The Bugle Dordogne - Mar 2021

Périgord walnut oil given protected status The celebrated huile de noix du Périgord has been granted a prestigious AOP, protecting the product from cheap imitations.

>> Page 3

World’s oldest shell instrument The 17,000-year-old conch shell laid undiscovered in a French museum for more than 80 years >> Page 10

November 2016 - Issue #85

Dordogne

Your local newspaper for life in France

March 2021 - Issue 93 - FREE!

17% of all adults have had Covid-19

>> continued on page 6

Europe's oldest woman survives Covid - pg 9

The Franco-Brit dessert building bridges - pg 10

Fighter jet cuts town's power lines - pg 12 © couvreur75-avrillas.fr

A

CoV-2 following a natural infection”, the institute wrote on its website.

As might be expected, the figures vary for different age groups and regions. Just 10% of those aged over 70 have had the virus, for example, but one quarter of 20 to 29-year-olds have already been infected. Almost one third of Parisians have had Covid-19, while those living on the west coast have the lowest incidence.

The study was commissioned to help estimate how much natural immunity may already be in the wider community, vital information as the government plans the next phases of the vaccine roll-out and manages

Covid fine for wearing flip-flops - pg 6

Baguettes and rooftops fight for UNESCO recognition - pg 4

The estimate, produced by the Pasteur Institute, indicates that almost one fifth of all adults over the age of 20 have been infected with the virus since last February.

n estimated 17% of people in France over the age of 20 may have already been infected with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to estimates produced by the internationally renowned Pasteur Institute in Paris.

The figure was calculated based on the number of people hospitalised by region and by age group, as well as on an “estimate of the probabilities of being hospitalised when one is infected”.

The aim of the study was “to appreciate the proportion of the population which could have acquired an immunity, at least partial and of short term, against Sars-

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2 ♦ IN THIS EDITION

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Welcome to

The Bugle

A

s I write this, I find myself somewhat ‘full of the joys of spring’.

This is in no small part due to the fact that I am ‘over the moon’ the sun is finally out, but also because I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the English language and its expressions and idioms. It all started when my eldest daughter went round to a friend’s house. They live on a farm and had recently welcomed a large number of lambs, a few of which they enlisted my daughter’s help in rounding up.

She later told me she couldn’t believe how fast and agile the little lambs were, at which point I taught her the expression ‘jumping around like a spring lamb’ which led naturally on to ‘running around like a headless chicken’.

Her English is perfect, in the sense that she speaks naturally and without an accent, but she does live her day-to-day life outside of the house speaking,

thinking and learning in French. I love words, language and expressions and whilst I am proud that I have learnt to speak French fluently (-ish), it is often a source of frustration that my French is purely functional.

It made me realise that my children won’t have necessarily come across the thousands of idioms that make English such a rich language and that it must ‘drive them round the bend’ when they hear such bizarre expressions and ‘haven’t got the foggiest’ what they mean. I take it for granted that I understand exactly what people mean when they use these expressions, but when you take a step back and think about it, ‘never in a month of Sundays’ would a non-native speaker have a Scooby Doo what you’re on about!

So I have been going into idiom-overload this last week in an attempt to expose my kids to as many of these unusual expressions as possible. It’s not always easy. Have you ever tried to explain to a child why

a ‘box of frogs’ is a perfect definition of insanity or why the pot and the kettle are having a conversation in the washing up bowl in the first place. “But horses can’t talk Dad, so why would the information come straight from his mouth?” I must admit, she had me there.

I knew it was working, however, when they told me they ‘couldn’t give a monkey’s’ about my silly expressions and to talk properly!

I think I wrote not that long ago about accents and how they make a language richer. Regional sayings and expressions add yet another layer to a personality. In much the same way as your favourite childhood cartoon will usually date you to within a few years, so words can identify you geographically and culturally.

If you’re getting lunch ready, whether you are about to fill a roll, batch, barm, cob, bap or stottie will say a lot about where you grew up.

I spent many years living in Brussels and became aware of the phenomenon I christened ‘Eurobabies’. This was a term I used to describe children of British parents who had spent their entire lives moving around various European and world cities.

They were often the sons and daughters of politicians, diplomats or NATO workers, taught at various international schools, and while they were always obviously native

www.phoenixasso.com/fostering English speakers, they had no identifying accent. You couldn’t place them to any part of the UK by their voice, speech or mannerisms.

I don’t say that in a pejorative sense, it was just an observable fact. Another common consequence of their upbringing was a very good education, multilingualism and an enviable exposure to ‘foreign’ customs and cultures. Just without a sense of ‘belonging’ to any one area or era.

Raising British children in France, this has always played on my mind and we have tried to make our house a very British one. My kids watch their fair share of CBBC, they know their baps from their baguettes and two of them love Marmite (the third is dead to me!) They will grow up to be dual nationals and I just hope

that I have not deprived them of enough French culture to make them Eurobabies over here whilst not giving them enough of a British identity to make them feel at home in the UK. Only time will tell, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating and let’s face it, I don’t know my arse from my elbow.

I’d promise to shut up now, but you’d accuse me of closing the barn door once the horse has bolted.

Until next month...

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

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Walnut oil granted protected status

credit: www.couteau-leperigord.com

F

rom February this year, the famous Périgordian walnut oil has been granted protected status by the European Union. The appellation d’origine protégée (AOP) means that only walnut oil produced in a defined area and under strict conditions can use the name huile de noix du Périgord, protecting the industry from counterfeit and cheap imitations.

To obtain the AOP status, the industry had to put forward a presentation on the production technique of walnut oil in the Périgord region along with a history of the local industry. Périgord walnut oil is “a virgin oil, first pressed in a purely mechanical process. Its main characteristic lies in the use of quality nuts from traditional local varieties: Marbot, Corne, Grandjean and Franquette.”

The local oil joins 1,500 other products on the protected list, which includes Parma ham and Champagne.

While some may argue that the AOP status is nothing

more than a marketing label, there are many famous examples where the apparent provenance of foods and drinks can be wildly misleading. Champignons de Paris, Dijon mustard and Charentais melons are just three. None of these products have protected status and there is very little stopping the average farmer growing

some mushrooms and labelling them Champignons de Paris. In the UK, Cheddar is a good example of a product name that has become a generic description and has very little to do with the traditional cheese made in the Somerset town.

Under the conditions of the AOP, huile de noix du Périgord should be extracted

only by cold or hot pressing, from kernels of traditional varieties of walnut. The area in which it can be produced is the same as that of the Périgord walnut, which obtained its AOP in 2004. It goes beyond the borders of the Dordogne to incorporate parts of the Corrèze, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Charente and even the Aveyron. ■

Local concerns over Nontron Covid variant

There were growing concerns this month that the Dordogne may have produced its very own variant of Covid-19 after a number of cases involving a mutant strain were identified in the north of the department. “Almost half of the variants detected are not the English variant,” explained Benoît Elleboode, director of the Nouvelle Aquitaine health authority. “They may be Brazilian or South African... or potentially a new one.”

At the heart of the investigation was a care home in Nontron where tests on the 74 residents and 41 staff led the local Novabio laboratory to alert the health authorities of a potentially new genetic strain of the virus. “We have not had any new cases identified in the nursing home,” said Pascal Bourdeau, the president of the supervisory board of the Nontron hospital centre. “But the questions about the existence of a possible Nontron variant is a serious concern for our teams.”

While attention focussed on the Nontron cases, it was thought the new variant could actually be a wider Périgordian one, linked to a similar outbreak in a Bergerac care home, where a new version was detected but had yet to be fully sequenced. “We have been waiting since January 17,” explained Brigitte Verdon, director of the care home in Lolme. “All I can tell you is that this virus is extremely contagious. Not even the reinforced safety protocols could contain it.”

Results from analyses by the Pasteur Institute in Paris, released as we go to print, would indicate that it is not a Brazilian, South-African or more local variant, but rather a mutation of the virus, already seen in Paris, Brittany and Mayotte.

While the mutated virus is incredibly contagious, the symptoms appear mild and many of the cases reported have been asymptomatic. ■

4 ♦ FRENCH NEWS

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T

he famous French baguette has found itself in an unlikely competition with the rooftops of Paris.

The pair are competing with a wine festival to be France's nomination for UNESCO's list of “intangible cultural heritage”, which aims to preserve popular global customs and traditions, and which already recognises Aubusson tapestry and the gastronomic meal among other elements of French culture.

