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Tuesday, December 5
Market Day in Issigeac
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Ségolène Royal: One step closer to the first woman French President?
Will Ségolène Royal be the woman who will lead France into the future?Ségolène Royal has finally, after a gruelling six weeks of debate and backbiting, been designated Socialist Party candidate for the 2007 presidential elections. The party’s 218,771 paid-up members cast their vote in 4,000 transparent ballot boxes on November 16. Of these eligible voters, over 68 000 were new members who had joined the Parti Socialiste (PS) via the Internet with cut-price dues of €20 in order to participate in the ballot.
Royal received 60.6 percent of the vote. The other two contenders were Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the finance minister in Lionel Jospin’s Plural Left government (1997-2002), with 20.8 percent, and Laurent Fabius, prime minister under PS president François Mitterrand (1984-86), with 18.5 percent.
All three candidates were close associates of Mitterrand, president from 1981 to 1995. They worked with him to dispel the socialist aspirations of the French working class and to impose austerity policies in the interest of the French bourgeoisie. All three pledged and maintained unswerving allegiance to the right-wing Socialist Party programme elaborated in June this year.
The vote was the culmination of a six-week selection process involving six debates: three on national television and three before the party membership.
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Definitely NOT local/Perigord creatures!
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Christmas in the Dordogne
onion chutney to thank all the people in the village of Lalinde who have made this such a good year for me........
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Thursday, November 9
Processional Caterpillars : Be Aware!
If you have gone for a walk around this area, you may have noticed what looks like big white silk cocoon style nests hanging in the tops of pine trees. These are the scourge of any area like ours where there are many pine trees -- the Processional or Pine caterpillar
The very fine hairs on these creatures are poisonous and most dangerous. When hungry, they leave their cocoon to seek another uninfested tree on which to feed. They travel nose to tail in a line, hence the name Processional. The caterpillars are often seen in the evenings, walking in procession from tree to tree.
If they drop onto you or your pet, don't brush them off with your hands because the effect is most unpleasant, causing great irritation, rash and pain. Dogs, cats and people can suffer from shock. The hairs of the caterpillars are still virulent even when the creatures are dead.
The pine processionary caterpillar is the best known of all the processionaries, studied as early as 1736 by Raumier and later by Fabre (1898) whose essay “ The life of the caterpillar” is among the classics of popular entomological literature. t is the habit of the caterpillars to move over the ground in long head-to-tail processions and to sting with urticating hairs anyone who attempts to molest them that has brought the caterpillars to the attention of the public. It is also one of the most destructive of forest insects, capable of defoliating vast tracts of pines during its episodic population surges. Of interest here, however, is the fact that is among the most social of caterpillars. Sibling groups stay together throughout the larvae stage, often pupating side by side at sites they reach by forming long, over-the-gound, head-to-tail processions.
The insect is active only during the colder times of the year, spending the warm summer months as a pupa buried in the ground. The moths begin to emerge from the soil in August and shortly thereafter mate and seek out pine trees where they place their eggs. Each female produces a single egg mass which it fastens to a needle of a suitable host trees. Egg masses contain up to 300 or so eggs and the caterpillars typically eclose from them four or more weeks after they are laid. The eggs are completely covered with scales that detach from the abdomen of the female.
Despite their small size, the newly hatched caterpillars have remarkably strong mandibles and are able to penetrate the tough needles of the host from the start.
They caterpillars are highly social. At first they are nomadic, spinning and abandoning a series of flimsy shelters constructed by enveloping a few needles in silk but in the third instar they initiate the construction of a permanent nest and settle down to become central place foragers. There are no definitive openings in the shelter that allow the caterpillars to enter and exit. Rather, the caterpillars force their way through the layers of the shelter as they move in and out. The frass that is produced as the caterpillars process their meals accumulates at the bottom of the shelter.
Colonies are active throughout the winter months. They feed overnight then return to the nest at dawn. Observations in mid-winter show that the caterpillars forage on the coldest of nights and are able to locomote, albeit very slowly, at sub-zero temperatures. The permanent nests are typically sited to intercept solar radiation and during sunny days warm to well above ambient temperatures. The caterpillars rest in the nest during the day and at the elevated body temperatures they experience due to heating of the nest by the sun are able to efficiently digest the food they collect overnight.
