The Bugle Dordogne - August 2021

France and Russia in battle of the bubbly In a move that has outraged France, Russia has declared that imports of Champagne must be labelled as “sparkling wine” >> Page 8

Expat residency permit extension

Expats living in France before this year now have a further three months to apply for a Brexit residency >> Page 12 permit

November 2016 - Issue #85

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Health pass for cafés, bars & restaurants In the face of a rampant Delta variant, the government has declared that health passes will now be required to enter to bars, cafés and restaurants.

the TousAntiCovid app on your phone, or as a printed document.

The pass is available to anyone who is fully vaccinated, which is one week after your second dose of an EU-approved vaccine (or two weeks in the case of the single dose Janssen vaccine). A temporary pass can also be obtained by providing a negative PCR test less than 48 hours old, or medical proof, issued in the last seven days, that you have had Covid-19 in the past six months and recovered.

It had long been known that the pass would be required to attend large gatherings in sports stadia or music concerts, etc.,

>> continued on page 10

River levels threaten local businesses - pg 3

France’s only female panda is pregnant again - pg 11

Fallout over Algerian nuclear tests - pg 5

Macron target of phone spying plot - pg 11

© Carlos Delgado (WikiCommons)

O

n 23rd July, following a debate in parliament that went on until 6 o’clock in the morning, the French Senate voted to extend the “health pass” to restaurants and bars and to make vaccination mandatory for 70 healthcare professions.

The surprise move had been announced earlier in the month in a televised address by President Macron as cases of Covid-19 began to rise following the lifting of most restrictions and the arrival of the far more contagious Delta variant.

The health pass takes the form of a QR code that is either stored in

INSIDE > > >

French authorities fine Google €500m - pg 11

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have always been a big sport fan, and not just the mainstream stuff.

Back in the days of four-channel television, Trans World Sport on a Saturday morning was compulsory viewing and if any sport was on, I would circle it in the listings and make sure I didn’t miss it. If it was competitive, I would watch it. I spent many a happy hour staring at, and gradually learning, the rules to Aussie rules football, kabaddi and American football, all generally at unsociable hours.

I was lucky, therefore, that the advent of my teenage years coincided with the arrival of satellite TV and, more importantly, Sky Sports. As a huge football and cricket fan, my Dad was an early adopter and while I loved watching the big events, I spent far too much of my childhood watching what my cousin and I would term “minority sports”.

We didn’t care how obscure, so long as it was competitive, and working out what the heck was

going on was half the fun. In the early days of Sky Sports, there was a lot of dead air to fill and you could regularly catch such gems as swamp buggy racing, tractor pulling or lumberjack competitions.

Which is perhaps why I love the Olympics so much. I was reminded of this today by a Tweet from one of my favourite political commentators, Ian Dunt. “I find it quite frustrating when football, rugby, tennis, etc. are shown at the Olympics. We see that stuff all the time. I want the weird shit!” I found myself completely agreeing with this sentiment, if not the Anglo Saxon way with which he often delivers his opinions. His subsequent Tweet would read: “Hang on, they’ve got the fu**ing dancing horses on.”

As I write this, I suspect a great many of us would express mild shock that anyone wouldn’t know the scoring rules of taekwondo.

I was filled with dread as the Games kicked off that the lack of crowds would result in the whole thing feeling like a bit of a damp squib, but I must admit

that so far I haven’t really noticed.

I can only assume that over the last few years, broadcasters have become very adept at piping in crowd noise. The atmosphere is genuinely exciting in most cases and with or without crowds the drama of a tight finish or a lastminute score is infectious.

I also love the fact that the Olympics, while not exactly open to “everyone”, does still allow for just getting there to be a triumph in and of itself. It is the pinnacle of all but the most commercial of sports and to represent your country at an Olympics must give you a pride I could not even begin to imagine.

And you never know. Who can forget the Australian speed skater Stephen Bradbury winning gold in the 1,000 metre event at the 2002 Winter Olympics. After scraping through his quarter final following the disqualification of another racer, he decided his tactics would be to hang back, stay out of trouble and profit from the mistakes of others. As the oldest skater in the race and at his fourth Olympics, he recognised he could not match his far younger rivals for raw speed.

In his semi-final race, he was in last place, well off the pace when the South Korean defending champion and two other competitors all crashed. He took first place and advanced to the final. In the final, Bradbury was again well off the pace when all four of his competitors crashed out at the final corner while jostling for the gold medal.

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www.phoenixasso.com/fostering This allowed Bradbury, who was around 15 metres behind, to avoid the pile-up and take the victory, becoming the first person from the southern hemisphere country to ever win a Winter Olympic gold.

He would later say: “Obviously I wasn’t the fastest skater. I don’t think I’ll take the medal for the minute-and-a-half of the race I actually won. I’ll take it for the last decade of the hard slog I put in.”

And that is the point. He happened to win that day though a combination of luck and judgement, but he had worked hard and struggled for over a decade just to be there, even breaking his neck in two places during a 2000 training accident but never giving up.

Those are the moments that make an Olympics. We will all forget in a few short weeks that

a Gam-jeom is a penalty point in taekwondo and we will almost certainly need to be reminded next time around of the difference between a frontside and a backside grind in skateboarding.

But for a few short weeks, it is nice just to wallow in the sheer joy that sporting triumph can bring, however minority the sport and whether that’s gold, silver or simply getting there.

Until next month...

Steve Martindale, Editor www.thebugle.eu facebook.com/The BugleFrance

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Water levels threaten Dordogne river tourism

A

fter several years of low water levels often impacting their business in the summer months, the department’s canoe companies have this year suffered from the opposite problem. Following high levels of rainfall in June and early July, the depth of the Dordogne river hit 1.91 metres on 18th July. According to a 2015 prefectoral decree, canoes can not be hired out to the general public when the water level exceeds 1.5 metres.

The magic figure is taken using the reference markers at the bridge at Cénac, and day after day, local business owners were anxiously checking the level each morning before having to once again reimburse those who had pre-booked online for their trip.

“Even the barges are on the verge of having to stop sailing,” said Gilles Ouardi, who hires out canoes from Vitrac. “They can sail up to a water depth of two metres, but even they are struggling because of the currents. I’ve been doing this for thirty years and I’ve never seen this before in summer.”