For many, the traditional baguette is synonymous with France and while consumption has dropped in recent decades, the country still chomps its way through six billion crusty sticks each year – the equivalent of half a 250g baguette per person per day. While this is a significant amount of carbohydrate, at the turn of the 20th century the average French person would eat three baguettes each day!

“It would be a good thing to protect our baguettes, our know-how,” said artisan baker Jean-Yves Boullier. “At least let them recognise the French baguette as a unique product that is typically French, and something other countries can't make.”

The baguette may be instantly recognised across the world, but it will face stiff competition from the famous Paris skyline to represent France. Grey zinc roofs are one of the unique features of Parisian architecture and cover a majority of buildings in the capital. Édouard Bastien, president of the Génie Climatique et Couverture Plomberie union believes the honour would “recognise a savoir-faire that has existed for 200 years,” adding that it would “shine a light on our profession and bring young people,

or those retraining, to our industry, because there is a shortage of 500 roofers in Paris every morning”.

The capital's zinc roofs came close to representing France last year, but were eventually beaten by yoles, traditional fishing boats from Martinique. Their inclusion has been hampered in the past by a lack of backing from the Paris Mayor. “I do not want to freeze Paris in time, especially when we want to encourage green roofing solutions and more solar panels,” Anne Hidalgo said in 2015 when she first refused to back recognition of the tradition. “We want to prepare for potential higher temperatures linked to climate change. I would not want this classification to hinder us in this ecological transition.”

The third candidate is La fête du Biou d'Arbois in the Jura department, which is an annual wine festival, usually celebrated at the beginning of September and dating back to the 17th century. During the festival, winegrowers of the surrounding area select their best bunches and assemble them to form a giant grape decoration which is then hung outside the town church as an offering Saint Just, ensuring that the rest of the harvest is a good one.

The decision on which cultural element will represent France will be taken in March

by Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot, who will then present her choice to President Macron for approval. UNESCO will study the proposals of all countries before deciding which will be included. The list, which was launched in 2008, currently acknowledges 584 elements of culture from 131 different countries around the world. ■

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Baguettes and rooftops battle for recognition

Bookshops considered essential businesses The government has added bookshops to the list of essential businesses, meaning that they can remain open during any future lockdowns. Nice, Cannes and Dunkirk are currently undergoing weekend lockdowns, but the new ruling means that bookshops in the cities can continue to trade.

“I am absolutely delighted for my bookstore colleagues,” said Anne Martelle, president of the French booksellers union. “Since the first confinement, we battled to argue that bookstores were an essential business. I'm very grateful to the culture minister who now believes we were correct. Economically, book shops are among the least profitable shops in France, so it is a very fragile industry and the smallest changes can endanger their very existence.”

During previous lockdowns, areas of supermarkets where books were sold were forced to be cordoned off, but these will also now be able to remain open across the country. ■

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FRENCH NEWS ♦ 5

6 ♦ FRENCH NEWS

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Flip-flop lockdown fine

Emoji Covid fear map

I credit: meteo-covid.com

S

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www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2021

ince the coronavirus pandemic began early last year, graphs, charts and maps have become a daily feature of news bulletins. In response, one enterprising data analyst has decided to put a more light-hearted spin on what is often a dire situation by creating an emoji-map of the country's healthcare situation.

Guillaume Saint-Quentin is the founder of the website Météo Covid, which presents the current state of affairs by using an emoji for each department. He has called his creation the Trouillocarte – or Fear Map – from the French expression avoir la trouille, which translates as being scared to death.

The eleven levels of mood go from a party emoji at the happiest end, through to an emoji of Eduard Munch's The Scream and finally a police siren, indicating the highest level of fear. The map is updated daily using five metrics of publicly available data. At time of going to print, there are plenty of Scream emojis at the national level - and even one siren for the Alpes-Maritimes department – but the majority of Nouvelle-Aquitaine is at the lower end of the fear spectrum.

For more information, visit www.meteo-covid.com ■

n March of last year, a young Frenchman was surprised to be given a fine for breaking lockdown rules when he did not think he was breaking any. This shock has now turned to disbelief as almost one year later he has been told that he may soon face an appearance in court. His crime: wearing flip-flops!

25-year-old Laurick was stopped by the gendarmes whilst out taking his daily exercise on 24 March 2020, just after the start of the first lockdown. The young man, who was living with his parents, had correctly filled out his Attestation de déplacement dérogatoire form before going for his daily walk; one hour of outdoor exercise, taken within one kilometre of your house, was permitted at the time.

According to a letter that was recently sent by police to the house of Laurick's parents: “Travel exemption forms specify that people can leave the house to do sports, but he was not wearing appropriate clothing. With his flip-flops he was just taking a walk.”

The unlucky man has described the situation as “so

grotesque, it’s funny” and said that he will fight the ruling. By contesting the initial €135 fine, a further €31 has already been added, and this could increase much further if his case does end up in court and he is unsuccessful. He has said he will argue that “physical activity” as permitted by the attestation has a broader definition than simply “doing sports”, as appears to have been narrowly interpreted by the gendarmes who stopped him.

The original forms gave as one reason for leaving the house: “des déplacements brefs liés à une activité physique indi-

viduelle”, which, on the government's official English version was translated as: “individual outdoor exercise”. Most at the time had assumed that an afternoon stroll was an acceptable form of exercise, and in fact the form even mentions “going for a walk” and “walking a pet” as examples of valid reasons for leaving your house.

Whilst it should be hoped that common sense will prevail if the case is brought before a judge, were the courts to impose a fine, the ruling could set a dangerous precedent for those of us who prefer an open-toed shoe in warmer weather. ■

Nearly one fifth of all adults have had Covid-19 >> continued from pg 1 the ongoing pandemic response. The institute was at pains, however, to stress that the figures are an estimation and any immunity acquired through infection may well disappear with time.

“We must be careful in the interpretation of these estimates,” warned the institute. “If the infection undoubtedly confers immunity in the short term, it is possible that it fades with time.” The group also said that its methodology was based “on fairly strong assumptions”, but not hard data.

“We hypothesised that the probability of being hospitalised when one is infected has remained constant in each age group, but it is possible that these probabilities have varied during the pandemic or from one region to another.”

The figures were released as parts of the country teetered on the edge of further restrictions. Some of the worst

affected areas are currently in the northeast and south-east of the country. Nice, along with more than 60 communes along the south coast, has introduced localised weekend lockdowns with Dunkirk due to join them from the end of February. Further restrictions are also being considered in 20 departments under high surveillance, including the whole of greater Paris.

“The health situation in our country has deteriorated in recent days,” Prime Minister Jean Castex told the country in a televised address on February 25.

“Yesterday we registered more than 30,000 positive cases, a figure we haven’t seen since last November. After several months marked by a plateau of between 15,000 and 20,000 cases per day, the virus has been gaining ground again for a week.”

If it is decided that additional measures are required, they will not be implemented before March 6th,

the end of the school holiday window.

The government appears to remain committed to avoiding a further national lockdown and the prime minister expressed confidence that “the end of Spring” would see the country finally turn the corner. “By this time, the protection of the most vulnerable should enable us to reduce the effects of this epidemic on the entire population.”

During his televised address, Castex also revealed that the vaccination programme was being expanded to include people aged 50 to 64 who are considered to be in the high risk category, and from April everyone over the age of 65 who not already been vaccinated will be able to book an appointment for a jab.

Patients who are the most at risk of a severe form of Covid-19 include people with existing medical conditions, such as diabetes, cancer, respiratory disease, chronic kidney disease and obesity.

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importantly, I want to emphasise to you, we are vaccinating the right people,” the Prime Minister reassured the public. “If some countries around us have so far vaccinated more than us, France is in the lead for the vaccination of people most exposed to severe forms of Covid-19.”

France is not currently giving the AstraZeneca jab to people over 65 due to a lack of test data, but Health Minister Olivier Véran said in late February that he was increasingly confident that the vaccine was both safe and effective for older people. “I’m cautious, but a provisional Scottish study shows for the first time an absolutely phenomenal efficacy of AstraZeneca in elderly people, even those aged 65 and over,” the minister said. “I’m not going to give it to people aged 65 and over right away, I’m waiting for the article to be peer reviewed, and then for the health authorities to say that, on the basis of this study, we can go ahead.” ■

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FRENCH NEWS ♦ 7

MARCH 2021 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

W

hile taking part in an open day to encourage an interest in archaeology, two young children have discovered a tomb containing the 800-year-old mummified remains of an abbot. Brother and sister Alyssa and Alban Chambard, aged just eight and ten, made the amazing discovery after joining the search in the grounds of a medieval monastery at Soissons, a town near Reims in the Aisne department.