Recent studies show that the caterpillars lay down a trail pheromone as they advance over the branches of the host tree. The unidentified marker is secreted from the ventral surface of the abdomen. The caterpillars mark when the tips of their abdomens brush against the substrate. Although the caterpillars also secrete silk and mark their pathways with the material, studies show that it plays little or no role in the elicitation or maintenance of trail following. Most likely, silk serves to increase steadfastness on the smooth plant surfaces. Pine processionary caterpillars can distinguish old from new trails. They caterpillars also differentiate between trails made by different numbers of caterpillars and follow preferentially those marked by the most caterpillars. Trail marking enables the caterpillars to aggregate at feeding sites and allows them to find their way back to nest after feeding. When they move over the branches, the caterpillars may move head to tail in small groups or they may move completely independently of others. In either case, they rely on the trail marker to find their way.
While the caterpillars may form single file processions as the advance over the branches of the host tree in search of food, the most spectacular processions are formed when the caterpillars are fully grown and abandon the host tree in search of pupation sites. Over-the-ground processions of as many as three hundred caterpillars have been observed. The caterpillars may travel long distances from the natal tree looking for soft soil in which they bury themselves and form their cocoons.
Studies show that during these head to tail processions, stimuli associated with setae found on the tip of the abdomen of the precedent caterpillar serve to hold processions together and such stimuli take priority over those associated with either the trail pheromone or silk. A caterpillar can be readily induced to follow a model made by attaching the integument of the abdomen of a killed caterpillar to a wooden dowel.
Should you come across any of these nests in the pine trees where you are, please contact the local Mairie immediately. They will come to destroy the nests as quickly as possible -- unfortunately often the only remedy is to saw off the branches in which the nests are found and burn them -- but rather a few deformed pine trees than completely stripped pines!
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Pine Caterpillars (Latin name thaumetopoea pityocampa) are probably one of the most unpleasant creatures you will find in this part of the world where pine trees grow in abundance. They are found throughout the warmer regions of Southern Europe, the Near East and North Africa. As well as causing much damage to pine forests, they are a major danger to animals and, to a lesser degree, human beings.
The very fine hairs on these creatures are poisonous and most dangerous. When hungry, they leave their cocoon to seek another uninfested tree on which to feed. They travel nose to tail in a line, hence the name Processional. The caterpillars are often seen in the evenings, walking in procession from tree to tree.
If they drop onto you or your pet, don't brush them off with your hands because the effect is most unpleasant, causing great irritation, rash and pain. Dogs, cats and people can suffer from shock. The hairs of the caterpillars are still virulent even when the creatures are dead.
The pine processionary caterpillar is the best known of all the processionaries, studied as early as 1736 by Raumier and later by Fabre (1898) whose essay “ The life of the caterpillar” is among the classics of popular entomological literature. t is the habit of the caterpillars to move over the ground in long head-to-tail processions and to sting with urticating hairs anyone who attempts to molest them that has brought the caterpillars to the attention of the public. It is also one of the most destructive of forest insects, capable of defoliating vast tracts of pines during its episodic population surges. Of interest here, however, is the fact that is among the most social of caterpillars. Sibling groups stay together throughout the larvae stage, often pupating side by side at sites they reach by forming long, over-the-gound, head-to-tail processions.
The insect is active only during the colder times of the year, spending the warm summer months as a pupa buried in the ground. The moths begin to emerge from the soil in August and shortly thereafter mate and seek out pine trees where they place their eggs. Each female produces a single egg mass which it fastens to a needle of a suitable host trees. Egg masses contain up to 300 or so eggs and the caterpillars typically eclose from them four or more weeks after they are laid. The eggs are completely covered with scales that detach from the abdomen of the female.
Despite their small size, the newly hatched caterpillars have remarkably strong mandibles and are able to penetrate the tough needles of the host from the start.
They caterpillars are highly social. At first they are nomadic, spinning and abandoning a series of flimsy shelters constructed by enveloping a few needles in silk but in the third instar they initiate the construction of a permanent nest and settle down to become central place foragers. There are no definitive openings in the shelter that allow the caterpillars to enter and exit. Rather, the caterpillars force their way through the layers of the shelter as they move in and out. The frass that is produced as the caterpillars process their meals accumulates at the bottom of the shelter.