As the frustration turned to anger, many began blaming the ERDF, who manage the department’s dams, for making the matter worse. Some have accused them of flooding water from the dams in a bid to generate extra hydro-electric power, at the expense of local businesses that rely on the river for their income. “I think they must have changed their computer systems and are not aware of our

FRENCH NEWS ♦ 3

Former England captain new boss of Périgueux rugby club Former England rugby captain Richard Hill has been named as the new head coach of the CA Périgueux rugby team. Hill, who is a fluent French speaker, won 29 caps for England playing at scrum half in the late 80s and early 90s at a time when the game was transitioning from an amateur to a professional sport. He won his final cap in the 1991 World Cup final that England lost to Australia.

Hill is due to arrive in the Dordogne in August after leaving his current position as head coach of Rouen, much to the delight of the department’s premier rugby side, who play in the Fédérale 1 league, the third tier of rugby. “We honestly didn’t think he would accept this challenge,” said the club’s president, with obvious delight. “We have done our best to make our team as good as possible this year!”

After gaining managerial experience with assistant roles at Gloucester and Harlequins, Hill led Bristol back to the Premiership and guided them to third place in the 2006/7 season. He later moved to France, taking the top job at Rouen where successive promotion saw them join the Pro 2 league, the country’s second tier of rugby, where they remain today. ■

Domme misses out as nation’s favourite village

activities,” said Gilles Ouardi. “Because we should be able to anticipate how much water to release based on rainfall measurements. What we are angry about is the lack of communication. Before, there was consultation and a point of contact. Now they just provide us with a table of water releases, but without further justifica-

tion.”

Fortunately for all concerned, after an agonising eight days, water levels fell to 1.2 metres on July 22nd – the perfect depth – and tourists could once again float down the department’s waterways, taking in the spectacular scenery... and putting valuable money into the local economy. ■

The popular and picturesque Domme has narrowly failed in its bid to be voted France’s favourite village. Already classified as one of the plus beaux villages de France, the bastide town finished sixth in the popular televised competition which takes place every year on France 3.

“They did try to tell me the result ahead of the programme, but I can assure you I did not know,” mayor Jean-Claude Cassagnole told the 250-or-so who had gathered to watch the live broadcast in the public gardens. In a party atmosphere featuring food and musicians, the town even offered a free drink to anyone wearing a hat with Domme’s colours on it.

The crown of village préféré des Français was eventually taken by Sancerre, the medieval hilltop town in the Cher department made famous by the wine of the same name. It is not all bad news for Domme, however. Sancerre may have the title, but only attracts a tiny fraction of the estimated one million tourists that visit the bastide town each year.

Domme is also popular with the Brits, having been voted the village préféré des Anglais in 2017. ■

4 ♦ FRENCH NEWS

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Marquis de Sade scroll bought by France

T

he original scroll of the Marquis de Sade’s infamous erotic tale “The 120 Days of Sodom” has been acquired by the French State following a campaign to keep it in the country. The controversial story was written by the aristocrat in 1785 while he was in prison in the Bastille and tells the tale of four middle-aged libertines who abduct, torture and murder teenage victims in a search for ultimate sexual gratification.

So graphic are the depictions of sexual violence and extreme cruelty, the book has been banned numerous times over the years and de Sade's name would become the origin of the term “sadism”. The UK banned the book in 1950, but in recent years the work has been reclassified as an important element of literary history; in 2016 an English translation of it became a Penguin Classic.

The 12-metre long scroll is made up of 33 individual pages glued end-to-end and is covered in writing so small that it is barely legible. De Sade hid the scroll in the walls of his cell, but the story was never finished. Perhaps knowing that he might not be able to complete the book, the latter chapters are written in draft form with numerous notes from the author to himself.

De Sade was moved from the Bastille to an insane asylum 10 days before it was stormed by revolutionaries, and the author assumed that his work had been destroyed in the ensuing violence. Describing the story as “the most impure tale that has

ever been told since the world began”, de Sade later wrote that he “wept tears of blood” in his grief at losing the scroll.

In fact, it had been taken two days before the Bastille was stormed by Arnoux de Saint-Maximin, about whom very little is known, but de Sade would never see it again. The story was eventually published for the first time in 1904 by a German psychiatrist who used a pseudonym to avoid recriminations.

The work would then be bought by a descendant of de Sade's, before it was stolen from her and sold to a Swiss

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collector, sparking a legal battle lasting decades. It was eventually acquired

by Gérard Lhéritier for €7 million and placed in his Museum of Letters and Manuscripts in Paris. When Lhéritier was found to be operating a Ponzi scheme and put under investigation, the manuscripts in his museum were seized by the French State and scheduled to be put up for private auction.

In December 2017, days before the sale, the French government declared the scroll a National Treasure. This gave the government 30 months to raise the

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“It has profoundly influenced many authors”, the French Ministry of Culture said after securing the manuscript and confirming it will be kept in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal in Paris.

“Boussard wanted to demonstrate his special attachment to the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, where his grandfather served as curator between 1943 and 1964.” ■

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away where they performed a further dozen tests in the picturesque Hoggar mountain range. These would only serve to increase the pollution being caused. On one occasion, radioactive matter was spewed into the atmosphere because the underground shaft at the blast site was not properly sealed. With the mountain range shaking, monitors quickly urged the officials away from the zone as the bomb had opened fissures in the mountain and nuclear waste seeped into the air.

Nine soldiers were heavily contaminated by the experiment, as were a number of government officials who were invited to attend a viewing of the blast. Nuclear fallout was detected as far away as Senegal, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Sudan. All future tests would be held in French Polynesia in the Atlantic Ocean.

Local researchers estimate that thousands of Algerians have suffered the effects of nuclear radiation across the Sahara, and many of the sites are yet to be decontaminated. France has claimed that it is committed to working with the Algerian government to clean up the test sites, but has yet to even provide complete maps of the test sites. Algerian General Bouzid Boufrioua launched a scathing attack on his French counterparts.

“France must come to terms with

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its historic responsibilities,” the General said. “This is the first time that the international community has asked the nuclear powers to rectify the mistakes of the past.”

In 2010, the French parliament passed the Morin law which theoretically paved the way for victims of nuclear radiation in Algeria to claim compensation. In practice, the law required claimants to have been residents of the region while the tests were taking place and only recognises certain illnesses.

Many who suffer today moved to the region after the tests.

“In 1960 when the bomb detonated, there were more than 6,000 inhabitants. Reggane was not in the middle of nowhere,” said Ab-

derrahmane Toumi, whose family moved to the oasis after the tests in 1965 and are therefore ineligible for compensation. “From what we are told by researchers, long-term effects started around 20 years after the first bomb was detonated and they will continue to last for decades. Many of those who were contaminated have already passed away due to unknown medical causes. They were told they had rare illnesses but they didn't really know the specific nature of their illness.”

