The Bugle Dordogne - Mar 2019

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Lightsaber fencing is an official French sport The French Fencing Federation has officially recognised lightsaber duelling >> Page 9 as a competitive sport

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France fights back against anti-Semitism anti-Semitic attacks across the country, the public have taken to the streets, along with political leaders from all

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Lascaux gets its own stamp - pg 3

French and EU flags to be flown in all schools - page 6

Following a sharp rise in the number of

Local company saving the Barrier Reef - pg 4

parties, to condemn the violence. crime data from Germany revealed that anti-Semitic offences increased by 10% over the last year, including a 60% rise in physical attacks. In the UK, there have been a number of resignations from the Labour party

by MPs citing “systemic anti-Semitism”.

The situation came to a head in France recently following an initial incident that saw the prominent Jewish philosopher Alain Finkielkraut cornered by a faction of gilets jaunes protesters who threatened the academic and hurled anti-Jewish insults at him.

The 69-year-old later explained that he heard people shouting “dirty Zionist” and “throw yourself in the canal” and said that he was

Bilingual: Magic bunny or flying bell? - pg 15

The Bugle Business Directory - pg 16-18

>> continued on page 5

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s many as twenty thousand people took to the streets of Paris in February to express their disgust at the state of society and to call on citizens to take action. This may sound familiar, but this time there was not a gilet jaune in sight; this was a mass protest against antiSemitism in France.

With nationalism and populism on the rise across Europe, the continent has seen an increase in the number of hate crimes being reported and France has been no exception. According to the interior minister, Christophe Castaner, the number of anti-Semitic acts in France has increased by 74%, from 311 in 2017 to 541 last year. Recent

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Welcome to

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W

ell, what to say about the weather?!

I’m not going to get involved in a climate change debate (hopefully the recent weather can be explained by standard deviation and is not a prelude to the Apocalypse!) but holy moly, spending February wearing shorts and buying a bag of coal for the barbecue is much more fun than shovelling snow off the windscreen and ordering another corde of wood for the fire!

Unfortunately, I have had more sombre thoughts on my mind, and while I appreciate that many readers prefer my more irreverent ramblings, I’m afraid, with March 29 fast approaching, I am going to get a bit serious... BREXIT! I have spent a lot of time recently listening to both sides of the Brexit debate. I am aware that the increasing polarisation of opinion on all issues across the globe is in large part due to the internet and social media allowing us to exist in so-called “echo chambers”. We surround ourselves with like-minded people and consume media that reinforces our own opinion, to the point where we don’t understand the opposite point of view and can’t grasp how anyone else can think differently. I am absolutely guilty of this.

So I have been forcing myself to

regularly watch clips of Fox News on the internet. Closer to home, I have been making a point of listening to the Nigel Farage show every day on LBC radio, in an effort to help me understand how we have reached a situation where many are arguing, with a straight face, that a nodeal Brexit is anything other than disastrous.

I am aware that at this point I have nailed my “remain” colours to the mast and I am not trying to anger any of my “leave” readers. Everyone is absolutely entitled to their opinion and as Voltaire said: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. OK, I might not go that far, but I would absolutely take to the streets to defend a leave voter’s right to their opinion, even though I may not agree.

All of which is a prelude to my slightly tangential point: I am really angry at the British Broadcasting Corporation! I would rank the BBC alongside the NHS as a crown jewel of the UK. I know that it has its detractors, but it is a fantastic service and in my opinion would be good value at twice the price. If I could pay the licence fee from France, I would!

But, so aware is the BBC of the need to be impartial, and so scared is it of being accused of taking “sides”, that I have come to the conclusion that the corporation has played a huge role in the polarisation of the

population over Brexit through “false equivalence”.

If the BBC holds a debate, whatever the issue, it invites people from both sides to offer their opinion - can’t argue with that. But when that debate is because the news is covering the Flat Earth Society’s annual conference, on the one side you will have a professor from NASA offering the proof that the earth is indeed round and on the other side will be Bob, who runs a Flat Earth blog from his bedroom at his mum’s house, claiming that people regularly fall off the edge! And both are given equal time to make their point and the mediator will rarely come down on either side.

This false equivalence is understandable, but dangerous. It is not always a case of black and white and quite often one side is almost certainly right and the other is most probably wrong. The result of this kind of false equivalence leads to the BBC giving huge exposure to stories such as the “350 million a week” on the side of a bus. This lie - and it was a lie - is easily debunked if you so much as scratch the surface of the facts, but by giving it the “on the one hand this, on the other that” treatment, people can be easily led in the direction that the echo chamber they exist in naturally pulls them.

Let me stress at this point that there are plenty of cogent arguments for leaving the EU. I might not personally believe that they outweigh the negatives, but there is an argument for each case and debates to be had. The 350-million-a-week “debate” is not one of them and running widescreen images of that bus on the nine-o’clock news, without calling it out as a lie for fear of appearing partial is, in my view, irresponsible. Multiply this by 100 similar unchecked “claims”,

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“warnings” and “promises” - on both sides of the debate - and you end up where we are today, with very few “facts”.

The BBC absolutely needs to be impartial, but a fact is a fact and a lie is a lie. Anyone who is afraid of having their “alternative facts” checked should not be taking part in the debate. People trust the BBC; it has a lot of power over public opinion.

And to quote Uncle Ben from Spiderman: “With great power comes great responsibility!”

Sorry the BBC... I love you, but I have realised your fatal flaw, at least when it comes to political coverage.

Returning to a lighter tone, I have the in-laws staying (again!) at the moment and a false equivalence debate took place in my house this very lunchtime. On the one hand, my father-in-law believes that it is fun to put things back into a different place each time you use them, on the other hand, it’s my house and my rules... I will leave you to apply appropriate equivalence!!

Until next month!

Steve Martindale, Editor

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INSIDE this edition 3-4 Local News 5-11 National News 12-14 French Life 15 Bilingual 16-18 Directory 19 Community 20 What’s On Copy deadline:

15th March for April’s print edition

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LOCAL NEWS ♦ 3

MARCH 2019 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

Lascaux stamp unveiled €2m gilets jaunes

Kubrick property to stay in the family

compensation fund

There was huge interest when the wife of legendary film director Stanley Kubrick put the family’s 7-bed property in Domme up for sale. Two years later, however, the €1.4 million home remained unsold, and has now been taken off the market after the grandson of the Clockwork Orange director decided to buy it himself and keep it in the family.

Although the reclusive director did not visit the property himself, it has been visited by A-list Hollywood stars, including Nicole Kidman, who spent some time there in 2006 for the marriage of one of Kubrick’s daughters. ■

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new stamp featuring a painting from the famous Lascaux caves near Montignac has been unveiled. The 88 centime stamp, which corresponds to the cost of posting a 20g letter as timbre vert, will be available across the country from April 29.

The new stamp will be very much a local affair as it will also be printed in the

department, at Phil@poste, La Poste’s main printing factory in Boulazac, to the east of Périgueux. As well as printing all of France’s stamps, Phil@poste also print 200 million stamps for other countries.

Just over 700,000 copies of the Lascaux stamp will be produced, along with a further 30,000 that will be available to buy as a collectors’ edition in a presentation pack. ■

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s has been previously reported in The Bugle, not only have the gilets jaunes protests left the government with a hefty repair bill, they have also had a large impact on local businesses. According to a study published in December by Nielsen, the protests have caused a loss of 1% of turnover for major retail operators, more than the June 2018 strikes at SNCF and Air France. Earlier this year, supermarket chain Carrefour alone reported a drop in revenue of €110 million at its hypermarkets and €39 million from its supermarkets.

Although the numbers of protesters have been dwindling in recent weeks as public opinion has turned against the movement's increasingly extreme and violent tactics, the impact to local retailers continues. As such, the conseil régional of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine has set aside an initial fund of €2 million to compensate affected businesses.

Awarded as a lump sum of between €2,000-€10,000, the aid granted will be determined according to the decrease in turnover. Only those businesses suffering a turnover drop of 30% compared to previous years will be eligible, although it is already feared that the number of claimants will far outstrip the initial fund set aside by the region, particularly in the Bordeaux area which has seen widespread disruption. ■

4 ♦ LOCAL NEWS

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2019

L

imoges porcelain has graced the tables of the rich and famous for centuries, but in recent times, the region's expertise has turned to solving problems of the 21st century. One of the pioneers in this area has been the Nouvelle-Aquitaine ceramics company I.Ceram, which in 2015 helped develop the first ceramic coated ankle joint and is also behind the world's first ceramic sternum which can be used as a prosthetic following open-heart surgery. Now, the innovative local company has begun a trial, taking place at the Limoges Aquarium, that some are saying could one day help save the Great Barrier Reef!

“The scientific director of I.Ceram came to see me with a thought: his company makes ceramics that can repair human bones, could they be used to help repair our coral?” explained the aquarium's director, David Branthôme. “I have worked in the past on the issue of re-introducing coral into natural environments. One of the main challenges is finding a support for young corals to grow on that is not the usual concrete or plastics, both of which pollute the environment. Ceramic, which is both natural and inert, could be ideal!”

