info@theaudetimes.com ADVERTISING For display advertising, print classifieds please call 0624 63 63 77 or mail advertising@theAudetimes.com For online advertising please visit http://classifieds.theheraulttimes.com www.theheraulttimes.com PYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER

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This magazine and its related website and products are sold and distributed on the terms and condition that: The publisher, contributors, editors and related parties are not responsible in any way for the actions or results taken by any person, organisation or any party on basis of reading information, stories or contributions in this publication, website or related product.

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END

ISSN: 2261-561X

“I prefer liberty with danger to peace with slavery.” Author Unknown

T

Languedoc.

** It is but a few weeks since Gay marriage was passed into law in France and the arguments of the ‘fors and againsts’ are still very much in the public eye. Through the ‘French View’ we bring you opinions from both sides of this issue.

And it was this that reminded me, as I sit down on the 4th of July with my American cousins, of some of the words from the Declaration of Independence. ...notably “That all men are created equal,...that they are endowed with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Before the fireworks have settled and we wait for a moment of calmness Bastille Day is also upon us this month, a celebration that unites France in its full patriotic glory. This may be the year to join in one of the hundreds of village parties and embrace the spirit, resolve and passion that makes elements of France so good. ** Sports writer Stuart Turpie brings the latest in sports news across the region. For cycle fans it is with a growing sense

of excitement that the Tour de France will be enlivening our daily conversations soon.

On the 6th July competitors will pass through Caderonne, where there are animations planned. Be there by 11h And staying with sport we look at Tambourin, a game with a growing popularity. Read the article and if inspired contact us as we are looking at starting a team to (hopefully) play this wonderful sport that is such an intrinsic part of sporting life here. Fast, exhilarating and competitive, interest in Tambourin is growing with teams emerging as far away as Scotland and Brazil. Scored like tennis, faster than baseball and more curious than cricket, Tambourin is a game for everyone to enjoy as participants or spectators, watch this space for information on how you can join in. ** July is a celebratory month.

The Tour de France, Bastille Day (Fr), Independence Day (US), Ernest Hemingway was born and Neil Armstrong stood on the moon… ** And so a full circle has been navigated.....thank you for reading!

WRITERS

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he writers and contributors are the stars of this magazine and without them I would have all of my hair and would not be drinking gin at 9am every day. Having said that, you should know more about them. All their bios can be found at www.theaudetimes.com. Please read them, they deserve to be recognised for their fantastic contribution and for being patient and generous to me.

The Cover Story The HT and The AT promote original artwork.

We are proud to have the talents of Mr Barry Beckett producing the wonderful covers that you see currently.

Barry Beckett 2013 All rights reserved

dharmacamera@googlemail.com 4

Letters

Welcome to the letters page of The Aude Times.

This space is for you to tell us about life, good things and bad things and even to tell us if we are doing things right or wrong. Email or text us or scan using the QR code at the bottom of the page.

Hello I just found your website when visiting a friend ‘across the border’. Just wanted to wish you well and my wife and I are really looking forward to the first issue.

Bon chance!

Mark, Carcassonne About time Really pleased that the Aude Times is coming out. There is so much to do and see here and good luck to you.

Gail Aude now?

Well I would wish you luck but having read The Herault Times for the last year I am not convinced you’ll need it. Really pleased there will be an English magazine. Good luck.

Betty, Thanks Betty (and everyone), the response has been really overwhelming. I will have to say though that The Aude Times is an Anglophone magazine, NOT an English magazine.

Confused Why is it that all roadworks in France seem to take place just as summer starts? Absolutely ridiculous. Dave Because we want to slow down idiotic drivers called Dave?

Béziers Hi, I read your exclusive online about the gay marriage in

Montpellier. Very nice. But what is it about Béziers that an elected official can choose what to do for his electorate? Surely he should resign? Withheld

and wrote a rather blunt reply.

I have read the Herault Times online now and if this new magazine is as good as that I owe you an apology. Sorry.

Jennifer L

Another strong opinion (The French View) presents both sides (pg 20).

As I wipe my tears away I thank you Jennifer L. I framed the email!

A Tight Spot Summer is approaching, and with it comes the annual clash of French/British civilisations in the way of MEN’S SWIMSUITS. I am not joking, this is the problem (you could call it the battle of the bulge): French municipal pools will not allow men in to swim unless they wear a slip de bain, ie a brief, speedo-type clinging swimsuit.

For lots of British families, including my own, this means that we can never take the kids to the local (magnificent) Hérault pools together because our men wear swimming shorts and none of them would be seen dead in un slip. What can we do? Why do the French have this policy?

What is there to fear about men in shorts? I would have thought men in slips were a far bigger worry...aesthetically if for no other reason. Perhaps its all a ploy to keep the Brits and the Americans out of their pools?

Please investigate.....

Yours faithfully, Brigid Keenan

Maxwell I subscribe to the excellent Herault Times (since issue 2) and was pleased to see that you are now expanding into the Aude where I live. To all those that live here, welcome to a magazine that goes just a little deeper and cares a little more.

Well done all of you.

J Hanford. UK Thanks J. The cheques in the post!

Murdoch Now the Aude eh? This is how Murdoch started out you know?

Keith L Recommendations Is there a section where you recommend places, people, businesses. Lynn Difficult one this Lynn. We feel it would be irresponsible to just recommend based on one person so it takes time. Patience please.

Whinge I am very tired of hearing the whinges of the few people who believe that you can import, ship and sell English foodstuffs in France (whilst making a modest profit too) for less than the price of a BOGOF in Sainsbury’s or Tesco’s. They just have no idea.

If they don’t want to pay for the service of having some English

My dear Brigid, come come now....these fashion necessities are a must for us handsome men who live in the shadows until the sun comes out. I have popped a

photo of me in my favourites to show you how wrong you are. I think I look rather snappy!

Hello I received an email from you

IMPORTANT:

T

his magazine is intended for the use of the individual(s) who picked it up.

This magazine may contain information that is helpful, opinionated and can at times be unsuitable for overly sensitive Persons with no cultural credibility.

If you are not sure then may we politely suggest that you pass it onto someone else as to continue reading is not recommended and may constitute an irritating social faux pas. No animals were harmed in the making of this magazine, and believe it or not one single opinion is definitive- period.

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foods which are sorely missed in France, then they can either bring back sufficient supplies when they drive back from England or they can do without.

As for complaining about the price of a cup of tea and a handmade cake in an English tea shop, then they can miss out on that treat as well, along with the opportunity to meet others socially, in a welcoming environment, attend French, English and other classes and all the other services provided.

There are plenty of us who appreciate having such a facility on our doorstep.

Mrs. C.M. Aude Welcome to the best part of France.

Sarah W ** Please drop us a line if you have anything that you would like to share.

You can be annoyed, happy or maybe even curious.

Whatever the reason the Letters page is your forum to talk

Note Please e-mail us letters or use the website to send them in.

Or if you know what this is below, send us a text now.

Every Month we meet the individuals who make up the rich, social fabric of our region

My Place Camille Auguste C

amille Auguste is the proprietor of the ranch and stud farm “Les Appaloosas du Pech” close to Bize-Minervois, where she breeds Appaloosa horses and offers horse trekking throughout the year. Prince Whiz, a champion western reining horse is the stallion at stud at the ranch, and Camille’s Appaloosa mare Scooter O Lena won the French Reining championship in 2012.

Where are you from?

I was born in Marseille in 1982 and I came to the Aude at the age of 12 with my mother, who wanted to come back to her roots in the Corbières. I came to Bize-Minervois at the age of 19 when I met Jean-Luc, my partner.

What made you choose this career, how did it start?

I don’t think I ever made a conscious decision to make a career with horses, I don’t think there was ever going to be another direction, it was automatic from the age of 11 that this is what I was going to do. I started by chance when my friend said she was starting riding lessons and I said I would come along, not knowing anything about riding at all.

I discovered my passion for horses immediately and started my long and happy association with them. I cannot imagine ever doing anything else.

What is an appaloosa and why did you choose these horses to breed?

Appaloosa horses are spotted, they are often seen in western movies as the horses ridden by the Native Americans, as the breed was originated by the Nez Perce people. I fell for the breed during my professional training, which I did at a stud farm where several of the western reining types were bred. It was the appaloosas though which captured my heart and my imagination.

It was my professional training that really influenced the direction my career took and the way I approach my work.

The welfare of my horses is paramount to me, and producing horses of the quality I

part of my life.

do is very rewarding. I started reining (western riding) during my training and this has become an increasingly important

Have you any amusing stories regarding your career?

I was riding with a group of clients on a Sunday afternoon. As we rode through a village we saw the police breathalysing passing motorists. To all our surprise, the gendarmes insisted on breathalysing me too, and I had to get down from my horse and blow into the device. Fortunately I was completely sober as I cannot imagine what the gendarmes would have done with ten horses and riders if they had decided to arrest me.

Describe your average day.

You never know what is going to happen next when you have 36 horses, two children and two dogs (and seven puppies!) but my days generally start with family breakfast and getting the children to school. Then it’s off to feed all 36 horses, some at the ranch and some at grass around the village. Until evening feeding the rest of my day is taken up riding out with clients around the mountain next to the ranch, fencing new pasture and speaking with prospective buyers for my appaloosas. At this time of year a lot of time is taken up with the foals and cutting and baling hay - all our hay is organic - to be stored for the rest of the year. Within 18 months the whole ranch will be classified as organic and we will only be feeding organic grain too. Once evening feeding has been done it is back home for homework, dinner and sleep. During the summer we do trekking every day with clients from all over the world, we sometimes go off for three days at a time. It’s a great way to see the area.

How would you describe your family?

My family and children are incredibly important to me and I am happy that all of us enjoy being around horses, as they do take up most of our lives. The children are still quite small but are very happy to be at the ranch with their friends, their bikes and their ponies. I think it is good for them to have the freedom to run around and play outside 6

as much as possible - these days it would be easy for them to be indoors in front of the TV all the time, but the ranch offers them masses of space and also means that the four of us are together during most of our free time.

You clearly work very hard what motivates you?

Seeing my horses grazing, happy and healthy, my breeding ranch developing and the happiness my clients get when they buy one of my horses. Many of my clients have become my friends and they motivate me too - they help me when things are a bit tough, or when I am sad, usually by making me laugh.

I love to laugh, I am usually very goodhumoured and I love messing around with my friends. But what makes me laugh the most is the happiness of others and jokes, I loves jokes. But I cry when I lose somebody or one of my animals.

What are your objectives and plans for this year, and after?

I always have lots of objectives but the most important at the moment is the next stage of the development of the ranch. There is always a lot to be done but the immediate professional goals is to complete the building for a reception area and later on to complete the process for getting registration as a completely organic business.

What is your proudest achievement?

My children are without doubt my proudest achievement. I love being surprised by new expressions on their faces and to hear their vision of different things in life. But also my ranch and my stud which were created completely by myself and my partner Jean-Luc. We have built the barns and stables and all the corrals and the training rings and have developed the breeding programme ourselves. The fact that we started with nothing, just a clearing in the woods, makes us even more proud.

To learn more about Camille and her Appaloosas see: https://www.facebook.com/ LesAppaloosasDuPech For information on trekking/and general enquiries: telephone 06 58 58 35 11

And another thing.......says Abse Poles Apart

J

ust like everyone else at the moment I am talking to a lot of people about the lousy weather we have all been suffering from.

Everyone seems to have an opinion, or fact, or at least something to say. Most useless was probably from someone (closely associated with this magazine) who 11 days ago promised me that “in 10 days we’ll all be complaining about the heat”.

Yeah, right. As for how cold it is I have been reliably informed that it was the coldest May since: “1986”, “the war”, “records began” and “the dinosaurs”.

Hmmm.