Toumi is just one of a number of people campaigning for the French government to accept its responsibility for the lasting effects of the tests on the local

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populations, and he claims he has helped document more than 800 eligible cases. Despite this work, only one of the 545 cases where compensation has been paid under the Morin Law was to an Algerian - all of the others are from French Polynesia.

The issue of compensation is high on the agenda at the moment as the French and Algerian governments recently announced plans to establish a commission to propose measures that would ease relations between the two countries, which are still shaped by some 132 years of colonisation before Algeria finally gained independence in 1962. ■

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n 1960 France began a series of nuclear tests in the Algerian desert, the fallout of which is still polluting the relationship between the two countries to this day. On the morning of 13th February, Blue Jerboa, a Plutonium bomb three times more powerful than the one dropped by the US on Nagasaki, exploded with such force that it melted the sand, transforming it into black shards.

Just 45 minutes later, thenPresident Charles de Gaulle sent a message to his army minister which read: “Hoorah for France.

This morning she is stronger and prouder. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you and those who have achieved this magnificent success.”

The location in the remote desert of its then North African colony was chosen due to “the total absence of all signs of life”, but just a few dozen kilometres away, the inhabitants of the town of Reggane begged to differ and have spent the last 60 years battling the French government for recognition of the health impacts they still suffer to this day.

The French would go on to perform three more atmospheric tests, to increasing criticism from the international community, before moving their tests to an underground location 700 kilometres

Archive CEA (WikiCommons)

Fallout continues over Algeria nuclear tests

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Confusion over quarantine rules and batch numbers

Christian Emmer (WikiCommons)

I

t has been a confusing few months for anyone planning international travel as governments across Europe change and update entry and exit requirements. Of particular interest to expats here have been the rules for crossing the Channel, but adding to the confusion in July, France found itself as something of a pawn in ongoing tensions between the UK and the EU. When it was announced that doublevaccinated Brits could travel to France without a “compelling reason”, many were relieved that they could finally confirm their holiday travel plans. Shortly afterwards, however, it was revealed that several batches of the Astra-Zeneca vaccine manufactured in India were not being recognised by the EU. This meant that anyone who had received one of the estimated 5 million doses administered in the UK could not travel to Europe.

The problem appeared to be a largely bureaucratic one, as the affected batches were identical to other Astra-Zeneca vaccines. The only difference was that those produced in India had not initially been intended for sale in Europe and had not been submitted to the European Medical Agency for approval. A number of countries across Europe announced that they would still recognise the Indian-manufactured “Covishield” vaccines, but initially France did not. There were even reports of travellers to Malta being turned away at the airport due to having the affected batch numbers on their vaccine certificates.

Anecdotal evidence on the ground suggested that the French were not paying much attention to batch numbers, but after much confusion and worry, the government confirmed on 17th July that France would officially recognise the Covishield Astra-Zeneca vaccine. France also removed the need for a negative test pre-travel for fully vaccinated travellers arriving in France, making summer holidays possible for tens of millions of Brits.

Then on 19th July - so-called Freedom Day in the UK - the British government made the shock announcement that while quarantine would end for travellers returning from amber list countries, they

were creating a special status of amber plus for France, due to concern over the Beta variant, and 10-day quarantine would remain.

The decision caught many by surprise, scuppering holiday plans for working families that could not afford to take ten days off on their return. It also caused a furore in France and from within the travel industry, who were quick to condemn the British government for playing politics: the amber plus quarantine story dominated the headlines on a weekend that saw the Covid situation rapidly deteriorating in the UK while Prime Minister Johnson was forced to isolate on “Freedom Day”.

At the time, France was recording fewer than 5,000 cases a day, with around just 3% of these caused by the Beta variant, down from 7% two months previously.

This compared to more than 50,000 cases per day in the UK. Furthermore, many of the recorded Beta cases being reported came from France's overseas territories.

Almost all cases on the Indian Ocean is-

land of La Réunion are the Beta variant, but these are included in the country's daily statistics. Mayotte, Martinique and Guadeloupe also have high rates of Beta.

Analysis also showed that both Spain and Greece had a higher proportion of Beta cases at the time than mainland France. “We don’t think that the United Kingdom’s decisions are totally based on scientific foundations. We find them excessive,” European Affairs Minister Clément Beaune said.

The situation was made all the more ridiculous by the fact that the quarantine requirements were only for travellers returning from mainland France: travellers from La Réunion could connect to London via nearby amber list Mauritius and not need to quarantine!

“It’s always possible the UK government just needs some geography lessons to understand that La Réunion is a French department so its Covid numbers are included in French numbers and that La Réunion is not part of Metropolitan France,” said UK-based lawyer Lynn Shaw.

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The British government has maintained it stands by its analysis of the situation, but as we go to press, there have been hints that France could well be moved back to the amber list when the rules are next reviewed on 5th August. The latest U-turn looks likely to occur following an angry backlash from ministers within Johnson's own cabinet. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was reported to be furious that he had not been consulted about the amber plus decision and on July 23rd Environment Secretary George Eustice gave the clearest indication yet that the move could be reversed.

“There was a reason at the time that the advice was we should put France on that amber plus list, it was concern about the Beta variant and the fact that the vaccine might be slightly less effective against that,” the MP said in a radio interview.

“But as those rates come down obviously the evidence will change and it can be reviewed and we will want to be putting countries like France back onto the amber list in the normal way.” ■

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f you want to get the French wine industry in a tizz, then tinker with their fizz. That is exactly what happened recently when Russia decreed that the Champagne name belonged to them and could no longer be used by the famous French region. Instead, they must instead mark their exported bottles as “sparkling wine”. The move was met with outrage from the world-famous champagne houses and a diplomatic spat ensued.

The argument began when President Vladimir Putin signed legislation requiring all non-Russian producers to mark their products in Russia as “sparkling wine” and declared that only locally made Shampanskoye is worthy of the prestigious and previously exclusive name.

Shampanskoye is the post-USSR version of what was previously known as Soviet champagne, a cheap but popular sparkling drink created in the Stalin era, designed as a version of the elite wine that was available to the masses.

Today, most of the country's sparkling wines come from the recently annexed Crimean peninsula, and the move is believed to be a gesture from Putin to his close friend and associate Yuri Kovalchuk, a billionaire oligarch who owns the Novy Svet and Massandra wineries in Crimea.