The trials being undertaken could go one step further and the ceramic plates will eventually be used to take “cuttings” from existing coral reefs which can then be used to establish new colonies elsewhere.

Although coral may look like rock, it is actually a living organism made up of thousands of tiny invertebrates called polyps.

Each coral polyp is typically only a few millimetres in diameter and a few centimetres in length, but over many generations, the colony creates the large exoskeleton characteristic of the species.

Coral reefs only account for around 0.2% of the seabed, but almost all coral is

found at shallow depths along coastlines.

The reefs help to absorb the energy of waves, protecting nearby land from coastal erosion and also creating valuable ecosystems for marine life. In recent decades, coral mining, pollution, blast fishing, rising sea temperatures and disease have all taken their toll on the delicate colonies: approximately 10% of the world's coral reefs are dead and a further 60% are at risk due to human-related activities.

The trial taking pace at the Aquarium will see a 10cm by 10cm ceramic plate placed within a coral colony “to see if indeed aquatic life can develop on it in a quarantined aquarium, and we will also compare it with existing concrete and PVC supports”.

Even if, as expected, the tests are a success, saving the world's coral reefs will not happen overnight. “If our study shows that coral can be developed on I.Ceram ceramics, we will then have to find a process that allows the production of these supports at a reasonable cost,” explained David Branthôme. “Because at the moment, this hightech medical-grade nature of the ceramic makes it too expensive for this project.”

The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands off the coast of Queensland stretching for over 2,300 kilometres. The Great Barrier Reef can be seen from outer space and is the world's biggest single structure made by living organisms. Not only does the reef have a vital role in marine ecology, related tourism is also worth an estimated $3 billion Australian dollars annually. Studies have revealed that the reef has lost more than half its coral cover since 1985 and reversing this decline is a major challenge for marine conservationists and the Australian government. ■

© Ilse Reijs and Jan-Noud Hutten (Flickr)

The local company saving the Barrier Reef

St-Cyprien is Dordogne’s best market The market at Saint-Cyprien has been voted as the department’s best in the second annual Plus Beau Marché competition. The town in the Périgord noir pipped the popular market at Eymet into second place, with Périgueux taking the third step on the podium. Following Issigeac’s victory in last year’s competition, it is the second year running that a Sunday market in a relatively small town has proved to be the most popular with locals.

“I am incredibly proud, but not all that surprised,” said the town’s mayor, Christian Six. “Our Sunday market not only attracts large numbers of stallholders, but it is also a wonderful place to take a stroll and meet people.”

“We have been doing this market since 1986 and it’s one that runs year round and attracts both locals and visitors,” explained Frédéric Delbos from la Ferme de Bardenat in Les Eyzies, a sentiment echoed by Véronique and Jean Tabanou who have a vegetable stall at the popular market: “We’ve been coming for thirty years.

On Sundays, people have a bit more time and it’s our best day of the week.”

As the departmental winner, Saint-Cyprien will now represent the Dordogne in the regional finals, before hopefully taking on the best markets in France! ■

NATIONAL NEWS ♦ 5

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Anti-Semitism marches take place across France >> continued from pg 1 in fear of his safety until police arrived to provide a protective cordon. Others reported hearing cries of “dirty race”, “France is ours” and “the people will punish you”.

Mr Finkielkraut, the son of Polish immigrants, has previously expressed sympathy for the protesters, but has also voiced criticism of the direction the movement has taken.

The incident came shortly after the interior minister had warned that antiSemitism was “spreading like poison” in the country, following a series of antiJewish incidents which included post boxes featuring the image of the late politician and Holocaust survivor Simone Veil being being daubed with swastikas.

In response, a series of marches were planned across the country to denounce the alarming increase in anti-Semitism, but the night before the protest, a Jewish cemetery in Quatzenheim in Alsace was targeted and around 80 tombs were desecrated with swastikas. One was defaced with the words “Elsässischen Schwarzen

Wolfe” (Black Alsatian Wolves), the name of a militant far-right group active in the 1970s and 1980s. The group rose to prominence when they burned down a museum at Natzweiler-Struthof - a former Nazi death camp - in 1976.

President Macron described the desecration as “the absolute negation of who we are and what makes us a great nation” and visited the cemetery the following morning, telling local leaders and members of the Jewish community: “It’s important for me to be here with you today. We shall act, we shall pass laws, we shall punish.”

That evening, the peace marches took place across the country, with 20,000 people taking to the streets of the capital bearing banners saying “Fraternity”, “Enough is Enough” and “Exit Hatred”. The marchers included political leaders from all parties, as well as former presidents François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy.

“I’m shocked by the anti-Semitism that has been growing,” one protester said. “At first I thought it was isolated incidents, now I realise it’s a deep-

seated problem, an intolerance that is getting worse. I hear more and more anti-Semitic comments made openly, as if people expect you to be in agreement. It has to stop.”

Prime minister Edouard Philippe told L’Express magazine: “Anti-Semitism is deeply rooted in French society. We would like to think otherwise, but it is a fact. We must be totally determined, I would say almost enraged, in our will to fight, with a clear awareness that this fight is an old one and will last a long time.”

Although much attention has been given to the recent links with the gilets jaunes protests, the increase in anti-Semitism pre-dates the movement and most believe that the problem stems from the weekly protests being hijacked by extremist agitators. Speaking on television, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said no one should confuse genuine protesters with extremists.

“The yellow vests aren’t an anti-Semitic movement,” Jean-Yves Camus, of the Political Radicalisation Obser-

vatory in Paris, told AFP. “But it’s a leaderless, horizontal movement and extremist elements have been able to drown out the voices of its high-profile figures in the media.”

This was evident in a video filmed recently in Lyon which showed a pitched battle between yellow vest protesters from the far-right and the far-left. “I’ve never seen this in my life. It’s a civil war,” someone can be heard saying on one of the videos which captured the fight.

Anti-Semitism in France has historically been associated with Nazism and the far-right. During the Second World War, the collaborationist Vichy government of Maréchal Philippe Pétain helped the Nazis to deport 76,000 Jews to the death camps of eastern Europe - only some 3,000 returned. More recently, however, anti-Semitism has also spread among far-left pro-Palestinian extremists and radicals who point to a global Zionist conspiracy.

France has the biggest Jewish community in Europe, numbering around 550,000 people. ■

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French and EU flags to Honest man returns gold fly in every classroom delivered in the post

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n amendment to educational reforms currently going through parliament will make it compulsory for all schools in France to fly the French and EU flags in every classroom across the country. The bill was put forward by right-leaning Les Républicains MP Eric Ciotti and would also make it obligatory for every school child to know the words to the national anthem, La Marseillaise. The European flag had not initially been included in the amendment but it was added later, with the MP calling it “an important step forward”.

The bill has been approved by the lower parliament, the Assemblée nationale, but the late inclusion of the blue and gold-starred EU flag has angered many, particularly on the left, who do not believe sufficient time was set aside to debate the changes.

The move would make displaying the flags mandatory in “every classroom throughout primary and secondary education, whether public or private,” said France's Minister for Education Jean-Michel Blanquer. “It will be applied in a very simple way with all costs covered by the ministry.”

Despite being approved by parliament, the measure will only come into force once the entire education bill, being put forward by Mr Blanquer, has been voted through.

Socialist MP George Pau-Langevin denounced the measure, saying it could be seen as a “mistrust” of teachers who should be in charge of their classes. Michel Larive from the left-wing La France Insoumise party said that it was “enough” to have flags on the front of educational establishments, which showed “respect for the country without drifting towards nationalism”, adding that “schools are not army barracks”. ■

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man from the Morbihan department of Brittany has been hailed for his honesty after returning a package containing €20,000 of gold that had been incorrectly delivered to his house. Referred to in the French press simply as Julien, the 27-yearold was at home in the Breton town of Vannes when a small parcel was delivered. As he had been expecting a package for his wife, he simply signed for the delivery without checking the contents.

“I didn't pay too much attention to the parcel I'd signed for, because I was expecting a swimming costume my wife had ordered,” Julien explained, who was later stunned to find the package full of coins and ingots, made of real gold, weighing 20-50 grams each and dating from around 1900. “There was a total of nearly 700 grams with a value of €20,000!”

Inspecting the packaging, it quick-

ly became clear that the gold had been delivered to the wrong address, but when the honest young man went to the correct destination a few kilometres away, he found it empty. After then visiting the local police, the rightful owner - a collector of historical gold - was tracked down, and was understandably grateful!

“The police congratulated me for bringing the gold in and took some photos. They were then able to reach the other man by telephone and I explained to him that he could come to the station to pick up his parcel.”

