The Bugle Dordogne - Sep 2016

Sarkozy enters presidential race

Nicolas Sarkozy has thrown his hat into the ring in the race to become France’s next president >> Page 7

Dordogne September 2016 - Issue #39

Local tourism bucks national decline

INSIDE > > > NEWS - Protests over Beynac bypass

The planned bypass of Beynac looks to be going ahead, despite protests from some locals >> Page 3

NEWS - Bullfighting loses protected status

La corrida has been removed from a list of protected cultural practices in France, to the delight of animal rights' groups across the country >> Page 8

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© Cameneon (WikiCommons)

The health benefits of being bilingual

t has been a turbulent time for France’s tourist industry. Terror attacks, strikes and floods have all led to a big fall in tourism in France, with Paris the worst hit area. The capital usually welcomes 16 million visitors each year, but there have already been 1 million fewer tourists over the first 6 months of this year compared to the same period of 2015. “It’s time to realise that the tourism sector is going through an industrial disaster,” the Paris tourist board head Frédéric Valletoux said in a recent statement. “This is no longer the time for communication campaigns,

but to set up a relief plan.”

A report has offered some good news to local tourist operators, however, after figures suggested that the newly formed Nouvelle Aquitaine region is bucking the trend. Coastal areas have fared particularly well, with visitor numbers stable, or slightly up, on last year’s figures.

“For now, the number of cancellations following the Nice attack

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>> continued on page 6

We take a look at why speaking 2 languages is good for you, its positive effects on the brain and why it's never too late to learn >> Page 12

The Bugle Business Directory

4 pages of listings for local English-speaking businesses - your essential guide to finding just what you’re looking for >> Pages 15-18

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2 ♦ IN THIS EDITION

The Bugle

T

he Tour du Limousin passed through my sleepy hamlet this month. In fact it came right past my door, deep in the Creuse countryside.

Cycling has changed over the years and these days the top teams are awash with engineers, nutritionists and sports psychologists. Each team has dozens of cars following the peloton and watching a rider drop back to have a punctured wheel replaced is like watching an F1 pit crew in full flow blink and you’ll miss it.

It is a million miles away from the stories of old, one of my favourite of which came from the 1913 Tour de France. French rider Eugène Christophe

was leading stage six by 5 minutes when his forks snapped on the descent of the Tourmalet. He collected the pieces together and ran to a nearby village where he found a forge, lit a fire, shaped a piece of metal and repaired his bicycle. Despite losing more than four hours, he carried on and finished in seventh place overall. The forge he used is still standing and today the building is a national monument!

The day the Tour du Limousin came past gave me a first-hand look at how professional and organised the sport of cycling has become, but it also gave me a small glimpse into what life might have been like generations ago in my corner of France.

I live in a small hamlet

of fewer than 10 houses, although we are lucky in the sense that they are all occupied. My house has variously served as a small hotel, an épicerie and, as recently as the 1980s, the local bar. I have heard talk of 5 litres of Ricard being consumed each evening in the small room that I now call my office. The commune had at least 6 bars and cafés back in the day, all of which were bustling meeting places for the local community.

I find this hard to imagine as today there is just one café in my commune and this has changed hands 5 times since I have been here as different people try to turn it into a profitable business. Once a year, there is a vide-greniers when the streets around the mairie come to life, but I can’t think of many occasions when everyone gets together and chats.

It would be fair to say the Tour passing was a big event and I could not believe how my tiny hamlet sprang to life. One neighbour was out early with his luminous yellow bib and Stop/Go sign

for directing the traffic. An hour before the caravane passed there were already dozens of people gathered in the shade on the crossroads to hang around and shoot the breeze.

Everyone knew everyone, at least tangentially, and before long our little corner of the Limousin was buzzing with the chatter of locals, aged from 18 months to 86 years.

Plastic chairs emerged, the promotional vehicles passed and tomorrow’s landfill was duly distributed and eagerly collected. The riders were not due for another hour and a half, but no one moved, despite the midday heat. There could be some rose tint involved, but for me it was a glorious glimpse of what the area might have been like when you rarely ventured further than 10km from home and everyone knew everyone else. It was a most pleasant day in the sun.

Then came the race in a multi-coloured blur of modern technology. A dozen cars zoomed past followed by four riders and a dozen more cars. It being summer,

we had visitors (but that’s a rant for another day!), one of whom exclaimed out load how everyone had made a remarkable amount of effort for a four-man race. When the laughter had subsided and the 150 riders in the chasing pack had also passed three minutes later, followed by more cars than you’d see in the average airport car park, it was all over and everyone gradually wandered off back home.

I hope that it doesn’t take another Tour passing to get everyone out on the streets again, but it was certainly fun while it lasted.

Until next month!

Steve Martindale, Editor

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INSIDE this edition 3-6 Local News 7-11 National News 12 Bilingual 13-14 French Life 15-18 Directory 19 Games 20 Community 21-24 What’s On

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LOCAL NEWS ♦ 3

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Dordogne locals oppose planned Beynac bypass © Sémhur (WikiCommons)

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esidents and businesses in one of the Dordogne’s most picturesque villages are up in arms against a proposed relief road for Beynac and Castelnaud.

In a long-running campaign of opposition, local people gathered in front of Castelnaud’s old station to demonstrate their feelings in August. The latest protest march is their fourth since the campaign began.

Incorporating 2 bridges and a tunnel, the new route is aimed at relieving the narrow transit through the ancient districts, especially for heavy vehicles.

A survey revealed that up to 6,000 vehicles a day currently use the route.

The locals, including the mayor and representatives of tourist businesses around Beynac, object that the new route will mar the view from the village, one of the most stunning in the region. After years of wrangling, however, protest leaders admitted in August that all legal recourses have now been exhausted.

Germinal Peiro, president of the department’s Conseil Général, underlined the fact that this plan has been on paper for 20 years, is even more essential today than it was then, and that there is more at stake than just Beynac. “It represents an important factor for developing and protecting the wider local economy, our precious architectural heritage and the environment for other châteaux and historic sites in the whole area around Beynac,” he explained.

The castle at Beynac was built in the 12th century and its 900-year history has seen worse things than a bypass, including being besieged by Richard the Lion Heart. It has had constant modifications and rebuilding throughout the centuries.

The château’s attraction and historical importance are not in question and visitors and film-makers are expected to continue to enjoy the location for its beauty and historic interest, as they have since the last restoration in 1962.

Archeologists have completed their digs, surveys are finished and construction work is due to begin in 2 years for completion in 2020. In Beynac, some locals are admitting that they have come to the end of the road. ■

by Brian Hinchcliffe

Lascaux a hit on tour of the Far East

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unique Dordogne creation is delighting millions on its world tour. Since Lascaux 3 left Montignac four years ago, it has continued to draw huge audiences and in 2016 is currently breaking attendance records in its present location in South Korea.

The exhibition recreates the Lascaux caves and the 17,000-year-old Palaeolithic paintings that made them famous, discovered accidentally by four boys and a dog in 1940 near Montignac-sur-Vézère.

Unknown to the youngsters, they had discovered some of the world’s most stunning prehistoric paintings. As well as their incredible age, the paintings had a real beauty and revealed astonishing, unsuspected sensitivity and humanity, wonderfully preserved for a hundred and seventy centuries.

These works of art came to be called “the Sistine Chapel of Prehistory”, although the Lascaux caves themselves had to be

closed in the 1960s to preserve them. When it was created, the Lascaux 2 reproduction was the public’s only access, until the creation of Lascaux 3 in 2012.

Lascaux 3 is the most authentic, scientific and awesome travelling version of the caves. Lascaux 4, located in Montignac and due to open in December, is hailed as the most authentic, scientifically accurate and stunningly atmospheric presentation ever.

Lascaux 3 travels in 12-metre containers that are arranged on site to recreate the original and in Korea the exhibition has been set up in a disused mine at Gwangmyeong, near Seoul.

Since it opened near the Korean capital, Lascaux 3 has been attracting 5,000 visitors per day and is set to smash records created earlier on the tour in Boston and Chicago.

After Korea the show moves on to Tokyo in October where it is again expected to top these new record figures. Quite a find for 4 boys and a dog! ■

by Brian Hinchcliffe

4 ♦ LOCAL NEWS

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Real-life Game of Thrones Brexit boost to French ongoing in the Dordogne nationality applications

Orélie-Antoine de Tounens On 18th August the legitimists celebrated a Mass (Santa Rosa de Lima) in Tourtoirac, unveiled a new bust of King Antoine I, and paid homage at his graveside.

The dissidents and the pretender followed an almost identical format the following day.

Resplendent in their regalia, capes, medallions and sashes, both princes and their opposing processions managed to avoid clashes in public. Folk in Tourtoirac are asking themselves is this the end, or just the start of civil war among the Araucanians? ■

by Brian Hinchcliffe

The Bugle asked one of the Dordogne’s most experienced translators what advice she could give. Carolyn Chamberlain, of Villefranche-du-Périgord, was trained in Britain, the Sorbonne, and in the prestigious translators’ centre in Geneva, and is a sworn translator by the court of Bordeaux.

She said: “It is important to have translations done by an assermenté, a sworn translator, or the documents will be rejected. For a couple, the very minimum translation requirement is for their birth and marriage certificates. Depending on individual circumstances, additional translated documents could be required, all with an official translator’s stamp.”

Carolyn added that she is receiving large numbers of enquiries and her certificate translation workload is “at least 7 times what it was just a couple of weeks ago”. ■

by Brian Hinchcliffe For information on applications from the Dordogne, visit: www.gironde.gouv.fr Go to “Démarches administratives”, “Accueil des étrangers”, “Accès à la nationalité française”.