The children had been given some basic instruction, as well as a trowel and buckets and were tasked with removing grass and soil from an area that had once formed the floor where the church of the long-lost monastery stood. “They had been shown what to do and told to be careful,” explained Nicolas de Schonen, president of the Association de l’Abbaye Royale Saint Médard. “When they hit what looked like paving, they went very carefully. Then they saw faint engravings on the stone and realised it was something exciting.”

What they had inadvertently discovered was the top of the tomb of Albéric de Braine, an abbott at the monastery who died in 1206, a time when Soissons was one of Europe’s most important trading centres.

If the discovery itself was not enough, the experienced archaeologists called to the find soon realised that the tomb contained exceptionally well-preserved, mummified remains.

“Ten seconds after opening the tomb, it dawned on us what we had found,” explained Jérôme Haquet, an archaeologist at the CNRS Orient & Méditerranée. “We said to ourselves that it was both the best and the worst outcome, because we knew that it would be complicated to remove the body without damaging it and that we would have to resort to less usual methods. We closed it immediately so as not to affect the environment too much.”

The state of preservation, which has been described as matching that of some Egyptian mummies, has been put down to the presence of lead in the coffin. A sheet of lead had been placed over the head, which was itself resting on a pillow, also made of lead, something the archaeologists had never seen before. “We believe the lead created an antibiotic atmosphere, so the decomposition of the body by the development of bacteria did not take place. And the five stones of the lid which close the tomb were extremely well jointed, almost hermetically sealed. The contents of the tomb have been preserved, including the clothing of the deceased and even organic items such as hair.”

After the tomb had been studied, the abbot’s remains were taken to Grenoble where they were first sterilised using radiation in advance of further experiments and analysis. When the research has been completed, the mummified remains will be returned to Soissons for reburial.

credit: Assoc. Abbaye Royale St-Médard de Soissons

Children unearth 800-year-old mummy

Despite the circumstances of his burial indicating a man of significant importance, relatively little is known about the abbott.

The area has been conquered by foreign armies at least seven times since the monastery was first built, with subsequent looting

often destroying historical documents. The association which made the discovery now hopes to turn the area into a “fun historic site” to encourage an interest in archaeology and is trying to find out more about Abbot Albéric de Braine. ■

Don’t miss the Great Phoenix Book Fair Saturday 1st May

T

he next Great Phoenix Book Fair is due to take place on Saturday 1st May at the salle des fêtes, Campsegret (24140) on the N21 just north of Bergerac. If you have run low, or are even out, of books after what seems like a long and very wet winter, what better way to restock than at the Book Fair.

The Fair will be organised to take account of current health regulations and guidelines and every effort will be made to make the event safe and enjoyable for everyone. Given the ever-changing situation, please check the Phoenix Facebook page for up-to-date information https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixAssociationFrance.

At the Fair you will find over 20,000 used books in excellent condition – fiction, non-fiction, children’s, French, Dutch, antiquarian, collectibles, cookery, history and many more. You’ll also find DVDs, CDs and vinyls, jigsaws, children’s games, bric-a-brac, plants and cards.

Prices start at just one euro!

The Phoenix Catering Team will be serving a selection of delicious home-made goodies, both sweet and savoury.

Doors open at 9.00 am and close at 3.00 pm. Free parking is available. Children and dogs are very welcome.

All donations of money, books, DVDs, CDs, plants, bric-a-brac, etc. are welcome on the day.

All proceeds will go to the Phoenix Association to continue the work of caring for and rehoming animals in need.

PLEASE COME AND JOIN US!

PS If you are interested in helping at the Fair or sorting books throughout the year, please contact Sandra Hall at sand.hall@orange.fr https://www.phoenixasso.com

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2021

Limousin cow sells for world record price at UK auction

I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want... a cow worth more than a brand new Ferrari!

A

pedigree Limousin cow has sold at auction in the UK for a world record €300,000, a figure that has led to surprise and a little confusion this side of the Channel. The 14-month-old heifer, Wilodge Poshspice, is the daughter of Milbrook Gingerspice, and when news of the sale was made public, she briefly enjoyed a moment of fame more usually associated with her celebrity namesake.

The price paid for Poshspice is double the previous record, held by her mother following a 2014 sale.

Bred at Lodge Hill Farm in Shifnal, Shropshire, the Limousin cow was sold at the auction in Carlisle for 250,000 guineas, an amount her previous owner, breeder Christine Williams, described as “mind blowing” and “akin to winning the lottery”. Cattle and horses are still sold in guineas, which in old money was 21 shillings, worth £1 and 5p today.

Traditionally, the extra shilling was the auctioneer's commission, although they now typically earn more than this.

The staggering price is at least in part due to the fact that advances in science mean the heifer will be able to produce far more calves than would have previously been possible. “There has been a general trend in the last five to ten years for female cows to sell for more than bulls due to an advance of technology which allows embryos to be harvested and sold,” explained Scott Donaldson of Harrison and Heatherington auctioneers, which handled the sale. “On

@luxurylaunches (Twitter)

8 ♦ FRENCH NEWS

the day of the auction two big breeders agreed to combine their resources to bid, which meant they had the cash, and then there was the surprise entry of a new Irish bidder, who is starting a pedigree herd from scratch and was determined to get the best - and the result was the price we saw.”

Local farmers here in the Limousin can only dream of earning these sums of money from their livestock. At the last major pure-breed Limousin auction in France, held in September, the most expensive animal sold was a bull called Maestro who went for €10,200. The average price for a heifer was less than €4,500.

“It is wrong to say that we in France are angry at the price,” said Olivier Rambert, who works for the company which runs sales for the Congrès International Limousin, based in Boisseuil

near Limoges. “It is more that we want the public to understand that the price is 200 times more than a best-of-breed Limousin cow would sell for in France.

It has nothing to do with the realities of the commercial market where French livestock farmers are really struggling at the moment.”

“The owners of this heifer will never get their money back, but they will have the fame that goes with her, and a strong base to breed their herd further. We are very happy for the seller, for the new owners and for the Limousin breed in general because it has got people talking about its many merits, but again, we need to tell people this is nothing to do with French commercial livestock farming.” ■ See pg 13 for an article on the history of the Limousin breed.

FRENCH NEWS ♦ 9

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Europe's oldest woman survives Covid-19

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urope's oldest person has survived Covid-19, just in time to celebrate her 117th birthday. Lucile Randon, a French nun who took the name of Sister André in 1944, tested positive for coronavirus in January, but did not develop any symptoms, telling local media “I didn't even realise I had it”. After a brief spell in isolation at the Toulon care home where she lives, Sister André was declared fully recovered before her birthday on 11th February.

“She has been very lucky,”

said David Tavella, spokesman for the Sainte Catherine Labouré retirement home. “She didn't ask me about her health, but about her habits. For example, she wanted to know if meal or bedtime schedules would change. She showed no fear of the disease. On the other hand, she was very concerned about the other residents.”

Sister André was born on 11th February 1904 and, along with being Europe's oldest person, she is also the secondoldest living person in the world. When asked by French broadcaster BFM whether she

Mastercard increases EU fees for UK-issued cards Mastercard has revealed that it will be increasing fivefold the charge it levies on vendors in the EU for online sales when processing UK-registered cards. Because the UK is no longer a member of the EU, the fees charged to an EU-based seller are to rise from 0.3% to 1.5% for credit cards and 0.2% to 1.15% for debit cards.

While some have expressed concerns that the increased fee will lead to businesses refusing to accept UK Mastercard payments, the company has said that the change should have little impact. The new “interchange” fees are the same as are currently paid by sellers whenever someone uses a non-EU/ EEA card, and a spokesperson for the payment processing giant said: “There is no evidence that European businesses charge consumers in non-EEA markets higher prices than consumers in the EEA as a result.”