After the story broke, the national gold broker Le Comptoir national de l’or announced that it planned to send Julien a gold ingot of an unspecified size, to say thank you for his honesty in returning the original package. Although this may sound like a happy ending, one person was left disappointed: according to reports Julien’s wife is still waiting for her swimming costume to be delivered! ■

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8 ♦ NATIONAL NEWS

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NATIONAL NEWS ♦ 9

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enerations of children have grown up dreaming of becoming a Jedi warrior. This fantasy has now become a reality after the French Fencing Federation (FFE) officially recognised lightsaber duelling as a competitive sport. The move gives the iconic weapon from the Star Wars universe the same status as the foil, épée and sabre, the traditional blades currently used in the Olympic sport.

Luke's original was green, Darth Vader's was red and famously, Samuel L. Jackson only agreed to star in the prequels on the condition that his would be purple. Whatever colour is your favourite, one thing they all had in common was the satisfying swoosh sound they made, and the lightsabers being used by modern-day Jedi warriors look and sound surprisingly similar to those of the movies. But of course, the LED-lit, rigid polycarbonate lightsaber replicas can't cut through a blast door or slice a Sith lord in half!

The FFE sees itself as part of the fight against the modern-day Dark Side: the sedentary habits of 21st-century life that are turning growing numbers of adults and kids

into more Jabba than Jedi. The physicality of lightsaber combat, which combines elements of cosplay, sci-fi and fitness into one, is a large part of why the FFE threw its support behind the sport and it is now equipping fencing clubs with lightsabers and training would-be lightsaber instructors.

“With young people today, it's a real public health issue. They don't do any sport and only exercise with their thumbs,” explained Serge Aubailly, the federation's secretary general. “That is why we are trying to create a bond between our discipline and modern technologies, so participating in a sport feels natural. Cape-and-sword movies have always had a big impact on our federation and its growth. Lightsaber films have the same impact. Young people want to give it a try.”

In building the sport from the ground up, French organisers have produced competition rules intended to make lightsaber duelling both competitive and easy on the eye.

“We wanted it to be safe, we wanted it to be umpired and, most of all, we wanted it to produce something visual that looks like the movies, because that is what people ex-

Expat votes for life bill back on track

A

s reported in last month's edition of The Bugle, the debate on the right to vote for expats who have been outside the UK for more than 15 years was pushed back after a planned reading of a Private Member's Bill was cancelled in the ongoing Brexit parliamentary chaos. The bill, introduced by backbench Welsh Conservative MP Glynn Davies, had its first reading in the House of Commons in July 2017 and its first full debate at the second reading in February 2018 after which the government announced its intention to back the bill.

The bill was scheduled to be debated again on 25th January and could have become law shortly after, but under parliamentary rules, Private Member's Bills can only be debated on one of 13 'sitting Fridays' each year. With MPs engaging in last-minute discussions over Theresa May's Brexit deal, the “Overseas Electors Bill 2017-19” missed its January slot, leaving many disenfranchised expats in despair.

There is hope again, however, for a large number of expats looking to have their voice heard in any upcoming referendum or general election, with the news that the bill has been scheduled for its “report stage” and “third reading” on 22nd March. Once beyond this stage, the bill needs to pass through the House of Lords before becoming law by Royal Assent.

Whether this third reading will go ahead, or indeed whether any changes would come in time for expats to take part in any future “meaningful vote”, remains to be seen, but campaigners are hopeful.

The idea of so-called Votes for Life was unveiled as a government policy in the 2015 Queen's Speech and removing the 15-year-rule was again part of the Conservative Party's manifesto during the 2017 general election, but so far no changes have been made. ■

© Lucasfilm/Fox/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock

Lightsaber fencing becomes French sport

pect,” said Michel Ortiz, organiser of one national lightsaber tournament.

Combatants fight inside a circle marked in tape on the floor. Strikes to the head or body are worth five points; to the arms or legs, three points; on the hands, one point.

Blows only count if the fighters first point the tip of their saber behind them. This rule results in longer sweeping blows which are more visually appealing and effectively

remove the super-fast tip-first forward strikes typically seen in fencing.

The winner is the first to reach 15 points or, if time runs out, the fighter with the higher score after three minutes is the victor. If both fighters reach 10 points, the bout enters sudden death, where the first to land a head or body blow wins, a rule to encourage enterprising fighters. ■

Beware the bomb de terre

E

mployees at a Hong Kong crisp factory got a nasty shock recently when they discovered a World War I grenade in a delivery of potatoes imported from France. The mud-coated bomb de terre was most likely left in a trench 100 years ago before being dug up and unwittingly shipped across the world.

The bomb squad was called to the Calbee snacks factory in eastern Hong Kong after staff there found the hand grenade inside a crate of French potatoes, local police said. Officers moved cars and piled sandbags around the 1-kilogram device before safely destroying it. “The grenade was in an unstable condition because it had been previously discharged but failed to detonate,” Superintendent Wilfred Wong Ho-hon told reporters.

The grenade, believed to be a German model, was encased in mud and was almost certainly buried beneath a former battlefield over 100 years ago, according to Hong Kong University military historian Dave Macri.

“If it was covered in mud, the grenade was likely to have been left behind, dropped by soldiers there during the war, or left there after it was thrown. The ditch was then filled up and used as a growing field, and the explosive was tossed into the mix of harvested potatoes and sent to Hong Kong.”

Although the discovery of German weaponry from WWI is not something the territory has experienced before, unearthing wartime bombs or grenades is not uncommon in Hong Kong. The city saw fierce battles between Japanese and British forces during World War II and was also heavily bombed by the US and its allies.

Last year, thousands of people were forced to evacuate a busy commercial area while police defused a “severely damaged” WWII bomb found on a construction site, the second to be found in Hong Kong within the same week. ■

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Delivery driver Apple pays €500 million in back taxes steals €3 million in cash from van

A

French delivery driver has been arrested after stealing more than €3 million while his colleagues were making a delivery in the outskirts of Paris. Adrien Derbez stole the cash while the team of three were making a routine cash delivery in their security van to a Western Union branch in Aubervilliers, in the Parisian suburbs. The two workers returned to find that the armoured Loomis had vanished, along with their colleague.

“When they came back out, the van and the driver were gone,” a police source told AFP. The vehicle was soon found a few blocks away with its doors open, but there was no sign of the 28-yearold driver nor the €3.4 million in cash.

Following a tip-off, police raided an apartment in Amiens two days later and officers allegedly found Mr Derbez trying to escape through a window, carrying several bags filled with banknotes.

Police subsequently made three other arrests linked to the case, including that of a 29-year-old woman who was loading sacks of cash into a car.

Whilst much of the money has apparently been recovered, a significant amount remains unaccounted for.

“It makes me sad, because he was someone I liked, a good bloke,” said Didier Jumel, the driver's former boxing coach. “He had a good spirit, it doesn't sound like the guy I knew at all.”

The theft has similarities to the famous case of Toni Musulin, who stole some €11.6 million in cash from the security van he was driving in 2009.

He vanished, along with the cash, in November that year, briefly becoming an internet superstar in France for his meticulously planned and bloodless heist. Just over €9 million was found in a garage, and Musulin handed himself in to police in Monaco days later, eventually serving four years in prison, denying any knowledge as to the whereabouts of the missing €2.5 million. ■

Is it about time you put that door or window in...?

T

echnology giant Apple has agreed to pay 10 years of back taxes to France, marking the latest victory for European governments pushing multinationals to pay their fair share in local markets. After reaching a confidential settlement with French authorities, it was subsequently reported that Apple will be shelling out close to €500 million in back taxes.

For its part, Apple has not confirmed the size of the settlement, but did say in a statement: “The French tax authority recently concluded a multiyear audit of our French accounts and the adjustment will be reflected in our publicly filed accounts. We know the important role tax payments play in society and we pay all that we owe according to tax laws and local customs wherever we operate.”

The deal followed several months of talks between Apple and French tax authorities and concerned the small amount of revenue the firm declared in France at a time when the sales it reported in Europe ballooned, thanks in particular to iPhone sales. According to L'Express magazine, which first disclosed the figure of half a billion euros, Apple's European revenues increased seven-fold, from €6.6 billion in 2008 to €47.7 billion in 2017, although most of this was declared in Ireland where the US firm has its

Playstation carrot scam goes wrong

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lease, please, please do not try this at home or you too could end up with a criminal record. That said, you do have to admire the ingenuity of one French teen who recently walked out of a supermarket after paying less than €10 for a Sony Playstation 4 with a retail value of €340.

The resourceful 19-year-old picked up the games console from the multimedia section of the supermarket before heading over to the fruit and vegetable aisle. Placing the PS4 on the scales, he printed out a €9.29 ticket for a low-value vegetable and then proceeded to the self-service checkout aisle to avoid the cashiers.

Items scanned through these checkouts are placed on scales and the system checks that the item scanned is the correct weight, but does not check its size or volume. The man then left the store with his bargain console, which, according to police, he subsequently sold online for €100.

Unfortunately, as is so often the case, greed was his downfall. When he returned to the very same supermarket to repeat the “trick” the next day he was caught red-handed, charged with theft and has now been handed a four-month prison sen-

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European headquarters and enjoys significant tax breaks.

Ireland has low corporate tax rates that have attracted many multinationals, but there are wide concerns that firms manipulate accounting rules to escape paying revenues in European countries where corporation taxes are higher.

