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Sunday, November 27
Saturday, November 26
Coming Events at Chateau Lalinde
Thursday, 2 February 2006
An evening with the Huguenots:
Huguenot is a name by which the French Protestants are often designated. Its etymology is uncertain. According to some the word is a popular corruption of the German Eidgenossen (conspirators, confederates), which was used at Geneva to designate the champions of liberty and of union with the Swiss Confederation, as distinguished from those who were in favour of submission to the Duke of Savoy. The close connection of the Protestants with Geneva, in the time of Calvin, might have caused this name to be given to them a little before the year 1550 under the form eigenots (or aignots), which became huguenots under the influence of Hugues, Bezanson Hugues being one of their chiefs.
Others have maintained that the word was first used at Tours and was applied to the early Lutherans, because they were wont to assemble near the gate named after Hugon, a Count of Tours in ancient times, who had left a record of evil deeds and had become in popular fancy a sort of sinister and maleficent genius.
This name the people applied in hatred and derision to those who were elsewhere called Lutherans, and from Touraine it spread throughout France. This derivation would account for the form Hugonots, which is found in the correspondence of the Venetian ambassadors and in the documents of the Vatican archives, and for that of Huguenots, which eventually prevailed in the usage of Catholics, conveying a slight shade of contempt or hostility, which accounts for its complete exclusion from official documents of Church and State. Those to whom it was applied called themselves the Réformés (Reformed); the official documents from the end of the sixteenth century to the Revolution usually call them the prétendus réformés (pseudo-reformed). Since the eighteenth century they have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists, or Calvinists, as being disciples of Calvin.
Whatever the name, these are the Protestant Reformed who left from the shores of the Aquitaine to go to a better life in South Africa, The Netherlands, Poland, England, America, Germany and Belgium. At least 250,000 Huguenots left France around the 1680's.
To hear more about them and their rich history and even richer heritage, come listen to Henri Lachèze at the Chateau Lalinde on Thursday 2 February 2006 at 18h30.
Booking is essential as space is limited. Clickhere and go the Cliquez ici for more information and to book your place at this informative evening.
Thursday, 16 March 2006
"Marqueyssac for ever", a talk by Stephanie Angleys at 18h30.
The Gardens of Marqueyssac, near Sarlat, are an architectural masterpiece. They are situated along a high ridge planted with approximately 150,000 box trees coaxed into fantastic topiary shapes, an art the French have mastered since the days of Louis XIV. In the middle of this verdant fantasy sits a 17th century manor. On evenings in July and August, all the paths and balustrades are lit with candles to provide a scene worthy of a royal wedding, but in march, the delightful and knowledgeable Stephanie Angleys will take you on an imaginary but vivid tour of the gardens and their fascinating history.
An evening not to be missed.
Again, limited seats, so book your place early by clickinghere and going to Cliquez ici for more information and to book your place at this unique evening.
TAGS: France Special Events
Chateau Lalinde Perigord Dordogne
Holidays in France
An evening with the Huguenots:
Huguenot is a name by which the French Protestants are often designated. Its etymology is uncertain. According to some the word is a popular corruption of the German Eidgenossen (conspirators, confederates), which was used at Geneva to designate the champions of liberty and of union with the Swiss Confederation, as distinguished from those who were in favour of submission to the Duke of Savoy. The close connection of the Protestants with Geneva, in the time of Calvin, might have caused this name to be given to them a little before the year 1550 under the form eigenots (or aignots), which became huguenots under the influence of Hugues, Bezanson Hugues being one of their chiefs.Others have maintained that the word was first used at Tours and was applied to the early Lutherans, because they were wont to assemble near the gate named after Hugon, a Count of Tours in ancient times, who had left a record of evil deeds and had become in popular fancy a sort of sinister and maleficent genius.
This name the people applied in hatred and derision to those who were elsewhere called Lutherans, and from Touraine it spread throughout France. This derivation would account for the form Hugonots, which is found in the correspondence of the Venetian ambassadors and in the documents of the Vatican archives, and for that of Huguenots, which eventually prevailed in the usage of Catholics, conveying a slight shade of contempt or hostility, which accounts for its complete exclusion from official documents of Church and State. Those to whom it was applied called themselves the Réformés (Reformed); the official documents from the end of the sixteenth century to the Revolution usually call them the prétendus réformés (pseudo-reformed). Since the eighteenth century they have been commonly designated "French Protestants", the title being suggested by their German co-religionists, or Calvinists, as being disciples of Calvin.