The spokesperson did not comment on whether some EEAbased websites might opt to stop accepting payments from UK cards. Mastercard’s main competitor, Visa, also passes on interchange fees, but has not yet taken a decision on its position regarding UK cards. ■

Self-isolation increased from one week to 10 days The government has increased the minimum period of self-isolation for anyone testing positive for Cov-

was scared to find out she had Covid, she replied: “No, I wasn't scared, because I wasn't scared to die. I'm happy to be with you, but I wish to be somewhere else - to join my big brother, and my grandfather and my grandmother.”

Coronavirus disproportionally affects the elderly and spreads rapidly in care home environments. While Sister André survived the virus with mild symptoms, not everyone in her care home was so lucky: of the 88 residents, 81 were diagnosed with Covid-19 in January and 10 sadly died. ■

id-19 from seven to 10 days over fears of more contagious variants of the virus. Confirming the change, which took effect from Monday 22nd February, Health Minister Olivier Véran said: “The uncertainty around the variants requires us to remain absolutely on alert.”

“Certain scientific studies suggest the possibility that the variants have a contagion time that is longer than regular Covid,” the minister said. “Without waiting for confirmation, and due to the fact that the spread of the variants is rising, I have decided that the self-isolation time for all patients with a positive test will rise from seven to 10 days.”

Isolation times will remain at seven days for contact cases. ■

Third place sailor wins Vendée Globe Despite crossing the line in third place, French sailor Yannick Bestaven has won the Vendée Globe. The La Rochelle-based skipper crossed the finish line at Les Sables-d'Olonne 80 days, 13 hours 59 minutes and 46 seconds after setting sail, but was given back 10 hours and 15 minutes for turning around during the race to help a fellow competitor in trouble. The race produced the closest finish in the event's history.

“I did not equal Armel Le Cléac'h but I equalled Jules Verne, we do what we can,” Bestaven said soon after finishing; Le Cléac'h still holds the record set in 2017 of 74 days and 3 hours. “I feel like I'm living a dream,

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hallucinating. We go from total solitude to this, to this party, to these lights. This result is beyond my expectations. After struggling as we struggled, a victory with Maître CoQ IV is a dream!”

The Vendée Globe is the world’s only round-theworld, solo, non-stop and without assistance sailing race. ■

Saharan sand storms bring orange skylines The sky turned orange across many parts of France in February as a Saharan dust storm crossed the Mediterranean Sea carrying sand from North Africa. The so-called “vent d’autan” is an annual phenomenon, but was particularly noticeable this year across the south of the country, and the internet was soon awash with impressive pictures of dramatic orange skies.

The phenomenon is caused by strong winds over the Sahara Desert which pick up fine sand particles. If the winds in the upper part of the atmosphere are blowing north, as they often are this time of year, the fine sand is then carried into Europe along with warmer spring weather.

The winds this year have been particularly strong, producing a deeper orange hue than usual. According to Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, particulate concentrations in early February were “several hundred times” higher than normal.

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Jewish refugee, who fled to France from Austria to escape Nazi persecution, has left millions of euros to the village that sheltered him and his family during the war. Eric Schwam, who arrived in Chambon-sur-Lignon as a young boy in 1943 with his parents and maternal grandmother, died childless on Christmas Day at the age of 90, leaving his entire estate to the village in the HauteLoire department, south of SaintEtienne.

In his will, Schwam wrote that he wanted “to thank them for the welcome many extended me in the field of education”, asking that the money be used to fund scholarships and schools in the village.

“It's a large amount for the village,” Mayor Jean-Michel Eyraud confirmed, while declining to say exactly how much had been bequeathed. The town's former mayor has reportedly said that she had met Schwam and his wife on two occasions in the past to discuss the gift and that it was around €2 million.

Before arriving at Chambon-surLignon, Schwam had been at the Vichy government-run Rivesaltes Camp from where thousands of Jews are believed to have been sent to the death camps of eastern Europe. When the camp was closed in 1942, those previously held there dispersed across the country looking for shelter from deportation.

Chambon-sur-Lignon, located on a remote mountain plateau, has

historically had a large Protestant community known for offering shelter to those in need. During the war, it is estimated that the 20,000 residents of Chambon and other small villages on the plateau welcomed as many as 5,000 Jewish refugees, mostly children. There is not a single record of anyone ever denouncing a neighbour in what has been called le miracle du silence.

The town is the only one in France to have received the honorary title “Righteous Among The Nations” from the State of Israel, which gives the title to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.

Barack Obama also mentioned the village by name in his remarks at the Holocaust Days of Remembrance Ceremony in April 2009.

It is believed that Schwam lived in the village until 1950, before going on to study at the University of Lyon where he subsequently lived and worked as a pharmacist after marrying a local Catholic woman. “Around 15 years ago, he came to see the mayor and told her he wanted to leave Chambon something in his will. But then we had no more news,” said Denise Vallat, head of culture and communications at the town hall. “Eric Schwam had no children, he was very discrete and didn’t want publicity over this. We don't know when exactly or how the family arrived in France, but we know that the family survived and the parents returned to Austria.” ■

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Jewish refugee leaves Paris-Londres dessert created millions to village

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gainst the backdrop of an increasingly messy Brexit, the French Embassy in London and the British Embassy in Paris launched a competition in November of last year aimed at bringing our countries closer together. Taking inspiration from the ParisBrest pastry that was created to commemorate the famous annual bike race between the two cities, the challenge was to invent a dessert that could be enjoyed on both sides of the Channel.

The winning “Paris-Londres” dessert has now been unveiled and is the creation of Guillaume Godin, head pastry chef at the three Michelin-starred Guy Savoy restaurant in Paris. “After receiving many creative, original proposals, the two ambassadors were won over by the flavours and visual aesthetic of pastry chef Guillaume Godin’s creation: an apple tatin with Darjeeling tea mousse, set between pâte sucrée and decorated with vanilla Chantilly cream,” a press release released by the British Embassy in Paris read.

“This dessert will become an absolute must at the tables of the French Residence in London and the British Residence in Paris. Through this original initiative, we want to create a symbol of the link between our two capitals and recall the long history shared by France and the UK which con-

tinues to be written today.”

“We were won over by the flavours of this dessert, which so effectively embodies the links between our two countries on each side of the Channel,” said British Ambassador to France, Ed Llewellyn. “We are delighted to be associated with this excellent initiative, allowing us to continue writing the history between France and the UK, from both a playful and gastronomic perspective.”

Explaining the inspiration behind the winning dessert, Guy Savoy said: “Behind the ‘Paris-Londres’ is a melding of two countries and cultures through flavours such as Darjeeling tea and the way the apple, a seasonal fruit common to both countries, has been prepared. We wanted to draw inspiration from the famous bridges of the two major capitals, London and Paris, with the Pont Neuf, very close to the Restaurant Guy Savoy at the Monnaie de Paris, and the legendary Tower Bridge.”

Anyone hoping to take a bite out of the new pastry may have to wait a while as for the time being, it is only being served at the French Residence in London and the British Residence in Paris. All is not lost, however, as the French Embassy in London did tweet out the recipe, so why not give it a go from home! ■

World's oldest shell instrument found

© GEORGES GOBET

A

ccording to researchers, a 17,000-year-old conch shell that lay forgotten in a museum for more than 80 years is in fact one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. First unearthed in a richly decorated cave in the Pyrenees in 1931, archaeologists initially thought the 30 cm shell was a communal “loving cup”, not uncommon in the late Palaeolithic era.

During a recent inventory of items held at the Muséum de Toulouse in southern France, however, experts noticed that it had in fact been carefully drilled and shaped to hold what they believe would have been a mouth piece.

The team then enlisted the help of a local French horn player to test their theory and, astonishingly, he was able to produced three clear notes - C, C sharp and D - sounds that had not been heard for some 17,000 years. “Hearing it for the first time, for me it was a big emotion... and a big stress!” confirmed archaeologist Carole Fritz. There had been fears that playing the instrument may damage it, but fortunately, that was not the case.

Conch shells have long been used in musical and ceremonial traditions around the world, including in ancient Greece, Japan, India and Peru, but the shell instrument found in the Marsoulas cave is now the oldest known example; a conch shell instrument found in Syria had previously been dated at around 6,000 years old.