As the dispute escalated, Moët Hennessy - part of the LVMH luxury group

that also includes Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Mercier, Krug and Dom Pérignon – briefly suspended exports to Russia in protest. Leonid Rafailov, the director general of AST, one of Russia’s main wine distributors, acknowledged Moët’s move, telling AFP: “I can confirm I have received notification of this, and it’s justified.”

“Depriving the people of Champagne the right to use their name is scandalous.

It’s our common heritage and the apple of our eye,” said Maxime Toubart and Jean-Marie Barillère, co-presidents of the Comité Champagne. “The Champagne name is protected in more than 120 countries.”

Despite the move generating numerous headlines, champagne drinkers in Russia did not seem to think the largely symbolic change would do anything other than ruffle a few French feathers. “We have spent a long time with our guests, educating and explaining to them that only a wine made in the Champagne region of France can be called champagne,” said Elena Lebedeva, the head sommelier for Perelman People, which runs a number of popular bars in Moscow. “Many of our guests actually only drink champagne. If we are selling namely French champagne, it’s going to remain in the champagne section, we are not going to change the menu.”

credit: Alexander Nemenov

Russia and France at war over Champagnski

“Undoubtedly, the supply of sparkling wine from other countries will increase, but that certainly won’t be a replacement for champagne. If champagne really won’t be delivered to Russia, and that is possible, only Russia and our guests will be losing out.”

France produces around 231 million

bottles of champagne a year and the export market is worth around €2.5 billion euros annually. The UK and US are the biggest consumers of champagne outside France; Russia imports 51 million litres every year, worth around €35 million to the industry, making it the 15th largest market. ■

Phoenix, members and supporters celebrate 20 years of the animal rescue association

T

he day could be summed up by a quote from one member of the conseil: “Did we just hold the most popular vide-greniers in the Bergerac region?”

The weather gods were kind. Rain stopped and the sun shone on the birthday celebrations at the Saturday 3rd July Book Fair, to such an extent the chocolate animals on the cakes began melting. Traffic marshals in charge of parking counted over 450 cars. Attendees were able to choose and take home dozens of books, puzzles, CDs or household bric-a-brac. The stall offering donated pots and a wide range of plants suitable for Dordogne growing conditions was sold out.

Phoenix was delighted that Martin Walker, journalist and author of the series of books about the character ‘Bruno, Chief of Police’ came as Very Important Person to open the Book Fair. After welcoming attendees and praising Phoenix for twenty years of animal rescue work, Martin snipped a ribbon to declare the Fair ‘open’, going on to cut the birthday cakes paid for by generous donors.

Martin brought some copies of his latest Bruno book, ‘The Coldest Case’, published on 27th May this year, for devotees to obtain early copies. He was kind enough to sign so many copies of his books that he surely developed writer’s cramp by the end!

It was a joy for members to meet up with three of the original Phoenix Founders, Roger Farrow and Rik and Sheelagh Johnson. Phil Lieb, the fourth Founder, is sadly no longer with us but he is never forgotten.

It was truly one of the happiest, best

attended and it is to be expected, financially productive Fairs that Phoenix has organised to date and many thanks go out to all the volunteers: bakers, tent erectors, furniture humpers, book sorters, plant growers, van drivers, stall helpers, kitchen hands, sign painters that work so hard to make such events happen to the enjoyment of all. And we do not forget the foster homes across the region caring for the unwanted animals that find their way into safe and happy futures with help from Phoenix. ■ Next Book Fair: 16th October For more information about Bruno Courreges and all the books about his adventures visit www.brunochiefofpolice. com or check out Martin Walker on his Facebook page.

For information about Phoenix Association, how to become a member or become a foster carer as well as more about the Book Fairs, go to www.phoenixasso.com.

Birthday cakes baked & decorated by Romain Rongieras of Le Fournil Gourmand, Le Coux 24220.

Phoenix Association, is the animal rescue and rehoming non-profit organisation registered under the French Association Loi 1901. Founded 20 years ago in Vergt, it now covers the Dordogne and surrounding departments and is run exclusively by volunteers who provide foster homes for abused and abandoned cats and dogs until new, secure homes are found.

AUGUST 2021 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

€100m for cigarette butt clear-up fee to be passed on to producers

FRENCH NEWS ♦ 9

DAN, DAN THE PIE MAN

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lthough smoking rates continue their decline in France, the problem of cigarette butts has not gone away. According to the Ecology Minister Barbara Pompili, one cigarette butt can pollute 500 litres of water, as well as being eaten by fish and taking years to decompose. The government estimates that the cost of clearing up the 23 billion cigarette butts thrown away each year is around €100 million and has pledged that the majority of this cost will be now be passed on to the tobacco manufacturers under the “polluter pays” principle.

“We will put in place a polluter pays scheme which, via a separate organisation, will collect money from them to finance the collection of cigarette ends, the distribution of ashtrays or even communication operations,” explained the minister, speaking on French radio. “This will not be reflected in a rise in the price of cigarettes. It is quite normal that it is the polluter who pays for the waste their industry produces and not our taxes.”

There are an estimated 75,000 deaths from smoking every year in France, accounting for 13% of all deaths, although overall levels of smoking are falling, particularly among women. The most recent statistics available show that some 34.6% of men and 26.5% of women were still smoking in 2020.

Elsewhere, local authorities are also taking matters into their own hands, with one mayor in the Bas-Rhin department signing a local decree introducing an immediate €1,000 fine for anyone failing to pick up their own cigarette butt, or any other litter, including dog mess. “Enough is enough, I’m fed up,” said Bernard Fischer, the mayor of Obernai. “This is a beautiful town of 8,700 inhabitants who are exasperated by a very small percentage of individuals, not necessarily from Obernai, who leave waste. They poison the lives of everyone else. When the gendarmes trace the chain, the perpetrators are given a small fine of €130 euros, which is not enough. Despite several awareness campaigns and education, too much waste, too many cigarette butts, dog mess and other rubbish such as tyres, building materials or rubble are illegally dumped in the city or in nature, with perpetrators feeling little guilt.” ■

Robot pizza restaurant

PazziPizza (Instagram)

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here is a new chef on the scene in Paris causing quite a stir. The kitchens of Pazzi pizzeria in the capital, which began serving customers recently, is staffed entirely by robots. Customers place their order electronically and watch as the robot arms prepare, garnish, cook, slice and box the fresh pizzas before their eyes.

The Pazzi robot is the culmination of eight years' work to painstakingly perfect the process and “teach” the robots how to handle the delicate dough.

“Because the dough is alive, you don't work with frozen dough. The machine must constantly adapt to the evolution of the dough,” explained three times world pizza champion Thierry Graffagnino, a consultant at the restaurant.