Whatever the name, these are the Protestant Reformed who left from the shores of the Aquitaine to go to a better life in South Africa, The Netherlands, Poland, England, America, Germany and Belgium. At least 250,000 Huguenots left France around the 1680's.
To hear more about them and their rich history and even richer heritage, come listen to Henri Lachèze at the Chateau Lalinde on Thursday 2 February 2006 at 18h30.
Booking is essential as space is limited. Click
Thursday, 16 March 2006
"Marqueyssac for ever", a talk by Stephanie Angleys at 18h30.
The Gardens of Marqueyssac, near Sarlat, are an architectural masterpiece. They are situated along a high ridge planted with approximately 150,000 box trees coaxed into fantastic topiary shapes, an art the French have mastered since the days of Louis XIV. In the middle of this verdant fantasy sits a 17th century manor. On evenings in July and August, all the paths and balustrades are lit with candles to provide a scene worthy of a royal wedding, but in march, the delightful and knowledgeable Stephanie Angleys will take you on an imaginary but vivid tour of the gardens and their fascinating history.An evening not to be missed.
Again, limited seats, so book your place early by clicking
TAGS: France Special Events
Chateau Lalinde Perigord Dordogne
Holidays in France
Friday, November 25
Beaujolais Nouveau : The big event in November!
At one minute past midnight on the third Thursday of each November, from little villages and towns like Romanèche-Thorins, over a million cases of Beaujolais Nouveau begin their journey through a sleeping France to Paris for immediate shipment to all parts of the world. Banners proclaim the good news: Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! "The New Beaujolais has arrived!" One of the most frivolous and animated rituals in the wine world has begun.
By the time it is over, over 65 million bottles, nearly half of the region's total annual production, will be distributed and drunk around the world. It has become a worldwide race to be the first to serve to this new wine of the harvest. In doing so, it has been carried by motorcycle, balloon, truck, helicopter, Concorde jet, elephant, runners and rickshaws to get it to its final destination. It is amazing to realize that just weeks before this wine was a cluster of grapes in a growers vineyard. But by an expeditious harvest, a rapid fermentation, and a speedy bottling, all is ready at the midnight hour.
Beaujolais Nouveau began as a local phenomenon in the local bars, cafes, and bistros of Beaujolais and Lyons. Each autumn the new Beaujolais would arrive with much fanfare. In pitchers filled from the growers barrels, wine was drunk by an eager population. It was wine made fast to drink while the better Beaujolais was taking a more leisurely course. Eventually, the government stepped into regulate the sale of all this quickly transported, free-flowing wine.
In 1938 regulations and restrictions were put in place to restrict the where, when, and how of all this carrying on. After the war years, in 1951, these regulations were revoked by the region's governing body—the Union Interprofessional des Vins de Beaujolais (UIVB)—and the Beaujolais Nouveau was officially recognized. The official release date was set for November 15th. Beaujolais Nouveau was officially born. By this time, what was just a local tradition had gained so much popularity that the news of it reached Paris. The race was born. It wasn't long thereafter that the word spilled out of France and around the world. In 1985, the date was again changed, this time to the third Thursday of November tying it to a weekend and making the celebration complete. But wherever the new Beaujolais went, importers had to agree not to sell it before midnight on the third Thursday of November.
TAGS: French Wine France
Chateau Travel in France
Thursday, November 24
Roundabouts? The French do it with flair!
For the last twenty years, the French roads have become acquainted with roundabouts -- more than 20,000 of them in fact! --- but trust the French to make something special of these traffic 'installations' that not only help the traffic flow more easily and help cut down on the pollution, but now also add pizzazz to the French countryside!
Carrefours giratoires they are called -- and the French may not always know how to use them, but they definitely know how to make them beautiful!
with a bit of humour.........
A tribute to Gaudi.......
and from very imposing........
to the tranquility of a Zen stone garden....
Let us not forget the French sense of humour.....
Or where their priorities lie... or their appreciation of colour and design
Links:French Roundabouts
TAGS: France
Chateau
Travel in France
Carrefours giratoires they are called -- and the French may not always know how to use them, but they definitely know how to make them beautiful!
with a bit of humour.........
A tribute to Gaudi.......
and from very imposing........
to the tranquility of a Zen stone garden....
Let us not forget the French sense of humour.....
Or where their priorities lie... or their appreciation of colour and designLinks:
TAGS:
Wednesday, November 16
Carte blanche à Isabelle Minière
Staying at the Chateau Lalinde, Isabelle Minière, delightful author of two highly acclaimed novels, Cette nuit-là and Un couple ordinaire. Isabelle visited us from Paris for our November literary evening.