I also have been offered various explanations: “There’s 13 moons this year”, “ it’s global warming”, “just one of those things”, “holes in the ozone layer”, and most interesting, and authoritatively: “The Poles are reversing”.

Anyway, at first I could not work out for the life of me how a person from Poland putting his car in reverse could change the weather, and then I realised this wasn’t a bit of random anti-east European racism, this was about the poles at the top and bottom of the earth.

Reversing? North becoming south? South becoming north? Blimey. What about the poor polar bears and the penguins? How would they manage? Would they meet each other as they crossed the equator, complaining about the heat?

So I looked it up, and read some detailed scientific journals. Well some stuff on the net, anyway. It seems it’s called a “geomagnetic reversal” and what it means is that magnetic fields are reversed. “North” magnetic fields become “south” and vice versa (no I don’t really understand either), and it is caused by something that no one is very clear on, or in agreement about. But apparently this happens once every 450,000 years (on average) (maybe) (maybe not) and it hasn’t actually happened for 780,000 years. (Or 41,000

years, depending on what you believe).

(Maybe).

And the gaps between reversals vary widely. In one case over 50 million years, it is reckoned. The problem is that when it last happened there weren’t any scientists there

to observe it. Everyone agrees though, that when it happens, it happens slowly. (We are told). (But of course actually there’s one scientist who disagrees) The turn takes from anything between 1,000 and 10,000 years. Or so.

Maybe. Probably.

So is it happening now? And what does that mean? And is it causing the lousy weather? Does anyone actually know?

Well, there is one theory that we entered a reversal 160 years ago.

Possibly.

But not everyone agrees. And even if we did it might not be a “proper” reversal,

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but just some sort of a “wobble”. The poles might not reverse at all, they might just go a bit wonky for a while. But if we have started to reverse, what does it mean?

Some scientists think that the entire Earth’s magnetic field might be reduced dramatically, causing big holes in the ozone layer, and major problems with solar winds.

And others disagree.

Some have apocalyptic theories that could lead to the entire destruction of the human race. Others think there might be a problem with electronic devices and the homing instincts of bees.

So what can we conclude?

There might or might not be a geomagnetic reversal starting. If it is then it will probably last for a few thousand years. And then something bad will happen.

Maybe.

Not sure how bad, but it could be really bad.

Or not.

So – back to where we started - is the current bad whether caused by the poles reversing?

No. They were only manoeuvring to get out of their parking space.

Raining Cats and Dogs We talk to Isabelle Brisson, author and previous journalist for Le Figaro, about her delightful new book on French and English animal idioms ‘Il pleut des chats et des chiens’ In ‘Il pleut des chats et des chiens’ you will discover French animal expressions for which I have found their English equivalent.

But to make the exercise more challenging I kept the formulas which used a different animal in both languages. For example, ‘Il pleut comme vache qui pisse’ becomes ‘It’s raining cats and dogs’ and ‘Une voiture pie’ is ‘A panda car’, or the equivalent of ‘nom d’un chien!’ is ‘holy cow!’, ‘une fourmi’ is ‘an eager beaver’, etc.

If the different Quebecois idioms have been used in this animal context it’s because it is the ‘language’ that can be ‘à cheval’ (straddling) both languages! There we ‘ouatche’ his language in order to speak correctly (from ‘to watch’ in English), we ‘miss’ something when one is wide of the mark (from to miss, ‘get it right’ in English)

and ‘une can’ (from the English ‘tin can’) is not a duck, but rather a tin container (boite) , to give just a few examples.”

With this book I hope to be able to prolong the lives of some of these little phrases that are at times forgotten due to their increasing lack of use. And I would like to insist that in order to speak like a native, it is absolutely necessary to know the familiar, idiomatic and colloquial expressions of this language. The idea came to me because upon closer inspection of diverse specialist works I noticed that literal translations were often used by the authors, rendering certain expressions to ‘perdre leur sel’ (lose their value). A really deplorable effect when it is about ‘revealing’ the conversation. I’m sure you agree!

Why English? I spent two years as a student of the French Lycée in London, something that allowed me to appreciate the British restraint.

Later I worked for over ten years as a journalist for Le Figaro’s science pages. I also had the opportunity to follow the researchers at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris which enabled me to become familiar with the world of animals and plants. I am also author of:’Les stress du Bigorneau’ (Plon), ‘Les doigts de pieds en éventail’ (Ovadia), ‘Langue de vipère et oeil de biche’ (Eyrolles).

Gear stick: It looks a bit strange and might feel uncomfortable if you’re not used to it, but in fact it operates in the same way as a standard H gate floor mounted gear box, except that you operate it with a dash mounted gear lever. An interesting anecdote is that it’s the eccentric formation used in Ferraris so tell that to all your friends.

And if you are out on a date for the first time its position provides the perfect ruse for grabbing your passenger’s knee when looking for it.

Indicators: A ‘stalk’ on the right of the steering wheel. Lights which rotate on the left, two clicks for headlights, push away for full beam, back for dipped. And don’t forget to turn them off!

The heating system: So charmingly unfussy. Turn it on. Turn is off.

I did know a man who, after going to the disco in the winter with his girl friend (now wife), would drive his 2CV around the block several times until it was warm enough when they had to say goodbye.

Windows: The windows have been ingeniously designed to also serve as air conditioning. Press the clamp on the inside door and ‘fold’ the window up so it clips into a little catch on the outside. Then to close, reach up, push ‘round’ and back and then release the catch to let the window drop and clamp shut. Roof: With the 2CV cabriolet, you can actually role the roof up, just like someone I know who had driven to the hairdresser with the roof up but because it looked like rain when she came out closed the roof to drive home. At least, that is what she thought…unfortunately she hadn’t checked the two clamps that hold the roof in place.

Mid-way home the roof blew off and ruined her hairdo…

WIN - What could be better than gently cruising the French countryside in an open topped 2CV, a picnic hamper on the back seat; a couple of books… so here’s your chance to WIN a day out in a 2CV courtesy of Cornelia rent-a-duck who has two Dames in red or blue, both lovingly restored and in perfect condition. Or if you would like more information about renting a 2CV visit: http://www.corneliarentaduck.com/english.php

The Legendary Duck

T

he English motoring journalist L.J.K. Setright once described the 2CV as “The most intelligent application of minimalism ever to succeed as a car.” Drive this mechanical national treasure, which first began rolling off the production line in 1948, and you are guaranteed to raise a smile from even the surliest local inhabitants.

La Dedeuche as it was affectionately named by the French, was the first car most French families could afford, a lot of people owned one.

This is why it inspires such happy memories in so many. When I first drove mine I got very paranoid as lots of people on the highway kept beeping and pointing at me, I thought there was something wrong with my car. But the car was fine; it was just enthusiasm for my car! Even today, whenever I park somebody will almost always come up to me to tell me a story or what the colour of his or her 2CV was and all the warm memories they carry still.

As I read recently ‘who would want to speed around in a flashy sports car when you toddle about in this classic car and get sun burnt instead?’ The 2CV was a car originally designed for 4 adults, to perform well on bad roads (you should be able to carry a basket of eggs without breaking one of them) and to have an excellent gas-mileage. All these requirements were transformed into a car by a team of engineers, led by a former aircraft designer. So the 2CV was designed in its own, unique way using technology that was way ahead of its time. Even today you will not find some of these ingenious details: 8

The Lunch Review

Good Food in the places that YOU find.

This Month: The restaurant ALS’ASSIETTE 29 rue Armagnac, 11000 Carcassonne Tel. : 0468 26 64 54

Four languages Three Courses Two People One Restaurant

Y

ou know what it is like when you have had a vigorous Sunday stroll and everyone is in good spirits and you decide to find somewhere to have a good and filling lunch.

The only problem is that a) it is Sunday and b) Carcassonne is not a place my guest or I know well!

With the help of a lovely woman called Helga we were directed to L’Als’Assiette and if asked to swear on a bible I would say I was a little disappointed.

Situated on a small side street in Carcassonne it looks a little like a sidewalk café from a 1960’s B-movie. A cross between a stereotypical diner and an American snapshot of a Parisian café is this small restaurant selling food from Alsace.

With few options we ventured in.

The first thing to note is that it was busy, always a good sign where I come from and the second was that within 20 seconds of entering we had been greeted (in English and French) and discussions had taken place on the value of Jonny Wilkinson to Toulouse!

Upon being seated you can see that this is a family run restaurant. (It is a husband and wife) and that this won’t be one of the fine dining experiences of our life. The restaurant is a little ‘red’ and seats around 15 to 20 maximum but is very cosy and inviting. Our host (and chef) has a desire at various points to come out and greet or have a chat and if I heard correctly can do this in 4 languages.

The food I don’t like being given a menu in English in France. But in English it was and what a surprise. 5 Menus, a vegetarian menu and a childs menu ranging from €16 to €29 for 3 course meals.

I had snails in garlic and parsley, and it was good. I’m not convinced there is a middle ground with snails, it is good or bad and this was

Walking in Aude

Recommended walking trails...

L

e Sentier Cathare, along with the Route du Sel which cuts through Gard and Lozère, this trail is without doubt one of the most popular walking trails in France. It

crosses the department from east to west in 12 stages, passing a number of vertiginous citadels on the way. For more information and detailed maps visit www. lesentiercathare.com

Les Tours de Pays, these are trails

which can take up to several days to complete (100 à 200km), accommodation can be organised in advance. To follow the Tours du Pays stick to the yellow and red signs.

Next Month Fine Dining with Apicius

good. My companion had the onion tart which I was told was magnificent.

The pastry was not too thick and very light and the salad that came with it was fresh and a good accompaniment.

The next course (which took a little while but hey, when in France...) was worth waiting for. I chose the trout with almonds and my guest had the cassoulet .

The trout was delicious, cooked beautifully and retaining the flavor that is so often lost with this fish. I ate it all and watched in curious delight as my guest received a steaming and voluptuous portion of cassoulet that may well have fed an invading army.

Never one to miss an opportunity I felt obliged to help him and dove in. Oh yes, it was lovely. Hearty, well seasoned and flavoursome and also rather extraordinary hot. In it’s own right this was worth the entrance fee if there had been one....piping hot food!

The lady next to me had the duck and looking at it it made me consider having a second main course.

For dessert we both opted for the crème brulée à la bergamote, a veritable masterpiece in my eyes with that hint of having savoured a cup of Earl Grey. My companion was even more enthused and rather embarrassed me by threatening to lick the bowl.

The food here is fresh, hot and served in generous portions.

Presentation isn’t going to win any prizes but they are not trying to.

The atmosphere is very café style but the warmth and welcome you get is excellent.

The wine is available by the bottle or in pichets and I wasn’t that keen on the Alsace wine we chose but then I’m no wine expert.

So, a Restaurant open on a Sunday, 3 good courses, hot food and a lot of ‘red’ in the décor and all for €19.50 each including wine.

I’d go back but be warned, we were lucky. Next time I’ll book **

Les boucles de Promenade

These are trails of between 1 hour and 1 day maximum. They are signed in yellow and number more than 100 across Aude.

Les Sentiers de Grande Randonnée

Managed by the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre (FFRP), there are 3 trails across the department, signposted white and red (about 200 km). The GR7, from Lauragais to the Pyrénées, passing

by Malepère and Quercorb, will take you through hours of Audoise history, from the Cathares to the Canal du Midi. The GR36 takes you into the heart of Aude, in the North/South offering sumptuous landscapes of the Montagne Noire and the Corbières to Fenouillèdes. The GR78 (Chemin de Pièmont) leaves from Carcassonne and its medieval city, across Malepère.

It follows Fanjeaux then Ariège towards Saint Jacques de Compostelle.

La Transéquestre

From Minervois to Cabardès, then across 9

Razès and the Haute-Valée to the Pyrénées, passing by many chateaus and abbeys, this trail it is especially suitable for horse trekking. It is marked with orange signs and covers 180 kms.