France is in the process of introducing a so-called “GAFA tax” - referring to Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon - which would affect tech companies with global sales of more than €750m and €25m in France. That law would be retroactive to the beginning of 2019 and is expected to raise €500m this year alone by taxing firms on the money they make in France and not on the profits they declare in this country.

Apple's tax bill is the latest victory for France and the EU in their fight against the big tech companies. Amazon recently agreed to pay France €202 million to cover back taxes for the years 2006 to 2010 and also agreed to fully declare all its future earnings in the country.

In 2016, Apple was ordered to pay €13 billion in back taxes to Ireland by the European Commission, which said the company enjoyed a tax rate of just 0.005% on its European profits two years earlier. ■

Plus Vite!

Moins Cher!

tence.

While self-service checkouts are popular with many shoppers and help retailers cut costs, they have been open to abuse by unscrupulous consumers. Carrots are one of the heaviest yet cheapest vegetables and have proved a popular choice for thieves. The phenomenon first hit the headlines in the UK when one supermarket realised that they had sold more carrots than they had ever held in stock, with some customers “purchasing” as many as 18 kilograms in one shop! ■

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France shocked by the league of not so LOL

T

he country's mainstream media has been rocked by a recent scandal involving a group of young media executives who ran a macho “boys' club” that harassed female colleagues online over a number of years. Their closed Facebook group “League of LOL” consisted mostly of men in their thirties and ridiculed female journalists, often using Photoshopped pornographic memes to attack and humiliate them. The group also targeted feminists, female journalists, writers of colour and gay people.

Dozens of victims have spoken out since the group was uncovered by the major French daily Libération, which found itself at the heart of the problem: the newspaper's online editor Alexandre Hervaud is among those suspended and a well-known freelancer, Vincent Glad, has admitted to founding the group. Libération is currently carrying out an internal investigation into both journalists as part of a scandal that is being hailed as France's #MeToo moment.

Mr Glad apologised on Twitter, saying that he now realised that “such practices were unacceptable and 'LOL' was not funny at all when it is done in a pack”. LOL is internet shorthand for “laugh out loud” and is used to convey humour or laughter.

A number of prominent female journalists, including Nora Bouazzouni, Slate France reporter Lucile Bellan, and podcaster Mélanie Wanga, have all since described being targeted by the group. Victims have recounted how the attacks and pranks had pushed one woman to quit journalism and left another suicidal.

One of those affected was Florence Desruol, a freelance

consultant living in Lyon when the attacks began in 2009.

Hundreds of abusive messages were posted, a false account was created in her name, and her head was Photoshopped on to pornographic images and published online.

“I was called a slut, a whore, my face was grafted on to a picture of a naked woman having sex - it was all designed to humiliate and silence me,” she explained. “They were the Twitter stars of the moment, they seemed untouchable, but I took them on,” Desruol told the Guardian.

She contacted one senior website editor in 2010 to complain about his staff, but the abuse continued. She went to the police, who struggled to understand and instead suggested she quit social media. She drafted a letter to editors of major publications to alert them to the actions of their staff. But before it was sent, the draft was leaked online and the abuse got worse. “At that point I had a burno ut. I couldn’t open my computer, I couldn’t use my phone except to answer calls.”

Martin Médus, a blogger who had a Jewish grandparent who was sent to the WWII death camps, had his head digitally added to the torso of a man with a swastika tattoo, an image which was then published online. Another writer who challenged the group was Photoshopped into a pornographic image that was then sent to children, including his own.

The League of LOL also targeted science presenter Florence Porcel, seeking to humiliate her by getting group members to pose as the producers of a prestigious television programme offering her a job, then posting the recording of the fake interview online. “When the recording was made public, I cried from shame, humiliation and fear

for three days. I didn’t want to go out,” Porcel said, adding that she had also featured in a “very degrading pornographic photomontage... that was their method”.

David Doucet, editor of French magazine Les Inrockuptibles, confessed to being behind the fake interview and publicly apologised to Ms Porcel. Others implicated in the scandal include senior journalists and executives from major outlets including the Huffington Post, Slate France and public relations firm Publicis.

In an apology published on Twitter, founder Glad said he had “created a monster that escaped”. “The object of the group was not to harass women, just to amuse ourselves. But quickly, our way of amusing ourselves became very problematic and we didn’t realise this. We thought that everyone visible on the internet, by a blog, or Twitter account or something else, deserved to be mocked,” adding that he didn’t realise that this could “become a hell for the people targeted”.

Aude Lorriaux, a spokeswoman for the female journalists’ group Prenons La Une (Let's take back the front page) said it was positive that the culture had now changed enough for women to be listened to. “This is bigger than just the League of LOL - all newsrooms are affected. It’s massive, it’s year zero. We must deconstruct hundreds of years built on inequality.”

In the aftermath of the scandal, Equality Minister Marlène Schiappa underscored that online harassment has been outlawed, and said she was considering extending the six-year cut-off for prosecuting alleged crimes: under the law as it stands, only abuse posted since 2013 can be prosecuted. ■

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12 ♦ FRENCH LIFE

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The benefits of a plant based diet hunter-gatherer lifestyle, standard portions of oily fish were introduced.

In the early stages, withdrawal from caffeine and certain favourite foods caused some distress. But very quickly, the volunteers' energy levels rose.

One of them, a 36-year-old driving instructor, had never eaten vegetables. At almost 102 kilos in weight, his typical daily diet began with four slices of toast for breakfast, followed by a mid-morning bacon-sausage-and-egg sandwich, a late afternoon a portion of fish-and-chips and finally a Chinese takeout before bed.

At the end of the 12-day diet, he had lost 5.6 kilos, his blood pressure had dropped, and his cholesterol fallen by 20 per cent.

The increased intake of soluble fibre which binds cholesterol to the gut and forces its expulsion, as well as the increase of plant sterols, helped lower the cholesterol of the volunteers.

The group's average blood pressure fell from the almost hypertensive level of 140/83 to 122/76, and each volunteer lost an average of 4.4 kilos. Salt intake was reduced from a group average of 12 grams a day to 1 gram. 6 grams is the guideline maximum. The group's saturated fat intake was reduced from 13 per cent to 5 per cent of calories.

Inevitably, once the experiment ended, some of the volunteers gained some of their weight back.

But they reported that they had developed the habit of only eating when they were hungry and had understood the relationship between eating well and good health.

Socially, of course, all that fibre and the gases it creates can be tricky to deal with. And we're not likely to move into the zoo for our health. But it’s now widely understood that we need - for the sake of the planet as well as our health - to cut radically back on our consumption of meat, and increase our eating of pulses and vegetables.

Here is a raw vegetable salad that will be enjoyed by everyone, whether they want to improve their cholesterol and blood pressure levels or not. ■

Julia Watson has been a long-time Food Writer for newspapers and magazines in the US and the UK.

The wines of Bergerac

I

f you want a bit of history to go with your wine tastings, you can do no better than to visit the Château Bélingard in Pomport, ten minutes south of Bergerac on the D17. Just before the turn-off to the vineyard you will pass a small stone monument. This was the place where a disaffected and partly dispossessed local baron, Antoine de Rudel, started the Hundred Years War with a little local skirmish. The vineyard is less than an arrow flight away.

If you like your history even older, you will find on the château grounds a boulder into which the Celts carved a sacrificial stone chair. Indeed the name Bélingard comes from Celtic roots. Belinos was their god of the sun and of war. Gaard was their term for garden. So this is the garden of the sun god and maybe the war god, too. The stone chair is aligned precisely along the point of midday between sunrise and sunset on the day of the spring equinox.

Laurent de Bosredon, the latest in eight generations of owners, claims that the Celts made a special potion for religious occasions from the small

by Martin Walker

and sweet berry-like fruit of a climbing plant that was an ancestor of our modern vines.

They allowed the liquid to ferment and hey presto, they had discovered wine. True or not, it makes a better story than the magic potion of Astérix the Gaul.

On a summer’s evening, standing on the terrace of the château for one of their regular aperitif tastings, you will enjoy one of the finest views in the region. Far off on the horizon ahead is St Emilion. Off to the left begin the vineyards of Duras. And directly ahead is a charming bowl of landscape where the vineyards produce some of the best wines of the Bergerac.

They are also among the most inventive. One of the drinks that Laurent produces is called Lyvress, which is a pun on l’ivresse, the French word for being drunk. It tastes like a very dry sherry, although the bouquet in the nose would lead you to expect a sweet wine.

The Sauvignon Blanc grapes are picked some time after they are ripe but before the noble rot can set in. It is an interesting curiosity.

Laurent has also decided

to bottle his special dry white wine, known as the reserve, in a sloping-shouldered bottle of the kind usually associated with Burgundy. At 9.50 euros a bottle, it is an extremely good wine at the price, made from seventy per cent Sauvignon and thirty per cent Semillon. It is aged for twelve months in barrels, which is not common in these parts for white wine but it really works and it won a gold medal at the Paris concours two years ago. And you can keep it in the cellar for five years, which indicates how good this wine is.