Detailed investigations revealed that the apex of the Marsoulas conch had been purposely removed, creating a round aperture through which a narrow stick had been inserted to drill a further hole, a process described by the scientists as “a

really complex technical operation”. The outermost lip of the shell had also been trimmed, potentially to allow a player to insert his or her hand to modulate the sound. Traces of a brown organic substance were also detected around the apex hole, which the researchers believe may have been residue of a glue used to attach the mouthpiece to the shell.

“This is classic, really solid archaeology,” said Margaret Conkey, an archaeolo-

gist at the University of California, who was not involved in the research. “This discovery reminds us that their lives were much richer and more complex than just stone tools and big game.”

Further investigation revealed that the conch had also been decorated in its inner whorls with red pigment marks strikingly similar to fingerprint artworks on the walls of the cave where it was found.

“We are supposing that the shell was dec-

orated with the same pattern as was used in the cave art of Marsoulas, which establishes a strong link between the music played by the conch and the images on the walls,” explained Gilles Tosello, an archaeologist and cave art specialist who was part of the investigating team. “That, to our knowledge, is the first time that we can see evidence of such a relationship between music and cave art in European prehistory.” ■

FRENCH NEWS ♦ 11

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Jet cuts electricity lines

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s often happens at this time of year, a number of households in France have found themselves temporarily without electricity as a result of localised damage caused by high winds and flooding. One village in the south of France, however, saw the lights go out for a very different reason when their electricity lines were cut by a low-flying fighter jet.

Benoît Gouin, mayor of the small town of Le Castellet, near Manosque, was in his car at the time and immediately knew that something was amiss. “It went so low that it made a hell of a racket,” he explained. “I then looked up and saw the second aircraft. It was so low that I said to myself: it must have gone under the power lines.”

Driving further along the road, the mayor soon came across a section of electric cables dangling on the ground. “One of the planes hit the line and cut it. I immediately called the emergency services and the Enedis [electricity company] team.”

The fall of the cables had also started a small fire which was quickly brought under control and residents remained without power for much of the day. The main road into the village was also temporarily closed as authorities assessed the damage and ensured that there was no danger to the public.

The two Rafale aircraft had taken off from a nearby air base on a low-altitude training flight, according to officials, who confirmed that an investigation has been opened into the “rare incident”. “There were no casualties; this in-flight incident forced the pilot of the aircraft to land safely”. ■

Crit'Air video surveillance Dordogne tourism bets

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ince the Crit'Air system was first introduced in 2017, a growing number of cities across France have been using the scheme to fight air pollution and enforcement of the rules has also become increasingly strict.

The latest move in the battle against car pollution is the planned introduction of video surveillance to monitor compliance in the nation's capital.

Under the system, it is compulsory to have a valid Crit'Air pollution sticker displayed in the windscreen of your car when driving on the streets of certain French cities. The six different coloured Crit’Air stickers indicate the age and cleanliness of a vehicle, ranging from a level 1 to a level 5 sticker for the most polluting - there is also a green sticker for electric or hydrogen vehicles - and allow local authorities to restrict certain vehicles from the roads at times of peak pollution.

Cities which currently restrict the movement of vehicles based on their levels of pollution include Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Rennes and Marseille, but the rules are toughest in the capital. In Paris, all Crit’Air 5 cars are banned from entering the inner suburbs between 8h and 20h on weekdays. From June this year, that restriction will also be extended to vehicles with a Crit’Air 4 sticker – diesel cars registered between 2001 and 2005.

Temporary restrictions can also be put

in place by authorities during times of localised spikes in pollution levels, when they can choose categories to restrict.

Until now, it is the police who have performed the necessary checks and anyone found driving illegally faces a fine which can range from €68-€450. Under the new measures being brought in by Paris authorities, video cameras will also now be used to enforce the pollution rules.

The surveillance, which will be in place before the end of the year, will still require a police officer to retroactively validate the infringement, but the authorities have confirmed that this is just the first step towards a fully automated system that would not require any human intervention.

“Low emission zones are not a question of traffic rules, but a question of public health,” explained Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari. “Lives are at stake. Air pollution kills 48,000 people each year in France. That's more than ten times more than road accidents.”

When the stickers were first released, the rush to buy them led to a large number of “intermediary” companies offering to do the application for you, often with an eye-watering markup. In reality, Crit'Air stickers are very easy to acquire and cost just €3.67 when delivered to a French address. Applications should be made through the official website (available in English): https://certificat-air.gouv.fr/en/ ■

© Luc Viatour (WikiCommons)

big with TV adverts

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ourism, and the money it brings, is vital for the economy of the Dordogne and the majority of that money comes in the summer months. When the country emerged from the first lockdown last year, foreign travel became a risky option and the French headed to the Dordogne in their droves.

The huge influx of French tourists saved the season for many businesses from what would otherwise have been financial disaster.

“The months of July and August allowed us to save the season, but everything that was lost before and after could not be caught up,” said Germinal Peiro, president of the Conseil départemental. In the end, it is estimated that visitor numbers last year were down just 30%, a huge success for the region considering the healthcare crisis.

Authorities are hoping for a similar influx this year and have bet big on the fact that the French will once again choose to holiday at home. Early last year, the departmental tourist board (CDT) launched

a campaign under the slogan “Venez vivre le Périgord” - come and experience the Périgord – which it believes helped boost tourist numbers last summer. “When we launched the campaign in spring 2020, it was a real gamble because we started from nothing,” said Jean-Fred Droin, vice president of the CDT. “It paid off, but really our hand was forced. If we do nothing, then we are heading backwards.”

The campaign is now set to be run again this spring, with the tourist board investing hundreds of thousand of euros in a series of 30-second adverts on local TV stations in Paris and Lyon. Furthermore, online influencers and bloggers will also be used to convince the country’s urbanites to head to the Dordogne this summer. It is estimated that every euro invested in the campaign will generate more than two thousand euros for the region’s businesses.

It remains to be seen how France will emerge from the current restrictions, but those in the tourist industry are banking on a busy summer to put some much needed money back in the coffers. ■

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FRENCH LIFE ♦ 13

The world famous Limousin cow

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he history of the Limousin cow may be as old as Europe itself. Images of cattle on the walls of the Lascaux caves near Montignac dating back 20,000 years show a remarkable resemblance to today’s Limousin cows.

Recognisable by their distinctive golden-red colouring, Limousin cows are famed worldwide for their lean meat and have been described as the ‘butcher’s animal’ in France.

The landscape of the Limousin is rugged and rolling, with rocky, acidic soils, a harsh climate and altitudes of 1,000 metres. Consequently, in the past the Limousin was always a difficult place to grow crops and emphasis was placed on cattle. As a result of the environment, the cows that thrived here developed into a breed of exceptional health and sturdiness. French cattle spent much of their life indoors and the breeders of the day considered it a point of pride that the Limousin cows stayed outdoors most of the year and still calved year-round, despite the difficult conditions. The region’s remoteness and lack of natural

resources also meant that the herds remained isolated from other breeds and the Limousin cow’s bloodline remained relatively pure.

Their reputation as being hardy, strong animals, as well as producing good meat, soon spread. In 1698, they were reported as being “universally renowned and esteemed both as beasts of burden and beef cattle”. Traditionally they would be put to work and then fattened up at the end of their working lives for meat, when they would be marched to Paris or Toulouse, a journey of some 14 days.

Back then, a Limousin cow would only weigh around 300 kg, compared to the 600 kg you would expect these days.

In the 17th and again in the 18th century, attempts were made to cross the Limousin cow with a larger breed to create a hybrid animal with higher meat yield. On both occasions, larger cows were indeed produced, but the increase in body mass was compensated for by an increase in food demand to such an extent that the hybrid animals were not as economical as their smaller, pure-bred equivalents.

Subsequently, attempts to improve the breed concentrated on natural selection methods. The pioneer of this natural selection movement was Charles de Leobary and his herdsman, Royer. They produced a pure-bred herd of Limousin cows and, between 1854 and 1896, the de Leobary herd won a total of 265 ribbons at the prestigious Bordeaux Competition, one of France’s finest cattle shows.

The use of natural selection methods required that bloodlines were closely monitored and the first Limousin Herd Book was established in 1886. Herd books contain information about every registered animal with regards to parentage and bloodline and are used to ensure a breed’s ‘purity’. Initially 177 males and 497 females were selected for registration.

With the formation of a herd book came shows solely for Limousin cows. This increased exposure for the breed and enhanced its reputation nationwide.