Telephone service: 05 56 90 62 99 Tue & Thu 9h30 to 11h30 For sworn translations email: carolynchamberlain@wanadoo.fr

05 55 41 17 76 - sales24@thebugle.eu

A

t the end of July TF1 broadcast its initial take on the referendum. Expat residents interviewed in the programme expressed their concerns as basically financial; the pound began its free fall against the Euro within minutes of the result.

According to TF1, medical cover is the second most important issue, followed by residency rules and finding work in the EU. In the programme, Roger Haigh of the Dordogne Franco-British Chamber of Commerce, expressed the same concerns, particularly for business start-ups. Roger stated: “The current situation and how it develops in terms of economic outcome, is the central issue for all expats and expat businesses.”

As the likely outcomes remain unclear, many expats are seriously considering applying for dual French/ British nationality as a hedge against losing rights in the case of a full UK withdrawal from the EU. In the Dordogne, all applications are processed through the Préfecture of the Gironde in Bordeaux and local administrators are not in a position to provide advice. The Gironde has an online documentation centre (see link below).

All applications require translations of certificates and related documents.

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T

wo rival claims to a throne have clashed in a Dordogne village. Tourtoirac, near Excideuil, has long been known as the resting place of the King of Araucania. Not many visitors, however, make the effort to discover the source of this monarchic anomaly in the Périgord Vert.

Araucania itself is a kingdom in far-off Patagonia, at the mid-point of Chile in South America. The ninth of the provinces of Chile it lies 760 km from Santiago. In 1860, a French lawyer from the Périgord, Orélie-Antoine de Tounens, arrived in Araucania and the indigenous population, the Mapuche tribe, saw in him their new saviour who would free them from Chilean oppression. In November of that year, he was proclaimed King of Araucania and Patagonia. He was expelled several times by the Chilean and Argentinian authorities before returning to his native village of Tourtoirac where he continued to work to improve his people’s plight. He died in 1878 and his people’s issues with the Chilean government remain unresolved.

Betty Boyd, an expat resident of Tourtoirac for over 40 years, told The Bugle, “It’s lovely for a tiny village like us to have such a great history. We are very proud.”

Each year in August, the Royal House of Araucania and Patagonia commemorates Antoine de Tounens, its first king. Two years ago, however, a dynastic dispute arose between two hereditary claimants to the throne, Jean-Michel Parasiliti, aged 74, (Antoine IV) from the Lot and Garonne, and Stanislas Parvulesco, aged 21 (Stanislas I).

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

LOCAL NEWS ♦ 5

test Limousin poised to receive Siren surprise first wine AOC recognition

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he Dordogne has an established wine industry, but the department’s neighbour to the north-east is far more famous for its meat. In particular, the caramel-coloured Limousin cow, the prime cuts of which often head to the country’s finest restaurants and bistros.

You will not often find yourself talking about the Limousin’s wines; in fact, you would be forgiven for thinking that the region does not produce any. Not only is this not the case, but it could soon even have its own AOC - the prestigious designation that guarantees the quality and provenance of a wine.

Whilst it is true that wine production on any significant scale does not take place in the Haute-Vienne and Creuse, the Corrèze does have a long tradition of viticulture, one which it is now seeking to have recognised by an appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC). “We have requested a departmental AOC which will be based on two areas,” explained Jean Mage, president of the Federation of Corrèze wines. “Firstly for Saillant and the vineyard slopes of the Vézère river valley; secondly around the Beaulieu and Meyssac basin which will cover the Mille et une pierres wines of the Branceilles vineyard, as well as their vin paillé”.

The final decision will now be taken by the INAO (Institut national des origines et de la qualité), once they have taken into account a number of factors. “We had to present the history of Corrèzien wine making and produce evidence for adherence to strict rules for things such as grape varieties, sugar content, soil quality, etc.,” explained Jean Mage. “For example, the wines of the Saillant hills must come from a vineyard on schist soils, which give a more uniform production.”

The wine heritage of a region is a very important requirement for an AOC recognition; rosé wines currently produced in the Corrèze will not fall under the AOC as the department does not have a history of this type of wine production. Geography is also important and similar wines being produced 1 kilometre over the border in the Lot department will not benefit from the label.

If the application is successful, the AOC will represent more than just a badge of pride for the region’s vineyards. “Winemakers have everything to gain with the AOC, which provides recognition of the quality and production methods. A bottle carrying this label comes with a guarantee of quality. The slopes along the Vézère river are well known locally, but with the AOC they will also now be recognised at a national level.”

Additionally, the AOC will have one added

benefit for the vins paillés, or straw wines, produced in the Corrèze. The department has a long history of producing these types of wines, which are created by drying selected grapes for several months over straw, a process which concentrates the fruit’s sugars and gives the wine its unique flavour. Vins paillés are more famously associated with the Jura region, however, and a group of winemakers took the Corrèze producers to court in 2013, forcing them to drop the label “vin de paille” from their bottles, replacing it simply with “vin de Corrèze”. Should the AOC now be granted, then straw wines from the Branceilles vineyards will again be able to use this designation.

The dossier is currently in a public consultation phase until 15th September and the Limousin could have its first AOC wine as early as 2017, although any legal challenges could delay this further. ■

ome locals and visitors to Lalinde had a surprise on 18th August when the airraid sirens sounded. The mairie had preceded the sirens with a series of public announcements, including on the internet, explaining that it was a test of the existing warning equipment as part of the SAIP programme (Système d’alerte et d’information des populations).

The SAIP is a civil defence system to give early warning of a range of threats, from natural phenomena, such as floods or avalanche, to hazardous industrial accidents, health threats and, more recently, terrorist and military alerts.

The test in Lalinde is just one of a series covering the whole of France which began in 2009 and is due to be completed in 2017. The aim is to bring consistency and eliminate blank areas where the sirens are ineffective.

The existing system was installed in the 1950s and not all units have survived intact. There are strict, clear rules about the authorization required to sound the alarm. For instance a high-risk chemical plant is able to sound an alarm in case of a serious accidental threat rather than a distant mairie or fire station.

The siren network will be backed by radio, TV and the internet for details of the hazard. ■

by Brian Hinchcliffe

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lobally renowned fiddle player Peter Knight, best known for his 42 years spent with folk-rock pioneers Steeleye Span, brings his own trio Gigspanner back to the region for a short series of concerts in September (see below).

Since his departure from Steeleye Span at the end of 2013, globally extolled fiddle player Peter Knight has turned his full attention to Gigspanner, and in the process has firmly established their burgeoning reputation as one of the most innovative acts on the folk/roots scene, garnering along the way a reputation for dismantling traditional music and song and reassembling it in an entirely original, imaginative and beautiful way.

Songlines magazine hailed Gigspanner as “another milestone in folk's rebirth of cool”, and whilst traditional music forms the bedrock of the trio's repertoire, it is the approach that sets it apart... leaving enough space within the arrangements to spread and stretch the music in the moment. In Peter's own words “there is nothing more exciting than finding yourself lost in a new layer of inspiring and spontaneous music”.

The stretching of the music to embrace other influences, coupled with richly intense arrangements, is what makes Gigspanner's shows appealing to a wide, keen and discerning audience. An audience that is in turn profoundly moved and captivated.

2016 got off to a fine start for the trio, with Peter receiving Fatea Magazine's 'Instrumentalist of the Year' Award, and 'Best Musician' in the in-

augural folking.com Awards, as voted for by the concert going public. Their 2015 album 'Layers of Ages' has been included in many of the end of year 'Best of 2015' lists, including The Telegraph, which gave the album a rare five stars.

Among Peter's many fans was the late Sir Terry Pratchett, who with typical lyricism wrote “Peter Knight can spin the world on his Bow”.

Peter, who spends a few months of the year in his Limousin home, is a familiar face in the area and he performs at local events as and when he can.

Classically trained at The Royal Academy of Music in London, Peter discovered Irish music via the flourishing folk scene in 1960s London and was immediately hooked.

Immersing himself totally in the challenge of learning to play traditional music, he was spotted by Ashley Hutchings and Martin Carthy and invited to join the fledgling Steeleye Span. The band went on to become one of the most successful Folk-Rock bands in Britain, securing a string of Gold Albums and top ten hits, and remains influential after more than 40 years.

Peter is joined by Roger Flack on guitar, and Vincent Salzfaas on percussion, both powerful and intelligent musicians in their own right.

Residents of the Dordogne can catch Gigspanner at the following event:

© Luc Viatour (WikiCommons)

Peter Knight’s Gigspanner in the Dordogne this September

Sunday 18th September L’Espace at Briancon, 24320 Verteillac Tickets online from www.eventbrite.com Or call +33 (0)5 53 91 38 40

>> continued from pg 1 remains low, although 42% of Bordeaux professionals have reported some cancellations,” said a spokesperson for the region. Foreign tourists also seem to have kept faith with the area, with a rise in the number of Belgians, Germans and Spanish visitors reported and at least as many British and Dutch coming to the region as in 2015. An exception appears to be Limoges, which looks to have suffered a drop

in bookings, despite the Tour de France passing through the Limousin’s capital.

One trend that appears to have continued in 2016, according to the report, is that visitors are increasingly booking their trip at the last minute, a change that means those in the tourist industry are becoming more and more affected by short-term factors such as the weather.

France relies heavily on tourism, which generates more than 7% of its annual GDP. ■

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We offer: Legendary Fiddle Player Peter Knight, (ex-Steeleye Span) Presents

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NATIONAL NEWS ♦ 7

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Nicolas Sarkozy enters presidential race

I

Whilst Great Britain and

Northern Ireland were celebrating their second place in the Rio medal table, the French team also came back from South America with a record medal haul. The gold rush was led by French institution and judo hero Teddy Riner, who carried the flag at the opening ceremony before retaining his heavyweight judo title.