For all of the above routes and for detailed maps visit: www.aude.fr/219-je-cherche-unsentier-de-randonnee.htm

The Art Competition Welcome to the 1st HTimes and ATimes Art competition.

Overall winner will be featured as The AT cover Up to 12 years 1st Prize €40.00 of Art vouchers Age 12 to 18 1st Prize €75.00 of Art vouchers 18 + 1st Prize €100.00 of Art vouchers Full details on www.theheraulttimes.com Prizes are sponsored

Wine

Rosemary George

The Village Wine Cooperative.

pretty postcards in St. Saturnin, and was tempted by a bright pink sunhat in Bessan.

Cabrières has a small display about the history of the region and a changing photography exhibition and the shop in Montpeyroux has just had a

one will suspect its humble provenance.

The average price for wine en vrac is about 1.20€ a litre. At that price you may wonder if the co-op makes any profit at all. Quality does vary quite considerably, for the co-ops are of course totally dependent on the quality of the grapes that their members deliver. The more

serious face lift. Opening hours vary; lunchtime of course is sacrosanct, and some open later than others in the afternoon. The tasting caveau means that you can taste before you buy, and they do encourage you to do this, but a word of caution, you may find bottles have been open for longer than is good for the wine.

And there are some bargains to be had, starting with the vrac wines that you buy by the litre. For your first purchase, you will need to buy the plastic container, usually about 2.45€ for a 5 litre container, or 3.85€ for 10 litres, but then you can recycle it at each visit. It is best to decant the wine into stoppered bottles, depending on how quickly you are planning to drink it. And serve it in a jug or decanter and no

energetic ones try to encourage their members to produce better grapes with bonuses, but that does not always work.

However, I found several vrac wines that I would be very happy to drink.

My absolute bargain, so far, comes from the cave at Adissan, an 11˚ red blend of Syrah and Grenache for 90 centimes a litre. There is some red fruit on nose and palate, with a streak of tannin. It is simple, honest and easy to drink, and served slightly chilled, would make a great barbecue wine for the summer.

More recommendations to follow over the summer.

T

he village co-op is a fundamental aspect of village life. Most of them were created before the Second World War to cater for the multitude of wine growers who did not have the means or inclination to make their own wine. They performed a vital function in the world of Languedoc viticulture.

Some had stirring names, such as Les Vignerons Libres, and L’ Indispensable, to name but a couple. But conditions have changed, and many of the cooperatives have lost their way, with no idea of marketing their wine in the more cut-throat modern world. And consequently many are disappearing or joining up with neighbouring co-ops to affect an economy of scale.

In 1980 there were 536 coops in Languedoc Roussillon, while the latest figure for 2010 puts it at 210, representing a pretty dramatic decline in 30 years. Some co-ops do work very well for their appellation, such as Pinet for Picpoul de Pinet, Montpeyroux and Cabrières, while others are best avoided.

So I’ve been doing some concentrated tasting, checking out the wines of some of the caves cooperatives of the region, and concentrating particularly on the vrac and entry level wines.

All the co-ops have a tasting caveau, which is more or less welcoming, depending on who is behind the counter.

Some are smart shops, selling other local produce as well as wine. I bought delicious honey in Hérépian and some

10

Rosemary George M.W. – June 2013 www.tastelanguedoc.blogspot.com

Business / Money / News Business and Economy

Michael D’Artag

The Secrecy Act

Y

ou may have read about Verizon wireless, a telecoms company in the US and how they were ‘ordered’ to hand over phone and data records of their customers daily to the NSA. Well this got me to thinking about the connected world we live in and how we all complain but should we?

We use computers, phones and communicate around the world with no borders (China and a few others excluded).

This means that data and information is much more available for good and for bad. The positives are astounding; but the other side of the coin is that people do bad things and it is easier to commit an act that may be detrimenal to an individual, business or organisation. So what to do about this?

Do we give the governments of our respective countries the right to ‘spy’on data and information to ensure they keep us safe? Why not?

If you have nothing to hide then why worry? Or is this the invasion of privacy that we hear everyday on the news?

Google and Amazon watch where you visit online.

France Telecom and mobile operators can keep your calls.

Banks can see where you travel, what you spend,where you spend and then keep your money if they don’t like it.

Are we not creating a paranoid union where everywhere you go you are afraid to speak? Are we getting too frightened to live?

Is the protection of our freewill at the cost of free speech?

I conducted an interview with Microsoft 10 days ago for this magazine. It was interesting but I don’t believe it had any content that was going to have the bosses scratching their heads or calling lawyers but as I write this I have not had permission to publish. Two weeks and the next review date is the 27th June.

Surely just a little over the top don’t you think?

D

uring the last few months, I am finding more and more people, who have always considered that they are averse to investment risk, are prepared to take a little more risk.

Typically, these people would have kept their savings on bank deposit. However, due to the lack of any decent rate of interest being earned over recent years, they have found that their savings are no longer maintaining ‘real’ purchasing power.

Combine this with the general feeling that people now feel that their capital is less secure with a bank (particularly after the Cyprus issues), it is no surprise that they are seeking a different way of protecting their wealth. One of the problems for those people who wish to change direction is that they may have little understanding or knowledge about how to do this. So where do they begin?

No-one can predict the future. However, by using a structured investment process, which takes into account your objectives and goals, this will result in you having an investment portfolio with which you are comfortable. It is also very important that the portfolio is reviewed on a regular basis.

At The Spectrum IFA Group, we use a Lifestyle Investment Planning (LIP) approach. This takes into account the period over which you wish to reach your goal and then a portfolio is built to meet your objectives. More information on our approach to investment advice can be found at The Business Pages section of The Herault Times website and on our website at http://www. spectrum-ifa.com/investment_advice.html.

If you would like to have a discussion on this subject, in confidence, please contact me either by telephone on 04 68 20 30 17 or by e-mail at by e-mail at daphne.foulkes@spectrum-ifa.com.The Spectrum IFA Group advisers do not charge any fees directly to clients for their time or for advice given, as can be seen from our Client Charter at http://www.spectrum-ifa.com/IndependentFinancialAdviceinEurope-Charter.html The Spectrum IFA Group advisers do not charge any fees directly to clients for their time or for advice given, as can be seen from our Client Charter at http://www.spectrumifa.com/IndependentFinancialAdviceinEurope-Charter.html.

Daphne Foulkes SIRET 522 658 194 00017 Numéro d’immatriculation ORIAS 10 05600

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GIVE YOUR INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO THE ‘LIP’ SERVICE IT DESERVES

ince the beginning of the European crisis confidence in the EU as dropped 32 points in France, 49 in Germany, 52 in Italy, 98 in Spain, 44 in Poland and 36 in the UK. Everyone concerned has lost confidence in the project : creditors/debtors, those in the Euro zone and

applicants. In 2007, the UK who reported a 13 point loss, were considered the exceptional euro skeptics. It is remarkable to note that today the 4 largest country members have reported confidence levels lower than that of the UK: Germany (-29), France and Italy (-22) and Spain (-52).

INSEE Has Problem With First-Quarter Employment Figures

published.

The cryptic nature of the announcement alerted suspicions that the government was up to no good. There are even suggestions that the report, even more depressing than many had already anticipated, was being laundered. Who knows?

We will just have to sit back and wait for the figures.

Only three days before the first-quarter employment statistics were released, INSEE, the French national statistics agency announced there were problems with its survey, so the figures would not be able to be

Languedoc Crème de

Your local expert

www.creme-de-languedoc.com 11

Gaura Rosy Jane

In The Garden with Gill Pound

F

irst of all – a big big thank you to everyone who braved the weather to support our open weekend (Portes Ouvertes) in early June. It was great to see and talk to so many people.

We have had an unusual spring with very variable weather but we are now hoping for a more traditional summer; one which is hot

and dry! This isn’t a time for planting but you are most welcome to visit the garden here during the summer months and observe what is in flower. July is normally one of the driest months of the year and a time in which the garden is often resting and can look a bit jaded with not so much colour. Plants which do flower in the summer and which are drought tolerant are thus all the more important. A classic combination is Perovskia Blue Spires, a sub shrub with flowers from mid June until late September) inter-planted with Gaura lindheimerii. The type species of the gaura has wands of white flowers that wave beautifully in the wind but there are now a number of other forms available such as Gaura Rosy Jane with an attractive deep pink edge to the petal, Summer Dream with pink flowers and Rainbow with variegated foliage. The deeper blue flowers of hyssop, Hyssopus officinalis also look good in this planting group.

The summer months are much less busy in the garden – time to relax and enjoy it – and

perhaps to make some plans for the autumn!

During July think about the following: • Continue to keep an eye out for damage by slugs, snails, insects etc and take appropriate action • Continue deadheading perennials after flowering to encourage a second spell • Vigorous climbers such as ivy, Virginia creeper, wisteria and trumpet vines (Campsis) may need some pruning from time to time over the summer • Clip back aromatics such as santolina and lavender after flowering, remember that lavenders should never be cut back into old wood but only into this season’s growth • Roses which aren’t repeat flowering can be pruned after flowering • Keep an eye on the watering requirements of your garden, recently planted items (especially if they were planted this spring) particularly need looking after even if they are drought resistant once established.

For further information contact Gill Pound at La Petite Pépinière de Caunes (shrubs and perennials, ornamental grasses, unusual plants and plants for dry climates), 21, Avenue de la Montagne Noire, 11160, CaunesMinervois. Tel: 04 68 78 43 81 email Gill@lapetitepepiniere.com www.lapetitepepiniere.com Open March to November 10h – 18h Fridays and Saturdays, 10h – 12h Sundays, or by appointment – just phone or email to fix another time.

NEIGHBOURING WILDLIFE

W

e are so fortunate in Aude to have a massive diversity of Fauna and Flora all around us. We are also fortunate to be able, in a short journey span, to enjoy the different experiences found in our near neighbour – No, not the Hérault but Spain!

In the last week of May we drove down to Figueras and turned left towards the sea and 1 hour and 40 minutes easy driving after leaving home we arrived at one of the Costa Brava’s most stunning and fascinating secrets - The Parc Naturel dels Aiguamolls. Formed in 1983 by the Catalan parliament after beating off the proposed 60,000 resident marina project, this 5,000 hectare area of salt and

Nature Notes freshwater wetlands is a real gem. It is a cooperation of state-owned but also private ownership, in fact 80% of the natural park is privately owned. 150 hectares are cultivated rice fields and much more is pastureland for grazing cattle.

However its real purpose is to be a home for a huge range of Fauna and Flora and in particular, birds!

Arriving at the El Cortalet welcome centre between St. Pere Pescador and Castel d’ Empurias is a real joy. No bar, no café, no souvenir shop, just an information centre surrounded by clacking Storks in their nests! There are a number of marked walks ranging from 25 minutes to 2 hours and 30 minutes. One can also cycle round, perhaps stopping off at the beach. The park has some 14 “hides” which enable you to sit and watch the wild life without causing any disturbance. I would recommend both a camera and binoculars.

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Good Be To Young Listening to right now:

Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. & Pharrell) - Robin Thicke We Own It (Fast & Furious) - 2 Chainz & Wiz Khalifa Get Lucky [feat. Pharrell Williams]- Daft Punk Sexy M.F. - Prince

Over 320 bird species have been identified in the park, of which over 80 are regulars, the vast majority breed there.

Amongst the most common species to be seen are: White Storks; Bitterns; Grebes; Herons; Warblers; Ruffs; Marsh Harriers; Shovelers; Teal; Mallards; Stilts; Shrikes; Plovers; Redshanks and Purple Swamp hens.

Spring and summer residents include Ospreys, Ibis, Crakes, Sandpipers, Pipits, Colin Trickett Bee-eaters and Rollers.

