All French and Africans

So Traditional Occitane dancing cannot be to the taste for most of us British.

 

Sunday evening, a warm night and the centre of St. Antonin rang out to the foot tapping occitane tunes. We could see or hear no English voices and this was just like the bal at Caylus the previous month.

It may not be to our taste but to our young refugees they love it, Africans particularly love to danse.

I have to say as integration goes they are much better at it than all of us from the UK.

Learning French, joining groups, one young man playing in all the boule competitions and winning a few " sous"

I look at them sometimes knowing many of their sorrows and wonder at their resilience.

They ALL will be far more integrated than many of us here who stick to their groups of English speakers, far before we will be... but then before long they will have the right to be here and many of us will not have those same rights.

What prats many of us are

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Nous sommes le mardi treize juin

pic:Getty images

Beautiful sunny day, but there is a cloud over your morning croissant. The price of butter has more than doubled in twelve months and boulangers fear that the price of croissants and other butter using viennoiseries will have to rise. Butter prices have gone from under 3 euros per kilo, to over 5 euros in the last year. It is said to be the result of a big demand for milk from Asia, leading to a shortage in Europe. Odd that milk producers in France are today protesting that the price they are paid per litre is less than the cost of production, and that there is a rising rate of suicides among farmers.
Off to the boulangerie to buy breakfast while we can still afford it.
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A bad loser or what?

Henri Guaino was a high profile advisor to Nicholas Sarkozy during 2009-2012 and an assembly member for Yvelines, before losing the seat in 2012 and quitting the party. In last Sunday's election he stood as a "divers droite" candidate in a middle class seat in Paris. But coming seventh with only 4.51% of the votes, M Guaino launched into a series of media attacks on the voters.
He called them a mixture of "Bobos egoists" and "bourgeoisie traditionelle, cathos un peu Petainiste". These views did not go down too well and his decision to withdraw from political life was welcomed. The two candidates who qualified for the second round are En Marche's Gilles Le Gendre and Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a major figure in the LR party.
Despite his seventh place M Guaino should console himself with the fact that of the 24 candidates for the seat 17 got even fewer votes than him (including the FN).
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Nous sommes le lundi douze juin

A surprising election result? Not the UK, but the crushing victory for Emmanuel Macron's La Republique En Marche! party in the first round of the French Assembly election yesterday (Sunday 11th June). The results suggest that LREM will win between 415 and 455 seats, in an assembly of 577 seats. The rightist party Les Republicains is likely to be the main opposition party, with between 70 and 100 seats. The Parti Socialiste been pretty well wiped out, losing over 200 seats and Melenchon's La France Insoumise will be the main left party, though with less than 25 seats (including communists).
The Front National may win up to 5 seats (2 in 2012), indeed it is very possible that Marine Le Pen herself will be the only representative of her party.
Very striking fact is that only about 49% of voters turned out. Some blamed the weather - beach and barbecues preferred- some the apathy in view of the pre-election polls predicting a big win for Macron.
The second round next week may see the abstainers come out - but they have missed their chance by and large for the small parties, because LREM mainly is up against LR and the PS LFI and FN candidates who have made it to the second round have little chance in face of Macron's candidate.
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Four restaurant reviews

Saturday 10th June

2nd visit to Le Moulin at Varen with friends.  Another excellent lunch.  Despite our reservation getting 'lost' we were welcomed warmly and this time ate outside as it was such a glorious day.  Again 5 choices for each course, all tempting so scallops and tuna were chosen and both excellent, followed by filet de porc and Plancha de boeuf.  Desserts equally delicious with tarte au citron caramélisé and abricot et amande  being chosen.  Also very good pichets of rose and red wine.  Also a chat with Patrick, chef patron, always a bonus.  Would recommend to everyone. 5/5. (Minor point - fly killer would be appreciated as they were very annoying whilst eating)

4th visit to La Seye et Vous at Verfeil and the best.  This was arranged for the walking club on Wednesday 7th June and a happy crowd of 30 had a most enjoyable meal of salad, lasagne, chocolate fondants, coffee and house wine at an excellent price of €15.

Warm welcome from Brice, the new owner, charming, lovely and efficient staff - excellent atmosphere and all round approval.  5/5

1st visit to the Creperie in St Antonin for lunch Wednesday 31st May. Despite being the first arrivals we received a warm welcome and chose one crepe with goats cheese, honey and nuts and another with ham, cheese and mushrooms accompanied by a delicious dry cider, and then dessert crepes of one with chocolate and one with lemon, and joined by friends who had called in for dessert only, so an added bonus.  All round most enjoyable (I love crepes) and look forward to another visit. 
The Creperie is a little restaurant in St Antonin a couple of doors along from the old walnut mill. 5/5

1st visit to Relais Mont Viaur at  St Andre de Najac with friends on their recommendation on 31st May.   Sadly it was pouring with rain so we had to eat inside.  Good choices on a la carte menu and we all enjoyed our assorted choices and would certainly return, hopefully when the sun is shining so we can eat outside next time.  Price for our share was €45 including wine and coffee which we felt was reasonable.

Just in case of interest for your blog, which I read daily!

Best wishes

Nicola Baxter 

Speed cameras do not reduce deaths

There are more and more "radars" - speed cameras - on French roads and in 2016 yielded 920 million euros to the treasury. But the number of road deaths rose, for the third year in a row, up 2.6% to nearly 3500.
Inevitably this re-ignites the debate that the dreaded radars are only there to milk the motorist and make no contribution to road safety. But one does not know how many more deaths there would be without them. As most accidents are attributed to alcohol or speeding perhaps fewer cameras and more patrols by police and gendarmes would be more effective (increasing fines could finance the extra "moto-flics").
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Advice to our young kestrels

Nous sommes le dimanche onze juin

We are up and away. 