© Ammar Abd Rabbo (Flickr)

n one of the less surprising political bombshells of recent years, former president Nicolas Sarkozy has unveiled that he will seek his party's nomination to fight in next year's presidential elections. “I have decided to be a candidate in the 2017 presidential election,” announced Sarkozy. “I felt I had the strength to lead this battle at a troubled time in our history.” Writing on Twitter, he added: “The next five years will be filled with danger but also with hope.”

Announcing the battles ahead - including defending French identity, restoring lost competitiveness and enforcing state authority - Sarkozy said France’s “top battle” was over how “to defend our lifestyle without being tempted to cut ourselves off from the rest of the world”.

During his 2012 bid for re-election, Sarkozy's policies veered sharply to the right as he looked to win back voters enticed by Marine le Pen's Front National, and he has now put forward a series of hardline policies that position him even further to the right. He wants to ban the Muslim headscarf from universities and public companies, limit the French nationality rights of children born to foreign parents, and ban pork-free options in school canteens, meaning Muslim and Jewish children would no longer be offered a substitute meal.

Sarkozy has a long way to go if he is to once again enter the Elysée Palace.

Not only is he incredibly unpopular with vast swathes of the French public, he is involved in a series of ongoing legal cases and carries the millstone of a 'failed' first term in office. His supporters will argue that while many dislike him, he retains fervent support amongst a significant portion of the country, he will be proved innocent in his legal wranglings and that his presidency was torpedoed by the global financial meltdown.

Those arguments aside, Sarkozy must still win his party's primaries, a vote to decide the presidential candidate of Les

Record medal haul for France at Rio Olympics

Républicains. His main rivals will be former prime ministers Alain Juppé and François Fillon, with the latter having transformed his image from the most unpopular prime minister in French history 20 years ago, to the current favourite to be the country's next president. Over the summer, however, Sarkozy has been closing the gap.

Elsewhere, François Hollande has said that he would consider running again if he believed that he could win, but would quit politics if he lost. Hollande had previously said he would not stand for re-election unless he first made a “credible” dent in France's unemployment rate. In August, it was revealed that joblessness in mainland

France had fallen to 9.6 per cent of the workforce, the first time it has dropped below 10 per cent since the third quarter of 2012 (see pg 8).

The most likely outcome, however, is that the candidate from the left will come from a fight between maverick former economy minister, Arnaud Montebourg, who also announced his candidacy in August, and prime minister Manuel Valls or finance minister Emmanuel Macron, neither of whom have yet officially entered the race. Current polls show, however, that the most likely run-off in the election will be between the National Front's Marine le Pen and whoever wins the backing of the Republicans. ■

In total, French athletes won 10 gold, 18 silver and 14 bronze, finishing seventh in the medals table. Although France claimed more golds at London (11) and Atlanta (15), the total of 42 medals eclipsed their previous post-war best of 41 which was set in Beijing in 2008.

France had particular success in boxing, where they won 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze and judo with 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze. They picked up 3 medals, including at least one gold, in equestrianism, fencing and sailing and a further 6 in athletics, although none of the latter were gold.

The overall record Olympic haul for France was at the home Paris Games of 1900, where the team won 91 medals and 27 golds. ■

8 ♦ NATIONAL NEWS

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Bullfighting removed from heritage list Unemployment

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rench animal rights campaigners are celebrating after “la corrida” - bullfighting - has been permanently removed from a national cultural heritage list.

Bullfighting is still permitted in France and the sport continues to enjoy a strong following in areas where it has a long-established tradition, mostly in the south-west around towns such as Nîmes and Béziers.

The latest ruling upholds a 2015 decision to remove bullfighting from the country's Inventaire du patrimoine immatériel de la France register and the court also ordered the two groups that had appealed the decision to pay €3,000 to two anti-bullfighting organisations.

“The decision of the Conseil d'État is final,” said David Chauvet, cofounder of the Droit des animaux group. “Our opponents wanted to preserve bullfighting. This will not be the case. It was a long struggle… bullfighting has nothing in common with the perfumes of Grasse or tarte

falls below symbolic 10%

I tatin.”

Whilst animal rights groups have hailed the court's decision, bullfighting remains legal in France and supporters of the practice have called the ruling 'symbolic', arguing that nothing will change. “I was born in Nîmes,” said Simon Casas, who organises bullfighting events in the Gard department. “It is a town with a bullfighting tradition that stretches back centuries. What is important is the historical

and cultural reality.”

Whilst bullfighting is on the decline across France and Spain, it does still have powerful supporters, among them French prime minister Manuel Valls. “It’s a culture that we have to preserve,” Valls has previously said. “We need these roots, we should not tear them out.”

In 2011, la corrida was added to a UNESCO list of “intangible heritage”, a decision that the culture ministry subse-

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quently reversed following widespread protests.

The intangible heritage list was set up in 2003

by UNESCO as a way to preserve global popular customs and traditions.

Unlike tangible heritage which refers to sites and monuments - intangible heritage refers to cultural processes that “provide living communities with a sense of continuity in relation to previous generations and are of crucial importance to identity”. ■

n a rare piece of good economic news, recent statistics have revealed that the unemployment rate in France has fallen below the symbolic 10% rate for the first time since the third quarter of 2012. Battling the country's high unemployment has been a cornerstone of Hollande's presidency and he has gone on record as saying that he would not consider running again unless he made a “credible” dent in France's unemployment rate.

When France's overseas territories (DOMs) are taken into account, the unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2016 dropped 0.3 points to 9.9%.

The drop was significantly above the 0.1 per cent decrease predicted by France's statistics gathering body, INSEE. Mainland unemployment now stands at 9.6 per cent, meaning there are currently 2.8 million people out of work; 1.2 million have been looking for work for more than a year.

The figures showed that unemployment was down in all age categories, but the fall in youth unemployment was sharpest, down 0.4 points to 24.3% - its lowest rate since 2014. Despite the fall, unemployment has decreased at a slower rate in France than in other major European economies and remains relatively high. In the UK, the jobless rate is 4.9%, while 4.2% of people are out of work in Germany. ■

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

UK 'lied' over Winter Fuel Payment

NATIONAL NEWS ♦ 9

A

freedom of information act request has revealed that the British government may have lied about access to regional temperature information across Europe when ruling on the eligibility of British pensioners abroad for the Winer Fuel Payment (WFP).

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had previously told campaigners: “Ministers considered making WFPs on a regional basis within the EEA but, using administrative data available, or that is capable of being gathered and maintained with sufficient accuracy, it would not be practicable to distinguish claimants at a regional level outside the UK.” Roger Boaden, a former senior conservative party official for 30 years, contested this assertion and submitted a freedom of information act request for data on how many British expats living in Malaga claimed the WFP. The DWP refused the request, claiming that it would be too complex and costly to extract the data needed to make payments on a regional basis.

On appeal, a tribunal judge disagreed and ordered the DWP to produce the figure, which turned out to be 7,385 claimants for the winter of 2013/14, out of 12,917 pensioners in the area. More cru-

GP consult to rise to €25

F

cially, the request revealed that the DWP did have access to regional data. “Their response to the request from the Tribunal Judge proves beyond doubt that the DWP lied, and lied again, for four years,” said Mr Boaden.

“They also covered up the work done by the Met Office, which had told the DWP that an average temperature value for the period November to March could be calculated for each of the 22 regions across France, something the DWP subsequently rejected.”

Following recent changes, the WFP was withdrawn from pensioners living in countries where the average winter temperature is considered higher than the

warmest area of the UK - the south-west of England. An examination of the raw data used by the DWP has shown that the average winter temperature of France and Corsica is 5.08°C, while that of the south-west of England is 5.6°C. When pressed, the DWP admitted that it had included France’s overseas departments (départements d'outre-mer - DOMs). These far-flung places, inhabited by roughly 30 UK pensioners, include tropical islands such as Guadeloupe, Martinique and La Réunion as well as French Guyana in South America, where average annual temperatures are in the mid-20s. By adding these locations, the average tem-

perature of “France” nudges just above that of Cornwall, denying pensioners living here access to the WFP. “I don’t think including the overseas departments is a fair way of assessing the situation,” said MP Sir Roger Gale following a last ditch attempt to block the changes last year. “We all know that there are people in France who do need it, because they are not rich and sitting on yachts drinking G&T, which is the impression that some politicians try to give.”

An estimated 95,000 British pensioners living in France, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Malta, Gibraltar and Cyprus have lost the annual £100-£300 payment. ■

ollowing a meeting of doctors’ unions, insurance representatives and the Assurance maladie, the cost of visiting your GP in France will rise to €25 in 2017. The fee has been fixed at €23 since 2011, which means that GPs will receive an effective pay rise of nearly 9% next year.

Currently, those covered by the healthcare system receive a reimbursement of €15.10, which equates to 70% of the cost less €1; if you have a French top-up insurance (“mutuelle”), then you are also reimbursed the remaining 30%, or €6.90.

In summary, a trip to the doctor, after you have been fully reimbursed, currently costs €7.90 for those without top-up insurance and €1 for those with mutuelle cover.

Under current proposals, the cost will first rise to €24 from April 2017 before rising to €25 from De-

cember of next year, at which point, seeing your GP will cost €8.50 for those without top-up insurance, but remain €1 for those with a mutuelle.

Unions are fighting this phased approach and are pushing for the €2 rise to come into effect immediately from April.

Under the current system, the total fee is paid to the GP before being reimbursed in part at a later date. Opponents of the scheme claim that this results in those on very low incomes being reluctant to visit their doctor. The government has plans to move towards a system similar to that which is currently used in pharmacies, where the GP is paid directly by the healthcare system and no money changes hand at the point of care.