“So we had to give the robot the means to make these corrections on its own... some pizza makers can't even manage that themselves.”

“It is a very fast process, with perfect quality control because of the consistency of the robotics,” explained co-inventor Sébastien Roverso. “It's a really cool and relaxed environment.

The idea is to spend a few pleasant

minutes watching the robot while you wait for your pizza to be made.”

Disappointingly for some, the robotics do not extend to spinning the pizza bases flamboyantly like the classic pizzaiolos of Naples, although that has not stopped locals flocking to the restaurant to check out the chefs in action. ■

COMING SOON TO A TOWN NEAR YOU SEE NEXT MONTH’S PAPER FOR DETAILS

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Health pass needed for bars and restaurants >> continued from pg 1 but the move to include bars, cafés and restaurants came as a surprise and has led to tens of thousands taking to the streets in protest. Many other countries have plans to introduce similar measures, however, including the UK which is looking at the potential of “vaccine passports” for large gatherings and hospitality.

Macron announced that the move was not aimed at “making vaccination immediately obligatory for everyone, but at pushing a maximum of you to go and get vaccinated”. Despite the vocal protests of some, the public does appear to largely back the safety measures. According to one poll, 76% of the French people back mandatory vaccination for health workers and travellers, while 58% support it for cafés, restaurants and other public places. Overall polls show more than 65% of the public support the range of measures contained in the bill.

“The choice is between another lockdown or the health pass - this is not punishment, nor blackmail,” said the health minister, Olivier Véran.

In response to claims that the move

is an affront to civil liberties, the president summed up the situation by saying: “We cannot make those who have the civic sense to get vaccinated bear the burden of inconvenience.”

Under the new rules, from 21st July anyone visiting a theatre, cinema, sports venue or festival with an audience of more than 50 people must provide a valid health pass. The same requirement will be extended to bars, cafés, restaurants, shopping centres (though not supermarkets), hospitals, long-distance trains, coaches and planes from 1st August for all adults, and for children aged between 12 and 17 from 1st September.

While the stricter rules are aimed at slowing down the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, authorities have not shied away from the fact that they are also aimed at incentivising vaccination. Despite a fast start, vaccination rates in the UK have plummeted in recent weeks and the majority of Europe has now either overtaken the UK or is catching up fast. France is hoping to avoid a similar slowdown.

There will always be a stubborn minority who refuse to get vaccinated,

30,000 readers

but once you have protected the willing, the question of how to reach the hesitant remainder is one that all countries will soon be facing. France appears to have chosen the carrot and stick approach... and it would seem to be working very well. Tell the French they can not holiday abroad without a vaccine and not much changes. Tell them they can’t go to a café and millions could not book their jabs fast enough!

Following Macron’s announcement, as many as 20,000 people per minute were booking appointments via the Doctolib website and within 72 hours, more then three million had secured a slot for a jab. Towards the back end of July, doses were being administered at a rate of almost 5 million per week.

In a further use of the stick rather than the carrot, PCR tests taken without a prescription - previously free - will cost €49 each from September, a move aimed at deterring people from simply taking a PCR test every time they want to go out, rather than getting vaccinated.

In passing the new laws, the upper house - the Senate - did make a

large number of amendments to the text sent to it from the lower house, the National Assembly, some of which will not be popular with the government, such as exemptions for terraces and shopping centres.

When officially approved again by both houses, Prime Minister Jean Castex plans to send the bill to the Constitutional Council, the highest constitutional authority in the country, which ensures that constitutional principles and rules are upheld.

This additional step, which is not required under law, is being taken in order to avoid accusations of any infringements of civil liberties, but it is not expected to hit any major hurdles in this regard.

“The constitutional imperative of preserving public health has already necessitated the greatest assault on individual liberties since the Second World War: lockdown,” noted one constitutional scholar. “As far as the law is concerned, there is no constitutional obstacle. The public interest is at stake and that justifies these arbitrations between safety and liberty.” ■

Why so many flies?

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T

he advent of summer often coincides with an increase in the number of flies, but at the start of July, many people were reporting larger numbers of the nuisance than usual.

One area that suffered a particularly bad invasion was the Lot-et-Garonne department where residents reported regularly catching 100 insects on a fly strip in a matter of

minutes.

According to experts, one of the main reasons for this – like so many phenomena in recent years – is the weather and a large increase in flies can indicate that bad weather is on the way.

“If you find you have lots of flies at home, it’s a sign of storms to come,” explained Michel Collin, from the insect specialists le bureau d'études en entomologie. “With the stifling heat of the last few days before a stormy period, fly maggots develop more quickly and therefore, the proliferation of the insect is higher.”

Fortunately, despite being a pain in the proverbial, flies are not dangerous and the phenomenon will usually abate as the insects are not able to reproduce effectively during the bad weather that follows. The expert did have a word of warning, however, highlighting a new type of “bloodsucking” fly that has been populating parts of the country. “Flies pose no danger, however it is important to identify which type of fly you have. Occasionally, for example, you get horseflies, which can give a nasty bite, or bloodsucking flies which will cause irritation.”

The Aube and Marne departments had an infestation of these vampire flies earlier this summer, leaving their victims with bites that, while they did not swell up, had a small hole in the centre. The result, after two days, were small scabs at the centre of a welt that will be familiar to anyone that has had chickenpox. While they may sound like large mosquitoes, residents reported that no repellants appeared to deter the hungry flies. ■

FRENCH NEWS ♦ 11

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Google fined half a billion by French watchdog

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nternet giant Google has been fined €500 million by France's competition authority for failing to comply with the regulator’s orders to negotiate with the country’s news publishers “in good faith”. The dispute centres on copyright issues surrounding news snippets returned through the Google search engine and on its news feeds, a battle that is ongoing between major tech companies and governments across the globe.

In 2019, France became one of the first countries in the EU to introduce a Digital Copyright Directive, which dictates that publishers and news organisations must be financially compensated by search engines when their articles are displayed in feeds or in response to an internet search. Initially, Goog-

le decided it would simply not show content from EU publishers in France, unless those publishers agreed to let them do so free of charge.

Infuriated by what they saw as bullying and an abuse of power, a group of organisations representing press publishers and the Agence France-Presse (AFP) complained to the competition authority. In a major victory, Google were then ordered last year to enter into negotiations with the group to strike a deal to allow them to show extracts of articles in search results, news summaries and other services.