The mix of freshwater and salt water areas provide home for Carp, Mullet, Eels, Flounders, Painted frogs, Marbled newts, Terrapins and Skinks. Mammals include Sanglier, Foxes, Otters, Polecats and Genets. Plant life, due to the total ban of pesticides and insecticides, is rich and varied with masses of Rushes, Succulents, Irises and Marshmallows.

Whilst the whole experience was hugely enjoyable, two things stay in our memories in particular. Alone in one of the hides we looked out and about 20 metres away on a small dry mound was a cow and her baby, no more than 2 weeks old, fast asleep in the sun. Next to them, just a few metres into the reeds were a pair of nesting Purple Herons. The second sight, as we walked back from that hide, was coming across a sandbank nesting site for Bee-eaters.

Around a dozen pairs going in and out of the nest holes feeding their young, whilst above them in the trees were baby Storks in their nests noisily calling upon parents for food.

The Park is a wonderful experience in itself but within 5 kilometres there are other attractions such as the medieval village of Castello Empuries, the Greek and Roman ruins at Empuries and all this is in addition to some wonderful beaches and great Bodegas and restaurants!

Go on, have a day out!

Parc Natural dels Aiguamolls de l’Empordà Castelló d’Empúries www.empordaturisme.com

Welcome to the Good To Be Young page of The Aude Times.

We are always looking for young journalists aged between 10 and 18 years. We are keen to publish your experiences, ideas and opin-

ions or is there some where you have always wanted to go in your local area or an activity you have always wanted to try? Contact us and we will organize your visit, all you have to do is write about it for us to publish afterwards.

Write to editor@theaudetimes. com

Have you tried… ?

Accrobranche – The

Acti City is a card for young people aged

between 12-25 which gives you a reduction off a range of activities throughout the Aude - from cinema and theatre to sport, leisure and transport, Acti City has links with over 250 partners. You can obtain an Acti City any time of the year. For more information visit: acticity.com

Européenne de la Jeunesse

The European commission has recently launched a new European Youth portal with information and opportunities for young people. The portal includes 8 designated areas: Social inclusion, creativity and culture, volunteer opportunities, employment and entrepreneurship, health and well-being and young people and the world.

There are articles, events and as well as international youth exchange opportunities.

Go to www.europa.eu/youth

13

highwire tree climbing adventure. There are a number of Accrobranche centres in Aude.

(Adventure courses start from 3yrs+) Leucate Aventures : Adresse: Avenue des Roseaux Ville: Leucate Tél: 06.10.04.58.50 http://leucate-aventures.com/ Accro Park : Le Moulin Neuf Ville: Alet les Bains Tél: 04.68.69.94.86 www.audetourisme.com O2 Aventure : Lac de Cavayère Ville: Carcassonne Tél: 04.68.79.66.34 www.o2aventure.com Acromix : Boulevard du Pech Maynaud Ville: Gruissan Tél: 06.28.67.49.08 www.acromix.com

The Sport that embraces power, skill, speed, teamwork

and competiveness. A game for men, women and children, we take a look at:

The Quick Guide

L

ike Basque Pelota Tambourin is derived from Real Tennis.

Played with a team consisting of 5 players on each side it can be likened to tennis (the scoring is very similar) where the ball can bounce once before being hit back to the opponents side.

A match lasts for 1 set and the winners are the first to 13 games.

Played on a court the length of a rugby pitch (the traditional game) and using ‘Tambourins’ to hit the ball, the ball can travel at speeds in excess of 200km/h.

An indoor version which starts in October of each year has allowed the game to be played all year round and 3 years ago beach Tambourin was started allowing exposure to a larger and not just French / Italian based markets.

The History

D

epending on where you come from Tambourin originated either in France or Italy. Renaissance paintings show depictions of people playing a similar sport and some even claim it goes back to Roman times.

In France, there are 1,500 registered players and there are teams as far afield as Marseille and Paris.

But little by little the tambourin is going global. The indoor version is now also played in Spain, Hungary, Germany, England and Scotland. These countries are also involved at different levels in the classic outside version. Brazilians, who traditionally played a similar game competed at last years World Cup alongside Spain, Brazil, France and Italy during the tournament held in Gignac.

There are also developments in Africa.

Notably through a school program in Senegal.

Structure

I

n France teams can be mixed. Women can play in men’s teams. There are single sex teams but some women are so good that they are invited to play in both men and women’s championships.

The Aude has 2 fesderation clubs; Avenir Narbonne Olympique Tambourin 0468 90 64 13 and Tambourin Club Vinassan 0468 90 72 42 but there are many clubs in villages and towns that will welcome you. **

Tambourin Calendar Dates 17th of July Beach-tambourin at La Grande-Motte Beach-tambourin tournament open to the public

“

“This is an important time for tambourin as it’s the beginning of its history. At present tambourin is a minority sport. The key is to get peope to come and watch once as the idea of it being a ‘traditional’ sport and the name ‘tambourin’ is not always appealing. However once people see the fitness levels, the coordination, tactics and the sheer speed they are usually converted.” Christophe Garnier, President Comité Sport Tambourin Hérault

Is it dangerous?

Sort of. It is not a contact sport. Having said that the ball going at full blast can hurt. Even the spectators have to keep an eye on the ball at all times. The most recurring type of injury comes from getting your thumb, which must remain on the tambourin, smashed by a ball. Believe me it hurts ! The balls are made of thick rubber and travel at more than 200 km/h. This kind of injury can be prevented by using differents kind of protection.

How long does it take to become a ‘good’ Tambourin player?

After a couple of training sessions you’ll be able to regularly send the ball back. The tougher version is the outdoor version, it will take you a couple of seasons of training and matches to be able to compete with some chance of making an impact.

Indoor and Beach version are more accessible from the start but players are getting more competitive every year.

How do you join or find your local Tambourin club?

You can find more information about 14

tambourin on the Comité website (www.ffsport-tambourin.fr).

The Aude Times and The Herault Times is looking to assist in the promotion of Tambourin and also to register an Anglo / French team. If this is of interest to you either as a supporter or player please contact us at: gatsby@theaudetimes.com

Pets are not just dumb animals as they become consumers and adopt families Recently, I was standing at a taxi stop in Egypt having just finished my shopping at what locals proudly call the largest shopping mall in the world. I felt something rubbing against the back of my right leg below the calf muscle. When I looked down I noticed there was a lean scrap of a pussy mewling at me pleadingly. Of course, judging by its forlorn appearance it was obviously hungry & completely neglected. Nothing unusual about that in contemporary Egypt, I thought.

This incident with its sequel led me to reflect about pets my family had owned at home all those years before. There they were: cats, a dog, hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, canaries, budgerigars& fish. I even had the habit of collecting spiders of all proportions, releasing them into my shared bedroom where they had permanent sanctuary free from all potential hazards including an indiscriminate vacuum cleaner. However, no worries, such a boyhood preference is not an early sign of a criminal psychology as I have subsequently discovered.

In 2011, two years ago to the month, I remember read ing Le Figaro which claimed in its headline of the day, “Animaux de compagnie [pets]: la France championne d’Europe”. In it, we learnt over the previous ten years French people had increased spending on their pets by over 72% and that veterinary services provided 20,000 jobs. More graphically, the article claimed there were 36.4 million fish; 10.7 million dogs & 7.8 million cats. 25% of households had dogs while 27% had at least one cat in a human population totaling 61.6 million. It concluded, no other country in Europe could aspire to such a love of animal companionship as the French.

In his philosophical reflections, “Parerga et Paralipomena”, Arthur Schopenhauer perceived, “If the sight of the animals charms us such, it is mainly because we sense a satisfaction to see before us our own being so simplified.” Exploring this idea a moment helps us to understand why in France animals are generally so well treated, although there are exceptions of course. Nothing is left to chance as typically a priority first is diet, then, medical and psychological well-being, alternative therapies and, lately, life insurance policies have become concerns. It is noteworthy that France (4%) is actually a long way behind UK (30%) and even more so, Sweden where 80% of household animals are insured.

In the south of France, a number of kennels and resorts for our animal friends have sprung up to provide boarding facilities with a difference for those who need a holiday but without their pets. The significance of the concept would not be lost on anyone who enjoys animal ownership but feels they can live without them for a few weeks during the summer.

Barber’s Cats &

Putting on the Dog

15

Hugh McCamley

If you are an animal lover and dislike ‘impersonal’ kennels it is also possible to contact TrustedHousesitters.com in order to hire the services of a pet-sitting enthusiast who will remove the anxiety from leaving a pet behind while on vacation, business-trip or family function away from home. Opportunities exist all over France. Apart from being an admirable provider of employment it also gives the owner the chance to have the house looked after too. Watching this site for a year now, it is clear that most regions of France use this service. At time of writing this article, there were 180 house sit demands for anxious pet-lovers.

The most fascinating of developments circumventing our furry and feathered companions is the emergence of numerous services placed at their disposal for “mieux vivre”. Apart from the increasing presence of coiffures for dogs, especially poodles, there are dedicated salons and boutiques furnished with every possible need. Winter outfits, toys, special foods, furry highlights and even diminutive footwear are purchasable. Other remarkable enterprises involve spa baths, massages and animal psychologists competing for the attention of the pet-loving devotee.

As we wander through our Department one noteworthy observation is to find how calm, well-nourished & amenable most local “animaux de compagnie” appear to be. They have a certain omnipresence this time of year as they regard the human world being built around them. The social infrastructure for them is increasing as hotels, airline companies and restaurants find ways of attracting their custom. I have met several dogs on the TGV in the last year travelling quietly alongside their evidently proud owners. They do not seem to need entertaining electronic mobile devices like their human counterparts; not yet, in any case.

This brings me back to my sequel with the Egyptian “moggie” whose demeanor was expressly targeted at gauging my level of compassion for his miserable plight. What a contrast, I contemplated. All this in a place famed for unique feline breeds & their historic reputation but insensitive to his current bad luck. He was assuredly bilingual as he understood my English. Cats have a well-defined sense of survival, although this can go beyond their limits at particular times. This cat also had a good sense of smell as I fished in one of my shopping bags for a can of oily sardines.

By Louis Duluth

Smacking in France

A parent’s right, or an abuse of children?

Smacking children (corporal punishment) remains one of the most controversial social issues across France today, with those in favour of hitting children (parents and teachers) arguing they have an ancient right in law to do this. They are strongly opposed by those who view this form of discipline as an abusive, outdated and a totally inappropriate form of control in homes and schools for the 21st century.

T

o smack or not to smack?

A total of 16 countries such as Germany, Netherlands, Poland and Sweden have a total ban on physical punishment of children in all settings, including the home.

More than half the child population in the European Union have full legal protection from all forms of corporal punishment in all settings. But not France, or her overseas territories and that is now being formally challenged.

French political and legal authorities, supported by general public opinion, have said for many years that corporal punishment of the country’s 13.7m children is still lawful under the ‘right of correction’, which originates from a Supreme Court ruling of 1819 that parents have the right to hit their children. In 1908 the Supreme Court confirmed that teachers too have this right.

French Government and the courts consider there is no need for further legislation, so long as the punishment is ‘... harmless, of moderate intensity (slaps, clothes seized, ears and hair pulled)’, and, in the case of teachers, ‘... aimed at maintaining school order and discipline.’

However, in 1999 France signed up to the European Social Charter, which is consistently interpreted as prohibiting all forms of corporal punishment of children, and has also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which similarly requires prohibition of any form of physical punishment of children by parents, carers, teachers or others. The UN has already criticised the French Government in 2004 and 2009

for ‘... the lack of explicit prohibition including in the family, schools and all child-care institutions.’

This puts France in a contradictory position and it is the absence of unequivocal law on this matter that is at the centre of a new formal complaint.