The vineyard produces excellent Monbazillacs (more gold medals at Paris), Bergerac Sec white wine, Bergerac and Côtes de Bergerac reds, Bergerac Rosé and the slightly sweet (but not liquoreux) Bergerac Moelleux.

The standard wines, which Laurent calls his Essentials Collection, are very reasonably priced at 6.10 euros each. The medium-price range, which he calls the Vintners Collection, is priced at 9.50 euros when bought at the vineyard, but may soon see a modest price rise. I think it would be a good buy at twice the price. I bought a case

Ginger Salad Ingredients:

55 g peeled and grated fresh ginger 95 ml fresh lime juice 95 g sugar Pinch of ground ginger Soy sauce to taste 1 small head thinly sliced green cabbage 1 large peeled and grated carrot Generous quantity of jarred pickled sliced ginger root, drained Handful roasted peanuts, roughly crushed

Image credit: Emily Han

I

by Julia Watson

t is not just Brexit that is forcing people, in the UK at least, to examine what they might be eating in the very near future. Global warming, that powerful descriptive abandoned in favour of the more anodyne ‘climate change’ - in case the former scares people... isn’t scared what we all should be? - will alter the whole world’s access to food.

About a decade ago, the BBC sent 9 volunteers to spend 12 days living in a tent on a diet based on what our ancestors ate and that would appeal to our closest relatives: the apes.

The volunteers stayed in a covered enclosure next to the ape house at Paignton Zoo in Devon and were filmed eating up to 2,300 calories of fruit, vegetables, nuts and honey a day.

It may sound like a reversal of Robert B. Sherman's lyrics for The Jungle Book: “Oh, oobee doo, I wanna be like you... You'll see it's true/An ape like me/Can learn to be human too.” But this project was serious an experiment to demonstrate how much our modern food habits cause health problems. A prescient programme indeed.

The main culprits of contemporary diets processed foods, sugar, and saturated fats - were cut out completely. Instead, the volunteers, aged 36 to 49, ate up to a whopping 5 kilos a day of uncooked fruit and vegetables, to gauge the effect on their cholesterol and blood-pressure levels.

This is a very large quantity indeed of any kind of food and probably why they were assigned a habitat with open sides! Not surprisingly, instead of going hungry, some of the volunteers were unable to finish their daily portion.

The diet was devised by a King's College Hospital nutritionist and registered dietician and encompassed the foods our bodies have evolved to eat over thousands of years.

The plant-based diet of primates was studied to come up with a three-day rotating menu of fresh produce safe to eat raw that met adult human daily nutritional requirements and provided the recommended number of calories for men and women.

Nuts and honey were also part of the regime, as was water. In the second week, to embrace the

In a bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients.

In a second bowl, toss together the cabbage, carrot and jarred ginger, then pour over the sauce and toss together well to coat.

Leave the flavours to develop for 30 minutes, then scatter over the peanuts and serve - with grilled prawns, if wished.

of twelve of his Reserve reds, made of half Cabernet Sauvignon, half Merlot.

His special wines, called Laurent’s Grandes Signatures, are usually marketed under the name of Ortus, the Latin word for sunrise, but Laurent says in old French it meant the garden where you were born. At 19.50 euros, the Ortus red is simply sensational, made of sixty-five per cent Merlot, fifteen per cent Cabernet Sauvignon and twenty per cent Malbec. They only make it in special years, which until recently meant only 2011 and 2015 but Laurent hopes that the 2018 is developing well enough to make some. It is delicate but quietly, calmly seductive on the nose and like velvet in the mouth, with a wonderful long finish.

And naturally I treated myself to some bottles of that, too, for special occasions.

I asked Laurent about the Merlot, because of the concerns I hear in many vineyards about the impact of climate change upon this grape. He maintains that the challenge can be handled with proper management of the leaf cover to ensure the right balance of shade and air, so the sun does not bake the grapes and the breeze can keep them dry. How he manages that in one of the largest vineyards in the Bergerac, with over two hundred acres, is another ques-

tion.

Laurent, a plump and genial man with thick, curly hair, admits that his wines are not easy to define or pin down and he likes to let them speak for themselves. He once wrote that he has “an unconscious preference for subtlety over power, for elegance over exuberance, modesty over vanity”.

He is also deeply rooted in the estate, which he claims (citing those Celts) as the oldest in Western Europe. And certainly monks were making wines here in the tenth century. As a boy, he’d spend summers here with his grandmother, Blanche, who ran the vineyard until her death at the age of 102. She is commemorated in his best Monbazillac, called Blanche de Bosredon, 19.50 for a half-litre bottle, which is breathtakingly good value for the price. ■

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.

FRENCH LIFE ♦ 13

MARCH 2019 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

P

What are your UK pension options in France today? - Blevins Franks

ensions are often the key to longterm financial security, so it is crucial to take extreme care when deciding what to do here. Expatriates have the added complication of factoring in the tax rules of two countries, as well as the potential for Brexit to limit the range of opportunities.

So what are today’s options for Britons living in France?

‘Defined contribution’ or ‘money purchase’ pensions This category includes most personal and employer pensions and Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs). Here, what you are entitled to depends on how much you have paid into the scheme alongside employer contributions, tax rebates and investment growth.

Since the pension freedoms of 2015, members of defined contribution schemes can usually do the following from age 55: • Take the whole fund as cash, technically called the ‘Pension Commencement Lump Sum’ (PCLS) – 25% will be tax-free in the UK. • Make cash withdrawals when you want – a quarter is free of UK tax each time (unless you have already taken the PCLS).

• Take regular income through ‘flexible drawdown’, leaving the remainder invested.

• Take a secure, regular income for life through an ‘annuity’.

As UK pension payments are usually paid in sterling, conversion fees and variable exchange rates can reduce the value of income for retirees living in Europe. A nodeal Brexit may even prevent UK pension providers from legally paying benefits to British nationals in the EU. Expatriates have the option to transfer UK pension funds to an EU-based Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme (QROPS) tax-free. QROPS advantages include the flexibility to pass pension benefits to chosen heirs, take income in euros or sterling and more investment choice. Once in a QROPS, funds are protected from future UK taxation, including lifetime allowance penalties.

However, QROPS benefits and rules vary significantly between providers and jurisdictions. Also, a 25% UK tax charge

applies on transfers to QROPS outside the EEA (European Economic Area). Many believe the UK government may tax EU/ EEA transfers after Brexit, so if you are considering transferring, act sooner rather than later to avoid unnecessary taxation.

First, make sure you take specialist advice to establish if transferring is suitable for you and navigate the complex options.

‘Defined benefit’ or ‘final salary’ pensions Here, your employer guarantees a proportion of your salary for the whole of retirement. While you cannot usually withdraw cash from this type of pension, you can transfer it to a defined contribution scheme or QROPS. Traditionally, this has been considered less beneficial than drawing a guaranteed pension for life.

However, some providers have been offering higher than usual ‘transfer values’ to reduce their future pension liabilities, sometimes representing hundreds of thousands of pounds. Sensibly reinvested, a high one-off sum could potentially provide a retirement income that exceeds the original annual payment, but it is crucial to fully understand the consequences before giving up lifetime benefits.

In any case, you should consider various issues before making pension decisions.

Taxation While 25% of cash withdrawals can be taken tax-free in the UK, if you are French resident they are usually taxable in France, as is other UK pension income.

French residents accessing UK pensions will attract French income tax rates ranging from 14% for income over €9,964 to 45% above €156,244.

For lump sums, it is possible to limit French tax to a fixed rate of just 7.5% with an uncapped 10% allowance. You will only be eligible if you have not already started drawing benefits from your pension and you take the entire fund in one go.

Pension income and lump sums are also generally subject to annual social charges of 9.1%, unless you hold EU Form S1 or do not have access to the French healthcare system. So if you are under the UK state retirement age but able to access your pension, it may be worth delaying

joining the French healthcare system to prevent unnecessary social charges.

The exception here is UK government service pensions – including teachers’, local authority, army, police and civil service pensions – which remain taxable in the UK only (although the income is included when calculating your French final tax rate).

For the best results and to avoid an unexpected tax bill, take specialist, crossborder advice before making any pension decisions.

Making your pensions last Having the freedom to withdraw or transfer your pension does not mean that you should; you may be better off taking no action at this time. If you do choose to take some or all of your benefits as cash, make sure you have a reliable plan to fund your long-term future that matches your personal circumstances and future goals.

Beware that pension scams have never been more widespread and sophisticated – generally, if an investment sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Make sure any company you are dealing with regarding pension services is regulated with the

UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Remember: unprotected investments risk losing your money, with no compensation if things go wrong.

Even amongst regulated providers, check for quality. The FCA found that less than half of those transferring final salary pensions received suitable advice. Make sure your adviser takes account of your needs, objectives, personal circumstances and risk appetite to find the best solution for you and your family. Getting it wrong could have serious and unexpected consequences.