The half-a-billion euro fine has been handed down as authorities believe that Google has failed to do this in good faith. Should the two sides now fail to reach an

agreement in the next two months, the company could face additional fines of €900,000 per day. “When the authority decrees an obligation for a company, it must comply scrupulously,” the competition authority's head Isabelle de Silva said in an accompanying statement. “Here, this was unfortunately not the case.”

For their part, Google have rejected these claims, stating: “we want to turn the page with a definitive agreement”. “We will take the French competition authority’s feedback into consideration and adapt our offers,” a spokesperson for the US tech company said. “We have acted in good faith throughout the entire process. The fine ignores our efforts to reach an agreement, and the reality of how news works on our platforms.” ■

President Macron targeted in spying scandal

P

resident Emmanuel Macron has been forced to change his phone after he was named as one of the targets in an international spying scandal. The government has also ordered a thorough overhaul of security protocols following reports in Le Monde that the president, former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and 14 other ministers were put under surveillance by Morocco. Moroccan authorities have denied any involvement, calling the allegations “unfounded and false”.

The scandal revolves around the Israeli-made spyware Pegasus, which infects iPhones and Android devices, allowing hackers to extract messages, photos and emails. Calls can also be recorded, and microphones and cameras can be activated covertly. The numbers of the French politicians were among some 50,000 that appeared in a database leaked to news agencies around the world.

NSO Group, the Israeli-based company that owns Pegasus, has denied any wrongdoing and claimed that the database has “no

relevance” to their organisation.

The company said it may be part of a larger list of numbers that might have been used by NSO Group customers “for other purposes” and that the phones have not necessarily been targeted or successfully hacked by Pegasus clients.

Following forensic analysis, however, the phone of François de Rugy, who was environment minister at the time of the alleged hack, showed digital traces of activity associated with the Pegasus spyware. “The media investigation attributes a role to Moroccan intelligence services in this operation,” said the former minister. “This information surprises me. I have asked for an audience with the Moroccan ambassador to France.”

The Pegasus spyware is intended for use against criminals and terrorists and, according to NSO Group, is only made available to military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies from countries with good human rights records. In recent years, however, the company has been accused of

allowing repressive governments to hack innocent people, including those close to Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi who was murdered by Saudi Arabia.

Morocco is a former protectorate which gained independence from France in 1956 and has a longstanding and extremely warm diplomatic relationship with Paris.

The two countries closely cooperate on intelligence and counter-terrorism, particularly since the 2015 terrorist attacks in the French capital. The relationship has strengthened further under President Macron, but this scandal now looks certain to raise tensions between the two nations.

Morocco said in a statement that it “categorically rejects and

condemns these unfounded and false allegations”, adding that it was “erroneous” and “false” to say the country had infiltrated the phones of national or foreign public figures. “The government of the Kingdom of Morocco has never acquired computer software to infiltrate communication devices, nor have the Moroccan authorities ever resorted to such acts.” ■

T

he biggest attraction at the Beauval Zoo is the pair of giant pandas, which are among the just fifty or so living outside of China. The male and female bears arrived at the zoo in January 2012 on a 10-year loan from the Chinese government following intense, high-level negotiations between Paris and Beijing.

When the breeding couple gave birth to a baby panda in 2017, it was a major event; births in captivity are rare and baby Yuan Meng was the first ever to be born in France.

Under the rules of “Panda Diplomacy”, as the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron was made the baby's godmother - along with the wife of the Chinese president - and the presidential couple attended a ceremony to name the young

panda. When Yuan Meng first entered the enclosure at five months old, visitors queued for hours to see the baby panda, who today weighs a healthy 100 kg.

There is therefore understandable excitement after the zoo announced that Huan Huan (meaning 'happy') is pregnant once again, with the baby due sometime in early August. “An ultrasound taken a few hours ago has confirmed the presence of an embryo in our resident female,” a spokesperson for the zoo said in a statement.

“The veterinarian team found what they were looking for: a tiny embryo just less than two centimetres long.”

Pandas have tiny babies, which are born hairless, toothless and blind, and only weigh around 100 grams. At one eight-hundredth of the size

of an adult female, they are proportionally the smallest of any placental mammal in the world. Vets at the zoo will carry out regular checks on the new embryo, up to twice a week if possible and Huan Huan will likely spend the rest of her pregnancy sleeping as much as possible.

Breeding programmes such as the one at Beauval have not only proved to be good diplomacy for China over the decades, they have also helped reverse the fortunes of the iconic bears. There are currently around 500 pandas living in captivity around the world and a further 2,000 living in the wild in China. Such has been the success that while the species remains a vulnerable one, it was removed from the endangered list in 2016. ■

© zoobeauval.com

France's only female panda pregnant again

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Residency permit extension Man murders four over

Nazi gold stash obsession

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F

rench authorities have extended the 30th June deadline to apply for residency by three months. The Interior Ministry confirmed that applications are now being accepted until 30th September “for the whole country” after several departments independently announced an extension for British residents.

“I can confirm that the deadline for applications for Withdrawal Agreement cartes de séjour has been extended until September 30th, 2021,” a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry confirmed. “This extension concerns the whole of France. During the extension period, applications for residency can continue to be submitted on the online portal.”

According to the British Embassy, 135,000 Britons living permanently in France have so far applied for postBrexit residency. The British government estimates the total number living in France at 148,300, meaning at least 13,300 were at risk of losing access to healthcare, pensions, property rentals, jobs and mortgages at the end of June.

Unofficial estimates have previously

put the actual number of Brits in France at between 400,000 and 500,000.

The actual number of permanent expats may well be much higher as, unlike countries such as the Netherlands, expats here were not previously required to register in any way. Not only does this create difficulties estimating numbers, it has also made it harder for the authorities to track down and encourage expats to register. This can be seen in the Creuse department – among those to have independently announced a deadline extension - where the prefecture said that they had been expecting around 800 applications, but had already processed in excess of 2,500.

Under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, UK citizens who were legally resident in one of the EU’s 27 member states at the end of the Brexit transition period - 31st December 2020 - are eligible for permanent residence, protecting their basic rights.

Expats arriving in France since this date face stricter rules when applying for a titre de séjour, such as taking out private medical insurance and proving minimum income levels. ■

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French man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for murdering four members of his own family in a quest for stolen Nazi gold. Hubert Caouissin killed his brother-in-law and his wife in 2017, along with their two children, believing they had a hoard of treasure and that they had cheated his own wife – the sister of one of the victims – out of her share.

Despite there being no evidence for any gold existing, Caouissin, who was described as an “ordinary” man, became obsessed with the idea of stolen treasure.