A glimpse into the thinking of this delightful woman:
..................Il y eut des lundis, invariablement suivis de mardis, eux-mêmes inexorablement suivis de mercredis, etc., etc. Ca n’en finissait pas.
La vie était lente, la vie était longue…
J’aurais voulu être une vieille dame, infiniment vieille. Au lieu de quoi, tout ce temps devant moi, inépuisable…
Je jouais mon rôle d’enfant, mais le cœur n’y était pas. Je n’étais pas intéressée.
Et il me semblait qu’il en serait toujours ainsi.
Jusqu’au jour où…
Comme une révolution. Une révélation.
Le monde s’ouvrit, tout bascula, tout s’éclaira. La lumière jaillit, et la joie… Une joie que je n’avais jamais imaginée. Plus rien ne serait jamais comme avant. J’étais intéressée, j’étais concernée, j’étais transportée.
Le plus beau de ma vie, le plus intense, le plus troublant, le plus réjouissant, je le tenais là, entre mes mains dodues, et j’en étais tout éblouie.
J’étais sauvée, à jamais.
Je savais lire.
TAGS: France Dordogne
Chateau Isabelle Miniere French Literature
Link:Language School
A glimpse into the thinking of this delightful woman:
..................Il y eut des lundis, invariablement suivis de mardis, eux-mêmes inexorablement suivis de mercredis, etc., etc. Ca n’en finissait pas.La vie était lente, la vie était longue…
J’aurais voulu être une vieille dame, infiniment vieille. Au lieu de quoi, tout ce temps devant moi, inépuisable…
Je jouais mon rôle d’enfant, mais le cœur n’y était pas. Je n’étais pas intéressée.
Et il me semblait qu’il en serait toujours ainsi.
Jusqu’au jour où…
Comme une révolution. Une révélation.
Le monde s’ouvrit, tout bascula, tout s’éclaira. La lumière jaillit, et la joie… Une joie que je n’avais jamais imaginée. Plus rien ne serait jamais comme avant. J’étais intéressée, j’étais concernée, j’étais transportée.
Le plus beau de ma vie, le plus intense, le plus troublant, le plus réjouissant, je le tenais là, entre mes mains dodues, et j’en étais tout éblouie.
J’étais sauvée, à jamais.
Je savais lire.
TAGS: France Dordogne
Chateau Isabelle Miniere French Literature
Link:
The "new" Miserables of France
In the Paris suburn of Savigny Sur Orge, above an invitation to an evening of chanson, young people are reminded of the curfew in place from 10pm to 7am. Curfews, deportations and macho language from Paris may have quelled the unrest in France's troubled suburbs, but the rioting teenagers and burning cars exposed deep divisions in the nation's economy.
It was a French sociologist, Emile Durkheim, who coined the term anomie for the malaise and alienation that result from radical social change. For him, writing in the 19th century, it was the Industrial Revolution that had shifted social boundaries and caused suffering and dissent. Today, as youngsters from the banlieues take to the streets, some experts argue it is globalisation that has caused society's norms to break down.
Income inequality - the gap between the haves and the have-nots - has not increased in France in recent years as it has in the US and UK. But a toxic combination of poor education in poor areas, and in some cases sheer prejudice, creates a vicious circle which means that those from ethnic minorities, heavily concentrated in large estates on the outskirts of cities, can become trapped outside the job market. Muslim fundamentalism, poor parental discipline and the ghettoisation of minorities probably all had their part to play in causing the riots, but economists say chronic unemployment certainly doesn't help. Interviewing the youngsters on the streets, one could get the impression that it is one big party -- or, as one young man for Mali claimed, the rite of passage that he would have had in Mali, but is now deprived of in the back streets of Paris.
Part of the blame can be laid on the French labour market itself, which is frequently criticised as heavily protected and excessively rigid. That means people who are already in jobs are well looked after; it's difficult to fire them and they receive generous benefits. But, paradoxically, those very protections can mean that fewer new jobs are created.
There is evidence that some groups come off especially badly. More than a fifth of youths are unemployed, twice as high as the average rate for adults. For foreign-born workers, it's even worse. Almost one in four is out of work, and in the districts the government has designated 'zones urbaines sensibles' - the most troublesome city areas - more than a third have no jobs. Education levels for foreign-born workers are far lower than those for French natives and the gap is wider than in many other countries. Some of last week's rioters said they were third-generation unemployed.