Doctors' unions are vigorously fighting these changes which they believe will increase their admin overhead and put patient care at risk. ■

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10 ♦ NATIONAL NEWS

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On 10th September 2012, the day after her son hanged himself, Sauvage shot her husband three times in the back with a rifle. She was found guilty of murder and sentenced to ten years in prison in October 2014, which was upheld on appeal in December 2015 when the State rejected her plea of self-defence. The state prosecutor said at the time that she should have shown a proportionate response and that firing three shots into her husband's back was inadmissible as self-defence. In French law, for an act to be considered self-defence,

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Abused murderer denied parole acqueline Sauvage, the Frenchwoman who murdered her abusive husband, has been denied parole, despite being granted a remise gracieuse by President Hollande earlier this year. The rare order by the head of state did not quash her conviction, unlike a complete pardon, but meant the 68-year-old was free to apply for an immediate conditional release.

The parole board said that Sauvage had “not done enough to question her own actions” and expressed concern that a return to her old neighbourhood might encourage people to see her as a victim rather than a convict “given the support around her and the media coverage”.

Sauvage’s case had become a cause célèbre in France, with more than 400,000 people signing a petition demanding her release; she was married for 47 years to Norbert Marot, a violent alcoholic who she said raped and beat her and her three daughters and also abused her son.

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it must be seen as proportional and in direct response to an act of aggression.

“We were afraid of him, he terrified us,” one of her daughters told the court during the original trial. Another of her daughters, raped at the age of 16, described her father’s death as a “relief”.

Following the recent hearing, her family told France 3: “I think she has paid enough.

She paid all her life and has been in prison for almost four years, so I think she's paid enough.”

The prosecution service, which backed her release, will appeal the court's decision, but Jacqueline Sauvage appears to have given up the fight. “To date, our client is not in the state of mind [to launch an appeal],” her legal representatives said shortly after her release had been denied.

The court’s decision prompted a barrage of criticism, with Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo describing it as “incomprehensible”.

Several feminist groups also expressed outrage, denouncing the ruling as “patriarchal” and a rebuke for women living with domestic violence. ■

No Brexit before 2019?

The British government may delay invoking Article 50 - the formal start of Brexit negotiations - until the end of 2017, according to The Sunday Times. If true, the news means that any new deal would not come into force until at least two years later, at the end of 2019.

The paper claimed ministers have warned senior officials in the City of London that the process is likely to be postponed for more than a year while extra staff are recruited to handle the negotiations. Elections in France in May, and Germany in September, could also push back the timing of Brexit as a change in governments could affect any deals already made.

The EU and a number of European countries have stressed their desire for the process to begin as soon as possible, but there is no timeframe laid out in the Lisbon Treaty and it is up to the country leaving to invoke Article 50. ■

Companies fined for 'ping' call scam Two French companies have been fined over the recent spate of 'ping' calls.

The scam tricks people into phoning premium-rate lines by calling their landline or mobile and letting it ring just once before hanging up. When the unsuspecting user sees a missed call and calls back, they

are kept on hold whilst racking up a huge bill.

The two companies, 123soleil.com and holding123mediacorp were fined €300,000 and €500,000 respectively for “misleading and aggressive” practices; their managing director was also handed a two-year suspended prison sentence and a fine of €250,000.

If you are in any doubt as to whether a missed call is genuine or not, you can check the number using the website www.infosva.org which lists who it belongs to and informs of the cost of calling that number. If you believe a number to be fraudulent, you can let the relevant authorities know by texting it to 33700 (free from Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR mobiles).

Note that this website concerns premium-rate numbers, which can be recognised as one of the following: - 10-digit numbers starting with 08 - 6-digit numbers starting with 118 - 4 digit numbers starting with a 3 or a 1 ■

Billion euro home goes on sale If you find the winters a little cold, or would prefer some more heat in the summer, then you may be interested in a property that has just come on the market in Saint-Jean-CapFerrat, near Nice. You may need a small loan, however, as the property in

question is for sale for a cool €1 billion, making it the world's most expensive home.

The mansion was once the home of Belgium's King Leopold II and boasts ten bedrooms, an Olympicsized swimming pool and 14,000 species of tropical plants - all set in 14 hectares of manicured gardens which are maintained by 15 full-time professional gardeners.

“Les Cèdres” is currently owned by the MarnierLapostolle family, best known for their Grand Marnier cognac liqueur.

If a buyer is found, it will smash the record as the world's most expensive private property deal. ■

Phone boxes to disappear by 2018 As part of the loi Macron changes put through last year, the requirement for Orange to maintain at least one phone box per commune was removed, effectively giving the company permission to dismantle France's pay phone network.

The country's public telephones are used for an average of less than one minute per day, and according to La Dépêche du Midi, Orange now plans to remove all remaining outdoor public pay phones by the end of this year. Those inside public buildings, such as airports and train stations, will be phased out by the beginning of 2018. ■

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NATIONAL NEWS ♦ 11

12 ♦ BILINGUAL

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LEARNING FRENCH VIA INTERNET

Perhaps you would like to learn French in comfort at home or from your office? You are not in France and you wish to communicate with a native French person for one hour per week?

LONG-DISTANCE LEARNING is the answer. You only need internet access and a free Skype account.

It can be a one-to-one lesson or you can share the lesson with a person of the same level.

TRANSLATION SERVICES ALSO AVAILABLE

Please contact Sophie Arsac for further information – 05 55 14 07 64 - scarolinea@yahoo.fr

Getting to know... Sophie Arsac The Bugle's resident translator, Sophie Arsac, has been entertaining and informing readers with her bilingual articles since 2010. During that time, in her role as an independent French teacher, she has also helped numerous expats to learn French and integrate into their local communities.

Now in her 7th year working with The Bugle, we thought we'd take a moment to get to know Sophie better and find out the best way to learn a new language.

Hello Sophie. Where did you learn to speak such good English and what led you to become a French teacher?

At school, my maths teacher (who looked a lot like Scrooge), traumatised me to the point that I can’t see a phone number or a date now, without shaking like a leaf. Fortunately, my English teacher was marvellously kind and funny and made learning a new language fun. It is just a pity I picked up his French accent! My parents saw how much I enjoyed learning languages and sent me to stay with a family in England during my holidays.

This is where I learned to truly love the English language and England as the family dragged me all over the country, showing me beautiful places, and would not let me get away with any mistakes! Their daughter also became my best (and now oldest!) friend. Learn-

ing a new language goes much further than learning new words as it gives you access to a new culture and to different processes of thoughts. All this made me want to go on studying and also to improve knowledge of my own language that I am now delighted to teach to non-native French speakers.

Is it really true that “you can't teach an old dog new tricks”, or can anyone learn to speak French?

My father started Spanish in his seventies and he is absolutely fluent now. Then he decided to learn Mandarin. A lot of my students are around their 60’s or over. From my experience, there is no secret, it is all a matter of willingness and motivation. I study Spanish via the Internet on Skype and when I feel that I am not doing well, I can only put it down to lack of time during the week, and not my age…. Studies show that those who continue learning

new things throughout life and challenge their brain are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

And for those who are still not convinced, it seems that sex and language activate the same area of the brain better than eating chocolate or drinking alcohol!

What is the best way to learn: in a group or via oneto-one tuition?

Everyone has a different style of learning and I try to tailor the lessons to suit the individual. Some students will be more suited to learning within a private lesson, either at home or via the internet and SKYPE, whilst for others a classroom setting is better. The fastest way to learn the language is a oneto-one lesson, as it caters completely to the individual needs of a student. A group lesson moves as slowly as the slowest student so this is better for people who find it difficult to stay self-motivat-

ed and who like the interaction with other people. Some of them enjoy the journey as well as the end result.

I offer classes for beginners, intermediates and advanced, with students moving up and down and joining a group which will best fit their level. All my groups are small as I find them more efficient and friendly than large classes.

Outside of the classroom, what is the best way to learn and practice French?

The teacher opens a door and shows you directions to go with your learning. Your level of commitment, your personal work and practice of the language will lead to the result you deserve. Learning a language requires a lot of repetition and investment, I would recommend plenty of reading and immersing yourself into the French way of life. Try to listen to French as much as possible. Watch French TV, listen to French radio, read a French newspaper or magazine. It will build up your confidence.

Mixing with French people is essential as it is a good way to learn the idiomatic usage of the language. Never be worried about making a

fool of yourself or making mistakes as you will always learn from them. If you don’t know enough French people at the moment, just join one of my conversation lessons and make new friends!

How do French?

you

teach

My approach will vary according to the learner or to the group of learners and to me, there is not one way to teach a language. The most important of all is to adapt myself to the style of learning that best suits the individual - some people prefer repetition, some are visual learners, some need to just talk! For those applying for French nationality, a level of B1 of the Com-

mon European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is required and I can help with this. This level shows that the applicant can take part in a conversation and express themselves at a reasonable level. But most learners just want to be part of French life and enjoy the culture. As Stanley Kubrick said: “Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.” I try to be like my old English teacher - language should be fun and learning should be enjoyable. ■ Sophie Arsac Tel: 05 55 14 07 64 Email: scarolinea@yahoo.fr Facebook: search for "FRENCH SOS"

The health benefits of a bilingual brain

T

here are many good reasons to learn a second language, whatever your age. If you are young, studying more than one language can create job opportunities in an increasingly globalised world; if you are older and move abroad, then speaking the local tongue will enhance your experience on a social and cultural level. But there is also one added benefit that more and more studies are highlighting: speaking more than one language can stave off the effects of dementia.

The brain is a complex organ and the causes of dementia are still not fully understood, but there is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that polyglots will develop the disease later in life than those who only speak one language.