The French Government is now going to have to respond to a Collective Complaint* lodged against it in January this year under the European Social Charter. This new formal complaint states there is currently an administrative, political and public confusion over the legality of corporal punishment in France, causing millions of French children to continue to suffer violations of ‘... their right to respect for their human dignity and physical integrity.’ The Complaint says that this confusion ‘... is bound to increase the risk of irreparable injury to children.’

France has also been condemned for hiding behind the ‘right of correction’ ruling; in 2001 the European Committee of Social Rights, (which will adjudicate on the new Collective Complaint), said: ‘The Committee does not find it acceptable that a society which prohibits any form of violence between adults would accept that adults subject children to physical violence...’.

And APPROACH, says in the Complaint: ‘It is disingenuous of the French Government to assert that its legal framework is adequate when it is plain that milder forms of corporal punishment have been condoned by court decisions and are still widely approved by a majority of the population.’

How will the French Government (or public opinion) respond to being judged again on this sensitive issue? We know something of the public view • 72% of French parents said they had ‘mildly’ slapped their child on the face • 87% slapped their child on the bottom • 32% had given their child a ‘resounding’ slap on the face • 7.9% never used corporal punishment, and • 82.5% agreed that ‘non-violent child-rearing is the ideal’.

In the same year (2007) a survey by the Union of Families in Europe (UFE) of 2,000 grandparents, parents and children found that 95% of adults and 96% of children had been smacked: over 80% of parents & grandparents had administered corporal punishment.

One in 10 parents admitted to punishing their children with a ‘martinet’ (a small whip with leather thongs named after the 17th century French lieutenantcolonel and army drillmaster), yet nearly one in three children in the same survey said they had been punished with it.

When asked the reason for smacking their children, 77% of parents said it was part of ‘bringing up’ their children; not surprisingly 53% of parents and 61% of grandparents in France said that they opposed a ban on corporal punishment of children.

16

And what did children think of it all? When asked how they planned to discipline their own children when they become parents, 64% of children said they planned to use physical punishment.

Why does this all matter?

Should governments intervene in schools and homes and tell teachers and parents not to hit children? There is now welldocumented evidence which shows that violence inflicted on children by adults doesn’t work, and even promotes the use of physical violence in later life.

It is illegal for one adult to hit another in all civilised societies.

Why do we condone the hitting of children, who are usually so much smaller than the ‘punishing’ adult?

UN Conventions and European Charters are there to remind civilised societies that there are many other positive and more effective solutions for dealing with child discipline. In France, the Observatoire de la Violence Educative Ordinaire, a body campaigning against educational violence now has signatures from over 230 associations supporting its call to ban corporal punishment of children (www.oveo.org/). * Collective Complaint against France, submitted by the Association for the Protection of All Children (APPROACH) Ltd under the 1995 European Social Charter (Additional Protocol), January 2013 (www.coe. int/).

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ou’d like to savour or share the specialties of our Mediterranean region and have a Michelin-starred chef at your disposal without having to leave the house? We’ve discovered two people who can help.

Friends and business partners Stéphane and Laurent have combined their passion for French food and web skills and come up with an innovative idea to bring the best culinary delights France has to offer right to your door. The concept of ‘Gourmaneo’ is simple, fabulous hampers of French regional specialties accompanied by recipes written

by Michelin- starred chefs, orderable on-line, then sent to your door so you can prepare a three course meal in the comfort of your own home. Says Stéphane and Laurent, “Through this concept, by forming partnerships with the best local producers, as well as being able to provide a service to individuals who love French food but perhaps can’t always locate the best ingredients, or for expats who would like to share their passion with friends back home, we’ve also been able to respond to the needs of gite and maison d’hôte owners who are looking to provide that special extra something for their guests.”

The contents of the hampers changes every month around a different theme. Chefs then create recipes according to the

LifeStyle

Introducing Maggie

S

tarting out afresh is exciting, but entails change, which takes us to the unknown and can often be followed by fear and anxiety.

Hopefully, for you the change has come easily, but for some it can be more difficult.

We might experience feelings of isolation as we endeavour to deal with the adjustment of living in a new country; the language, a different culture, seeking out a new social circle, retirement after a busy working life, leaving family and friends behind.

Through our beliefs and values learned during our lifetime, we base our current reality on how we perceive our life to be.

We see our world through our individual set of lenses. Some are rose-tinted, others are grey where we see only clouds on the horizon. But the choice of which spectacles we decide to wear is ours.

The mother felt concerned that her small daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school during a fierce

monthly theme and Stéphane and Laurent locate local artisan producers to include their ingredients in the hampers.

“All customers have to do is add a few, simple ingredients to prepare a complete menu for two.”

In addition to the hampers customers will shortly be able to purchase ingredients currently being used by respected French restaurants. All of these products have been selected and approved

by Michelin-starred chefs, such as Marc Briand who created the May and June recipes using ingredients such as Zézettes from Sète, Crème d’olive noire aux zeste d’orange, crème de poivrons à l’estragon….

Gourmaneo Hampers are avail-

able through a simple purchase or by subscription on-line and can be delivered anywhere in Europe, overseas French departments and shortly the world.

thunderstorm. Anxiously, she decided to drive along the route to her child’s school and soon saw her little girl walking along.

At each flash of lightning the child stopped, looked up, and smiled. More lightning followed quickly and each time the little girl looked at the streak of light and smiled.

The mother drove up, lowered the window and called, “What are you doing?” The child answered, “I am trying to look pretty because God keeps taking my picture.”

If you are experiencing any type of difficulties in your life right now, what would it take for you pick up the rose-tinted spectacles? Sometimes it takes just a short while to see things from a totally different perspective, and I’m more excited about the thought of God taking my picture than being anxious about being struck by lightning.

You are invited to contact Maggie direct should you wish to, or if you would like her to deal with a particular issue in her monthly column, please email: maggie@maggieminter.co.uk

LEGGETT

For AT readers quote the code TIMES10 on www.gourmaneo. com and you will receive a 10% discount off your hamper.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE YOU CAN TRUST Are you looking to buy or wanting to sell ? www.frenchestateagents.com

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Problem Solved RENOVATIONS HANDYMAN SERVICES SAT T.V – TNT – CCTV GARDEN DESIGN 0609540662 – 0499416180 handyman34450@hotmail.co.uk

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32196LHS34 €59,000 St Jean de Minervois - This could make a fabulous village home with some TLC - 4 bed, 1 bath.

32232LHS34 €59,400 Aigues Vives - Rustic Minervois house with cave, pigeonnier, land and the potential to create 4 bedrooms.

32869DKR34 €333,900 Beziers - A 6 bedroom townhouse with parking near Beziers Cathedral only 15mins drive to the beaches.

20222JG34 €545,000 Siran - Attractive property, super renovation comprising 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, outbuildings and land.

The Calendar The Calendar Daily Calendar (in English) on www.theaudetimes.com Night bus in Narbonne (Service de navette nocturne) Make the most evenings out in Narbonne. The navette is a service for people living or based in Narbonne and covers the whole Narbonne area. It costs just 1€ outward/1€ return. The service is available Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 19h to midnight and Saturday from 19h to 4h00. There is no Sunday service. To reserve a place at the beginning of the evening 04 68 90 30 13

Aude Ciné-Club: For an updated listing of films and outdoor projections see www.cinemaaude.org Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th June St Jean de Paracol Two day Vegetable dying workshop Price: 165€ Contact : Association L’Ortie, lortie@wanadoo.fr Tel : 04 68 20 36 09 http://www.lortie.asso.fr/ ** 1st July to 31st August Duilhac sous Peyrepertuse Falconnerie Spectacles in the stunning medieval setting of Chateau de Peyrepertuse.

11h30, 14h30, 16h30 (dur. 45 mins) Entry :8.50€/children (3-15yrs) 3€ Access to the château, which sits at an altitude of 800m, can be on foot from the village (approx 1hr walk) or from the carpark which sits at the foot of the chateau, after which there is a 20 min walk (comfortable shoes recommended). http://www.chateau-peyrepertuse.com ** Saturday 6th July 11260 Esperaza Tour de France : from 11h in Caderonne with animations by the Comité de fétes ** Wednesday 19th July to 27th July Azille - Exhibition A joint exhibition presenting the emotionally power-

ful paintings of Nathalie Vives-Detraz, the fabulous sculputral furniture of Garth Bowden and Kylee Milner’s jewelry “Splash”.

Espace D’art Henri Delanne Avenue de l’argent double Azille 11700 Aude www.inspireazille.com ** Wednesday 19th July Quillan - Festival of the Guitar 21h30-11h30 FREE

Place de la République (ico rain Espace Cathare) ** Sunday 14th July Narbonne ‘Mémoires d’Antan: L’Histoire des Barques et du Canal : Outdoor extravaganza Spectacle with tandems, monocycles, music, juggling, barges along the Mirabeau, dancers,music.

Firework finale 15h-1h00 ** Sunday 14th July Carcassonne Fireworks at the Cité www.carcassonne-tourisme.com ** Wednesday 19th June to 3rd August Festival de Carcassonne Stunning line-up includes Elton John, Olivia Ruiz, Smashing Pumpkins, Arctic Monkeys, Christophe Mae Theatre Jean Deschamps La Cité 11000 www.11.agendaculturel.fr Monday 15th to Friday 19th July Narbonne VIII Festival Musique & Histoire – for an intercultural dialogue Abbaye de Fontfroide For full programme of concerts and bookings see www.fontfroide.com Tuesday 16th to Thursday 18th July Marie de Cucugnan La Fete du conte de Cucugnan Cucugnan - 11350 Cucugnan http://www.cucugnan.fr ** Friday 19th, Saturday 20th, Sunday 21st Lagrasse - Festival des Abracadagrasses Musical discovery of current artists across the musical genres (from hip-hop to jazz, from Indie to reggae) http://www.abracadagrasses.fr/ ** Thursday 25th July to Sunday 4th August Limoux/Saint Hilaire/Serres Festival de Theatre Nava: Régis De Martrin Donos, Alexandre Brasseur, Judith Magre, Alexie Ribes, Clémentine Célarié, Jean-michel Ribes, Sébastien Thiéry, Wajdi Mouawad, Jean-marie Besset Various venues www.festival-nava.com ** Wednesday 31st July to Saturday 3rd August Narbonne Festival de Jazz à l’Hospitalet Line-up includes Julien Clerc, Kool Ad The Gang, Billy Paul, Michel Jonasz Chateau L’Hospitalet, Narbonne http://www.chateau-lhospitalet.com ** Wednesday 31st July to Sunday 4th August Haute Vallée de l’Aude (various venues) Festival Internationale de Folklore (Poland, Peru, India, Bolivia, 18 Guadeloupe, Georgia)

FREE http://www.aude-pyrenees.fr ** Wednesday 31st July Narbonne-plage Children’s Theatre ‘Recré Magic’: the house of actors and puppets from Circus Théatre Recré Magic charm, astonish and confound

21h30-midnight FREE Location : Terrasses de la mer ** July & August Quillan ‘Sous la Lune’ Night Market Through July & August: night market every Thursday 18h-midnight. Live music and dancing July to 6th October Narbonne Exhibition L’Aspirateur Invites postmodern artist Erró, Father of narrative figuration L’aspirateur, avenue Hubert Mouly, Narbonne (A9, exit Narbonne-Est) http://www.narbonne.fr **

What’s in a name....

Sue Hicks continues her look into the history of Street names Pierre-Paul Riquet = the Canal du Midi. Since Roman times, there had been talk of a waterway to link the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts to avoid having to go round the Iberian peninsula, a month long journey which was slow, expensive and dangerously open to attacks by pirates, and into the treacherous Bay of Biscay. Even Leonardo de Vinci had been asked by King Francis 1st for his ideas. But it was not until the 17th century that a man with the right combination of vision, ambition,

overcoming the perils of vaulting the first navigation tunnel in the world at Malpas. In order to overcome the difficulty of farm workers downing tools to go back to their farm tasks, Riquet introduced monthly salaries.