Colonies are active throughout the winter months. They feed overnight then return to the nest at dawn. Observations in mid-winter show that the caterpillars forage on the coldest of nights and are able to locomote, albeit very slowly, at sub-zero temperatures. The permanent nests are typically sited to intercept solar radiation and during sunny days warm to well above ambient temperatures. The caterpillars rest in the nest during the day and at the elevated body temperatures they experience due to heating of the nest by the sun are able to efficiently digest the food they collect overnight.
Recent studies show that the caterpillars lay down a trail pheromone as they advance over the branches of the host tree. The unidentified marker is secreted from the ventral surface of the abdomen. The caterpillars mark when the tips of their abdomens brush against the substrate. Although the caterpillars also secrete silk and mark their pathways with the material, studies show that it plays little or no role in the elicitation or maintenance of trail following. Most likely, silk serves to increase steadfastness on the smooth plant surfaces. Pine processionary caterpillars can distinguish old from new trails. They caterpillars also differentiate between trails made by different numbers of caterpillars and follow preferentially those marked by the most caterpillars. Trail marking enables the caterpillars to aggregate at feeding sites and allows them to find their way back to nest after feeding. When they move over the branches, the caterpillars may move head to tail in small groups or they may move completely independently of others. In either case, they rely on the trail marker to find their way.
While the caterpillars may form single file processions as the advance over the branches of the host tree in search of food, the most spectacular processions are formed when the caterpillars are fully grown and abandon the host tree in search of pupation sites. Over-the-ground processions of as many as three hundred caterpillars have been observed. The caterpillars may travel long distances from the natal tree looking for soft soil in which they bury themselves and form their cocoons.
Studies show that during these head to tail processions, stimuli associated with setae found on the tip of the abdomen of the precedent caterpillar serve to hold processions together and such stimuli take priority over those associated with either the trail pheromone or silk. A caterpillar can be readily induced to follow a model made by attaching the integument of the abdomen of a killed caterpillar to a wooden dowel.
Should you come across any of these nests in the pine trees where you are, please contact the local Mairie immediately. They will come to destroy the nests as quickly as possible -- unfortunately often the only remedy is to saw off the branches in which the nests are found and burn them -- but rather a few deformed pine trees than completely stripped pines!
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Saturday, November 4
October: Jacaranda time in South Africa
During my visit to South Africa last week, the beauty of the Jacarandas and Bougainvilleas in all the streets of Pretoria was breathtaking! One street more beautiful than the next -- and these just a few impressions during my trip from the airport to my destination....
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Gone Walkabout?
I have to apologise to my readers for the long abscence -- the world outside of this little corner of paradise threw a wobbly and I had to rush off to South Africa with very short notice - in fact, no notice at all!
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who gathered that I had no internet access during that time and sent good wishes and support by text -- what a godsend the mobile phone is! It has been enormously heartwarming and encouraging during a stressful time - thank you!
I am back now in the Dordogne for ten days and return to South Africa again in a week's time -- just enough time to organise what I had previously thought was a rather uncomplicated life! No such thing! Even I am amazed to find how many commitments I have accumulated around me in my new life in France!
My biggest regret was that I had to renege on my commitment in the Netherlands last weekend -- (my speech was going to be brilliant!) and I put the organisers -- and good friends into a last minute spin to find a replacement -- I very much regret that! -- and then that I have to put my little cat in a cat hotel for the next two months -- Putin! (I know -- but that is my spelling and I am sticking to it!) I should have taught the cat how to use mobile phones and I would at least have been able to keep in daily touch with her by text!
And then there is a return ticket to Fez plus a week's hotel accommodation going for anyone who is willing to take over my lectures at the university for the next two months?!
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Thursday, October 19
Zinédine Zidane signs up for a new role in the limelight
The French are in for a treat -- Zinédine Zidane has agreed to become a "consultant de luxe" for Canal+. The past-captain of the French Football team signed a contract yesterday with the satellite channel for an undisclosed fee - but one can assume it would be quite generous. Zidane will be appearing for all the special events, such as the League of Champions. "Commentator?", he said. "It is not something I am quite at ease with yet - even if it does make me smile! But we shall see -- I am there to learn and", he assures the viewers - and his new employers, "I definitely promise to try to be a little less shy and reserved and a little more talkative than I have been known to be in the past!