“Being bilingual has certain cognitive benefits and boosts the performance of the brain, especially one of the most important areas known as the executive control system,” explained Ellen Bialystok, a psychologist at York Univer-

sity in Toronto. “We know that this system deteriorates with age but we have found that at every stage of life it functions better in bilinguals. They perform at a higher level. It won't stop them getting Alzheimer's disease, but they can cope with the disease for longer.”

In her research, which was originally published the journal Neurology, Bialystok looked at 211 people with probable Alzheimer's disease, 102 of whom were bilingual and 109 monolingual. She noted the age at which the patients' cognitive impairment had started and her results showed that bilingual patients had been diagnosed an average of 4.3 years later and had reported the onset of symptoms 5.1 years later than monolingual patients.

Whilst even school level language showed some benefits, the effect was greatest for people who had to use the language every day and continually choose between two sets of words. “It works best for people who speak two languages every day, like im-

migrants moving to a new country who speak their own language at home... but every little bit helps.”

The scientist believes that the act of switching between different languages and inhibiting those that are not needed, stimulates the brain, creating a cognitive reserve. “It is rather like a reserve tank in a car.

When you run out of fuel, you can keep going for longer because there is a bit more in the safety tank.”

This last analogy is crucial, as repeated studies have shown that keeping your brain active is not a silver bullet against dementia, it will simply allow you to cope with the disease for longer, something that has been highlighted by a subsequent study by Bialystok of the brains of dementia sufferers. A group of monolingual and bilingual dementia patients, who were the same age and functioned at the same cognitive level, were scanned using a CT machine.

The results showed that the physical effects of the disease

were more advanced in the bilinguals' brains, even though their mental ability was approximately the same. “Apparently, the bilinguals' brains are somehow compensating,” explained Bialystok. “Even though the 'machine' is more broken, they can function at the same level as a monolingual with less disease.”

It is not just later in life that the benefits of speaking multiple languages manifest themselves. It has long been known that bilingual children will outperform their monolingual peers in certain tasks controlled by the executive control system, such as editing out irrelevant information, focusing on important details and prioritising. “We would probably refer to most of these cognitive advantages as multi-tasking,” explained Judith Kroll, a psychologist at Penn State University in the US. “Bilinguals seem to be better at this type of perspective-taking.”

It had previously been assumed that speaking multiple languages “confused” the

brain, but the opposite has now been shown to be the case. “The received wisdom was that bilingualism created confusion, especially in children. The belief was that people who could speak two or more languages had difficulty using either. The bottom line is that bilingualism is good for you.”

For those of us who were not lucky enough to have picked up a second language at school, there are still plenty of health benefits to learning another tongue later in life... and it is never too late to try.

“Being bilingual is one way to keep your brain active - it's part of the cognitive-reserve approach to brain fitness. The more the better and every little bit helps!” Bialystok concludes.

So next time you set yourself health goals - be they losing weight, getting fit, or cutting down on your alcohol consumption - why not add a few hours of French study into the equation... it's a lot less tiring than jogging!! ■

FRENCH LIFE ♦ 13

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

The wines of Bergerac - organic wines

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by Martin Walker

his is a nervous time for winemakers, scanning the skies and weather forecasts for these last weeks before the harvest. After a very wet May and June and a hot, dry summer they now hope for some late decent rains before dry weather for picking the grapes. Above all they pray for none of the hail storms that can devastate an entire vineyard in minutes. It is always a gamble, to pick a little early and avoid the risk of hail, or to hang on for those extra few days for the full ripening.

But many of them in the Bergerac will be facing another dilemma, whether or not to join the growing local trend towards organic wines. There are now more than 2,000 organic vineyards in the world and over 900 are in France, but that still accounts for only four in every hundred French vineyards.

Along with Alsace, the Bergerac has the most of all the French regions and more and more of our local winemakers see it as a useful and beneficial way of making the Bergerac distinct.

The Saussignac district southwest of Bergerac stands out, with half of its vineyards now organic

or in the process of becoming so.

It takes time. They also arrange organic wines tours and walks.

Information and a map is available by email from Caro Feely at caroline@hautgarrigue.com, whose own Terroir Feely is not just organic but bio-dynamic.

But all around the Bergerac and in Montravel, Monbazillac and Pécharment the trend is clear. Château de la Jaubertie, one of the region’s finest vineyards, is now marketing a Natura brand (stocked in the organic section of my local Intermarché) which is excellent value. At recent contests I have attended, it is the organic wines from Château Les Hauts de Caillevel, from Château La Robertie, Château Richard, from Château Puy-Servain, from Domaine de l’Ancienne Cure and Domaine Coquelicot that are winning prizes.

Going organic is not just about environmental fashion. France is one of the world’s top three users of fertilisers, spending over 2 billion euros a year on these chemical additions of pesticides, weed killers and other substances to the soil. The run-off from the farms is affecting rivers and causing massive algae blooms

in estuaries. About 20 per cent of all French fertiliser goes onto vines, which account for only 5 per cent of arable land.

This is not simply a French problem, although Decanter magazine found that nine out of ten bottles of French wine tested contained significant quantities of pesticide. Tests in California’s Napa and Sonoma Valleys by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found levels up to four and five times the maximum amount of arsenic permitted in drinking water. Of the more than 1,300 bottles of wine tested, nearly one-quarter had arsenic levels higher than the EPA’s maximum arsenic level for drinking water, which is 10 parts per billion (ppb).

So it makes sense to look out for the little green label that says AB, which stands for Agriculture Biologique. But this only takes us part of the way, since the European Union shrinks from defining an organic wine and says AB signifies only that the grapes themselves have been grown organically. And a great deal of chemistry takse place in the chai in the process of turning the grape juice into wine.

Even AB winemakers can use

sulfites in jaw-dropping quantities. The natural tannins in grape skins usually add about 10 milligrammes of sulfites to a litre of wine, but even AB wines are allowed up to 160 mg per litre in red, 200 mg per litre in white and 400 mg per litre in sweet wines.

There is a second classification, symbolized on the label by a green square with little white stars in the shape of a leaf which means organic techniques have been used in making the wine.

Vineyards must wait four years “in conversion” before applying for organic certification and they face much tighter controls than conventional vineyards, with organic certification every year, together with additional spot checks.

The basic rule about organic farming is that it seeks to treat the soil rather than just the plant, to keep it healthy, full of micro-organisms and encouraging biodiversity. Conventional vineyards may look impressive, with the wines regimented and weeded with military precision, but I’d rather see them buzzing with butterflies and bees, with herbs and orchids growing and wildlife wondering between the

Land on your feet, whatever Brexit brings - Blevins Franks

N

o matter what your feelings are about Brexit, now that the storm has started to settle it is time to shift focus from the emotional to the practical. What do you need to do to make sure Brexit will not work against you as an expatriate?

For now, nothing has changed for expatriates following the referendum, so you can continue enjoying the benefits of living in France as before. While this is likely to be the case for two years or more - and hopefully longer - there are things you can do now to help you deal with future developments.

Reassess your loyalty to the pound It is common for UK nationals to keep most of their savings and investments in British pounds. It is a familiar currency, after all, and it is natural for expatriates to retain financial connections with the UK, such as through property or a British bank account.

Once you live outside of the UK, however, this approach carries currency exchange risk. If you are living in France and spending euros in your daily life, it can become much more expensive to take your income in sterling.

This was especially true following the Brexit announcement where the sterling exchange rate fell sharply. To get around this issue, you could choose investment structures that allow currency flexibility so you can wait for a favourable time to convert from sterling to euros.

Widen your investment horizons When it comes to investing, many expatriates also favour British assets, like bonds issued by UK companies or shares listed on a FTSE index. This bias is more likely if your adviser is based in Britain, as UK advisers often structure their clients’ portfolios this way. A side-effect of this could be that your financial planning is more suitable for a UK resident. Without local expertise, you could miss out on opportunities available in France that could work more favourably for your circumstances.

In any case, it is important to make sure you are not overexposed to UK assets at the expense of diversification. Those with a heavily UK-weighted portfolio would, for example, have suffered from the post-referendum aftershocks in the UK stock market. While this has since recovered, likely market uncertainty ahead

means it is more important than ever to have a welldiversified portfolio.

Diversify, diversify, diversify With savings and investments, you can minimise risk - Brexit-related or otherwise - by putting your eggs in several baskets. A portfolio that is diversified by currency, region, asset type and market sector will limit your exposure in any one area. This means you will be best placed to ride out any currency or market turbulence.

Ideally you should seek financial advice from an adviser based locally in France, who can review your portfolio with the full understanding of the UK and French tax implications and opportunities. They should make recommendations tailor-made for you using a range of different strategies across all the geographical regions, sectors and asset classes.

Get your tax planning in order When it comes to the taxes you pay in France, there is no reason for anything to change post-Brexit. Your tax treatment as an expatriate is driven by the UK/France tax treaty that exists independently of the EU. However, you should still seek advice to establish whether there are any potential implications specific to your personal circumstances. For example, if you hold UK bonds, you may lose beneficial tax treatment in France once the UK leaves the EU. An adviser can recommend more tax-efficient ways to structure your investments, such as the most suitable EU-issued assurance-vie to offer you currency flexibility.

Revisit your pension Now is also a good time to review your pension funds.

Based on current law, Brexit should have no impact on how you can take out or transfer your UK-registered pension schemes. However, there is speculation that the UK could introduce an ‘exit tax’ for pension transfers by non-UK residents. Although unsubstantiated, those concerned about this potential scenario could consider transferring their UK pension to a suitable regulated pension scheme. As with any decision about your pension, it is crucial to seek professional guidance to establish the

vines.