He believed it to be part of a rumoured €50 million hoard that Banque de France had hidden from the Nazis in Brest during World War II. He had begun spying on the family at their home in Orvault, near Nantes, even using a stethoscope to try and

listen in on their conversations. On one occasion he was discovered spying and beat his brother-in-law to death before then killing the other three members of the family; the 21-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter were killed in their sleep.

Caouissin then dismembered and buried his victims around the farm, with police eventually finding 379 individual body parts in the surrounding areas. Caouissin's wife Lydie was sentenced

to three years in prison, one suspended, for helping her husband dispose of the corpses.

During the trial, Caouissin confessed to the murders, but claimed that they were an accident and not premeditated. The attorney general, Charlotte Gazzera, told the court: “Mr Caouissin caused the death of four people in a terrible bloodbath. He is too dangerous.

There is no question he should ever be released.” ■

Space crêpe

French astronaut Thomas Pesquet may not be appearing on Masterchef any time soon, but he can claim one culinary accolade: the universe's first ever space crêpe.

Pesquet is the first French astronaut to command the International Space Station, and recently released a video showing his “pancake” creation floating in zero gravity.

Ingredients are in short supply more than 400 kilometres above the Earth's surface, so Pesquet can perhaps be forgiven for using a tortilla as the base of his crêpe. The toppings of chocolate spread and strawberries are arguably slightly more authentic. “Unfortunately for my crew mates, my culinary skills do not live up to my nationality,” Pesquet Tweeted alongside a video of the space crêpe. “At least Shane and Oleg, with whom I have lived before, were warned this time.”

Pesquet, who admits that his culinary

skills are virtually zero, claims that his tortilla pancake is his “best creation” to date. As the video made the rounds on social media, many were amused by the astronaut's creativity although it is safe to say that gastronomic purists were less than impressed! ■

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Osso buco - slow-cooked summer food

by Julia Watson

f the goal in summer is to spend as little time in the kitchen as possible, turn towards slow-cooked ingredients that release their richness after hours in the oven so you can release yourself for hours outside.

The pulses and legumes like dried beans and chickpeas, so ubiquitous in the dishes of the Middle East, make dependable summer fallbacks that can be set in motion the night before with a soak. But these can also be quite heavy to digest. Not that this is a drawback - in that part of the world there is great respect for the afternoon siesta if you’re serving them at lunch.

For an evening meal, a slow-cooked meat might serve your digestion better.

Certain cuts are particularly handy at this time of year.

American men, apron-clad, know the value of brisket, slapping it with secret sauces standing at the barbecue. The French know this with the pot-au-feu. The Italians know this with osso buco.

Osso buco is a slow-cooked Lombard speciality, usually served with risotto alla Milanese. The rice comes from the Piedmont, the area west of Lombardy, but the dish will shine if you only serve a salad and perhaps a bowl of potato purée.

The cut comes from across the shank, which gives you the chance to eat the bone marrow, an opportunity I encourage you not to avoid. Slather it over a slice of toasted tourte and sprinkle it with gremolata. This is the fine mincing together of garlic, parsley and lemon zest that an osso buco is served with. It may make the main course of my last meal on earth, if I’m given any choice in the matter. I certainly won’t need my teeth for it - it’s so soft.

Veal rightly fell out of favour when we learned what inhumane tortures calves were subjected to. In order to achieve flesh as white as pork, they were confined to crates, often unable to stand.

But responsible farmers raising calves without cruelty produce a meat called ‘rosy’ veal.

It’s less likely that you’ll find this kind of veal at a supermarket.

Instead, find a living, breathing butcher with whom you can discuss how theirs has been raised - not a question you can ask a cellophane package. Farmers’ markets are a reliable source.

In South-West France, farmers check on the health of the calf by looking first in their eyes, then in the intimate area exposed by raising their tails and spreading their buttock cheeks. Any red veins revealed at either end are an indication the calf has not been raised sous la mère (milk-fed), or possibly of sickness.

Osso buco goes in the oven for 1½ hours, a bonus when you want to be out of the kitchen and with your friends.

Julia Watson has been a long-time Food Writer for newspapers and magazines in the US and the UK. She writes 'Tabled', a weekly food blog at juliawatson.substack.com

Ingredients (serves 4)

145ml white wine

Flour for dredging the meat, seasoned with pepper only (salt will dry the meat out)

2 tablespoons tomato paste 145ml stock

4 cuts of veal shin, 4.5cm thick

400g fresh tomatoes, blanched, skinned and chopped, or 1 400g can peeled tomatoes

60ml cup olive oil

1 large sprig fresh thyme

55g butter 2 medium onions, peeled and finely diced 2 stalks of celery, finely diced

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste Bunch of flat leaf parsley, stalks discarded 1 lemon, scrubbed

2 small carrots, washed and finely diced

1 large clove garlic, peeled

Preheat the oven to 175C/350F Dredge the meat in the flour and shake off the excess. Brown the pieces in 3 tablespoons of oil.

Set them in a pan you can put in the oven, close together to prevent the marrow from falling out.

Wipe out the frying pan. Add the remaining oil and the butter to gently sauté the mirepoix of onions, celery and carrots till soft, about 15 minutes. Pour in the wine, scraping up the vegetable caramel.

Raise the heat and reduce till almost gone then stir in the tomato paste. Dilute with the stock, season, add the tomatoes and bring to the boil. Pour over the veal, add the thyme and cover tightly.

Place in the oven to braise for 1 ½ hours.

Check during cooking the liquid hasn’t evaporated. Serve from the pan with the gremolata, made by finely chopping the parsley leaves, garlic and the zest of the lemon together, sprinkled over the top. Eat with risotto Milanese, polenta or pureed potatoes.

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The wines of Bergerac - Château Les Brandeaux

L

ast month I had the honour of serving on one of the many juries that selected the wines of Bergerac and Duras to be awarded gold medals, and also on the super-jury of nine people who chose Bergerac’s winemaker of the year.

On the final round of tasting among the various gold medalists of white wines, reds and rosés, of Montravels and Pécharmants, Monbazillacs and Saussignacs, Duras and Côtes de Bergerac, one wine for me stood out.

It was a rich, full-hearted red wine, not at all aggressive but rather comforting at first taste with some subtle depths that then developed in the mouth. There was something pleasantly rustic in the bouquet. The overall impression was of an instantly likeable wine that then with gentle but persistent generosity revealed its hidden depths.