Today, Limousin cattle display three important traits within their breed: excellent feed efficiency, adaptability and a high carcass yield. The cattle are good foragers and are very efficient at converting feed into mass. It is commonly said that the Limousin cows are genetically “trimmed”, with high muscle mass and a low skeleton weight. The meat is tender and fine fibered due to the low fat levels, all of which has contributed to the Limousin cow becoming nationally and internationally revered. ■

The different beef cuts in the UK and France French and English butchers do not always joint a beef carcass in the same way. Not only are the French and English names for different joints completely different, they will often be cut differently and look unfamiliar. Below are the names and locations of the most common cuts of beef in English and French.

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14 ♦ FRENCH LIFE

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by Julia Watson

very effort is made to keep this column local. But it’s March. I defy you to come up with anything cheery to eat in March that you haven’t been eating since November. Animals are more sensible than humans - they recognise there’s little to keep us satisfied until April heralds fresh spring produce, so they may as well sleep.

I’m thinking a disquisition on the avocado might do the spirit-raising trick, since, in Europe, they still come into the ‘treat’ category of food.

The avocado has had an extraordinary rise in popularity, particularly among people young enough to look good wearing yoga clothing or tracksuits. These are the same people who have been responsible in the UK for a rise in visits to A&E departments at hospitals with stab wounds in their palms, the result of being unaware of the trick to removing an avocado’s stone safely. That stone which, incidentally, qualifies the avocado as a berry.

British supermarkets Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's both claim to have been the first to sell the avocado, in the 1960s. But evidence of them being eaten goes back, in Central America, to around 10,000 BC. How it has survived so many centuries before man became a farmer is a puzzle. Fruits and vegetables are generally propagated by the animals who eat them excreting their pips and seeds. Have you considered the size of that avocado stone?

At more than 34% of the market, Mexico is still the main provider of the āhuacatl, a Nahuatl word that also means testicle. But it’s also grown further south, across the Caribbean, in California, and more recently in Israel and round the Mediterranean basin.

The first person to give it the name ‘avocado’ was the 17th century physician and naturalist, Hans Sloane, who referenced it in a 1696 index of Jamaican plants. But a Spanish conquistador, Fernández de Oviedo, is said to have been the first European to have actually eaten it. ‘A paste similar to butter,’ he said, ‘and of very good taste’.

While Mexicans ate them with great regularity, California farmers who had planted groves in the 1900s found it hard to popularise an unfamiliar vegetable with an unpronounceable name and reverted to ‘avocado’. Sales remained modest, with an annual consumption per capita in 1989 of 0.5kg until the California Avocado Commission hired a PR firm in the 1990s to promote them. With the goal of benefitting from TV's top sofa-snack guzzling sports event, the Super Bowl, it came up with the Guacamole Bowl, getting NFL players to share their favourite guacamole recipes, even if they may not have eaten any before Hill & Knowlton encouraged them to do so.

US sales rocketed by almost 70%. Now, every Super Bowl Sunday, more than 45 million kilos of avocados are sold. During the year, Americans eat more than 3kg each. It was Gwyneth Paltrow who repositioned the avocado from couch potato dip to metrosexual breakfast, with her recipe in her 2013 ‘clean eating’ cookbook, ‘It’s All Good’, for avocado on toast - one of her less bonkers developments. In the UK, avocados have had the third largest sales increase of any grocery item.

Here is an excellent recipe for guacamole for any time of year. It comes from Central Mexico and the research of the doyenne of Mexican cuisine, Diana Kennedy.

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

credit: mylatinatable.com

E

Holy Guacamole

Ingredients 4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander 1 to 2 serrano chillies, stemmed and finely chopped, depending on how much heat you like 2 tablespoons finely chopped white onion Sea salt 3 ripe avocados, halved and pitted 285g grape or cherry tomatoes, finely chopped Tortilla chips, to serve In a bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the coriander, the chillies, onion, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mash the mix with the bottom of a dry tea cup until a rough paste forms, about one minute.

Scoop the avocado flesh into a bowl and coarsely mash with a potato masher or fork. Stir in the coriander paste and half the tomatoes until combined.

Season with salt to taste.

Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle with the remaining coriander and tomatoes and serve with nachos or tortilla chips to dip.

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Finn here has been waiting for a home since last year. Please consider him before he gets overlooked by people looking for kittens.

If you can give a good, forever home to a cat or kitten, contact Lynda on 05 53 81 30 44 or at associationacorn@gmail.com

www.associationacorn.com

Facebook & Instagram: Acorn Cat Rescue Managing Editor: Editor-in-Chief: Registered Address:

SIRET: Printed by:

Steve Martindale Steve Martindale 19, route de Champagnac 17500 MEUX 514 989 748 00025 Charente Libre, Z.I. No3 16340, L’Isle d’Espagnac

All copyright, unless stated otherwise, is reserved to The Bugle.

Reproduction in whole or part of any text without permission is prohibited. Dépôt légal à parution.

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SIRET: Imprimé par:

Steve Martindale Steve Martindale 19, route de Champagnac 17500 MEUX 514 989 748 00025 Charente Libre, Z.I. No3 16340, L’Isle d’Espagnac

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Taux de fibres recyclées 100%. Emissions GES : 63 gr CO2 eq/ex (données 2019).

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.

FRENCH LIFE ♦ 15

MARCH 2021 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

Mini Digger

with Driver for Hire

Landscaping, Ditching, Land Clearance etc.

Hedge Removal and Stone Wall Construction John Bonella

87440 Marval

05 55 53 03 56

siret no. 523 183 580 00019

john.bonella@gmail.com

Advertise here from just €36 HT / month

06 04 17 80 93

sales24@thebugle.eu

See Facebook page: "Tres Jolie Milhaguet"

The wines of Bergerac - Château de Fayolle

credit: www.chateaufayolle.com

by Martin Walker

I

t is not often that the attractions of a vineyard include a couple of pedal boats, ready to be floated on the property’s own lake. Nor do many Bergerac vineyards have a 15th century chateau built on the ruins of its 12th century predecessor. Even fewer have the unusual distinction of having been owned by two English breweries.

Welcome to Château de Fayolle, under vigorous new management by Frank and Riki Campbell, two high-energy Americans and, Wow, do they move fast. They bought the place less than two years ago and are now putting the finishing touches to a sumptuous new tasting room they built themselves. It boasts its own café that will offer light lunches, salads with cheese and charcuterie, both indoors and on a new terrace that is being laid as you read this. Sip away and watch the kids play dodgems with the pedal boats on the lake below.

The circular and marble-topped tasting area has tiny lights set into the counter so you can get a good look at the colour, individual sinks to rinse your glass for the next wine to try. Most impressive to me was the proposed four tasting schedules.

You can taste a vertical flight of their white wines from different years from oldest to youngest, or a flight of reds in the same way. You can have a testing of nouveautés, the new wines they are offering. Then there is the crème de la crème tasting of only their best wines, of which their prestige white, Bois du Sanglier, goes straight into oak barrels, and the barrel then gets sent back to the tonnelier.

The idea of using a new barrel (and they can cost from 700 to 1200 euros each) to make wine for only one year is a new one on me. Frank reckons this adds just over a euro to the price of each bottle of wine and he thinks the cost is worth it to produce a wine that will be distinctive. Made from 85 per cent Sauvignon Blanc and 15 per cent Sémillon, this Bois du Sanglier is glorious, wonderfully fresh in the mouth and then slowly releasing its rich, almost buttery, flavours that linger long in the mouth. At 13 euros, it’s a

bargain.

Then there’s the Sang du Sanglier, the prestige red wine, all Merlot, three years in oak barrels, also 13 euros a bottle, and it won a silver medal at the Paris concours. The standard red, at 9.50 euros a bottle, also won a silver medal at the same concours, and it is a very good wine for the price, mainly Merlot with 20 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon and ten per cent Cabernet Franc.

So we have the ‘woods of the wild boar’ in white wine, the ‘blood of the wild boar’ in red wine, there is also the young Marcassin of wild boar in the semi-sweet moelleux.

Why all the wild boar references, and their images on the labels and wild boar silhouettes at the entrance to the estate?

Down in the far west of the Saussignac, close to the Gironde border, this is certainly boar country but it’s really because of the beer. Ringwood brewery, the first of the English beermaking owners, had a boar on the labels of their bottle and the image stuck.