Those divisions are reinforced by a streak of prejudice. The attitude of employers exacerbates the problem. Studies show that if you say your name is Mohammed and you come from Clichy-sous-Bois, you're less likely to get a job than if you say your name is François and you come from Paris. Plus ca change..........
Just how bad things are for ethnic minorities in France is impossible to say - because it's illegal to try to find out. There is no ethnic monitoring in France, because it is forbidden by the constitution. It's a deeply republican, ingrained thing: all citizens should be regarded as equal.
And, just as in the US, social programmes targeting minorities have been strongly resisted: money is distributed to particular areas of the city, rather than channelled to the most deprived social groups. When the elite Parisian university Sciences Po began an outreach programme to schools in poor areas, some of the objections came from students themselves, who said the value of their own achievement in winning a place at the college would be devalued.
Preparing Europe to cope with the exigencies of globalisation - the 'China Challenge', as Gordon Brown likes to call it - was at the top of the agenda when European leaders met at Hampton Court this month. Sweeping away agricultural protection and using the cash to increase skills, invest in technology and so on may be part of the solution, as Britain argues. But the teenagers from the Parisian banlieues were sending a powerful reminder that European governments will also have to think about those who are left behind
TAGS: Paris Riots
Chateau Lalinde Perigord Dordogne
Holidays in France
References: Le Monde Le Figaro The Guardian The Observer
And on the other side, the word that got it all going.....
Much has been made of Nicolas Sarkozy's description of the French rioters as "racaille", a derogatory term held to have fuelled the nationwide spread of the violent disturbances over the past week. The term, widely translated in the British media as "scum", actually equates more closely to "rabble". Laurent Greilsamer in Le Monde investigates the etymology and changing meaning of the word, which has taken on a totemic significance since its utterance by Mr Sarkozy. As so much of French custom - which has its roots way back in a rich history, this word came from Provençal, was introduced into French in the 15th century, and was, he says, in common parlance until 15 days ago. It had even been appropriated by disaffected young people to describe themselves, he says - a view supported by the vivelesracailles site, which starts with the line "After all, it's not a crime to live in your pyjamas".
Greilsamer consults the French dictionary Le Petit Robert, which defines racaille as "populace méprisable" - contemptible populace or rabble - and gives examples from the works of Camus and Gide. "Will the next edition cite Nicolas Sarkozy?" he asks. "It would be appropriate. The interior minister hoisted the word to the highest point of its semantic load when he assured a resident of Argenteuil, in front of a TV camera: 'We will rid you of this rabble.' At a blow the word has again become taboo and politically incorrect."
Turning to the Littré dictionary of 1873, Greilsamer finds the word defined as "even more derogatory than canaille (scoundrel)" and observes that Sarkozy has at a single blow restored the word to its original meaning "The word racaille is dangerous, explosive and literally incendiary," he concludes.
Among those criticising Sarkozy's inflammatory language has been France's equal opportunities minister, Azouz Begag, although as Le Monde observes, the minister himself had already coined the term in quieter times in 2002 to describe a "group of young people who frighten everyone, who ride scooters without helmets, ride on the pavements with no regard for pedestrians, and ignore traffic lights just as they challenge all other codes of social conduct".
TAGS: Paris Learn French
Chateau Lalinde Rent a French Castle Dordogne
Holidays in France
Visitors in the Chateau
No sooner have I waved "au revoir" with a sad heart to one group of friends walking up the steps of the Rynair or Flybe plane on the Bergerac Airport runway, when I eagerly look through the crowds tumbling out of the next plane for my new group of visitors.
What a pleasure it is to welcome them to France, to Lalinde, to my chateau! I know they will love every moment -- and I shall love seeing the pleasure on their faces when I reveal this beautiful new world of mine to them!
Just a few of the latests converts to the Chateau-Lalinde-Way-of-Life are:
John and Nicole with their beautiful music..
Gorgeous Nici with her laughter and grace...
Pierre with his artistic ideas and wild notions..
Wendy and Geoff -- and a new flagpole...
Jill and Inkie -- a French reunion after almost 40 years!...
Of course, Lily -- who came in all her golden splendour, and stayed....
Marc and Sacha, who make things happen..
TAGS: Rent-a-Chateau France
Chateau Lalinde Perigord Activity Holidays
Dordogne
What a pleasure it is to welcome them to France, to Lalinde, to my chateau! I know they will love every moment -- and I shall love seeing the pleasure on their faces when I reveal this beautiful new world of mine to them!