This can carry risks. Sue Miller and Humphrey Temperley of Château Lestevenie at Gageacet-Rouillac have a wildlife camera in the vineyard, which recently caught a badger upon its hind legs nibbling away at the grapes by night. Thank heaven there were enough left over to make their blend of merlot and cabernet franc into the finest red wine I have ever drunk for less than ten euros a bottle. It truly is a spectacular wine, but so is their luscious rosé and their dessert wine just won a coveted Guide Hachette award. All that, low sulfites, no sugar or other added chemicals! ■ 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-in-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.

right option for you before taking any action.

Keep your finances in top shape Remember that, whatever happens, it is important to regularly review your financial planning. Regardless of Brexit, your circumstances and objectives can change over time, so what is right for you now may not be so suitable in two years’ time.

Now has never been a better time to build a good relationship with a locally-based financial adviser who can keep you informed of developments that affect you specifically as an expatriate. They can explain the crossborder implications and help you plan if and when you need to take action so you can continue enjoying your chosen lifestyle in France. ■ Tel: 05 53 63 49 19 Email: bergerac@blevinsfranks.com 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.

LION ROUGE

Suppliers and installers of UPVC windows, doors and conservatories Covering depts 16,17, 24 & 33

Call today on

05 46 70 25 87

www.lionrouge.eu

14 ♦ FRENCH LIFE

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ SEPTEMBER 2016

In the garden - jobs for September

S

by Michelle Pierce

o the weather patterns of last year seem to have repeated themselves this year - a wet, cool spring followed by a scorchingly hot dry summer! Clearly this has been a big challenge for the gardener, and more especially the vegetable gardener, where you're looking to have maximum growth and plant development in the shortest time from young, fragile plants.

But that said, if you've mulched well and had the ability to water consistently, cropping for many things has been good (fruit excepted in my area).

This is an exciting transitional time, strange to say when we're still having baking hot days. But we can see the changes in day length and evening temperatures. Now is the time to make the most of the late season; you can just squeeze in another crop of the quicker growers - salads, carrots, beetroot, oriental leaves, radish, herbs like coriander, basil, peas, maybe even beans. Why not give it a go if you have any seed left. Shove a few extras into the greenhouse or cold frames and double up.

Also, sow winter varieties now so that they get established before the bad weather - chicory, lamb's lettuce, spinach, winter radish, turnips, cabbages, kale, mustards, dandelion, winter lettuce, chervil, winter savory. The shops will start to have onion sets and leek in plants available soon, so plant these, too.

Refresh your strawberry patch by taking off this year's runners and planting them up separately, giving the area a bit of a feed with manure or blood, fish and bone.

Collect seeds, if you haven't already, for next year. Don't forget to make a list of what you've got, to avoid rebuying things you already have.

If you're not planning to use all your veg garden over the winter, occupy the empty beds by sowing green manures (clovers, mustards, cereals) - these can be bought very reasonably as seed from garden centres.

Carry on harvesting, and dealing with crops, whether that be freezing, canning, drying or jam making, or simply finding dry cool places for your onions, potatoes

Now is a great time to use garden waste to build an insect hotel for winter

and squashes, etc.

If you want to do endives over the winter and you have grown the plants during the year, you can start thinking about digging them up and cutting the roots down to produce the typical creamy buds we'll be seeing in the shops over the winter.

Blanche cardoons, celery, dandelions, scarole plants by either bunching their leaves together and tying with string, or putting an upturned bucket over them.

This will reduce their bitterness.

If the weather isn't too dry, divide your rhubarb, chives, sorrel, etc. and gently separate off young artichoke plants from around the base of the parent plant, trim back the foliage and replant.

In the flower garden, now is a good time to think about buying and planting tulips and other spring bulbs. Making a

sales24@thebugle.eu

05 55 41 17 76

wish list or a colour scheme for planting is the ideal, but let's face it, that takes discipline, and we're often led astray by impulse buying. Also, go round and pot up the self-sowers for replanting or giving away. Mark plants like oriental poppies that disappear over winter with small stakes and label things like asters according to their flower colour, so that when you divide them you're sure which one you've got. Take cuttings of things like dahlias, pelargoniums, salvias, dianthus.

Turn out your compost heap if it's ready and put it on the veg patch, or start a new one ready for any pruning you want to be doing in the autumn.

Nights are getting much cooler, so plan ahead regarding any frost sensitive plants you want to overwinter. Clean out

and organise the greenhouse, or if it's full of tomatoes, etc., at least an area in it, even if it's just a shelf. This way you'll be ready to just pop things away when it really turns cold.

Prune back the dead wood off fruit trees while there are still leaves on them.

If you grow grapes, remove some of the leaves to let the sun get to the fruit.

Use some of your garden waste (twigs, bamboo, dried grasses) to make some insect hotels or habitats for overwintering insects.

However, as usual all garden activity depends on the weather, and if it's too hot or dry, just wait a while before disturbing things, dividing or generally working.

Enjoy this beautiful time of year.

Good gardening! ■

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DIRECTORY ♦ 15

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

Business Directory

Your indispensable guide to finding local businesses & artisans Animals & Pets

CHARTERED STRUCTURAL ENGINEER

Please mention The Bugle when responding to adverts

Pre-purchase & Structural Surveys.

Verbal & written reports.

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Architectural DRAWING SERVICE

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SHAMPOOCHIENS Dog Grooming Parlour All breeds catered for Clipping, hand stripping and bathing 30 years’ experience 24500 Eymet

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Architectural Services

Building Services

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Harlequin Developments All aspects of renovation and refurbishment, big or small, undertaken.

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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.

05 53 58 55 38 and home of CANOUAN ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIELS Puppies sometimes available

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upvc-solutions uPVC windows, doors, porches & conservatories

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www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ SEPTEMBER 2016

ADVERTORIAL

Blacktower Financial Management Celebrates 30 Years • Retirement solutions • Tax planning

he very beginnings of what is now the Blacktower Group occurred in 1986 and in the 30 years since the outset of the firm it has grown into one of the industry's most respected providers of independent wealth management and ex-pat investment management advice. Indeed, the growth of Blacktower is reflected in the status of its Managing Director and founder, John Westwood, who is now a board member of The Federation of European Independent Financial Advisors.

However, the journey into expat investment management didn't

begin until 1996 when Blacktower opened its office in the Algarve, Portugal. Soon afterwards, what is now Blacktower Financial Management (International) Ltd's head office opened in Gibraltar. In 2016 these two offices are just two of sixteen around Europe, with a further office in Grand Cayman and this is surely indicative of Blacktower's commitment to reaching out to new clients and continued growth.

If you're a Blacktower FM client, you will benefit from UK-style financial advice wherever you might be living in the world and because our trusted advisors speak the languages and understand the jurisdictions of the countries they work in, you can rest assured you are in good hands.

Our areas of expertise include the following: • QROPS and QNUPS transfers • High Net Wealth pensions • Savings • Investments • Education fee planning

As an expat in France all we are hearing at the moment is “Brexit, Brexit, Brexit”! In reality no one yet knows what this will mean and the new Prime Minister, Theresa May, has made it clear that she will not be rushed to take the UK out of the EU without the ‘right’ deal in place. As you will have repeatedly heard the whole process will take 2 years once Article 50 has been triggered, so this could mean a long waiting period for us expats. That said, it is, now more than ever, a very good time to discuss your financial situation and future with a qualified adviser like myself.

France is very different to the UK in its taxation, inheritance laws and tax efficient solutions for your savings and with the recent drop in the interest rates by the Bank of England, with further reductions envisioned, now is a perfect time to look at alternatives to make your money work for you and not the other way around.

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Painters/ Decorators

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We provide a fully operated

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Traditional Fish & Chips in a town near you All venues are in the evening between 6pm & 8.30 pm 1st Monday: Le Champsac Tuesday: Tremolat Thursday: Eymet 1st & 3rd Friday: Lauzun 2nd Friday: Ste-Alvère Last Friday: Daglan See our website for full details:

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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.

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constitute investment advice and you should seek advice from a professional adviser before embarking on any financial planning activity.

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In France we have an excellent tax efficient proposition in the Assurance Vie. Interestingly, it’s estimated that a third or more of the French population has an Assurance Vie, which is not surprising as it is one of the best ways to protect your hard-earned savings from tax and grow your investments over the years, as well as offering the facility to draw down tax efficient income when required.

Now is also a good time to look at those pensions that you may have been pushing to one side. Many UK companies are offering favourable transfer values to members of their company schemes in an attempt to reduce the huge deficits that they are facing in their current pension funds.

For financial help or guidance I am here to assist you. For an independent, professional and impartial consultation please contact me:

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Your advert here 05 55 41 17 76 Language Services

TRANSLATION SERVICES Do you need help with translating French correspondence and everyday dealings with French bureaucracy?

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DIRECTORY ♦ 17

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

ADVERTORIAL

BREXIT - MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR HOUSE SALE Pioneer France ensures sellers and buyers maximise their funds

T

he last fifteen years have seen a huge volume of foreign buying and selling activity in France. In fact, the level of activity has almost tripled compared with the previous fifteen-year period.

“The internet has obviously played a huge part in this change but so too have methods of financing,” says Harris Raphael, Managing partner of Francebased Pioneer France. “The biggest financing change has been the ability for those transferring funds when buying or selling properties to utilise the services of a specialist foreign exchange company to achieve exchange rates only available previously to large commercial organisations.”

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more likely to have traditionally used a bank for their transfers and are reluctant and nervous about using ‘new methods’.

“I understand this completely,” says Harris. “Anything new can be daunting, especially when it concerns one’s major asset! However, Pioneer France’s foreign exchange brokerage has been operating for over 35 years and is one of the very few that is fully authorised and regulated by the FCA, with the right of establishment in France.

As such, we are able to provide our clients with full security of funds, and we can give expert currency exchange guidance to aid our client’s decision making, which the banks are not licensed to do.”