To call this wine semi-sweet is unfair; I have tasted Monbazillacs that were less of a dessert wine. And their fullbodied Saussignac dessert wine is very good indeed. But if there are any left, buy a bottle of their 2008 Côtes de Bergerac Moelleux, which is sensational. (They were going to throw it out, thinking that it had to be too old. Then they tasted it.) And do not miss their bargain corner, where some of their old white and rosé wines are on sale at half price.

On a limestone plateau stuffed with flint, and their vineyards mostly facing south and south-west, they have a lovely terroir. A glance back though many years of the Hachette wine guides finds repeated praise and stars awarded for the wines, gold medals at Lyon and Bordeaux and from Gilbert and Gaillard. This has been a very good vineyard for many years. They also have as their oenologue the renowned Daniel Hecquet of Château Puy Servain, one of the real winemakers in the Montravel.

The new owners are determined to make it a great one, while fulfilling their own long-held dream of living in

France and making fine wines. Originally from South Carolina, Frank worked for many years for the Eaton Corporation, and spent the last ten years in Switzerland as head of the European and Mid-East operations of this power management company. Riki used the time to study French and spent three years getting her diploma at the Swiss wine school at Changins. They moved to the Saussignac in 2019, after viewing a hundred different vineyard properties across France.

Once they saw Château de Fayolle and tasted the wines, that was it. Frank loved the chateau and its history, the wonderful ancient pigeonnier in the park, the landscape of the plateau and the slopes leading down to the two lakes on their property on nearly 150 acres. Riki thought these were the wines she wanted to make and they agreed that with the new tasting room and cafe, the lake and the pedal boats, they could make it a tourist destination, while also making first-class organic wines. They are now in year two of the three-year certification process, with no herbicides used for the past ten years and no pesticides since 2018.

PS - In my article last month on Chardonnays in the Bergerac, I neglected to mention the stunning Adagio produced by Château des Eyssards, a vineyard which has a basset hound. Pascal Cuisset not only makes great wine (as does his daughter, with her Mano a Mano) but he is also the tuba-playing star of the brass band, In Vino Veritas. His vineyard’s Facebook page is like a diary of wine-making through the year - strongly recommended. ■

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 editorin-chief 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.

16 ♦ DIRECTORY

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2021

Business Directory

Your indispensable guide to finding local businesses & artisans

Architectural DRAWING SERVICE Renovating your French property?

New build?

Dossiers prepared Permis de Construire Déclarations Préalables

Tel: 05 53 52 36 05 lavieilleabbaye@orange.fr www.latuspeter-architecturaldrawings-24.com SIRET: 493 770 358 00015

CHARTERED STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

Pre-purchase & Structural Surveys.

Verbal & written reports.

Structural calculations & drawings.

Redevelopment ideas & solutions.

Tim Haw B.Eng C.Eng M.I.Struct.E

FR: 0033 (0)6 52 06 22 79 UK: 0044 (0)7448 466 662

Web: www.versineer.com Email: enquiries@versineer.com Siret: 498 843 051 00018

At Masterplans.eu we can help guide you through your planning application in France.

From initial feasibility to completed dossiers.

We will compile all the relevant drawings and complete the necessary paperwork to ensure your application proceeds smoothly.

We are equally at home working with clients here in France or those living abroad.

Tel: 05 55 80 72 83 Mob: 06 33 07 29 72 Email: info@masterplans.eu www.masterplans.eu Siret: 790 016 984 00011

Your advert here 06 04 17 80 93

Building Services Electricians CONFORELEC

06 32 81 13 15 see main ad - pg 9

Please mention The Bugle when responding to adverts

Building Services Carpenters/Joiners Darren Piper

Carpentry &

Building Services Qualified craftsman with over 20 years experience running his own business in the UK - Specializing in:  Decking (all shapes and designs)  Renovations, alterations & conversions  Kitchens  Bathrooms Roofs Based in Sigoulès and covering Eymet, Bergerac, Duras & surroundings FREE QUOTES

e: darren.piper@hotmail.com

06 89 18 35 89 Siret: 847 651 072 00013

Entreprise Electricité Générale All aspects of electrical works undertaken Departments 36, 23 and 87 UK / French Satellite and TV Aerial installations

06 16 91 64 67

contact@reactive-resource.com www.reactive-resource.com Siren: 808 481 170

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

sales24@thebugle.eu

sales24@thebugle.eu

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06 04 17 80 93

Building Services General

ANGLO SCAFFOLDING HIRE UK scaffolding supplied and erected here in France Qualified and fully insured FREE no obligation quotes Call Ian on

06 34 24 64 11

or find us on Facebook: @angloscaffolding

Email: akbrunnstrom@yahoo.co.uk SIRET: 799 067 939 00014

CHARKER DAVID

Specialist in the renovation and restoration of period and contemporary buildings

Give us a call or send us an email: sales24@thebugle.eu

06 04 17 80 93 Nigel’s Handyman Services Based near Beynac/Sarlat (24)

Garden/General Maintenance, Metal Repairs, Property Maintenance, Small Odd Jobs & General DIY A friendly & experienced service, all enquiries welcome

Tel: 06 02 16 76 37

All small works undertaken

siret 848 588 919 00011

Stonework, Traditional renderings in Lime, Doors and Windows, Dry line walls, Zinc work, Electrical wiring and interior finishes Based near Brantôme

E-mail : dn.charker@sfr.fr

Tel: 05 53 09 42 18 No Siret: 402 444 871 00030

Dan Dan the odd Job Man!

Based near Bergerac General Maintenance - Shelving Woodwork and Carpentry Dry Walling - Small odd Jobs Garden Maintenance

Tel: 06 78 67 02 91 www.oddjobs.fr

Can your business fill this space?

Email: jillcarney68@aol.co.uk

siret: 831 746 193 00018

Building Services Architects/Surveyors

Your advert here 06 04 17 80 93 CONTINUED NEXT PAGE...

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Buying or selling small items...?

Check out our online Classifieds... updated daily!

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To place a Classified, simply email details of your item for sale to notices@thebugle.eu

DIRECTORY ♦ 17

MARCH 2021 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

ADVERTORIAL

Are your financial plans robust enough to provide properly and protect your family when you are gone? - Rosemary Sheppard, International Financial Adviser

A

s we continue to find ourselves in uncertain times there are two things we can always be certain of, as my grandad used to say: Death and Taxes. Whilst we can’t avoid either we can always plan and help mitigate some of the costs of the latter.

Firstly, and maybe the most important, is having a valid Will in place, whether written in the UK or France, and ensuring that its existence is at least

registered in France. Many of you may be aware of the EU succession regulation Brussels IV, that allows you to write your Will under the rules of your country of nationality. This can avoid the rules of ‘forced heirship’ in France, but don’t make the mistake that this also means your Estate will be dealt with according to UK tax rules, if you are French resident at the date of your death.

Your heirs could potentially face an Inheritance Tax liability up to 60% if you do not plan correctly. Quite often I will hear from clients that they are not concerned about this, once they are gone, but the majority of people would rather not

contemplate the fact that they have strived all their lives to accumulate savings and pensions only to give it away to the taxman.

Whilst we do not have a Will writing service at Blacktower, we have affiliates that can help you with Wills and we can guide you in some of the ways that you can mitigate your liability to Inheritance Tax and pass on your hardearned wealth to your heirs, without a huge loss via the taxman.

A combination of good tax planning through savings, investments and pensions is usually the key, but each client’s circumstances are individual and will be treated as such and whilst you are still alive and healthy

ADVERTORIAL

Advertising with The Bugle

and wanting to enjoy your money the same applies.

Unfortunately, at the moment this is becoming a little more difficult to do, with more and more UK institutions, including pension companies such as Scottish Widows and ReAssure to name only two, now informing their non-UK resident clients that they can no longer freely access their pension funds.

If this is something that is potentially affecting you please do get in touch as there are simple solutions to help you. It is not all Doom and Gloom!.

Blacktower will be by your side both now and in the future, we are here to help you. To arrange a professional and impartial

consultation please contact me by email: Rosemary. sheppard@blacktowerfm. com, visit our website www.blacktowerfm.com or call me on 06 38 86 99 70.

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.

Blacktower Insurance Agents & Advisors Ltd is

regulated in Cyprus by the Insurance Companies Control Service and registered with ORIAS in France. Blacktower Financial Management (Cyprus) Ltd is regulated in Cyprus by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission and is registered with the AMF in France.