Just a few of the latests converts to the Chateau-Lalinde-Way-of-Life are:
John and Nicole with their beautiful music..
Gorgeous Nici with her laughter and grace...
Pierre with his artistic ideas and wild notions..
Wendy and Geoff -- and a new flagpole...
Jill and Inkie -- a French reunion after almost 40 years!...
Of course, Lily -- who came in all her golden splendour, and stayed....
Marc and Sacha, who make things happen..TAGS: Rent-a-Chateau France
Chateau Lalinde Perigord Activity Holidays
Dordogne
Monday, November 14
An evening out in Lalinde
It is in a most traditional Perigordien way that Bruno and Martine welcomes one at Le Petit Loup to enjoy an evening of good food and good ambience,
an excellent home cooked meal and a good wine in a carafe, good music and lovely friends.
Another perfect evening in Lalinde.
Soupe
Salade foie volailles
Ou Salade harengs
Ou Salade crudité
Plat jour
Ou Confit poule
Fromage ou Dessert
TAGS: Perigord Dordogne
rent a chateau French Holidays Food
Sunday, November 13
A remarkable woman. A remarkable story....
Patrica Atkinson and her husband lived in London and worked in the finance industry. They dreamed of growing grapes in the south of France and bought a property in France to realise this dream. However, shortly after her husband was taken ill -- following the stock market crash -- and Patricia found herself in France, not being able to speak the language, or drive the tractor and knowing nothing about making wine.
Friends told her she couldn't do it.
Little did they know Patricia!
Today the wines of the Clos d’Yvigne vineyard are internationally acclaimed for their high quality. The vineyard is three times its original size. And the story of the struggle and the success has reached a wide audience through Patricia Atkinson’s bestselling book, The Ripening Sun.
(The vineyard estate includes two beautiful country houses that are available to rent as luxury holiday accommodation. Les Amis de Clos d’Yvigne, is a club that provides its members with the vineyard's wine and holiday houses at special prices.)
The Clos d’Yvigne vineyard is situated at Gageac et Rouillac on the beautiful ridge of hills that run along the left side of the Dordogne between Sainte-Foy-la-Grande and Bergerac. In recent years the Bordeaux satellite appellations in this region, in particular Bergerac, have gained widespread recognition as the homes of excellent wine making.
The terroir of Clos d’Yvigne is an excellent mix of gravel and clay on a limestone base. The grapes are the traditional varieties of the South West of France: merlot, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc for the red and rosé wines and sauvignon, semillon and muscadelle for the dry and sweet white wines.
The judgement of Tim Akins, MW, Chairman of the Wine Vintner’s Circle and the wine correspondent for The Observer and Harper’s. He is referring to Clos d’Yvigne’s Petit Prince in a blind tasting which included first growth Bordeaux and top-of-the-range New World wines.
But it is recognition of her neighbours and fellow French wine makers that prove the mark of excellence of her wines.
TAGS: Wine France
chateau Wine Making French Holidays
Dordogne Perigord
Thursday, November 10
Bread! Glorious French Bread!
What? No bread? Then let them eat cake!
Ha! No way, Mme Marie-Antoinette! It is the bread we want!
Bread is a staple food in France. The typical loaf of French bread is called "une baguette", which means stick or wand. It is about 60 cm long and weighs 500 grammes. French people like their bread crusty, and this shape of loaf offers the maximum amount of crust to bread.
French bread contains no fat, so it becomes stale very quickly. This is why people visit the local "Boulangerie" (hot bread shop) at least once a day. Bread is eaten at all three meals, and forms the most important part of breakfast.
When in France, you will often see people riding bikes, mopeds or motorbikes with baguettes strapped to the back, or walking the streets with their baguette under their arm racing to get home for lunch at midday.
Some different types of French bread.
Boule: A round loaf sold in various sizes.
Ficelle: A very thin version of the baguette. Ficelle means string in French.
Fougasse: A flat rectangular bread often filled with bacon, onion or herbs.
Gros pain A large family size version of a baguette.
Pain de campagne: This is usually a big rustic loaf (campagne means country) with a thick crust.
Pain complet: Loaf made from whole wheat flour.
Pain de mie: Mie means the interior. This is a soft sweet loaf mainly used for sandwiches.
Pain aux noix: Bread filled with nuts.
Pain aux raisins: A light bread filled with raisins. A breakfast treat.
Pain de siegle: Loaf with two thirds rye flour, one third wheat flour.
Pain viennois: A baguette shape but softer and sweeter.