Pioneer France was recently voted number one for foreign exchange rates and service, so contact Harris and his team to find out more about saving thousands. ■

“What is odd is that buyers are almost twice as likely as sellers to use the services of such a specialist,” says Harris. “This is a real shame, as having tried so hard to achieve the best price for their house, many sellers then relinquish an unnecessary chunk of these funds by using old-fashioned and very expensive banking methods to repatriate their money back into sterling, dollars or whatever. This often loses the seller thousands which could have been so easily avoided. Our historic data shows that the average loss is around €3,500.”

Harris believes that this is primarily because the profile of a typical seller is usually older than that of a buyer. Sellers are therefore

Please mention The Bugle when responding to adverts

Short ‘optimised’ web videos in English and/or French for your property sale or your business.

Property Sales

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

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Tel: 05 53 07 06 27 Email: info@pioneerfrance.com Web: www.pioneerfrance.com

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The Pioneer France team, from left: Harris, Tanya, Carole and Peter

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18 ♦ DIRECTORY

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ SEPTEMBER 2016

ADVERTORIAL

Video marketing with Private Property Sellers

S

tandard static property adverts aren’t enough anymore, an eye-catching property video to convey a message quickly is now the important way to attract those buyers... so we offer a FREE YouTube video with our marketing.

How to make the best of your property marketing? The ability to engage buyers has to be made easier than ever. We always say good photos are important, sunny days, tidy rooms and priced correctly. However, research is now showing the majority of website visitors don’t read through text, they quickly scan through it! While 80% of website visitors will watch a video, only 20% will actually read the text in its entirety.

Video is now an important aspect of marketing for property adverts, to quickly convey a message in a more eye-catching way than that of a standard advert. YouTube receives more than one billion unique visitors every month, that’s more than any other channel, apart from Facebook. One in three Britons view at least one online video a week - that’s a weekly audience of more than 20 million people in the UK

alone. If a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million, so say Forrester’s researchers.

We add your property video to websites and share across social media, reaching buyers globally, in any language.

Our global marketing is reaching a wide range of nationalities, resulting in successful sales in less than six months of advertising; we offer an AV board, free YouTube property video and other services to help support the selling and buying process. Our great service is receiving positive feedback from our clients and our marketing doesn’t cost a fortune! Buyers have already switched from estate agents to looking online and know buying privately offers huge advantages. So if you’re not online privately yet, remember it’s the French Property Show in London Olympia from 16 - 18th September, so now’s the perfect time to get started. ■

For details on our marketing and how to list your property with us please email Anne Stapleton: info@privatepropertysellers.com or visit our website: www.privatepropertysellers.com

ADVERTORIAL

FREEZTEQ Frozen Dampcourse System is a unique and highly effective damp coursing system. It is based on siliconate solutions, which are inserted into holes drilled in the mortar line of the wall to be treated in the form of circular section, pre-frozen "ice sticks".

The slow-melting system ensures a continuous water-repellent barrier because the system depends on diffusion, the most effective method for fluid distribution in masonry.

Accurate dosages can be readily achieved and application costs are thus remarkably low.

The FREEZTEQ system is suitable for all types of walls, including brick, stone and rubble infill, and has shown itself to be particularly effective in the treatment of older properties.

DIY or contractor; easy to use; 30 year guarantee available; most effective method; direct insertion; reduced costs; all wall thicknesses; all types of stone or brickwork; treatment from one side of wall only; no specialised equipment; no bulky equipment; correct dosage; no spillage of liquids; non-flammable; odourless. ■

FREEZTEQ Frozen Damp-course System is now available in France, all enquiries to Harlequin Developments.

Tel: 05 55 68 67 56 or 06 06 60 46 97, e-mail: harlequindevelopments@live.com

Installers and distributors wanted for all regions of France.

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 has been helping people sell their French property to buyers worldwide for over 7 years now.

Richard Kroon, founder and director of the company: “We are very optimistic about the current market. The increase in sales we saw in 2015 has continued this year. We did see some hesitation from British buyers at the end of June/early July, but that didn’t last very long. There are always people who want to buy property in France, no matter what.”

As HOI-GPS advertises each property worldwide, the British are only part of their client base. People from Australia, USA, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany,

Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Canada and of course France are among their clients too.

Richard continues: “Our continuous global marketing is definitely paying off and guarantees a worldwide exposure of your property to buyers, wherever they live.

“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.

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 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 searches and our 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 interested in it.”

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

The page “Selling a property” explains how they work step by step. ■

Houses on Internet Global Property Services www.housesoninternet.com

+31 (0)1 15 82 35 53

LANGUAGE & GAMES ♦ 19

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ 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 €13.50/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 25,000 pairs of eyes each month!!

For more information on any of our advertising options, please feel free to give us a call on 05 55 41 17 76 or send an email to sales24@thebugle.eu

6-Month Contract €108

Small b&w Directory Ad

(€18/month)

Large b&w Directory Ad

(€24/month)

Small Colour Directory Ad

(€27/month)

Large Colour Directory Ad

(€36/month)

€144 €162 €216

12-Month Contract €162

(€13.50/month)

€216

(€18/month)

€243

(€20.25/month)

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

30 words max

€324

(€27/month)

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 - no logos, images or artwork are allowed. The minimum contract length is 6 months.

Advertising is payable on publication. All prices are HT.

To advertise in The Bugle Business Directory, call 05 55 41 17 76

Crossword Clues and answers in English - solution page 14

Across:

1. Goddess of love (5) 3. Revoke (7) 7. Floor show (7) 9. Oversight (5) 10. Last letter of the Greek alphabet (5) 11. Rising warm air current (7) 13. Symbol of disgrace or infamy (6) 14. Sour (6) 18. Inscrutable (7) 20. Type of snake (5) 21. Photo book (5) 23. Luxurious (7) 24. Commotion (7) 25. Restorative (5)

SUDOKU - EASY

Down:

1. Asinine (7) 2. Satire (7) 3. Turn on an axis (6) 4. Unguent (5) 5. Mischievous fairy (3) 6. Live (5) 8. Transience (7) 12. Gruesome (7) 15. Explanation (7) 16. Forceful and extreme (7) 17. Educational institution (6) 18. Intone (5) 19. Musical speed (5) 22. Saloon (3)

SUDOKU - MEDIUM

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

SUDOKU - HARD

20 ♦ COMMUNITY

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ SEPTEMBER 2016

Monday

Market Days

Beynac Le Fleix Les Eyzies Ste-Alvère

Tuesday

Beaumont du Périgord Bergerac Brantôme Cénac-et-Saint-Julien Lanouaille Le Bugue Mareuil Neuvic Ribérac Salignac Eyvigues Thenon Trémolat

Wednesday Bergerac Gardonne Hautefort Jumilhac-le-Grand La Tour Blanche Montpon-Ménestérol Montignac Périgueux Piégut Pluviers Razac

AQUITAINE CHURCH SERVICES SEPTEMBER 2016

The Chaplaincy of Aquitaine covers the Dordogne, Gironde, Lot-et-Garonne, and Condom (Gers).

All services are held in English.

For further details, please see our website: www.churchinaquitaine.org or contact Chaplaincy Administration: Amy Owensmith, +33 (0) 607 04 07 77 chapaq.office@gmail.com

SUNDAY 04 SEPTEMBER 10:30 Service of the Word – Bertric Burée 10:30 Family Communion – Bordeaux 10:30 Prayer & Praise – Limeuil 10:30 Morning Worship – Monteton 11:00 Holy Communion – Doudrac 11:00 Holy Communion – Sainte Nathalène 18:00 Evensong – Bertric Burée Saturday 10 September 11:00 Licensing and Holy Communion – Bordeaux SUNDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 10:30 Holy Communion – Bertric Burée 10:30 All Age Worship – Bordeaux 10:30 Fresh Expressions – Eymet Temple 10:30 Holy Communion – Limeuil 10:30 Morning Prayer - Monteton 10:30 Family Service – Négrondes 10:30 Holy Communion – Saint Médard, L&G 11:00 Prayer & Praise - Condom Tuesday 13 September 11:00 Holy Communion – Allez Wednesday 14 September 11:00 BCP Holy Communion – Bertric Burée Thursday 15 September 10:30 BCP Morning Prayer – Limeuil SUNDAY 18 SEPTEMBER 10:30 Family Service – Bertric Burée 10:30 Family Communion – Bordeaux 10:30 Holy Communion – Chancelade 10:30 Morning Worship – Dondas 10:30 Morning Worship – Limeuil 10:30 Prayer & Praise – Monteton 11:00 Service of the Word – Sainte Nathalène 17:00 Taizé Evensong - Limeuil SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER 10:30 Holy Communion – Bertric Burée 10:30 Morning Worship – Bordeaux 10:30 Fresh Expressions – Eymet Temple 10:30 Holy Communion – Limeuil 10:30 Holy Communion - Monteton 10:30 Holy Communion – Négrondes Thursday 29 September 11:00 Holy Communion – Condom

Join us once again on Saturday 24th September for the 5th annual WorshipFest, a time to come together, as many as can, to share our testimonies and join our voices together to sing with joy to our Lord.

There is no entrance fee; please bring your friends, all are welcome!

The event will take place at the Eglise Evangélique Libre in Bergerac (5, rue Durou) beginning at 10 am, until 3 pm. As in previous years we will have a bring and share lunch. Join us for part of the day, or stay all day.