So here’s to Jean-Marc and Thierry Piazzetta of Château Les Brandeaux, tucked away in the south-western corner of the Bergerac, so much on the border that six of the 31 hectares of wine are in the Duras appellation.

The rain on one part of the vineyard drains into the river Dordogne and on another part drains into the Garonne. The vineyard is equidistant from Duras and from Bergerac, 20 km from each town. I strolled around bits of it, kicking the ground, crumbling a sod or two in my hand to smell it, hoping to get a sense of what has to be a magnificent terroir.

The real surprise of this wine was the price. I know this will be hard to believe but the 2018 wine that stunned us on the jury costs just four euros and fifty cents a bottle.

(We tasted the 2020 vintage which is not yet on sale but the wines are very similar.) I have no hesitation in declaring this the best French wine I know that costs less than 5 euros. In fact, I am surprised that I’m not paying double figures for it. It would still be a bargain at three times the price.

Naturally, after congratulating Jean-Marc at the presentation of his award at the Château de Bourdeilles where the concours was held, I invited myself down to the vineyard, where more surprises were in store. The first was the sheer range of the wines being made, not only Bergerac white, red

credit: chateau-les-brandeaux.com

by Martin Walker

and rosé wine, but also white and rosé sparkling wines, and a Duras red, plus two prestige Bergerac red wines matured for nine months in oak barrels.

The 2016 Cuvée Excellence that I tasted was very good indeed, and stunning value at only 6.50 euros a bottle. It also had won a gold medal at the concours in Mâcon in 2017 and another gold at the Paris concours in 2016. So we in our jury were not crazy; other juries had seen the same quality.

The next surprise was the varietals. The appellation contrôlée system has been rigid in defining which grapes can be used, but now that the more flexible IGP system allows a Vin de Périgord to use just one grape, I have expected France to start following the American example and market wines from a single cépage. Indeed, this is already starting here in the Bergerac with Chardonnay.

Jean-Marc and his brother, Thierry, have taken it to a new level, selling a bottle of their very good Chardonnay for 5.50 euros; a bottle of their excellent Malbec for 6.50 euros; and a bottle of their lovely Cabernet Franc (not an easy grape to work with) for 8.50 euros.

Jean-Marc and his brother are the fourth generation of their family to make wines in the shadow of the medieval hilltop village of Puyguilhem. The family first came in 1924, after an agreement that Italian peasant families with a majority of boy children would be welcome to settle in depopulated rural France. They hoped to replace the 1.5 million Frenchmen who died in the trenches of the 1914-18 war.

The Piazzetta family came from the Veneto, near Venice, and in the tasting centre at the vineyard visitors are likely to meet the cheerful grandfather of the family. He is built in the same big and burly tradition of his sons. The three of them would make a formidable front row of any rugby team.

“Things have certainly changed since my time,” the grandpa told me, with one of the broadest smiles I have ever seen. “There were years when I had trouble getting the wine up to ten degrees alcohol, but now 14 and 15 degrees are common.”

Part of the explanation is the changing climate and JeanMarc says that even though Merlot has long been his domi-

nant grape, he won’t be replacing it in the course of his replanting programme.

When I told Jean-Marc of my surprise at his low prices, he explained that while he had started working in the vineyard, his brother had begun on the commercial side and had built up many contacts in supermarkets. The vineyard had prospered with Intermarché and Carrefour, where the pricing of a wine was crucial. I pointed out that I’d never seen his wines in my local supermarkets of the Périgord Noir.

Apparently they sell mainly in the stores between Bergerac and Sainte-Foy. “We also get a lot of English customers coming to the vineyard from Eymet,” Jean-Marc added.

I’m not at all surprised. After winning Bergerac’s Vigneron of the Year award, I suspect he’ll be getting lots more visitors from much farther afield. Château Les Brandeaux vaut le détour.

They usually make around 60,000 bottles a year plus 40,000 litres of wine in 5 and 10 litre boxes. The 10 litre boxes are 24.50 euros for the Bergerac rosé and white, Duras red, and 26.50 for the Bergerac reds.

Their wines are HVE, which stands for High Environmental Value, a definition set by the Agriculture Ministry, and often criticised by militant Greens as one of the less rigorous of the various and rather confusing environmental standards currently prevalent in France. The wines are not bio, but they certainly are low in sulfites and I came across a fair bit of bio-diversity in the vines.

The bottom line is that the wines of Les Brandeaux, however, offer the finest value for the lowest price that I have ever encountered in France. ■

Martin Walker, author of the best-selling ‘Bruno, chief of police’ novels, is a Grand Consul de la Vinée de Bergerac. Formerly a journalist, he spent 25 years as foreign correspondent for The Guardian and then became editor-inchief of United Press International. He and his wife Julia have had a home in the Périgord since 1999 and one of his great hobbies is visiting the vineyards of Bergerac.

DIRECTORY ♦ 15

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Business Directory

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ADVERTORIAL

Pension Considerations - Rosemary Sheppard, International Financial Adviser

T

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This article is based on the opinion of the financial adviser and author, and does not reflect the views of Blacktower. The above information is based on current legislation which is subject to change and does not constitute as investment advice, or investment research and you should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity.

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Music in the Dordogne sponsored by ARCADES Join us for concerts in the air conditioned new hall in Le Buisson, mostly of classical music, with top class French,

English, Russian and other international performers. Concert tickets cost €15 including wine in the interval.

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Sunday 12th September at 5 pm Piano and Cello Recital by Neria Duo: Camille Belin and Natacha Colmez-Collard

Programme: Saint-Saëns - The Swan, Marie Jaëll Allegro from Sonata for cello and piano, Debussy Sonata for cello and pino Prologue, Seranade, Finale, Fauré Romance in A Op. 69, Elelie, Saint-Saëns Sonata for cello and piano Op.32 no.1 Allegro – Andante tranquille sostenuto – Allegro moderato Formed in Paris in 2017 , the Neria Duo is named for the Sabine goddess of strength and bravery: it is this image of energy and strength that inspires the two young women in their ambitions, their choice of repertoire and their interpretations. Camille, a very active chamber musician is a graduate of the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and a prizewinner in several international competitions.

Natacha, a graduate of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, is principal cellist of the Orchestre National d’Île de France and is also developing numerous personal recording projects. ** Entry to the concert only in accordance with the new governmental regulations

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For thirty years Sinfonia has established itself as an unmissable event for lovers of Baroque music, with an ever-changing line-up designed to offer audiences a week of unforgettable experiences. Concerts take place from 21st to 28th August against the backdrop of Périgord’s most beautiful locations.

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