The best boulangerie in France -- right here in Lalinde!
TAGS: Food France
chateauFrench Bread Baguette
Ha! No way, Mme Marie-Antoinette! It is the bread we want!
Bread is a staple food in France. The typical loaf of French bread is called "une baguette", which means stick or wand. It is about 60 cm long and weighs 500 grammes. French people like their bread crusty, and this shape of loaf offers the maximum amount of crust to bread.
French bread contains no fat, so it becomes stale very quickly. This is why people visit the local "Boulangerie" (hot bread shop) at least once a day. Bread is eaten at all three meals, and forms the most important part of breakfast.
When in France, you will often see people riding bikes, mopeds or motorbikes with baguettes strapped to the back, or walking the streets with their baguette under their arm racing to get home for lunch at midday.
Some different types of French bread.
Boule: A round loaf sold in various sizes.
Ficelle: A very thin version of the baguette. Ficelle means string in French.
Fougasse: A flat rectangular bread often filled with bacon, onion or herbs.
Gros pain A large family size version of a baguette.
Pain de campagne: This is usually a big rustic loaf (campagne means country) with a thick crust.
Pain complet: Loaf made from whole wheat flour.
Pain de mie: Mie means the interior. This is a soft sweet loaf mainly used for sandwiches.
Pain aux noix: Bread filled with nuts.
Pain aux raisins: A light bread filled with raisins. A breakfast treat.
Pain de siegle: Loaf with two thirds rye flour, one third wheat flour.
Pain viennois: A baguette shape but softer and sweeter.
TAGS: Food France
chateauFrench Bread Baguette
Wednesday, November 9
Saturday, November 5
The City of Light lit up for the wrong reasons...
While in Las Vegas, the mayor suggests that those who deface roads with graffiti should have their thumbs cut off on television because, as he says : "You know, we have a beautiful highway landscaping redevelopment in our downtown [district]. We have desert tortoises and beautiful paintings of flora and fauna. These punks come along and deface it. I'm saying maybe you put them on TV and cut off a thumb. That may be the right thing to do." , in France, interior minister, Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, persists in speaking his mind (and that of a good number of rightist French?). His language is always forthright - one of the reasons why he is such an interesting and media-friendly politician. But it has been intemperate too. But -- using the word "la racaille" or "scum" to describe the rioters was incendiary, especially after an earlier controversial comment about "cleaning up" crime in other urban areas.
Nicolas Sarkozy's position as interior minister and also as chairman of the governing centre-right UMP party and the man most likely to challenge Mr Chirac for the presidency in 2007, has put him at the centre of this story, and there are suspicions that he is happy to use it in his battle against the prime minister and rival presidential hopeful, Dominique de Villepin. Mr Sarkozy is one of few French politicians prepared to tackle the twin issues of immigration and integration - he has some good ideas about positive discrimination and state funding for mosques - even if he has too much of an eye on the extreme right and the National Front leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Last night's incident of a 56-year-old physically disabled woman sustaining 30% burns after the bus she was travelling in was set alight by youths in the northern suburb of Sevran, was the ugliest yet in the violence that has convulsed the suburbs of Paris during the past week. The number 15 bus had just left the town's railway station at about 9.30pm when it was forced to a halt by burning rubbish bins strewn across the road. Two hooded youths forced open the front door, emptied jerry cans of petrol over the floor and on the front-seat passenger and the driver, then threw lighted rags inside. Fresh attacks were reported in two dormitory towns outside the French capital where youths set fire to cars and two buildings.
There were also signs of the violence spreading beyond Paris, with arson attacks reported earlier in the day in Rouen in northern France, Dijon in the east and Marseille in the south.
Officials nonetheless expressed hope yesterday that the country's worst urban unrest in a decade could be on the wane. But on Thursday alone, more than 500 cars were torched in the Paris region, an increase on previous episodes.
Enraged citizens taking to the streets is one of the recurring themes of French history. But the latest bout of rioting in the suburbs of north-east Paris is a toxic and very modern mixture of alienated ethnic minority youth and heavy-handed response by the security forces. The trouble began in Clichy-sous-Bois when two teenagers being chased by police were accidentally electrocuted. No one else, mercifully, has been killed. But six nights of violence have seen volleys of stones and petrol bombs and cars burned on several other sink estates where unemployment is high, petty crime rife and the police are seen as the enemy. It is all serious enough for Jacques Chirac to have issued an appeal for calm from the Elysée yesterday.