For more details, please contact Charlotte Sullivan on 05 53 61 81 61 or at kevet2adsl@aol.com

Sarlat Siorac-en-Périgord Vélines Domme Excideuil Eymet La Coquille Lalinde Monpazier St Astier St-Julien-de-Lampon Terrasson

Le Bugue Montignac Mussidan Neuvic Nontron Périgueux Razac Sarlat Sigoulès St Aulaye Ste-Foy-la-Grande Thiviers Verteillac Villefranche du Périgord

Friday

Sunday

Thursday

Bergerac Brantôme Cubjac Le Buisson Ribérac Sarlat Vergt

Saturday

Agonac Beaumont du Périgord Belvès Bergerac Lalinde La Roche Chalais

Bergerac Couze St Front Daglan Gardonne Issigeac Pontours Pressignac-Vicq Rouffignac Sarlat Sorges St Cyprien St Génies St Pardoux la Rivière

CANTABILE A packed church at Loubès-Bernac at the end of July meant that some of the audience were sitting with the choir and others crowded around the open doorway.

This was Cantabile (the ACFAA choir) and friends’ commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death. Excerpts from several of Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets were performed, together with related musical items, some light-hearted - “Brush Up Your Shakespeare” and classical pieces including “Orpheus with His Lute”.

The choir concluded the concert singing a new musical work based on “The Tempest”, composed and conducted by Simon Kenworthy, Cantabile’s musical director, accompanied by Jonathan Smalley, with baritone Peter Fowler as soloist.

In early September, Cantabile will start work on Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, to be performed on 17th June next year in Eymet church and 18th June in the Eglise St Jacques in Bergerac. Anyone who would like to join Cantabile and be part of the production should contact Philippa Tillyer at cogulot@yahoo.co.uk.

Misty, Lady, Princess & Lucky These four little darlings may look alike but they all have their own personalities! Misty and Lady were rescued from a farm so they are both fine with chickens, adult cats and calm dogs. While Misty is playful, talkative and affectionate with a very loud purr, her sister Lady is very shy but purrs like crazy when she is cuddled. The girls are very close and it would be lovely, if possible, to find them a home together. They were born around 20th May and are being fostered in 87500 Ladignac.

Princess and Lucky are yet another two beautiful black girls and very different characters! Lucky is very sweet natured, loves playing and being outside, whereas Princess is very calm and affectionate and LOVES attention, hence her name. They were born around 4th May and are being fostered in 24480.

Please find it in your hearts to help these darling little girls to find their forever homes! All the kittens are either vaccinated and chipped or will be before leaving Phoenix care.

For Misty and Lady please contact Annabel on 07 87 42 60 15 or email her at annabeljuliathomasina@yahoo.co.uk For Princess and Lucky please contact Patricia on 05 53 57 53 04 or email her at stephen@bottomley1109.freeserve.co.uk

www.phoenixasso.com www.facebook.com/PhoenixAssociationFrance

Welcome to the new Chaplain of Aquitaine, Rev’d Tony Lomas The Licensing and Installation of the new Chaplain of Aquitaine, Rev’d Tony Lomas (pictured with wife Ingrid) will be conducted on Saturday 10th September in Bordeaux. The Licensing Service will commence at 11 am, followed by a bring and share lunch. The service will be officiated by the Bishop of Europe, the Right Rev’d Dr Robert Innes.

We hope many will come and support the Chaplain as he takes up his office in Aquitaine, and enjoy the fellowship of the Chaplaincy on this important day.

More details regarding the bring and share lunch to follow soon, please bring your couverts. Directions of how to get to the Chapelle de l’Assomption in Bordeaux by various means of transport can be found on the Bordeaux website: www.anglicanbordeaux.org For details or more information, please contact Amy Owensmith on 06 07 04 07 77 or at chapaq.office@gmail.com

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

WHAT’S

ON

Talk – Chromotherapy Saturday 10th September at 4 pm BOOKSTOP, 19 rue Victor Hugo, 24310 BRANTÔME Chromotherapy is a medical technique that uses colours visible to the human eye for therapeutic purposes.

It is different from allopathic treatment which uses pharmacologically active agents, hence the eternal question:

WHAT’S ON ♦ 21

Hard to know which tourist sites to visit?

Grumpy Granny Guide

The Grumpy Granny Guide® will help you choose if you:

Need practial information Are with young children or a pushchair Are elderly Hate standing in the sun Tire easily and need to sit down Can’t manage any steps or stairs Are with your dog

‘How can mere colours be used as a treatment when they cannot even be felt on the skin?’

The Grumpy Granny website provides all the information you need to make the right choice for a comfortable experience in the Dordogne

How about taking a journey together to see how chromotherapy really works?

Visit us on:

Please note that this talk will be in French only. Free entry.

www.GRUMPYGRANNYGUIDE.com It’s FREE, quick & easy to use

22 ♦ WHAT’S ON

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ SEPTEMBER 2016

MAX LASSORT

La Voix des Lieux The way to living space awareness “Space and behavioural analysis” Bookstop, Brantôme 9th September - 16h

Themes: - Me and my House - Being at one with your Home - Holistic Building “Places we interact with, both public and private, respond to and serve our intentional lives once the SELF becomes the focal point”, Max Lassort

EHhibition at the Château de Limeuil WILLIAM BACHLE - sculptor in wood William Bachle is an American sculptor and painter based in England and Sainte-Alvère. He exhibits globally with one-man shows in New York, London, Milan and Sydney, as well as group shows in London.

He works in French lime, English oak and Malaysian jelutong.

Contact William at bill@bachle.net or call +44 7973 436 053

The Phoenix Book Fair on Saturday 24th September ...will again be held in Campsegret (24140) with over 20,000 English and French books (in excellent condition, all sorted and in category), DVDs and CDs on offer from one euro and up.

The Phoenix Cuisine will be offering all sorts of delicious home-made cakes and savouries.

Special selections are Antiquarian/Collectors, Military/General History, Cookery, Children’s and Puzzles. The Bric-a-brac and the Tombola stands will also be there with lots of goodies.

Doors open at 9:30 am (9 am for people with limited mobility) and close at 3 pm. Entrance and parking are free. All donations of books, DVDs, CDs and Tombola gifts are welcome on the day!

All the proceeds of the fair will go the the Phoenix Association.

For further information go to www.phoenixasso.com

The Journées européennes du patrimoine (European Heritage Days) take place this month on 17th and 18th September.

This is a popular event throughout France, which sees many state buildings and museums open their doors to visitors.

There is not enough space in these pages to list everything going on so pop down to your local tourist office or visit:

http://www.journeesdupatrimoine.culture.fr/ to find out what is happening in your area.

SEPTEMBER 2016 ○ THE BUGLE ○ www.thebugle.eu

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 also as a meeting ground for the French and international communities of the Dordogne, including ACIP and La Tulipe.

Venue - Le Buisson de Cadouin, Nouvelle Salle des Fêtes, Avenue Aquitaine

WHAT’S ON ♦ 23

Chantemonde

For more info, tel 06 87 88 15 33 or 05 53 23 86 22 or visit http://www.arcadesinfo.com/

UPCOMING CONCERTS Sunday 25th September at 5 pm

Piano – Flute Recital by Folke Nuata and Cora Greevenbosch Bach, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Debussy, Fauré, Ibert and Poulenc Sunday 2nd October at 5 pm

Chantemonde was formed in September 2006 by Michèle Lhopiteau, a very talented musical director, and now has almost 60 members. Based at Villamblard, the choir rehearses every Tuesday evening from 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm.

We actively seek a few more First Sopranos - all levels of competence accepted. It is a French choir (only 5 British members) and so is an excellent way to improve your language skills! Some previous experience is useful as the level of singing is now high and the works undertaken are demanding.

Ability, determination and attendance are all that is required to have fun and tremendous satisfaction.

This year the main item is Vivaldi’s ‘Magnificat’ and Marcello’s Psalm 18 the other half of the programme is devoted to songs from around the world - hence our name “Chantemonde”. We always use young professional musicians from Bordeaux for our classical pieces and often the smaller songs are ‘a cappella’.

Upcoming concerts:

Yonathan Avishai Jazz Quintet New quintet piece of Modern Times !!

With César Poirier (clarinette and alto), Inor Sotolongo (percussion), Yoni Zelnik (bass), ​Donald Kontomanou (drums)

Sunday 25th September, Église de Chantérac at 4 pm Saturday 8th October, Église de Chamiers at 9 pm Sunday 9th October, Église du Bugue at 5 pm Saturday 15th October, Temple de Bergerac at 9 pm Sunday 16th October, Abbaye de Chancelade at 4 pm For more information please ring David Finch (president of the choir) on 05 53 82 90 07 or Michèle Lhopiteau (choir mistress) on 05 53 61 13 36 or visit http://www.chantemonde.org/

25th French Conker Championships

Journée des plantes Sunday 2nd October, Neuvic-sur-l’Isle Exhibition and sale of plants by specialized nurseries and craft for eco-habitat.

From 9h30 in the grounds of the Château de Neuvic.

Tickets €4.50; FREE for Under 18s.

For more information visit www.chateau-parc-neuvic.com

Saturday 1st October Abjat-sur-Bandiat

It’s that time of year again! The official French Conker Championships are being held at Abjat-sur- Bandiat on Saturday 1st October.

Why ‘official’? Simply because the tournament is organised by La Fédération Française de Conkers. That means that anybody can organise a conker tournament, but only the one held in Abjat can be described as the French Conker Championships and, of course, the eventual French champion can represent France at the

World Conker Championships held annually in England.

The day begins with a vide-greniers and the competition begins at 3 pm and is open to adults, children and teams of 4. Food and drinks are available all day. A rock concert concludes the festivities.

For further information and reservations for the vide-greniers please contact Stewart Edwards on 05 53 56 16 93 or 05 53 56 81 01.

Got an event for The Bugle?

notices@thebugle.eu

05 55 41 17 76

24 ♦ WHAT’S ON

www.thebugle.eu ○ THE BUGLE ○ SEPTEMBER 2016