ADVERTORIAL

CARDS ET CARTES – NEW ON-LINE CARD SHOP

W

ith 11 years’ experience delivering print advertising to an expat market, The Bugle represents one of the most cost-effective ways to let English speakers know about your business. An advert with The Bugle starts from just €12.50 HT per month – that’s less than 42 cents a day to put your business in front of 30,000 people each month.

In the Dordogne we have more than 150 distribution points across the region and surrounding areas where readers can pick up a copy for free.

We also distribute 3,000 copies through Bergerac Airport, which means that we are in the perfect position to target not only residents and secondhome owners, but also tourists and those new to the region.

The Bugle is the only English language newspaper dedicated to the Dordogne - in fact, today, The Bugle is the only free English language newspaper in France and we are growing all the time.

If you would like to discuss any of our advertising options further, why not give us a call today to find out more about the ways that we can help you grow your business.

T T: 06 04 17 80 93 E: sales24@thebugle.eu W: www.thebugle.eu

ired of paying over-the-odds for a birthday card? Yes? We felt exactly the same. We wanted excellent cards but without the expense. Our research led us to what we were looking for - quality cards which are cost effective. Judging from the delight from our friends and family when they opened their cards, we knew that the demand was there and www.cardsetcartes.com was born!

Our aim is simple - to sell quality cards at low prices. We have English and French cards for all occasions. Browse and order your cards at your leisure via our secure on-line shop with delivery direct to your post box...

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ADVERTORIAL

“SolarVenti”- the solar solution to damp and humidity

A

simple solar energy system that runs on its own, even when you are not there! – And provides a free heat supplement in winter.

The Solarventi air panel was invented more than 20 years ago by Hans Jørgen Christensen, from Aidt Miljø, with the backing of the Danish government. He wanted to use the sun’s energy for airing and ventilation of the thousands of holiday homes on the West coast of Jutland, - houses that were left empty and unheated for long periods - houses with damp problems, mould and bad odours - houses that left their owners with discomfort, lots of work and expense. He wanted a system that would be safe, simple, without the need for radiators, water and/or mains electricity. Slowly but surely, the first Solarventi model came

together.

How it works The principle behind Solarventi is simple: a small, builtin, solar cell powers a 12V fan that is connected to an air vent, a control unit and an on/ off switch.

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.

The initial models were more than capable of keeping the cottages dry (and ventilated), even with the limited sunshine hours available in Denmark during the winter season. Since that time, the technology has really come along in leaps and bounds. Now, more than 20 years later, the 3rd and 4th generation Solarventi have exceed-

ed all expectations.

In Southern Europe, Solarventi is not only used for ventilation/dehumidification purposes; with far more winter sunshine hours, it also provides a substantial heating supplement. Several technical and governmental studies show that incoming air temperature can be increased by as much as 40°C. A DIY Solution?

The installation process is very straightforward and should only take two or three hours. All that is needed is a drill, hammer and chisel to make a hole in the wall. Roof installations are also possible. In fact, the Solarventi was originally designed to be a DIY product - in Scandinavia it still is.

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

the property is empty. Solarventi requires no maintenance - if the property is unoccupied during the hot summer months, then it can be left running at low speeds for ventilation and dehumidification purposes or simply switched off.

With a range of panel sizes, and the option for wall or roof mounting, Solarventi is suitable for all types of buildings, caravans or even boats!! Following the patenting of its design in 2001, Solarventi has only recently been actively commercialized. Over the last six years, Solarventi units have been installed in more than 24 countries and demand is increasing rapidly. From Greenland to Australia, Solarventi is finally getting the recognition it deserves. ■ Units start from €490 TTC.

SOLARVENTI - Available in the Dordogne From Harlequin Developments Mobile: 06 06 60 46 97

18 ♦ DIRECTORY

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2021

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

06 04 17 80 93 WHAT’S ON As a result of the ongoing pandemic, many of the meetings and events featured in our What’s On section have had to be cancelled or postponed. The situation is changing very quickly, so we have removed these listings from the newspaper for the time being. We will, however, continue to update our website with any new information, so please do check back regularly to keep up to date:

www.thebugle.eu/whats_on.php

Find us online

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• Read Online •Latest News •Features •Business Directory • Classifieds •Events •Associations ... and much, much more!!

DIRECTORY ♦ 19

MARCH 2021 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

Stephen Wisedale

Building Services General

WiFi Anglais

Keeping you connected!

Harlequin Developments est. 2007

All aspects of renovation and

refurbishment, big or small.

Kitchens fitted and tiled Replacement doors and windows Parquet flooring Oak framed porches Plasterboard and Insulation Covering northern Dordogne

05.55.68.67.56 06.06.60.46.97

harlequindevelopments@live.com www.harlequindevelopments.com

We aim to solve your Internet and Wi-Fi problems… call us now!

Wi-Fi networks for homes, gîtes and small businesses.

Outdoor Wi-Fi 4G Internet

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

06 04 17 80 93 Computers, Internet & Satellites

Frederic Jardinage All garden maintenance • hedge cutting • strimming • lawn mowing • seasonal pruning • green waste clearance

Tel: 06 37 97 84 93

Email: packhamfred@gmail.com siret: 881 266 761 00017

Siret: 800 525 040 00013

Food & Drink

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Handholding & Language Services

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:

FRENCH LESSONS

Traditional Fish & Chips in a town near you

www.thedordognechippy.com 05 53 74 01 91 or 06 19 99 25 62

06 61 56 47 17 scarolinea@yahoo.fr

siret: 444 925 630 00014

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW Have everything explained by

EVELYNE DROUIN (fully bilingual)

Healthcare specialist: Mutuelle cover for individuals and businesses

Spring Special: 30% off this month

Your advert here

Via Skype

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

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FRENCH HEALTHCARE

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06 04 17 80 93

The Dordogne Chippy

Health & Beauty

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sales24@thebugle.eu

SIRET: 494.501.067.00016

Your advert here

Garden Services

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CONTINUED NEXT PAGE...

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

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All prices exclude TVA (20%)

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.

Buying or Selling French Property?

Legal advice from English-speaking lawyers Also the #1 portal for property auctions

www.frenchpropertylawyer.fr

05 55 82 18 99

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

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

30 words max

20 ♦ DIRECTORY Health & Beauty Cabinet d’Ostéopathie Lederman

Retail & Commerce

bookstop English second-hand books Tea room Art exhibitions

UK Trained Osteopath

09 51 45 57 49

05.53.91.46.67

bookstop24@gmail.com facebook.com/bookstop24 19 rue Victor Hugo, 24310 Brantôme

41 rue du 26 mars 1944, 24600 RIBERAC

Fully bilingual

sales24@thebugle.eu

Call for appointments

06 04 17 80 93

Siren: 504 744 517

Property Maintenance

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ MARCH 2021

Can your business fill this space?

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06 04 17 80 93 Transport, Removals & Storage

Franklins Removals

A family business offering a quality, professional service since 1985

Contact Stephen or Ben: 0044 121 353 7263 sales@franklinsremovals.co.uk www.franklinsremovals.co.uk

Man & Van Transport

Genuine/Reliable/Honest Local + Europe + UK runs House/Barn clearances!

15m3 capacity 4m load length English & French Spoken

05 44 20 21 77 06 06 40 81 07

Support

87150 Oradour-sur-Vayres

www.frenchvanman.eu Siret 530 213 644 00012

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.

www.laconciergerie-housekeeping.com

24600 Villetoureix laconciergerie24@orange.fr Tel: 06 42 67 94 50 siret: 840 556 228 00010 - APE 9609Z

SOS Help

anxious? stressed? feeling down? call us up!

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

www.soshelpline.org

Local and European Removals 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

Your advert here 06 04 17 80 93

Smart Moves For a fully insured, careful service

FORTNIGHTLY SERVICES TO FRANCE FULL OR PART LOADS WELCOME WE COLLECT FROM ALL AREAS OF THE UK AND DELIVER TO ALL AREAS OF FRANCE Find us on Facebook: @smartmovesukfrance Please CALL or EMAIL Stephen

smartmovers@hotmail.co.uk

+44 (0)7966 287 430

www.smartmovesremovals.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 Please mention The Bugle when responding to adverts

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