Women played an important role as those who came from the former Roman bath colonies in the Pyrenees added their knowledge of classical hydraulic methods to the stock of available techniques. Cypresses and plane trees were planted, which served both to provide shade and to prevent evaporation, as well as millions of irises to protect and beautify the banks. The huge cost of construction depleted Riquet’s personal fortune including it is said not being able to pay his daughters dowries. The seemingly insurmountable technical problems caused his sponsors, including Louis XIV, to lose interest. Colbert became suspicious that Riquet was embezzling money. Sceptics, envious usurpers who tried to claim some of the credit and bad payers added to Riquet’s difficulties. In order to complete work, he had to organise the financing of the project and for himself and heirs he obtained a monopoly over certain tolls for 10 years and the canal became his fief with attendant rights. Whatever combination of motivations - scientific curiosity, personal ambition to leave his mark, financial and professional considerations - his tenacity, daring, enthusiasm, obstinacy and imagination were publicly recognised when he was ennobled by the Sun King.

Pierre-Paul Riquet died exhausted, leaving enormous debts, in 1680, just months before the completion of the Canal du Midi and the official opening on 15 May 1681. He inspired generations of engineers and perhaps some of the politicians considering infrastructure projects to this very day.

skill and money to master-mind such a project was able to harness new and old technologies to build the 240 kilometre canal. This “beautiful open-air museum of engineering master-pieces” goes from Sète on the Mediterranean via Béziers, Carcassonne and the geological gap between the Pyrenees and the Montagne Noire known as the Seuil de Naurouze into the heart of Toulouse. From there the river Garonne, which was eventually made fully navigable, runs to Bordeaux and the sea.

Pierre-Paul Riquet was born in Béziers in 1604 or 1609 where his wealthy father was a notaire and Crown prosecutor of allegedly questionable reputation. As a youth, Pierre-Paul was only interested in mathematics and science. He soon gained opportunities for enrichment when he was appointed as a tax gatherer, including for the lucrative salt tax, the gabelle. This involved supervising the transport and storage of salt as well as the tax gathering. As salt was essential for preserving food and a minimum purchase per household was set down in law, tax collectors could make a good profit on the difference between what they charged and what was due to the crown.

Riquet, his wife and five children lived at Revel and later bought the Chateau du Bonrepos near Verfeil to the north east of Toulouse in 1651.

One of the main technical problems of how to link Toulouse with the Mediterranean was how to ensure a sufficient water supply for the summit. While exploring the Black Mountains, Riquet romantically “found” or more prosaically was “shown” by a local man, the watershed, the seuil de Narouze where water went in two directions. The self-taught engineer drew up plans for huge artificial lakes to supply the proposed canal, obtained local support, and in 1662 formally wrote to Louis X1V’s new Finance Minister Colbert “on the subject of a canal which could be built in this province of Languedoc to ensure communication between the two seas”. Colbert and his master the King were keen to identify “grand projets” and to establish better communications throughout the country and until the advent of railways, the key to national prosperity was thought by many to lie with canals and canalized rivers. Colbert ordered a feasibility study by a commission which included the leading military engineer Chevalier de Clerville and on 14 October 1666 Riquet was appointed engineer by royal edict.

In the following fourteen years, up to 10,000 men and women were employed in the cutting of the canal, constructing dams, reservoirs and aqueducts, building bridges, installing locks including a flight of 7 and 19

To understand the thoughts and opinions of a country and a people you have to read and listen to what they say. Not always the easiest thing to do in another language.

In association with The Aude Times, Alison Reid will regularly translate for you a selection of topical blogs and opinion pieces by French writers, journalists and thinkers…

UMP Mayor of Vienne refuses to marry same sex couples: then quit, I say!

Left Wing mayor, I will not be celebrating homosexual marriages

In an interview with the newspaper ‘Le Figaro’, Jacques Remiller, UMP mayor of Vienne, Isère, announced “I refuse to celebrate same sex unions. No one in my team wishes to do so, either,” he added.

Amongst the mayor’s ten assistants and the thirteen municipal advisors of the municipal council majority, there is not one who wishes to respect and to apply the Republic’s law?

That seems a little strange to me!

Ever since its promulgation and its publication in the Official Journal, the law allowing same sex couples access to marriage and adoption has been a law of the Republic. It must be applied across the land, with no exceptions. Including in the town of Vienne, a town bearing no special status and no right to exemption.

Mr Remiller, I would like to remind you that marriage is no longer the union “of a man and a woman,” it is that of “two persons of different or the same sex”. It is not me saying this, it is law n° 2013-404, of May 17th 2013. This law was voted in democratically by the Parliament, representative of the

When the debate over the proposed ‘marriage for all’ law first began, I spoke about it with the representatives of the town council and I clearly stated that I would not celebrate unions between two people of the same sex. I just don’t feel that I could. Marrying people is an important act, and I would not want to go against my views and my understanding of a couple: a man must marry a woman, in my opinion.

I know that other mayors intend to do the same as me, whether they be from the Left or the Right. So at a municipal council meeting, I passed the responsibility to the representatives. We have not yet decided who will conduct the ceremonies.

I took the initiative of expressing my views towards the subject, but I don’t know how the other members of the council feel.

I am aware of the

The French VIEW _ French people. Had that slipped your mind? And yet you were a minister yourself, before being beaten by Erwann Binet, the highly dynamic and brave Socialist rapporteur of the said law in the National Assembly…

A few months ago you declared, “It’s not homophobia; homosexuals living together doesn’t bother me.” I would like to thank you for your indulgence… It doesn’t bother you, but even so, they ought not to have the same rights as the rest of the French citizens, right?

Homophobia? Not at all! Just like how mayors that refused to

allow black people to marry white people wouldn’t be being racist. Of course not.

With regards to the ‘freedom of conscience’ to which you refer, you are fully aware that this is irrelevant to the law. You are the people’s elected representative, but also an officer of the Civil State and an agent of the law.

You are obligated to apply this law. Your personal convictions do not come into consideration here, and you know it.

You risk suspension, permanent dismissal or even prison if you do not apply this law. This hardly seems to make you realise the seriousness of your actions and of the actions of your team. Oh I see, you wish to become a sort of ‘martyr’ setting the example for those opposed to equal rights for same sex couples? You want your ‘15 minutes of fame’? A tattered fame that goes against the republican principles of our country.

But I don’t suppose any homosexual couples will want to be married by you or by any member of your team anyway.

After all, you have already hurt them, and I strongly doubt that they would wish to find

against them either.

In my role as mayor, I am sometimes unable to celebrate all of the marriages in Chamblet.

Often, if I am unavailable, or indeed if one of the future spouses is close to a representative, they may wish for him to conduct the ceremony. If I cannot do it, it is my first assistant who takes responsibility, and a municipal councillor will replace me at the end of August for the next marriage.

Last November at the ‘congrès de maires de France’ François Hollande spoke about respect for ‘freedom of conscience’.

Unfortunately, this is not covered in the law voted in by the Parliament. I do not want to disrupt public order. The President of the Republic has stated that the law must be applied in all departments.

Chamblet has 1100

Translation by Alison Reid themselves face to face with the ministers who despise them on their wedding day, the happiest day of their lives.

You don’t want to marry same sex couples? Why not just quit, and the rest of your municipal majority along with you? You’ll leave room for some new representatives who, I’m sure, will carry out their mission as officer of the Civil State with pleasure. Wouldn’t that just be the best solution?

paradox of my situation.

I have been a member of the Socialist Party since 1993. I did not follow the gay marriage debate in regional meetings. I get the feeling that it took on more importance in the large agglomerations in which the mobilisations were taking place – it was not often mentioned here.

I will not, however, oppose these unions taking place. I did not attend any demonstrations. I didn’t fight

Written by Giuseppe Di Bella, Historian and concerned citizen Edited by Claire Huille leplus. nouvelobs.com 20

inhabitants. Everyone knows everyone. No homosexual couples have requested a marriage as of yet. Some people are perhaps ready to do it, but I’m not sure that they would wish to make their union public.

written by Alain Chanier, Mayor of Chamblet (03) Translated by : Alison Reid

Talk Tech and IT with the Geek we call ‘E-Male’ Well hello to everyone in the Aude and beyond.

I have to admit a kind of begrudging respect to all of you.

Not only do we live in a beautiful part of the world but you all still find yourself tied to my favourite thing.....a computer or phone or tablet.

Each month I am here to talk with you about reviews, news and the questions that you have about technology.

If you have a question please email those fellow insomniacs at The Aude Times (info@theaudetimes.com) and I’ll do my best to answer you. ** Sun worshipers of the Aude.

In the airing cupboard, dark semi-lit world of the ‘real’ geek it is always interesting to pop one’s head into the daylight and blinking like a new born cat see what we need to know. ** In the news recently is the fact that Apple is talking to a third party about the ability to trade in your iPhone towards another or even discount vouchers.

Not a new idea, they already do it but this is not of interest, what is are the rumours that it is an attempt to drive up sales of new (and in some cases uninspiring) upgrades and some high ups are a little worried

From the Aude.......

about the profit margin. ** So this must be great news for Sam-

Amédée Domenech, born Narbonne 1933 (d.2003), was an International Rugby player also known as Le Duc. He played for France between 1954 and 1963 (his grandson, Amédée Domenech is also a rubgy player).

sung?

Well not really. Samsung are having a bit of a problem in shifting volume on the stunning superphone the Galaxy S4.

We love this phone, it is the ultimate superphone but as always the niggling doubts remain about Samsung. Firstly, do they really make a lot of money on these products?

The old volume vs profits question just won’t go away.

Only a few weeks ago $12 billion was wiped off their share price as others looked at the numbers.

And secondly, they only seem to take current ideas and improve them. We want a new idea, a game changer and I’m looking at the horizon and can’t see one yet! ** Good news for all you Microsoft 8 users.

It’s back. The start button returns like a Jedi warrior sheathing a light sabre.

But of more interest is that after my continued distrust and dislike it appears Internet Explorer, the clown browser of choice is looking good. Early reports are positive and this is the big one. ** And so like a new Batman movie without Christian Bale I must leave you now.

Shutting down!

Olivia Ruiz, the French actress and singer was born in 1980 in Carcassonne. Her father is musiciansinger Didier Blanc. Olivia chose her stage name ‘Ruiz’ as a hommage to her maternal grandmother.

One of the first competitors in France’s famous ‘Star Academy’ she has gone on to win for the third time a ‘Globe de Cristal’ in the category Artiste interprète féminine.

Her most recent album is Le calme et le tempete (2012).

Camille Lacourt, born Narbonne 1985, is one of France’s most successful swimmers specialising in back stroke (50m and 100m). He held the world title for the 100m backstroke with Jérémy Stravius since July 2011.

He is also France’s first world champion in the history of competitive swimming.

Jean Cau, born in Bram, 1925 (d.1993), was a writer and journalist. He was secretary to Jean-Paul Satre and received in 1961 the prix Goncourt for his novel ‘La Pitié de Dieu’.

Wonky!

I

n French if you talk about giving a present you can use the verb donner but offrir is so much more elegant.

So if offrir means to give, how do you say to offer?

The verb is se proposer. So if se proposer means to offer, how do you propose to someone?

Well it’s demander en marriage… and round we go!

Bobbie Trickett 21

www.l-artiste.com

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elcome to the art pages of The Aude Times. All articles are taken from the bi-lingual Visual Arts magazine L’Artiste or the

L’Hérault Art website. Please visit us at www.l-artiste.com or www.lheraultart.com. If you have an exhibition or art event and would like to see it on these pages please drop us a line at info@theaudetimes.com.