Take care to explore your options now – before Brexit potentially changes the landscape – to establish your best approach for a prosperous retirement in France. ■ Tax rates, scope and reliefs may change.

Any statements concerning taxation are based upon our understanding of current taxation laws and practices which are subject to change. Tax information has been summarised; an individual is advised to seek personalised advice.

Tel: 05 53 63 49 19 Email: bergerac@blevinsfranks.com Web: www.blevinsfranks.com ■

KICK-START YOUR BUSINESS WITH ADVERTS FROM €12.50 HT / MONTH SALES24@THEBUGLE.EU

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14 ♦ FRENCH LIFE

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2019

The Grumpy Granny Guide

Looking back to the future

T

he winter months are not very conducive to visiting tourist sites but they give me time to reflect on some of the wider issues facing tourism in this area. Almost all of us are aware of the various controversies that are thrown up by any change to our environment, whether it be the 80 km speed limit on our local roads or the Beynac bypass. Far be it from me to add my voice to arguments for or against these changes but a couple of recent meetings with two influential local players on the tourist scene have got me thinking about the longterm issues which face us. For reasons of discretion I have not used their real names.

Francis is a local boy made good. Having inherited a well-known prehistoric site as a young man he used this to found a domain consisting of 11 sites both inside and outside the Dordogne and he now owns, in a purely personal capacity, more private sites than anyone else in SW France. His success is due to his skill at networking (and there can be no doubt that as a local hero with deep pockets, the doors open easily for him), business savvy, hard work, determination and a flair for providing the public with attractive sites at good value for money.

Although much admired for his determination to acquire, and open to the public, as many of the local heritage sites as he can afford to buy or has the energy to develop, he is not known for either enlightened labour practices or a strict regard for authenticity.

He is a frequent target of criticism which is hard to assess.

Francis was fortunate that he could build his ‘empire’ without public money barring a few exceptions.

“I don’t ask for public money because the process is too slow and cumbersome. When a site comes up for sale, I need to be able to act fast and I’m happy to say that financially I am able to do that. That means I don’t have to please the authorities who use grants and subsidies to control, in their interests, what’s going on. My success is in part about acting quickly and decisively and that can ruffle a few feathers.”

A more serious charge is that despite his deep knowledge of history, his sites are not always accurate in their depiction of the past. But Francis, who is passionate about the preservation of historic sites and a great collector of artefacts, denies that he makes too many concessions to public demands.

Indeed it is open to debate whether a restored 16th century town house can be filled with furniture which albeit of the period, was not part of the original furnishings. Or whether it is appropriate to recount tales and fables associated with a site when there is no absolute proof that they are true. After all, what precisely is ‘historical exactitude’ and what do we mean by ‘authentic’?

Francis brushes his critics aside because he is on a different mission. He opens up the sites (but does not manage them) in order to acquire the funds to buy more and yet more, parts of the Dordogne which may be of interest not only today but in the future “I have no idea if anyone will want to visit a castle 50 years from now but I am far more interested in preserving a site than pleasing tourists who have become very fickle and demanding. The infrastructure has to be perfect; the welcome, parking, the toilet facilities must all be flawless regardless of the size or interest of the site so I leave management of all that to others. Tourists are just the means to an Managing Editor: Steve Martindale Editor-in-Chief: Steve Martindale Registered Address: Les Quatre Chemins

23150 St-Yrieix-les-Bois SIRET: 514 989 748 00017 Printed by: Charente Libre

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end. I do have some sites which don’t make a profit and which for the moment I am able to subsidise with the income from others because they all have some value, otherwise I wouldn’t have bought them, although I have made some mistakes. Sites in town are problematic because there is too much to distract the tourist, better to be the sole focus of interest out of town.”

Francis says his motivation is solely to restore, protect and preserve as much as he can. His objective is to purchase a site, make it commercially profitable and thus ensure it will not be degraded or forgotten in the future.

I can only take him at his word and this approach is only one way of looking at our local heritage. In view of his perspective, my subsequent talk with Michel, also a local personality, was all the more enlightening.

When he was quite young, Michel too, inherited a large number of buildings, wooded areas and potential sites of tourist interest but made a conscious decision to leave them intact to the point of fencing off land which had previously been accessible. His reasoning is diametrically opposite to that of Francis (with whom it has to be said, he nevertheless has an excellent relationship).

“It‘s only by preserving these sites untouched, as they have evolved over the last century or so, that can we can be sure we provide future generations with a sense of how things were. We have inherited a combination of prehistory and natural beauty enriched by events in a magical environment of landscapes and buildings, so we need to keep things as unspoiled as we can and preserve all this in our modern world of concrete and noise. We should ensure a future oasis of calm and beauty and not attract any more people than the present infrastructure can cope with.”

But some of Michel’s views are paradoxical. He wants the environment to remain untouched, yet he would like there to be more restoration of the smaller vestiges of history such as the wash places, roadside shrines, pigeon lofts and bories because many of these will soon be buried in the undergrowth, collapse and be lost forever. He agrees that maintaining sites commercially is a way of preserving them but would nevertheless like to see a moratorium, more restrictions on tourist numbers and an absolute halt to expanding the infrastructure to accommodate the tourist trade.

“More should be done to show national and local treasures through virtual visits on the internet because I am convinced that virtual tourism will be the way to go in future. We should leave the ‘real’ sites for those who are genuinely interested in what they see rather than cater for all those who are encouraged to come because tourist marketing tells them these are ‘must-see’ sites. The present tourist policies are unsustainable because there has been a huge investment in restoration and now just as much funding goes to ensure that visitors can see what has been restored without necessarily understanding or appreciating what they are looking at. Where does it all end? New, heavy infrastructure destroys the very beauty people come to see.”

Francis and Michel reflect a dilemma we are all facing - how much change do we need/ want to accept?

Should we work towards providing an environment which can support a working population now, in 2019, by encouraging the tourist industry, which

Directeur: Steve Martindale Rédacteur-en-chef: Steve Martindale Siège: Les Quatre Chemins

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The Bugle cannot accept responsibility for the claims of advertisers or their professionalism. We strongly advise readers to verify that the company you are dealing with is a registered trading company in France or elsewhere in the world.

EASY

Hard to know which tourist sites to visit?

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www.GRUMPYGRANNY-GUIDES.com although poorly paid brings some life to the area?

This means adapting the infrastructure and accepting a trend which began with the arrival of the railway. Or do we believe the future is best served by preserving an ‘old-fashioned’, traditional lifestyle for future generations who may be desperate to find a haven of peace and tranquillity but which inevitably comes at the expense of the present working population and local activity.

A clear example of this conundrum is Collongesla-Rouge, which I knew when it was still a working community. Charming and still lively even if already on the verge of decline in the 70s, I saw it then become a tourist attraction in summer and a sad place in winter. Then its final demise as a place to live, empty of permanent inhabitants, surrounded by visitor car parks. Perfectly restored on the outside but void on the inside rather like a stuffed specimen in a museum, it has become a sad shadow of what a town should be. But, we may well ask, was there a viable choice?

Neither Francis nor Michel are entirely convinced they have found the right solution. Ironically, if preserving everything intact is what we think future generations will want to see, Michel’s approach has some merit but Francis’ determination to bring back to life some long neglected part of history or landscape reflects an equally valid alternative. It would be glib to say that what we need is a compromise because sadly the two views are mutually exclusive so compromise is unlikely. The proof is the impasse at Beynac.

Assumptions about the future are usually erroneous and only time will tell us who is right - but sadly, or gladly, we will not be around to hear. ■

This is part of a series of features devoted to the tourist experience in the Dordogne provided by the website grumpygranny-guides.com which highlights those sites which are comfortable and pleasant to visit and which offer a warm welcome.

MEDIUM

HARD

BILINGUAL ♦ 15

MARCH 2019 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

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The Easter bunny or the Easter bell?

M

any British expats bringing up children in France will probably have had the same awkward conversation with their young children: “Why do I have a tooth fairy but all my friends have a magic mouse?”

Spring is another difficult time for for those with trusting children as, along with the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny apparently doesn't speak much French! In this country it is the Easter bell that brings chocolates for hungry young mouths.

As is so often the case, the reason for these differing customs lies in religion. France is a traditionally Catholic country and Easter is a time of year when Christians remember the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As a sign of mourning, Catholic churches and cathedrals don’t ring their bells in the period between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. On the Friday, young children are told that the bells have grown wings and flown to Rome to be blessed by the Pope.

On the morning of Easter Sunday, tradition says that these bells return, bringing gifts with them.

The traditional Easter egg hunt then begins, when kids search for hidden chocolate bells and eggs around the house and garden.

The Easter bunny, on the other hand, has its roots in pagan traditions which celebrated the rebirth of the land at this time of year. The Saxons and Germanic peoples worshipped Spring goddesses whose symbols were rabbits or hares, species closely linked to reproduction and fertility.