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The phenomenon of Star Ac : Star Academy France
Star Academy, the French reality television show, is the fouvourite-viewing for all -- young and old, bored and enthusiastic. It is the kind of show that appeals -- like Pop Idol, because it is a contest of young singers -- and the singers could be your best friend, your neighbour next door, your butcher's daughter, your hairdresser's son -- it could be you. It is broadcast daily on TF1, giving a run-down of the training they undergo, the dramas in the chateau (a decorator's worst possible nightmare of gaudy colours and bad taste) where they live for the duration of the show, the personal little angst and dreams and ambitions and fears and joys... And every Friday night there is a spectacular glitzy and glamorous show watched by millions, when they all perform - alone, and in duos with the greatest and the best professional performers, and out of the three previously nominated candidates, one is bumped off the show. Viewers from across the francophone world call in to vote for their favourites, but every week there is one less in the group that returns to the chateau. And, at the end of each season, selected contestants go on tour around France and Morroco, Switzerland, Belgium and other French-speaking countries.The show is hosted by Nikos Aliagas and to date, it has featured guest stars such as Phil Collins, Patrick Bruel, Lionel Ritchie, Johnny Halliday, Madonna, Tina Arena, Kylie Minogue, Mariah Carey, Céline Dion, Lara Fabian, Beyonce and Shania Twain. The first season of Star Ac -- we are now in Season 6 -- was won by Jenifer Bartoli from Nice, who has since become one of France's best-loved new female singers. Season 2 of Star Academy is generally regarded as the best of all five seasons, primarily because it launched some successful solo careers - not just winner Nolwenn but also Emma, who reinvented herself as France's answer to Avril Lavigne; talented singer, songwriter and producer Jeremy Chatelain who married Alizee; singer-songwriter Georges-Alain Jones; Aurelie Konate who successfully appeared in the comedie-musicale Belles Belles Belles based on the music of Claude Francois.
Series 2 had a winning combination of talents and personalities. Season 4 winner Gregory Lemarchal overcame a respiratory illness, to become the first male winner of Star Academy in France. He released his debut single "Ecris L'Histoire" and debut album "Je Deviens Moi" in France in 2005.
In Season 5 the most notable fact about the winner, Magalie, was that she attracted much attention in France because, unlike previous Star Academy participants, she was overweight. The current season, Season 6 began with 18 contestants. Nikos Aliagas continues to present the daily updates and weekly "Prime" on Fridays. Much is expected of Star Academy 6 and the focus is expected to shift from traditional chanson to "nouvelle chanson francaise" made popular by singers like Benabar, Benjamin Biolay and former Star Ac 1 contestant Olivia Ruiz. The success of rival contest Nouvelle Star -- the Pop Idol of France, has caused a rethink and the "Prime" stage at Plaine Saint-Denis is said to be bigger and better for this new series.Whatever your views on reality tv, or on the idea of taking young wannabe singers off the street and turning them into pop idols, you have to admit that it is endearing to see young raw talent evolve and turn into something resembling a polished and accomplished performance. We all love a nothing-to-something story -- we all love playing at Pygmalion -- we all love seeing someone realise their dreams.
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Wednesday, October 18
The Big Debate! The Socialist Party tries to decide who will be their candidate
Three candidates vying for the French Socialist Party's nomination in next year's presidential election have gone on TV to debate their policies. Former Environment Minister Segolene Royal, the front-runner, faced ex-Finance Minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn and ex-PM Laurent Fabius.
Last night's televised debate was the first of three between the contenders. The Socialists' candidate who will be chosen in November, is then likely to face current Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, the leader of the conservative UMP party.
--In a BBC report, Emma Jane Kirby in Paris says there were few sparks in last night's two-hour debate.
The rules were extremely rigid and laid down well in advance. Weeks were spent agreeing a format for the debates, with Mr Strauss-Kahn and Mr Fabius arguing for lengthy confrontations on TV, and Ms Royal pushing for the encounters to be less aggressive and more low-key. Filmed in a cable TV studio without an audience, there was no opportunity for the rivals to interrupt each other as they answered questions on the economy sent in by Socialist party members. Ms Royal, who is enjoying a 39% lead over her Socialist opponents, spoke largely about the need for France to rejuvenate its economy and to invest in new technology and research -- but sadly she did not commit herself to any definite policy or plan. ASs for one of the most contentious issues, the 35 hour week, she hedged around the question and did not give us her views. Mr Strauss-Kahn called for new talks between business and unions and for a reduction of France's debt, and Mr Fabius attacked France's "inequality and injustice" and "global financial hyper-capitalism". Critics accuse Ms Royal of being a political lightweight who is rich on style but poor on ideas, our correspondent says, but she proved she could hold her own against the Socialist old guard.