The first "proper" meeting to discuss how we can help the church at St. Martial.

Did not go exactly as planned! 

The gathered supporters were just as interested in keeping and updating the attached presbytere as a communal building as repairing the church.

I must admit Malc and I who were initially just interested in the patrimoine of the church,  could understand the villagers hoping to keep a communal space.

It was discussed that perhaps we needed two committees,one to restore the church and another to work at getting the presbytere up to norm to host events. 

If you live in St. Martial or surrounding areas, Le Contie, Borie de gres, Mas de Sol, etc. contact us, the more people on board the better.

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Not such a black day for Soulages

The Rodez born artist, now aged 98, whose eponymous gallery in his home town has become a major tourist attraction, has hit new heights for the sale of one of his paintings.
Famous for his "shades of black" works, many of which can be seen in Rodez, a work called simply "Painting 14 April 1962" sold in Paris this week for 6.1 million euros. From the estate of an American gallery owner the painting was fiercely contested by ten bidders in a packed auction room at Sotheby's Paris.
The work of Pierre Soulages is not to everybody's taste, exploring as it does shades and textures of black, but clearly he is valued by collectors and galleries worldwide.

Musee Soulages, Rodez

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Nous sommes le samedi 10 juin

Lovely warm sunny days in view and lots going on this weekend. The first round of the French assembly elections will take place tomorrow (Sunday 11th June) and there will be a Bal under the market hall in St Antonin from 17h30 (5.30 pm). A chance to learn traditional Occitan dances, then from 18h30 the Bal with music from Carabal Trio. There is an auberge espagnole from 20h.

French view of UK election

Phoebe weighs up her options: picture @samicure on Twitter

Apart from the usual reactions ("May in the hot seat") French media is amused by the British sense of humour, with the many social media posts showing dogs at polling stations.
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Last news at 8

David Pujadas

We have covered the France 2 News at Eight presenter David Pujadas because he owns a family house in Najac. But to French viewers he has the gravitas of a Huw Edwards or even David Dimbleby on election nights. But last night (Thursday 8th June) was the last appearance of M Pujadas on the flagship news programme.
There is a renewal of personnel at France TV with the flagship breakfast presenter also retiring at the start of the summer holidays. William Leymergie has presented Telematin for 32 years, but at 70 is now leaving, though he will join a news channel called C8.

The changes will mark a new direction for France 2, though management is at pains to point out that the spirit of the programmes will remain.
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Nous sommes le vendredi neuf juin

What a roller coaster of a night !

Will Theresa May still be PM later today?

No hard brexit now I think

yeah!

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Art in the Mairie

Nous sommes le jeudi huit juin

The father kestrel bringing in food to the fluffy chicks. The bottom photo shows two fluffy chicks, we think there are three. They put their heads down as I tried to photograph them but you can see the big round eyes in the fluffy body. All with in three weeks the fluffy feathers will go and the beautiful plummage will emerge before they leave and have their flying lessons around the grounds.

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Fete at Espinas this weekend

By gone St. Antonin

Hi Val and Malc

This photo was given to me by Christiane Loisel who was brought up in St Antonin but now lives near St Omer.

 

Her grandfather Gaston Cabanes was a carpenter in St Antonin with 4 employees.  He kept notebooks recording events in St Antonin which she knows were given to someone interested in local history, but she does not have the person's name.

 

Gaston died of tuberculosis and his two youngest children also contracted it and died. His older two children were sent away for a cure, presumably to an isolation hospital as we had in the UK, and their mother couldn't keep on the 4 employees and had to resort to cleaning jobs to survive.

 

This photo was among the effects of Christiane's mother Denise Cabanes when she died. At the time she lived in the Place Bessarel and she was one of the two older surviving children of Gaston.  

The photo has obviously been enlarged and part of the date and message has been cut off, but this is all we have.  It looks as though it could be somewhere in the Bessarel area, still not fully recovered in the 1940's from the devastating flood of 1930.

 

Anyway this led me to add these two slides to the end of my slideshow:

know the difference but they are protected.

Did you know it is forbidden to kill a snake even a viper, they are protected.

To differentiate between snakes  and vipers in France, look at the photos

Whether you are a curious hiker, or simply in your garden and worried about your children, learning to differentiate the venomous species from non-venomous is important. These simple keys will allow you to know who you're dealing with.

It is important to know that you can get close enough to a snake to distinguish their pupils, their scales and the shape of the tail without being in danger. 1.50 m is a sufficient safety distance. Snakes are not monsters.

And remember, despite their differences, snakes and vipers are protected animals that it is forbidden to hurt or kill.

Nous sommes le mercredi sept juin

We have a big thank you to say to John Dawson who has raised so far 420 euros for the local refugees in our area. The fabulous local photos and postcards of the area spanning more than a hundred years have proved very popular with readers. The power point presentations you receive can give hours of entertainment and we know two or three people who have made prints from them and then had them framed.

For all your work and dedication to the subject John,  we say a big thank you.

If anyone is still interested or missed the original offer go to this link:  http://tag-on-line.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/slide-shows-of-old-st-antonin-and-najac.html

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Exhibition of Bowie photos in Carmaux

Philippe Auliac at Carmaux with David Bowie and Friends

Philippe Auliac wanted to be close to his idols in the world of rock music, but studying photography gave him his first chance. Aged 17 his first assignment was to go to the Gare du Nord and meet David Bowie. From there he became one of Bowie's three official photographers and spent the next 30 years travelling and documenting the singer's life.
His exhibition "David Bowie and Friends" is at the Clap-cine in Carmaux until 18th June. Open every day the exhibition is part of a season celebrating Bowie, with films, talks and concerts.
Details in the Carmaux site http://www.carmaux.fr/index.php?action=calendrier&id_agenda=1492