One thing that the two traditions have in common, however, are eggs. While the Easter bunny brings chocolate bunnies and the Easter bell brings chocolate bells, both also come armed with vast quantities of chocolate eggs. Some people argue that these eggs represent the boulder at the entrance to Christ’s tomb, others say Mary Magdalene brought cooked eggs to share with the women at his tomb. A more practical explanation may be that, because eggs are outlawed by the Catholic Church during Lent, there is always a surplus of them to use up come Easter Sunday!

This is also why large quantities of pancakes are traditionally eaten on Shrove Tuesday, the day before the beginning of Lent.

Originally these Easter eggs would have been real egg shells, which had the yolks and whites blown out before being painted and decorated. In 19th century Russia, members of high society began exchanging ornately decorated eggs at Easter, some of which were jewel-encrusted! These days, however, it more common to find them made of chocolate and wrapped in brightly coloured foil. ■

D

Many thanks to local French teacher, Sophie Arsac, for the translation of this month's bilingual article. Why not get in touch with Sophie to see how she can help improve your French! See her advert below.

e nombreux expatriés britanniques qui éduquent leurs enfants en France ont probablement été confrontés à cette conversation embarrassante avec leurs jeunes enfants : “ Pourquoi est-ce que j’ai une fée des dents alors que tous mes amis ont une petite souris ? ” Vient un autre moment difficile pour ces parents aux enfants qui leur font tant confiance : c’est quand arrive le printemps. Comme la fée des dents, le lapin de Pâques ne semble pas bien parler le français ! En France, c’est la cloche de Pâques qui apporte des chocolats pour les petites bouches affamées.

Comme bien souvent, ces coutumes divergentes prennent racine dans les religions. La France est un pays traditionnellement catholique et Pâques représente pour les Chrétiens une période de commémoration de la mort et de la résurrection de Jésus Christ. En signe de deuil, les cloches des cathédrales et des églises catholiques ne sonnent pas entre le Vendredi saint et le dimanche de Pâques. Le vendredi, la tradition veut qu’on raconte aux jeunes enfants que des ailes ont poussé sur les cloches et qu’elles ont volé jusqu’à Rome pour être bénies par le pape.

Ensuite elles reviennent dans la matinée du dimanche de Pâques et rapportent des friandises. La traditionnelle chasse aux oeufs de Pâques peut commencer et les enfants cherchent les oeufs et les cloches en chocolat cachés dans la maison et dans le jardin.

Par contre, le lapin de Pâques est issu des traditions païennes qui célébraient la renaissance de la nature à cette époque de l’année. Les Saxons et les peuples germaniques idolatraient les divinités du printemps symbolisées par les lapins et les lièvres, des espèces associées à la reproduction et à la fertilité.

Cependant les deux traditions ont un point commun, ce sont les oeufs...

Tandis que le lapin de Pâques apporte des petits lapins en chocolat et que la cloche de Pâques apporte des cloches en chocolat, les deux arrivent chargés d’oeufs en chocolat. Certains affirment que les oeufs représentent le rocher à l’entrée du tombeau du Christ et d’autres disent que Marie-Madeleine apporta des oeufs durs qu’elle partagea avec les femmes devant sa tombe. Il existe une explication plus terre à terre : comme la consommation d’oeufs est proscrite par l’Eglise catholique durant le Carême, il faut écouler le stock le dimanche de Pâques ! C’est aussi pourquoi la tradition veut qu’on consomme de grandes quantités de crêpes à Mardi Gras, le jour précédant le début du Carême.

Initialement ces oeufs de Pâques auraient été de vraies coquilles d’oeufs vidées de leur jaune et de leur blanc puis peintes et décorées. Dans la Russie du 19ème siècle, les membres de la haute société commencèrent à échanger des oeufs richement décorés à Pâques, certains étant incrustés de bijoux ! De nos jours, il est plus commun de les trouver en chocolat, enveloppés dans du papier aluminium aux couleurs vives. ■

16 ♦ DIRECTORY

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2019

Business Directory

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Whenever the sun shines, the air in the solar panel is heated and the fan, receiving power from the solar cell, introduces warm, dry air into your home at the rate of 20 to 100 cubic metres per hour.

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There are no electrical or water connections and it can be safely left running, even when

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DIRECTORY ♦ 17

MARCH 2019 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

ADVERTORIAL

Pension Drawdown for the over 55s Rosemary Sheppard, International Financial Adviser

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Option 1. Buy an Annuity Temporary or Whole life Temporary Annuity: Spend your money on a 3, 5 or 10 year capital protected temporary Annuity. This will provide an income for the term with some capital returned at the end of the term (that can be reinvested in another temporary annuity) or on death during the term. These can be set up on a joint life basis or own life basis.

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Stephen Wisedale

WiFi Anglais

The above information was correct at the time of preparation and does not constitute investment advice and you should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity.

Blacktower Financial Management Ltd is authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Blacktower Financial Management (Int) Ltd is licensed in Gibraltar by the Financial Services Commission (FSC) through whom we have a registered branch and passport for financial services in France.

License number 00805B.

WEBSITE No6 DESIGN before

- Free quote / discussion / meeting / assessment of current site during

- Refresh / redesign your existing site - Create new one page / multipage / shop / gite booking system site afterwards

- Update your own site if you like!

- Enjoy a fully maintained site - Enjoy full website support contact@no6.co

06 38 75 32 97

www.no6.co Siret: 80493524500014

Food & Drink The Dordogne Chippy

Traditional Fish & Chips in a town near you All venues are in the evening between 6pm & 8.30 pm Wednesday: Mauzac, Le Barrage Thursday: Eymet 1st & 3rd Friday: Lauzun 2nd Friday: Ste-Alvère Last Friday: Campagnac-lès-Quercy See our website for full details:

www.thedordognechippy.com 05 53 74 01 91 or 06 19 99 25 62 siret: 444 925 630 00014

FOR SALE:

Established catering business

Extended wired and wireless networks for homes, gîtes and small businesses.

VPN solutions. Windows and Mac OSX.

Specialising in Indian and English food, serving Depts 24,16,46 and surrounding.

Easily managed from your home.

Sale due to retirement. €25k neg as going concern including commercial equipment, training, etc.

Huge Potential. Email for details. rhome2012@hotmail.co.uk

www.wifianglais.com Email: hello@wifianglais.com Tel: 05 53 30 23 96 Mob: 07 78 52 20 46

CONTINUED NEXT PAGE...

Solve your Internet, wireless and computer problems

Siret: 800 525 040 00013

18 ♦ DIRECTORY

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2019

ADVERTORIAL

Houses on Internet: A Global Property Network

H

ouses on Internet – Global Property Services (hereafter referred to as “HOIGPS”) is the internet/marketing company that helps people sell their French property to buyers worldwide.

Richard Kroon, founder and director of the company: “In spite of Brexit, this year started off extremely well. The number of sales are 40% higher than last year and the summer months are still to come. We still see British buyers, but also many other nationalities, which is why our worldwide advertising is so important. Our marketing efforts are definitely paying off and guarantee a worldwide exposure of your property to buyers wherever they live.

“Last year HOI-GPS sold to people from 12 different coun-

Gifts & Crafts Ivan Petley

3D Puzzle Maker Handmade, fully interlocking, multi-layered 3D puzzles from just €9.

Keyrings €2 plus other unique gift ideas.

Customisation and personalisation possible.

Postal delivery options across France.

Tel: 05.55.80.29.98 Les Bregères, 23150 St-Martial-le-Mont alison.petley@wanadoo.fr

Handholding Services HELP IS HERE!!

Struggling with the Complex French Administration?!

We are here to help!

Call us or email us We will help you find a solution

06.70.23.53.33

helpishere24@yahoo.com

Please mention The Bugle when responding to adverts

tries, like France, Australia, Belgium, Holland, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Canada, Denmark and South Africa.

“The actual work all starts with the presentation of a property. If that’s not good enough, all other marketing efforts are useless. Our photographers usually take 150 to 200 photos of a house and in addition copy any good (summer) photos our clients may have themselves.

“About 50 to 60 of those photos are selected, enhanced and presented on the dedicated website we make for each property in English, French and Dutch.

“The texts don’t just describe the house, garden and outbuildings, but information about shopping, schools, airports and leisure is given too.

“When the website for the

FRENCH LESSONS Via Skype

with a native French speaker Why commute? Long distance learning is the answer!

C’est simple, call Sophie...

05 55 89 15 74 scarolinea@yahoo.fr

Pest Control

Central France Pest Control

house is online, we first connect it to our main HOI-GPS websites which attract over 135,000 visitors from 40+ countries each month. Most of these people find us through Google and additional Google advertising.

“To reach an even larger audience, a summary of the presentation of the house is also placed on several other leading property websites. These adverts are also connected to the dedicated website of the house, making it all one big global property network.