Art and History Museum in Narbonne “The first Daughter of Rome”

T

he Art and History Museum is situated in the former Palais des Archevêques in Narbonne, also known as the ‘Middle Age ecclesiastical metropolis’. The Palace was considered a high place of power during the Ancien Regime and disused in 1790. It became in 1842 the symbolism of power exerted on behalf of the Republic.

Its high crenellated walls shelter a rich museum dedicated to Culture, Art and History, installed in the luxurious setting of the former apartments of the Archbishops on the second floor of the Palais Neuf (14th -17th centuries). This museum, the first in

Narbonne, was opened in 1834.

The interconnecting rooms were essentially created in the years 1630’s under the archbishopric of Claude de Rebé (1628-1659). Its imposing collection of paintings has grown rapidly and span from the end of the 15th century to the beginning of the 20th century. A faience collection (16th -18th centuries), can be seen alongside other applied art objects and a few pieces of

furniture of various epochs. In 1997 and 2000 two Orientalist painting sections were reorganized in a suggestive décor to complete the visit across the episcopal apartments.

By Dominique Aclange

The atmosphere of these former apartments is a plus to the visit as we discover the collections and the place at once. The first gallery or audience room was completed in 1634 with a painted ceiling à la Française formed with joists resting on six pairs of beams. The Consuls of Narbonne are represented on two large canvases at different years beginning 17th century facing each other on the south and north side of the walls and following other municipal personalities. The entry is a fairly solemn introduction to the visit which promises an eclectic evolution.

As we moved through these apartments, the King’s room or ‘chambre du Roi’is an invitation to raise one’s head to admire the decorated coffered ceiling. In the spring of 1642, the French Army having undertaken the conquest of Roussillon besieged Perpignan, and King Louis 13th and his first Minister Cardinal Richelieu stayed in Narbonne. This visit coincides with the arrest of Henri Coiffier de Ruzé, Marquis de Cinq-Mars (1620 -1642) whose conspiracies against the King’s first minister led him to being decapitated.

The portrait of Cinq-Mars can be seen in the adjacent room. A stunning Roman mosaic found in 1857 in the slope of the fortification of Narbonne in beautiful condition stands at the centre.

The numerous portraits and paintings of other subjects presented in the King’s bedroom are mainly from the French School of the 17th and 18th century and feature inter alia Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), Antoine Rivalz (1667-1735) and Eustache Le Sueur (1617-1655).

The Great gallery and the Barathier gallery have 7m high ceilings and were conceived by the famous architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. The great gallery showcases a vast collection of pharmaceutical pots originally from the Hôtel-Dieu in Narbonne, although they were originally made in Montpellier. There are also paintings from the French, Italian, and Flemish schools of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as beautiful and semiprecious objects on display.

The oratory shelters a beautiful Byzantine 22

icon dated the 15th century: ‘The appearance of the Trinity in the tent of Abraham’ as well as a triptych by Jan de Beer (1475-1520): ‘The Adoration of the Mages’. This recollected passage leads the visitor to the dining room area: a large and light green room decorated with stucco low reliefs describing scenes of hunting and fishing as well as shells and dolphins designed to place the guests in the proper eating mood.

The last part of the visit represents two Orientalist rooms in a particularly

charming set-up imitating Islamic architecture. Orientalist inspiration became a major trend in the 19th century, when the distant shores became more easily accessible to travelers and artists…a language of seduction, men and women, blue skies and infinite colours to see and savour, like the cherry on the cake, await for you during this Southern summer visit.

“This nostalgia of the foreigner, so well-known by the traveler, seized me one evening…When this disease takes you, your friends bore you (…), to dissipate these particular blues the only recipe is a passport for Spain, Italy, Africa or the Orient.”

Théophile Gautier, L’Orient (1877).

Charles Cullen Text: Stephen Morris

“I likes the idea of being a bit perverse and of not having been too predictable.”

Charles Cullen, affectionately known as Charlie falls in to the category of being a true artist. He has an obvious overwhelming talent which when coupled with the profound honesty in his work, it makes him quite unique. One has only to be in his company for a short time to realise that this is a special man, for not only does he live as an artist, without pretentions, but one can recognise that he has experienced a life time of dedication to art. There is no false modesty here for not only is he a good listener but he is also a good teacher.

Charlie came to the Languedoc in 1990.

He had been invited by friends who lived in the region and the bond between Dublin and the Midi was made. The climate suited him, but as with many artists it was the light

which was the important factor. It was this that persuaded him to purchase a house here.

Of course the climate of the region was another factor as well as the benefits of partly living in a small village for part of a year and the other part in the centre of a capital city. The contrasts show in his work.

Rural France reminds him of his youth, which was spent in Longford, whereas the darker side could be influenced by the greys of Dublin which constantly surround the city.

There is a profound humour in Charlie Cullen as well as a deep level of intelligence. The man’s knowledge of art

and the world of art are enormous plus his affection for literature, film and politics, all of which are revealed in his work as are his beliefs and ideals. The trauma of having to live with the life and death of being a lapsed or non practicing catholic intensifies the complexity that emerges creatively. His political beliefs and leanings are close to the surface too, especially when talking about Irish history with its decades of exploitation and persecution.

Charlie Cullen can and does also see the world objectively through his art along with his emotional involvement. The literature of Ireland has influenced his work especially that of James Joyce. He has interpreted this largely figuratively, often using layered elements as in a Palimpsest. In 2004, the Stoney Road Print Studio in Dublin published a box set of ten etchings by Charlie loosely based on Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’.

The way Joyce used the stream of consciousness with overlapping time sequences and collaging suited Charlie’s way of working.

These have become widely sought after works of art now.

Born in Longford, in the South of Ireland in 1939, his father died when Charlie was twelve and life became a struggle for the family, as Charlie was one of seven children.

It was soon after the death of his father that Charlie began to draw and to paint.

The education system in Ireland in the forties and fifties was not that far removed from Victorian England and Charlie suffered. However the inner creative drive within him became very strong as was his desire for knowledge and inspiration. He attended art school before embarking on a disastrous trip to Franco’s Spain and he also spent time in England working in bars, factories and offices.

Eventually he returned to Dublin where he was offered a part-time job at the School of Art. At this time he began reading Irish writers. Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Sean O’Casey, Beckett, W.B.Yeats, all of whom stimulated his work. However Joyce was the greatest 23

influence and he maintains his respect for their influences just as he does the South of France. The region is an inspiration and he knows it well as he cycled everywhere absorbing the countryside.

His creativity comes in bursts and shadows become more abrupt, there is a clean light that does not exist in Dublin.

Nothing of course pans out perfectly... it never does he says, but why should it? In 2002 he was diagnosed with the affliction Haemochromatosis, a disability which, coincidently, was superbly written about in the June edition of ‘The Herault Times’. The condition does restrict Charlie especially as he is keen cyclist who now walks between villages rather than riding.

Charles Cullen works everyday at his art.

Always exploring, always creating, always discussing art. At the age of 73 he is still driven, never to be rich and or really famous

but rather to have a meaningful purpose in life, to stimulate and inspire others which he does. But as he says himself ‘he likes the idea of being a bit perverse and of not being too predictable.’

English for Expat Children - An indispensable guide

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ith many years in education, both abroad and in the UK, Laura Smith has a BA (Hons) in English and a background which includes nannying, running ‘arts’ groups for children, supporting early readers, teaching English as a foreign language in Spanish and Italian schools and examining children for the Cambridge Examining Board.

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his issue I’m taking a detour from the usual home-teaching ideas onto the related, sometimes difficult, but critical relationship between a parent and a teacher - a dynamic which can feel particularly tested especially when it comes to second language support for your child. Feeling able to ask for any extra support available to a multi-lingual child is vital to all concerned. With any luck we will be sidestepping the potential power struggle inherent in the relationship by building

communication channels. I am keen to highlight the importance of rapport and the resulting mutual respect.

Building a relationship with your child’s school and teacher needn’t be a drain on your time or energy; however, taking some time to initiate a rapport with the person who spends all that time with your child will reap dividends. Teachers have a complex job and manage large groups effectively day after day. The practicalities of running their classrooms and keeping children on task sadly leaves little time for one-on-one interaction. When you engage the teacher personally it can really fuel their relationship to your child and stimulate their teacher instincts. In my experience, teaching is quite an isolated job and the opportunity to have a thoughtful conversation with an adult about child development usually leaves me giddy with delight!

Hopefully, you are already finding communication relatively easy with your child’s teacher, but just in case you are not here are a few ideas: • Persevere. If you make an approach that does not appear welcome, try another time, timing can be important.

• Make an appointment for an informal chat after school.

• Try to keep your agenda loose for the

initial meeting. This will allow you both to relax into letting the discussion flow.

•Remember that this person is potentially your biggest ally and support and vice versa: Consider it a team meeting!

The confidence you can gain from developing this relationship with the teacher will establish a mutual trust. Whilst you may not agree with them, or perhaps even like them much, it is important to be seen to support and respect their position.

This is crucial, as it exemplifies how a

whole range of approaches can co-exist.

When your child encounters a difficult relationship with a teacher resist the urge to make this conflict your own. You might only magnify the impact of the situation by giving your child unconditional support.

This is not to suggest that you can’t be on your child’s ‘side’, only that there is rarely the need for ‘sides’.

Listening, talking things through and encouraging empathy for all parties will allow your child the space to reflect and give you the opportunity to assess the seriousness of the situation.

I believe there is a very real, respectful balance that can be struck between minimal communication and the parent who expects only the best of everything for their child within an under-resourced system.

Clear communication will develop the trust necessary when handing your child over to caring professionals.

When things get under your skin, try these ideas out: • Find a way to step back. I realise this is an impossibly frustrating thing to hear when you’re in the midst of it, but perhaps a friend might offer an impartial ear and help balance your perspective.

• Prioritise your child. Once you’ve established a level of emotional distance, speak to your child and try to assess how 24

you might best support them. Listen carefully; they will likely give you the key to any next steps.

And should you find it necessary to pursue the situation...

• Exhaust the teacher approach. If you have tried a range of ways to engage the teacher, then approach the school. Avoid going over the teacher’s head unless absolutely necessary, but then check the procedure for doing so. Bring support along to meetings if you think that might help keep things productive and take notes if the case is proving particularly complicated or conflicted.

Above all, issues between teachers and parents/students, are relatively common and definitely navigable.

Next issue I’ll definitely be diving back into the practical, home-support ideas, off my soap-box and out of this political quagmire!

If you have any comments, queries or ideas for future issues, please do contact me via englishforexpatchildren.webs.com where you will find links to all sorts of great resources, ideas and support.

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In the crowded market that is French Street Arts Festivals, this bold and innovative step will set Cratère Surfaces apart, giving it an edge on the competition. Of the 350 (approx.) festivals of its type, Cratère Surfaces is the only one to offer shows in English. With new Street Arts festivals popping up every year in France, the need to stand out is crucial, and finding an original slant becomes more and more of a challenge. Aware of the need to stay ahead of the game and put a fresh spin on things, Denis Lafaurie, Director at Le Cratère and his team have found their unique selling point, ensuring Cratère Surfaces remains at the forefront of French Street Arts.

Given the number of Anglophone expats and tourists who flock to the region each year, this pioneering move will bring the festival not only national, but also international recognition. This unprecedented decision not only puts Le Cratère on the map, but also the town of Alès, ensuring it continues to draw in the crowds form far and wide

English Takes To The Stage At This Year’s Cratère Surfaces

Mairi Dixon

year after year.

The five English shows making their debut at the festival this year all have something in common: their universal subject matter, it was for this very reason that they were chosen. These plays in particular focus on all-embracing themes such as gender, human relationships, prejudice, democracy, and European history. These topics transcend language barriers, striking a chord with us all. For example, Europeana takes us on a journey through Europe of the 20th century, revisiting our shared history, a history which binds us together.