Ms Royal had warned that too many debates could damage the party by making it appear divided in the eyes of the electorate.
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The pots of chrysanths are starting to appear again.................
Last year I confessed to the first major faux pas I committed in my new life in France. I was so elated to see the masses and masses of pots of chrysanthemums – at such reasonable prices and without any delay filled the chateau with colour --- huge pots of Chrysanths in each room, on the terrace, around the pool. It was a riot of colour. It was a picture fit for a glossy home decorating magazine!
And then the rude awakening….. when I was told that one NEVER, but NEVER put the chrysanths in ones home – they are solely and uniquely to decorate cemeteries and tombstones………
Oops….
Yes – Le Toussaint, or All Saints Day is celebrated on the first of November in France, and this is the day that we remember all the poor saints for whom there wasn’t a place on the saints’ calendar – in other words, all the saints who do not have a specific day named after them.
The origin of the day probably goes right back to Celtic times when the year was divided in two: summer and winter, and the first of November being the celebration of the first of the year; the Feast of Samain, or Samhuin (the meaning in Irish being weakening, or the end of summer, and in Celtic meaning the beginning of new things and in mythology the time when great cosmic events took place – a time of festivities and games.At the same time, the Feast of Samain was also the feast of the dead – when communication between the living and the dead took place. The tombs were opened on this night and the inhabitants of the Under World could come above ground and the living could share in the word of the gods and the heroes.
In the Anglo Saxon world this feast later developed in the Holy Night or Hallowe’en when the hollowed out pumpkin with the candle inside represented the dead come back to life.
This custom started when, during the 19th century, le Toussaint was proclaimed the Day of the Dead, and the custom was started of children going round with flower pots filled with glowing embers on which incense was burnt (probably to ease the smell of all those opened tombs!) and asked passers-by on çan po lès pauvès-âmes! – a coin for the poor souls! The pots were later replaced with hollowed out pumpkins, cut out to look like a person. In France the Day of the Dead is celebrated on the 2nd of November.
When the Emperor Louis the Pious proclaimed the 1st of November as le Toussaint, he probably did so in council with Pope Gregoire IV in order to wipe out the ancient pagan rituals whilst putting some colour and excitement into the Christian rituals. Instead of communing with the dead, Christians were now encouraged to honour the saints. The plan did not work too well though, as it was the church that relented when they realized that it was not that easy to wipe out rituals that had been practiced for aeons, and allowed a Day for the Dead on the Christian calendar as well – it was the Abbot of Cluny in the 10th century who proclaimed the 2nd of November as the day of all the dead that lie in the heart of Christianity.Thus, on the first le Toussaint is celebrated with feasting and joy, whilst the 2nd of November is the time when flowers (those pots and pots of Chrystanths!) and candles are put on the graves and tombs of the dead.
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Tuesday, October 17
It is the Birthday of the Chateau Lalinde Blog!
A year ago I discovered the joys of blogging and posted my first entry!
And what a pleasure it has been to look for interesting titbits about the world I live in to share with my readers! Always fascinating too to track who those readers are. I am able to see every day who has been reading the blog, which blog entries they preferred and how much time they spent here.
I have lost count of the number of countries where my readers find themselves, but there have been readers from just about every part of the world, including Kazakhstan, South Korea, Iraq, Chile, Costa Rica, Japan, Iceland, Malawi, Ethiopia, Marocco, Russian Federation, Cote d’Ivoire, Ireland, China, Lebanon, Mozambique, India, the Netherlands……..the list goes on and on. The most frequent visitors are in Iceland, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Japan and Australia – and in that order.
The third highest number of page views per week happened in November 2005, the second highest in May and June, and the record is held by September this year of 1800 page views. September also holds the record for the most visits to the blog --- if you came to read here, you shared your reading with a whopping 750 other readers!
So, what then are the entries that attract all these readers?
Many of you seem to love reading about the river Dordogne and have been following the ups and downs of the river, its moods and its flow.
The Druids of Belingard and the excellent wine tasting there also seems to be a very popular site.
