Cooling down and riding Dali-esque bicycles - in the Dordogne

Last year, after a particularly big storm, I looked out of my room one morning and noticed a beautiful gleaming bicycle in the Dordogne river under my window.
I wondered what the story behind the bicycle was -- who had it belonged to? How had it landed in the river? What had become of the rider??



The bicycle stayed there right through the floods, when the river was swollen and deep, and the times when the river was low, with little water rushing over the sharp treacherous rock formations. The water anenomes flourished and waned, flowered and disappeared under the water, and yet the bicycle remained in its watery grave.

Then, on the very hot Tuesday this week, a group of youngsters could not contain themselves, parked their motorbikes outside my front door, ignored all the signs that say "No swimming in the river", shed their clothes and went for a swim in the river below the chateau.




















And -- it did not take them too long to discover the bicycle nestling amongst the water anenomes! Excited and noisy and laughng, they dragged the bicycle out and in no time they were half their age, taking turns in sitting on the warped and Dali-esque bike and pretending to be Carlos Sestre in his yellow jersey, winning the 2008 Tour de France!








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Riding the tidal bore on the Gironde! : Mascaret

It is already a year ago when I last wrote about the Dordogne/Gironde Tidal Bore, or the Mascaret, as it is known, and now the season is b back when surfers come from all over the world to dare to surf the Mascaret on the Dordogne and Gironde Rivers.

What can be greater fun than surfing a wave on a river -- riding the wave -- sometimes for as long as 20 minutes? The wave may not be as high as Teahupoo or the Cortez Banks but nowhere in the ocean can you ride one wave for this long.

As this event has become so popular -- and as the surfers of the Mascaret would much prefer to have the wave all to themselves, rather than share it with thousands others - who may not be very good and simply clutter up the space, or who come with their wake boards or their kayaks or even their pesky jet skis, the cognoscenti now keep the best spots to catch the waves at their best a closely guarded secret. And who can blame them?



But -- if you want to come take on the challenge of joining the true lovers of the sport of chasing the tidal bores of the world, here is the time table for the rest of August -- the dates, coefficient of the waves to the tides (close to and over 100 is regarded as the most desirable to ride) and the time of day when the wave will be at its strongest. The spot is on one of the best areas of the Gironde, namely in front of St Pardon:

date -- coef at time --- at ST PARDON
Friday 1 -- 94 at 16h57
Saturday 2 -- 99 at 17h46
Sunday 3 -- 100 at 18h28
Monday 4 -- 95 at 19h06
Tuesday 5 -- 86 at 19h38
. . . . . . . . .
Saturday 16 -- 80 at 16h34
Sunday 17 -- 88 at 17h15
Monday 18 -- 92 at 17h54
Tuesday 19 -- 93 at 18h32
Wednesday 20 -- 90 at 19h08
Thursday 21 -- 84 at 19h42
. . . . . . . . .
Friday 29 -- 85 at 15h57
Saturday 30 -- 96 at 16h38
Sunday 31 -- 101 at 17h22


The mascaret is an exceptional phenomenon which occurs mainly in certain river estuaries during a time when there are spring tides. There are roughly 60 known such sites in the world where this happens. It is also known as a tidal bore. In France this only happens in the Aquitaine -- on the Dordogne, Garonne et Gironde Rivers -- probably, it is believed, because human intervention causing a change of flow of the rivers, for example on the Seine River, prevents mascarets from forming.
In perfect conditions ( a strong coefficient of tide, river flow and low water levels0, the rising tide against the contrary flow of the river causes the start of a series of small waves which can grow into waves of up to 3 metres under the best of conditions. This collection of waves -- about ten at a time, separated by about ten metres, travel at roughly 15 to 30 km per hour. They travel over a distance of more than 150km after which they start dissipating where the current and tides are at their weakest.

The Etymology of the word Mascaret: A Gascony word dating back to the 16th century, boeuf tacheté meaning 'a leaping or galloping cow'.

Other Bores can be found in Canada, China, South America -- the bore on the Amazon River is probably the most spectacular -- and of course, on the Severn in the United Kingdom.

Before the interference on the rivers by man, there were also mascarets on the Charente and the Seine -- where, it is said, the waves reached over 4 metres in height in the middle of the river and up to 7 metres on the river banks!, but today they have all disappeared and only remain on the Garonne, Dordogne and Gironde.



In the Aquitaine, the best sites for the Mascaret are:
- Gironde : behind the island of Margaux (50 cm),
- Garonne : behind the island of d'Arcins, rive right bank (80 cm); between Langoiran and Podensac (2.5 m),
- Dordogne :at Saint-Pardon (2.5 m) a few kilometres from Libourne.

Where best to see them?
**at Saint-Pardon : 45 min before low tide at Libourne.
**at Podensac : 2 hours after low tide at Bordeaux
**at the bridge of d'Arcins : 1 hour after low tide at Bordeaux.