Similarly, Be Claude explores the timeless subject of gender and sexuality. In the context of the debate on gay marriage which rages in Europe, this is a subject which affects us all. These shows were selected as they can be translated into any language and yet still speak with as much force, and without fear of the message being diluted or lost. Eternal issues such as these provoke debate, reaction, and identification in all languages and cultures. We hope you will mark your calendars for 5th, 6th and 7th of July, three glorious days of free international music, theatre and dance. This year’s Cratère Surfaces will certainly be one to remember!

E

ach July, the streets, squares and parks of the town of Alès are transformed into stages as it hosts its free annual festival of street arts, Cratère Surfaces.

For 3 days, the town bursts with artists, international theatre companies and dance troupes from all over the world, leaving visitors thoroughly spoiled for choice. Between quirky circus acts from Australia, acrobatics from Belgium or thrilling theatre from France, this dizzyingly eclectic smorgasbord cannot fail to delight.

Anticipation and curiosity grow as we prepare to open for our fifteenth, and most exciting year to date. This year will be like no other that has gone before; it will be a true milestone. For the first time in the history of the festival, there will be a selection of 5 world-class shows performed in English. Cratère Surfaces offers a fresh and diverse English repertoire that guarantees to engage, enthrall and excite.

For more information and to see the full program visit www.lecratere.fr, or call Emmanuelle Baron at Le Cratère on 04 66 52 97 96

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Recipe Times with Bassie Scott

Halcyon Days

W

hat strange weather we have had this spring and here’s hoping that I don’t jinx July by writing about ice cream! I started making it when we ran our guest house in the UK as we catered for weddings and other functions there.

Experimenting with different flavours, fruits and textures has become quite a passion for me now and here in France I continue the trend, much to family and friends’ delight.

In the UK I faffed around making custard etc. at just the right consistency but here I’ve discovered crème anglaise works beautifully and saves so much time.

This is therefore a very easy recipe for a vanilla ice cream and some ideas that you can do to enhance it. I’m sure you’ll think up lots of your own though and I’d love to hear about them please!

Vanilla ice cream

1 carton crème anglaise 1 carton crème entire ½ tin sweetened condensed milk * Pour the crème anglaise and cream into a bowl and whisk thoroughly Add the condensed milk and mix in so it all combines really well. * Pour into an ice cream machine and churn until ready. * If you don’t have an ice cream machine, place the mixture in the freezer and every hour or so take it out and fork all the ice crystals out. This will need to be done about 5 times to get rid of all the crystals, ensuring a smooth ice cream.

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Fresh coffee and dark chocolate 1 x vanilla ice cream 2 tablespoons of fresh coffee grounds 100 gr of dark chocolate, roughly chopped up * Swirl the ingredients into the vanilla ice cream and freeze

Banana, Rum and Raisin Ice cream 1 x vanilla ice cream 2 bananas 2 tbsp brown sugar 20 gr butter 75 gr raisins or sultanas (I prefer sultanas as they plump more) ½ wine glass of rum

Stem ginger ice cream 1 x vanilla ice cream ½ jar stem ginger, chopped finely 1 tbsp syrup from jar

* Heat a frying pan and melt the butter. Add the brown sugar. Wait until it has just melted and add the bananas. Cook until bananas are really soft. * Remove from heat and let go completely cold before mashing the banana to a pulp (or whizz in a food processor). * Heat rum in a saucepan, add raisins or sultanas and simmer for 5 minutes. You can flambĂŠ the raisins / sultanas if you wish. Let these go completely cold before adding them and the bananas to the vanilla base, then freeze. ** I sometimes add dark chocolate to this mix too, being a complete chocoholic!

* Add the above ingredients to the vanilla ice cream, mix well, then freeze

Roasted strawberries and dark chocolate ice cream 1 x vanilla ice cream 1 punnet of strawberries 1 tbsp brown sugar 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 100 gr dark chocolate, roughly chopped up * Mix the strawberries with balsamic and sugar. * Roast at 180 deg for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely. * Mix into vanilla base with the chocolate and freeze

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Contact There are 35 counselors (conseillers généraux) in Aude Each member is elected by voters from a particular territoire or canton. His/her replacement, in the case of death or incapacity, is a member of the Assemblée Départmentale designated at the time of the election. If the elected counselor is a male, his elected replacement must be female and vice versa. André Viola has been the President of the Conseil Général since 2011 (www.andre-viola.fr/) Who is my elected representative?

Alaigne : Jacques Durand Alzonne: Régis Banquet Axat : Marcel Martinez Belcaire : Francis Savy Belpech : Julien Mario

Tel: 04 68 31 91 91 jacques.durand@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 76 00 32 www.regisbanquet.com Tel : 04 68 20 50 28 marcel.martinez@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 20 70 38 mairie.de.mazuby@wanadoo.fr Tel :04 68 60 62 24 julien.mario@cg11.fr

Capendu: Carcassonne-Cen: Carcassonne-Est : Carcassonne-Nord : Carcassonne-Sud :

Robert Alric Pierre Sarcos Tamara Rivel Jacques Arino Alain Tarlier

Tel: 04 68 79 08 56 robert.alric@cg11.fr Tel: 04 68 11 99 99 pierre.sarcos@cg11.fr Tel :04 68 11 68 11 tamara.rivel@cg11.fr Tel :04 68 25 43 83 arino@sfr.fr Tel : 04 68 25 05 25 tarlier.bonnafous@wanadoo.fr

Castelnaudary-Nord : Castelnaudary-Sud : Chalabre : Conques-sur-Orbiel : Couiza :

Stéphane Linou Patrick Maugard Jean-Jacques Aulombard Alain Marcaillou Jacques Hortala

Tel :04 68 23 46 56 stephane.linou@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 94 58 00 patrick.maugard@ville-castelnaudry.fr Tel : 04 68 69 29 14 jjaulombard@wanadoo.fr Tel : 04 68 77 00 16 alain-11@orange.fr Tl : 04 68 74 02 90 jacques.hortala@cg11.fr

Coursan : Durban-Courbières : Fanjeaux : Ginestas : Lagrasse :

Gilbert Pla Eric Brissot André Viola Francine Schivardi Jean-Pierre Maisonnade

Tel : 04 68 46 61 61 gilbert.pla@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 44 03 33 mairie.fontjoncouse@wanadoo.fr Tel : 04 68 11 68 18 andre.viola@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 46 26 64 schivardi.gerard@orange.fr Tel : 04 68 43 14 84 jean-pierre.maisonnade@orange.fr

Lézignan-Corbières : Limoux : Mas-Cabardès : Montréal : Mouthoumet :

Jules Escaré Pierre Bardies Francis Bels Christian Rebelle Hervé Baro

Tel : 04 68 27 22 72 Tel : 04 68 69 78 04 Tel : 06 80 41 03 27 Tel : 04 68 76 20 05 Tel : 04 68 11 68 11

Narbonne-Est: Narbonne-Ouest : Narbonne-Sud : Peyriac-Minervois : Quillan : Saint-Hilaire :

Patrick Francois Anne-Marie Jourdet Robert Dejean Alain Ginies Anne-Marie Bohic-Cortes Pierre Authier

Tel: 04 68 90 22 88 patrick.francois@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 90 22 88 anne-marie.jourdet@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 41 01 52 robert.labdejean@free.fr Tel : 04 68 26 16 19 mairievilleneuveminervois@wanadoo.fr Tel : 04 68 20 86 01 annie-bohic-cortes@cg11.fr Tel : 04 68 11 65 61 pierre.authier@cg11.fr

Saissac : Salles-sur-l’Hers : Sigean : Tuchan :

Aline Jalabert Michel Brousse Christian Theron Sébastien Pla

Tel : 04 68 24 42 03 Tel : 06 79 29 09 68 Tel : 06 08 88 71 78 Tel : 04 68 45 40 55

aline.jalabert@cg11.fr michel.brousse@cg11.fr mairie@roquefort-des-corbieres.fr htes-corbieres-2011@laposte.net

Image Courtesy of: Lisa Debande

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jules.escare@gmail.com pierre.bardies@cg11.fr bels.francis@wanadoo.fr christian.rebelle@cg11.fr herve.baro@cg11.fr

The Herault Times & The Aude Times is a TAMBOURIN Partner Sports by Stuart Turpie

T

his year sees the 100th edition of the Tour de France, the world’s greatest annual sporting event. Three stages pass through our region and give us the chance to get close to the excitement. For the first time the Tour rolls out in Corsica in Porto Vecchio on June 29th. 21 stages follow covering 3360 kms of all sorts of terrain. We can watch out for the race leader in the traditional yellow jersey. To win the overall classification, a rider like Bradley Wiggins last year, needs to be strong in the mountains and also tough in the faster flat stages. Crucial often is the ability to do well against the clock in the time trials.

Unusually there are about ten riders in with a chance this year to win the yellow jersey. The rider with the best time over the 21 stages gets the glory. The green jersey goes to the points winner.

Points for positions each day are awarded to the top finishers in each stage. Generally sprinters or tough stage riders can win this prize. Britain’s Mark Cavendish won in 2011 when he won 6 stages, a tremendous feat. He loses a lot of time in the mountains so is never going to battle for the yellow jersey. He recently won the points prize in the Giro d’Italia and is the only rider in history to have won this honour in the 3 great long Tours of France, Spain and Italy.

The red polka dot jersey goes to the climbers who earn points at the hill and mountain tops passed en route. Some riders specialise in this skill. Well behind on overall classification they can attack the climbs without being restrained by the big guns and their teams. The white jersey goes to the highest placed rider under 25 years of age.

On July 4th the race sweeps into Languedoc with a flat but often windswept 176kms stage from Aix en Provence to Montpellier, passing through St.Gilles, Vauvert and Mauguio. A sprint finish is on the cards; Allez Cavendish!

Stage 7 the next day, July 5th, sees a tough race from Montpellier to Albi. It includes 4 decent climbs to make life harder for the sprinters and to encourage the breakaway riders. Cournonterral, Cournonsec, Montbazin, Montagnac, Pézenas, Roujan and Faugères are on the route. The 205 kms will make for a very hard days riding. Stage 8 from

Castres to Ax 3 Domaines climbs up into the mountains and passes from Castelnaudary and Limoux first. This 195 kms of sheer endurance should give some clear indications of the overall contenders for the yellow jersey. The stages in our region could set the foundations for all the jerseys to be won.

Favourites for the race are currently Alberto Contador of Spain. He rides for the Saxo Tinkoff team and was suspended last year. The Sky Team are headed by Chris Froome who was second in 2012. He is a brilliant all round rider. There has been a lot of controversy about Bradley Wiggin’s role.

He was concentrating on the Giro d’Italia this season but was on poor form and dropped out with a chest infection. When he started to lose time on the flat stages in Italy it was clear that he was not himself. Is there some rivalry and bad feeling between the two Sky men? Such situations are not unusual in a sport which is both a team and individual event. When Greg Lemond won the Tour in the 1980s it was never clear whether his team mate Bernard Hinault was riding for or against him! Greg kept his head despite the antics of Hinault, known as the ‘blaireau’ or badger. Sky Team chief, Dave Brailsford, has made it clear that Froome is the leader. Giro winner, Vincenzo Nibali, Australian Cadel Evans and American Van Garderen (white jersey last year) are among a group of other highly fancied riders. A great race is in prospect as 22 teams of 9 riders battle it out over the 3 weeks. The issues around the leadership of the Sky Team were resolved at the start of June when Bradley Wiggins withdrew from the Tour due to his lack of fitness. Cycling is not a sport that one can compete in without the most thorough preparation. The British camp has been heartened by the success of Emma Pooley in winning the women’s Tour of Languedoc in May which ran from Lezignan to Béziers in 5 days. Would it be too much to hope for a second Tour de France win in a row? Allez Chris and Cav! And don’t forget the Irish riders, Martin and Roche.

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