The celebration of Easter at Chateau Lalinde, the giant cepe mushrooms, the Camino, or pilgrimage to Compostela, and then all the recipes --- in particular the no-recipe-for-Cherry Jam, Melanie’s wonderful tomato and parmesan tart, my fail proof Onion Chutney and, believe it! the amazing recipe for Rose Jam are firm favourites with the readers as well.
People that featured on the blog also attracted much interest: there was of course the recent entry about Segolene Royal which seems to have been a great hit with you – who does not enjoy reading about such a lovely person who is in the news! and then the all time favourite, Zizou, or Zinedine Zidane, the flawed genius of world football. There were many other entries that attracted readers from all over the world -- too many to mention, but the blog archives are full of interesting bits that catch your eye --and I keep track to make sure that will continue,
I say Happy Birthday to the Chateau Lalinde Blog and thank you to all my readers! You are always welcome to post a comment or write an email and tell me what you think or what you would like to see more of – and I shall continue into a new year of blogging for your and my pleasure!
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Sunday, October 15
Fume, fume, fume cette cigarette : The French are quitting, but no cold turkey
La dinde froide.....
Even cold turkey sounds different in French -- not quite as cold, not quite as definite....
This week the conversations in the smokey bars and bistros and restaurants of France have all but gone up in smoke when the law was proclaimed which will ban all smoking in public places. But only in 2008. After all -- there is a general election in France next year which has to be won. And every politician worth his tobacco knows that no election can be won without a bit of cigarette ash on the ballot paper.
Ironic that this year also sees the anniversary of Jean-Paul Sartre, and for the Sartre retrospective which was on in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, a poster was designed -- simple, effective and eminently recognizable : a black and white photograph of the master in a typical pose, peering through the fug around him from his ever present cigarette, his hand in a typical smoker's pose --- only...what is that? No cigarette! Magically, the cigarette has disappeared from between his fingers! Would the law against showing any cigarettes in advertisements, the Loi Evin, have been possible without the invention of photoshop? Surely a question that could not possibly be discussed without lighting up first........
The same thing happened with another writer -- and Minister of Culture -- that is "French" culture, mind you! -- who was a chain smoker all his adult life and never ever seen without a cigarette between his fingers or dangling from his lips.
In 1996 a book cover with his photograph was changed to show him holding a .....nothing!..between his fingers and
in 2001, when a postage stamp of Malraux was printed, using the famous photograph of Gisèle Freund, taken way back in 1935, the image of André Malraux was strangely altered -- (posthumously, mind you, because no way was he going to adhere to any silly law that stopped the French from smoking!) 
Where will it end? Will they continue to photoshop history and pretend that no one has ever smoked in the past? Imagine Humphrey Bogart without his cigarette. And Serge Gainsbourg..... The mind boggles -- and that is without any nicotine to addle the brain! In France, as someone recently commented, smoking is part of the intellectual initiation rite of the youth. At the age of sixteen you get your first scooter, you join the Communist Party and you roll your first cigarette. The cafe and cigarette culture here isn't just about being sociable, it has an intellectual aspect too. The more brainy you are, the more you smoke, she so rightly said.
Probably why all the artistic people smoke like the proverbial chimney -- and as my young friend, Pierre, commented: "It looks well cool!" It is not that the French aren't aware of the fact that up to 65,000 of them a year die of smoking-related diseases, it's just that to the French, smoking simply doesn't equate with lung cancer and bad breath. To them it translates as chic, romantic - an intrinsic part of Gallic culture......I mean -- just LOOK at Serge -- would he look anything as chic, as romantic, as intellectual as he does without that cigarette dangling, and that smoke around him?........
Arrrggghhh! Forget I ever asked!
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Saturday, October 14
Chateau Lalinde : The perfect venue for your every event
Renting a chateau in France need not only be a dream!
Visit the website and scroll down in this blog --- and see how easy and accessible it can be for you and your family or friends or colleagues to come spend a week in the Perigord on the banks of the Dordogne River with all your home comforts, but with that little je ne sais quoi added as well, enjoying good food and excellent wines, history, sports, arts -- or simply the tranquility of country life!
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The joy of Autumn in the Dordogne
Just a few things around me on a typical autumn afternoon in the Dordogne........
.....what sheer pleasure to be living here......
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.....what sheer pleasure to be living here......Click on Link:
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