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Learning French: A Phrase a Day

.....OR --- when you go delve into the delightful site you will want to learn six phrases right this minute! (if I think how well I could have used each one of these phrases during the last couple of days!........)

Qu'est ce que tu fais si je t'embrasse maintenant?
What would you do if I kissed you right now?


J'étais assise avec ma cigarette à la main et je me suis rendu compte que je préférerais t'avoir toi dans la main.
I was sitting here holding a cigarette and I realised I'd rather be holding you.

D'accord, tu peux rester près de moi tant que tu ne parles pas de la chaleur qu'il fait ici.
OK, you can stand next to me as long as you don't talk about the temperature.

Ça te dit de rentrer chez moi et de faire des choses que je raconterai de toute façon à tout le monde?
Fancy coming back to my place and doing the things I'll tell everyone we did anyway?







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Stéphane Spittael : an artist, observer and commentator

" L'apprenti sorcier " 90 x 120 cm Acrylique sur toile 2006

Since I arrived in the Dordogne Perigord, I have often remarked on my disappointment in the dearth of good artists in the area -- and I am not talking about the zillion 'artists' that would naturally result in a region, where the very nature of the scenery and architecture, beauty and inspiration offers anyone with a paintbrush, a canvas or block of water colour paper the opportunity and material aplenty. I am talking about good artists...

And then -- every now and then, I come across someone whose work speaks to me, someone with talent, yes, but also with originality, with a message, with soul.

Last weekend, in the beautiful natural stone Salle de Mariages of Limeuil, I literally stumbled over the threshold of the door and discovered Stephane Spittael's work.

Spittael was born in 1967 in Lille in the North of France. His biography tells me that he holds a "Diplôme National Supérieur en Expression Plastique", which he obtained at the Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts of Tourcoing in 1992, that he is a member of the "La Maison Des Artistes" and also "Adhérent à la société des auteurs".

But it is his five year sojourn in the island of Reunion that seems to mostly have inspired his current exhibition in Limeuil -- not the lush and fertile Henri Rousseau-inspired jungle scenery that one would expect but, on the contrary, a harsh and devastated world which more resembles the aftermath of a slash and burn assault -- dry landscapes where the people are dry stick figures who appear to be finishing off the devastation or indeed being completely overpowered by it. The message of a need for conservation hits you right between the eyes and is so strong and so effective that I cannot believe anyone can walk out of the exhibition without being at least more aware than they were when they entered it. And yet -- and yet, when you look a little closer, there is, along with the subtle touch of humour -- albeit somewhat sardonic -- somewhere on the stark canvas, a blade of green grass, a green leaf - a touch of life and growth still remaining and the lingering message is one of hope.


" L'Arbre de vie " 165 x 100 cm Acrylique sur toile 2005

The Exhibition in Limeuil is on until 20 August -- Do Not Miss It, whatever you do!:

Salle des mariages
Limeuil 24260 Dordogne
tous les jours de 11h à 13h
et de 14h à 19h

But should you not make it there, his next exhibition is from 6 to 21 September 2008, at

Château des Izards
Coulounieix-Chamiers 24660
(Périgueux )
Dordogne



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Fuel Surcharges - about to hit the tourist industry in more ways than one!

One of the great advantages of living in the Dordogne is that we are only a short drive away to the nearest airport from where you can catch daily flights to a huge selection of destinations in the Netherlands or United Kingdom. We may not like the way airlines such as Flybe and Ryanair operate, with their dubious no cancellation/no refund policies (and slapping on a massive 'cancellation fee' which precludes them from paying back the taxes - as is dictated by law), but they do make it easy for thousands of people to fly in and out of the Dordogne. People still talk about the 'low cost' airlines and seem not to have notices that there is not much 'low' about the costs these days -- but we still appreciate the fact that we can hop across the channel at a reasonable rate.
However, in the past month many of the major airlines have been increasing their fuel taxes, which will of course make a significant difference in the total price you pay for an airline ticket. All airlines are expected to announce increases soon and further fuel surcharge increases are also anticipated again later in the year, including some airlines who have already implemented fuel surcharges increases. No doubt the 'low cost' airlines will find some way in which to rub the honey around our mouths -- or sugar the pill -- and yet, I suspect that they just do not care anymore, and the fuel taxes and surcharge was just the excuse they needed to drastically increase their prices. One thing is for certain -- with the Euro being as strong as it is against the Pound and the Dollar, the already slow and dwindling tourist numbers in the Dordogne Perigord are bound to be affected radically, and the local tourist industry is going to have a tough time ahead -- for this is not something that is ever going to be reversed -- and it will be very interesting to see what the governments will do aboutg the situation.........


Related links:
Flybe flights to the Dordogne
Who flies where in France
Alternative travel: By train



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Chateau Lalinde : The perfect venue for your event

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