Not for the first time, the unrest has highlighted tensions between wealthy big cities and their grim ghettoised banlieues, home to immigrants from the Maghreb and West Africa who have never been fully integrated into French society and have become an underclass for whom hopelessness and discrimination are normal.
Overreaction can have grave consequences, and the minister was right to admit that a police tear-gas grenade mistakenly hit a mosque. It is heartening too to hear of Muslim community elders ordering youths home. France's mood is not revolutionary but it is ugly. Mr Sarkozy talks of "zero tolerance" of crime, but in the long term it will take equal opportunities in education, housing and employment to keep the riot police off the meanest streets.
(reference: The Guardian)
TAGS:
French Headlines France
chateau Paris
Nicolas Sarkozy's position as interior minister and also as chairman of the governing centre-right UMP party and the man most likely to challenge Mr Chirac for the presidency in 2007, has put him at the centre of this story, and there are suspicions that he is happy to use it in his battle against the prime minister and rival presidential hopeful, Dominique de Villepin. Mr Sarkozy is one of few French politicians prepared to tackle the twin issues of immigration and integration - he has some good ideas about positive discrimination and state funding for mosques - even if he has too much of an eye on the extreme right and the National Front leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Last night's incident of a 56-year-old physically disabled woman sustaining 30% burns after the bus she was travelling in was set alight by youths in the northern suburb of Sevran, was the ugliest yet in the violence that has convulsed the suburbs of Paris during the past week. The number 15 bus had just left the town's railway station at about 9.30pm when it was forced to a halt by burning rubbish bins strewn across the road. Two hooded youths forced open the front door, emptied jerry cans of petrol over the floor and on the front-seat passenger and the driver, then threw lighted rags inside. Fresh attacks were reported in two dormitory towns outside the French capital where youths set fire to cars and two buildings.
There were also signs of the violence spreading beyond Paris, with arson attacks reported earlier in the day in Rouen in northern France, Dijon in the east and Marseille in the south.
Officials nonetheless expressed hope yesterday that the country's worst urban unrest in a decade could be on the wane. But on Thursday alone, more than 500 cars were torched in the Paris region, an increase on previous episodes.
Enraged citizens taking to the streets is one of the recurring themes of French history. But the latest bout of rioting in the suburbs of north-east Paris is a toxic and very modern mixture of alienated ethnic minority youth and heavy-handed response by the security forces. The trouble began in Clichy-sous-Bois when two teenagers being chased by police were accidentally electrocuted. No one else, mercifully, has been killed. But six nights of violence have seen volleys of stones and petrol bombs and cars burned on several other sink estates where unemployment is high, petty crime rife and the police are seen as the enemy. It is all serious enough for Jacques Chirac to have issued an appeal for calm from the Elysée yesterday.
Not for the first time, the unrest has highlighted tensions between wealthy big cities and their grim ghettoised banlieues, home to immigrants from the Maghreb and West Africa who have never been fully integrated into French society and have become an underclass for whom hopelessness and discrimination are normal.
Overreaction can have grave consequences, and the minister was right to admit that a police tear-gas grenade mistakenly hit a mosque. It is heartening too to hear of Muslim community elders ordering youths home. France's mood is not revolutionary but it is ugly. Mr Sarkozy talks of "zero tolerance" of crime, but in the long term it will take equal opportunities in education, housing and employment to keep the riot police off the meanest streets.
(reference: The Guardian)
TAGS:
French Headlines France
chateau Paris
Friday, November 4
from dawn to dusk........
Captive dans tes yeux
Qui m'as l'me ravie
D'un souris gracieux
Viens tot me secourir
Ou me faudra mourir.
Thursday, November 3
Wednesday, November 2
All Saints, All Souls & Crysanthenums.....
During the last two weeks of October, while the rest of the world is decked out in gaudy and ghoulish orange and black, spiders and bats, cobwebs and pumpkins, every little market in every town and village across France is ablaze with colour and the smell of fresh flowers.
Is there a special love for chrysanthenums in pots? I wondered. What a lovely gift for friends! I decided. And then I filled my chateau with small and medium and giant pots of flowers, a riot of colour on these grey misty autumn days. Thank the gods I refrained from handing them out to friends -- quelle horreur!---- bad enough that I put them in my house!..............
For then I discovered what it was all about...
November 1st is All Saints’ Day for Catholics and many Protestants, a holy day since the early Medieval times.
Many people of Europe spend this day in prayer, thanking God and praying to saints and visit their departed loved ones in cemeteries........... with a pot of chrysanths in hand........----- and that is the only place a respectable pot of chrysanths will ever be seen!