“As the property market has become a global one, a prospective buyer can be on the other side of the world while the owner is in bed sleeping. With our approach, the buyer does not have to wait and can see the entire property whenever he wants, at the moment he is inter-

Retail & Commerce USED KITCHENS FRANCE Looking for a designer kitchen with granite worktops and premium appliances at a fraction of RRP? Pre-loved kitchens from brands like Poggenpohl and Bulthaup at usedkitchensfrance.fr 09 53 50 86 49

Curative and preventative

For more information on advertising in the Bugle Business Directory, give us a call or send us an email:

rats, mice, moles, flies, woodworm, bed bugs, fleas, wasps, hornets

sales24@thebugle.eu

Dératisation, Déinsectisation, Désinfection

02 48 60 83 72 / 06 74 33 02 38 www.applicateur3d.com Email: info@applicateur3d.com

La Petite Barre, 18210 Bessais Le Fromental SIRET No. 498 544 741 00024

Property Maintenance

06 04 17 80 93

bookstop

Quality second-hand books in English & French

ested in it.”

For more information on HOIGPS or to market your property through them, visit their website. ■

Support

Learn French in France Complete immersion in a local family with lessons, conversation workshops, visits and local activities in Périgord, all at your own pace. (total independence possible)

www.auclairduperigord.com +33 (0)6 41 37 02 50 d.nina@live.co.uk

La Conciergerie Taking care of your home all year round providing you with a wintering service, managing your summer rentals or organising a happy holiday for you.

24600 Villetoureix laconciergerie24@orange.fr Tel: 06 42 67 94 50 siret: 840 556 228 00010

sales24@thebugle.eu

06 04 17 80 93

09 51 45 57 49

Enjoy a relaxing read in the tea room or riverside garden bookstop24@gmail.com facebook.com/bookstop24

Your advert here 06 04 17 80 93

+31 (0)6 41 20 73 69

Smart Moves For a fully insured, careful service

SOS Help

anxious? stressed? feeling down? call us up!

01 46 21 46 46 3 - 11pm daily Confidential & Non-profit

FORTNIGHTLY SERVICES TO FRANCE FULL OR PART LOADS WELCOME WE COLLECT FROM ALL AREAS OF THE UK AND DELIVER TO ALL AREAS OF FRANCE Please CALL or EMAIL Stephen

smartmovers@hotmail.co.uk

+44 (0)1253 725 414

www.soshelpline.org

www.smartmovesremovals.co.uk

Your advert here

Local and European Removals

06 04 17 80 93 Please mention The Bugle when responding to adverts

Transport, Removals & Storage

19 r Victor Hugo, 24310 Brantôme

Language Services

Houses on Internet Global Property Services www.housesoninternet.com

Man & Van Transport

Genuine/Reliable/Honest Local + Europe + UK runs Now also available for House/Barn clearances!

14m3 capacity 4.2m load length

France to France, Spain, Portugal, Italy etc We Offer: Removals, Storage, House Clearance, also Car, Caravan, Plant Transport.

French Registered Business.

Local Friendly Service.

+33 (0)6 73 96 38 39

www.dordognestoragesolutions.com

For more information on advertising in the Bugle Business Directory, give us a call or send us an email: sales24@thebugle.eu

06 04 17 80 93

English & French Spoken

09 82 12 69 73

sales24@thebugle.eu

www.frenchvanman.eu

06 04 17 80 93

87150 Oradour-sur-Vayres Siret 530 213 644 00012

COMMUNITY ♦ 19

MARCH 2019 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

Advertising in The Bugle Business Directory Advertising your business couldn’t be easier. Text only, boxed listings are available in our Business Directory from just €12.50/month.

Alternatively, why not spotlight your business with an Advertorial, available from 1/6 Page (€50 HT) up to Full Page (€300 HT).

Both Directory Adverts and Advertorials represent a cost effective way to put your brand in front of more than 30,000 pairs of eyes each month!!

For more information on any of our advertising options, please feel free to give us a call on 06 04 17 80 93 or send an email to sales24@thebugle.eu

6-Month Contract

12-Month Contract

Small b&w Directory Ad

€100

€150

Large b&w Directory Ad

€130

€195

Small Colour Directory Ad

€140

€210

Large Colour Directory Ad

€180

€270

All prices exclude TVA (20%)

Large Directory Ad 46mm x 71mm (Actual Size) 45 words max Small Directory Ad 46mm x 46mm (Actual Size)

30 words max

Directory Advertising is available either in black and white or colour, and in either small (30 words max) or large (45 words max) format.

Directory adverts may only contain text (small logos may be allowed when supplied). The minimum contract length is 6 months.

Advertising is payable on publication. All prices are HT.

SUDOKU - EASY

SUDOKU - MEDIUM

SUDOKU - HARD

The solutions to this month’s sudokus can be found on page 14

NEDWA - North Eastern Dordogne Women’s Association Come along and meet us on Tuesday 19th March from 10:30 am to 12 noon at our next Coffee Morning at Auberge du Pont, route de Lanouaille, 24390 Cherveix-Cubas.

Always be sure of a warm welcome, good company and genuine friendship.

www.nedwa.com

NEDWA is a dynamic, multi-national group of around 100 women of all ages... Whether you are retired and feel like meeting some friendly faces, work from home and want to network, or just need to get out and attend some good monthly events, NEDWA fills the gap. Activities include a book club, sewing circle, coffee mornings, walks, lunches, speakers on topics which relate to you and much more.

Handsome Muschu and his beautiful friends are all waiting for homes at Acorn Cat Rescue, Dordogne.

All Acorn cats and kittens are microchipped, vaccinated and sterilised where age appropriate.

www.associationacorn.com Facebook: Acorn Cat Rescue

Worship services in English held throughout the Dordogne: Bertric Burée, Chancelade, Eymet Temple, Limeuil, Négrondes, Sainte Nathalène (near Sarlat).

All are welcome!!

Please visit our website for more information: www.churchinaquitaine.org Find us on Facebook: English Church Aquitaine

20 ♦ WHAT’S ON

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2019

23rd & 24th March 2019

LALINDE

FREE ENTRY ESPACE J. BREL 10h-12h45 & 14h15-18h Organised by the association Kamalalinda

Variations Ensemble Vocal 2019 Easter Concerts Brahms Requiem, with its Philharmonic orchestra and soloists The Brahms Requiem, which is seldom heard in the Dordogne, will be performed in St George’s Church, Périgueux on Saturday 6th April at 20h00, and on Sunday 7th April at 17h00 in Saint-Martin-de-Ribérac. Variations will be singing, as usual, with their orchestra and soloists who are now well known and appreciated by the public after a decade of visiting the Dordogne to perform with the choir. This is a unique opportunity to appreciate the most profound choral work from a sometimes underrated composer.

What inspired Brahms, who was still a young man when he started this monument of choral expression, to write this requiem?

It seems there was no particular catalyst but his supporter and mentor, Robert Schumann, died in 1856 and the seventh and last movement was added in 1869, after the first performance but also after the death of his mother, Christine. What is very clear is that the Requiem is dramatically different from all requiems that preceded it, avoiding all references to Dies Irae, no Gates of Hell but concentrating on comforting those that mourn, singing of faith, consolation, victory over death and eternal peace. He even sets ‘Oh death, where is thy sting?’ to a type of waltz rhythm, almost laughing at death.

But the most radical difference is that it used texts in the vernacular taken from the German Lutheran Bible as opposed to the traditional Latin Mass form. Shock, horror, in southern Germany but in the Lutheran North, it was very well received, equally overseas, which gave Brahms an international reputation and all before his first symphony. It is often known as Brahms’ German Requiem.

Further details contact Veronica Dare Bryan on 06 85 86 73 33 or at veronica.dare-bryan@neuf.fr.

Tickets €20 (12-16s €8, Under 12s free) on sale Friday mornings from 10h00-12h00 at the office de tourisme, Ribérac, or by reservation from the Forum Culturel Centre Ribérac (Mondays-Fridays except Thursday mornings) or from Clare on 05 53 91 53 52 or at clare32pag@gmail.com.

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.

All events are organised by volunteers and serve as a meeting ground for the French and international communities of the Dordogne, including ACIP and La Tulipe.

Venue - Le Buisson de Cadouin, salle des fêtes, avenue Aquitaine

For more info, tel 06 31 61 81 68 or 05 53 23 86 22 or visit http://www.arcadesinfo.com/

Sunday 7th April at 5 pm Piano Concert

by Christine Stevenso

Programme: Beethoven Bagatelle Op. 126 No 3 in E flat major, 32 Variations on a Theme in C Minor WoO 80; Schumann Romance in F sharp Major Op. 28, No 2; Liszt Au Lac de Wallenstadt, Il Penseroso, Les jeux d’eaux à la Villa d’Este, Funérailles; Chopin The Four Scherzi Christine Stevenson enjoys a distinguished career as a piano recitalist and concerto soloist throughout the UK and abroad. Her concerts continually draw critical acclaim for her virtuosity, musicianship, and the engaging rapport she establishes with audiences of all ages..

MADS presents ‘The Cemetery Club’, written by Ivan Menchell and directed by Teresa Magill. It’s a simple story. Three Jewish widows, long-time friends, meet once a month for tea, then visit their husbands’ graves. Enter Sam, the local butcher, who captures the interest of the ladies and potentially souring the friendships of age. Watch as all the resentments, jealousies and emotions come to the surface.