In predominantly Catholic countries such as France, Toussaint, or All Saints’ Day on November 1 is a public holiday. Practicing Catholics are required to participate in Mass. And then, both religious and non-religious people crowd into cemeteries to honour their dead relatives and also long-departed heroes of their respective nation’s history. Even in countries where All Saints’ Day is not a public holiday, masses of people visit cemeteries, and government officials will turn part of the day into a secular remembrance.
Unlike the fun atmosphere of Halloween, All Saints’ Day is generally a quiet day of reflection and reverence. Krakow adds one exception, with its annual All Saints’ and All Souls’ Jazz Festival, demonstrating that there is more than one way to observe the past.
And then comes All Souls' Day, another Roman Catholic day commemorating the faithful departed or those baptized Christians believed to be in purgatory. It is celebrated on November 2 unless this date falls on a Sunday. When this happens, All Souls' Day is celebrated on November 3.
Before becoming a church festival in 998 C.E., it was marked with celebrations from the festival of Woden (Odin) as god of the dead: parading the Hodening wild horse and other guising including mummers' plays enacting the mysteries of life, death, and rebirth. Ceremonial soulcakes were cooked and eaten on this day. Odilo, abbot of Cluny, established All Souls' Day in the eleventh century and ordered it to be observed throughout the Cluniac monasteries. The day purposely follows All Saints' Day in order to shift the focus from those in heaven to those in purgatory. It spread through the rest of Christendom by the end of the thirteenth century. The origins are linked to an ancient festival of the dead. In Europe it is believed that on this night the dead visit their homes and eat the food of the living. Candles are left burning and "soulcakes" are left out. In Britain, on the eve of this night "soulers" would once go from house to house saying prayers for the dead and asking for soulcakes. It was believed that the more cakes you could eat, the more souls you could save from purgatory. Also known as Day of the Dead, especially in Mexico, where families picnic at the graves of their dead relatives, and give the children toys, bread and sweets in the shapes of skeletons or caskets. In Madagaskar, the bones of dearly departed are taken out of their tombs, put on a large sheet and 'aired' by throwing them up in the air while joyously walking through the streets! The pagan origins of this holiday are mentioned in The Pagan Book of Days by Nigel Pennick. And in France more pots of chrysanthenums are bought...
On this day, three requiem masses are celebrated: one for the celebrant, one for the departed, and one for the pope.
(and there should probably be a fourth one -- for the newcomers who have so much to learn still!)
TAGS: markets France
chateau holidays
Tuesday, November 1
The site of Beynac and its castle is undoubtedly one of the finest in France. The village where Paul Eluard was born is built in stages above the water's edge, at the bottom of a 150 metre cliff, topped by an impressive fort. This eagle's nest might seem rather austere if it were not for the sun lighting up its golden walls, mirrored by the Dordogne. With its changing colours and the luminosity of the stone, the sky and the water, Beynac is a paradise for painters and photographers in all seasons.
Following the Organization of the county of Périgord. it became the seat of one of the four baronies along with Biron. Bourdeilles and Mareuil. The first unquestionable trace of a seigneur of Beynac dates back to 1115. The castle was so powerful and its barons so cruel that local vassals and peasants named it "Satan's ark".
Richard the Lion Heart used this castle as his base, but in 1214, on return from a crusade against the Albigensians. Simon de Montfort took possession of Beynac, whose seigneur at the time was a friend of Raymond de Toulouse, and razed its defenses.
The Hundred Years War found Beynac in the French camp. In 1360, the Bretigny treaty transferred it by right to English rule but eight years later it returned to the fore of the fighting on the side of Charles V. The English were never able to capture the citadel. In 1370, the sole heiress of the fief, a three year old girl is promised in marriage to her uncle, Pons de Commarque who drove the English out of the Sarlat region and became the most powerful seigneur in Périgord.
The castle was totally protected by the sheer drop on the side facing the river and its northern defenses were reinforced around 1598. A double surrounding wall, two rows of moats and two barbicans were built. From the top of the tower there is a breathtaking view over the whole of the valley and the surrounding Châteaux of Castelnaud, Fayrac, and Marqueyssac. On the edge of the cliff is the stone-roofed Romanesque castle chapel, the location of the famous scene from the 1978 version of "Les Miserables". More recently Luc Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc was shot here with Milla Jovovich. Imagine using the original and genuine site of historic events that happened hundreds of years ago -- and not having to change a thing for the sake of the big screen movie!
