262. Countdown to Christmas..

25th December. 

23rd December. In reading about the recent tsunami that killed many in the Sumatra and Java region, I came across this compelling video of Anak Krakatau volcano erupting during the night at the end of October (plus a close-up version, filmed from a drone in daylight, here):
It appears that the tsunami was caused by paroxysmal explosive activity.. more here. When too close is too close.

And here, filmed from the air, largely hidden by clouds of gases, steam, smoke and ejected material is Anak Krakatau in its death throes:

And here it is - as it was filmed 3 days ago - hard to believe that it's the same volcano:
22nd December. Saw an amazing spectacle this evening. We walked into Bayonne to watch the release of hundreds - what am I saying?! - thousands of Japanese lanterns into the night sky. It was just the night for a hot wine to kick start the system too.

I think in England the Fun Police would have slapped a banning order on it ('Elf 'n Safety mate). It was a stirring sight as thousands of the metre-high lanterns rose gracefully up into the heavens (fortunately there wasn't a breath of wind). I've never seen anything like it in my life.. There were so many families there with young children and I'm sure the magnificent spectacle created an unforgettable memory for them all as the lanterns, uneasily at first, lifted slowly up into the night sky. It seemed as though they represented all the hopes and dreams for Christmas and beyond of those present - very moving to watch:
This was followed by a firework display, accompanied by music. The last song was this one - and I'm convinced someone let all the remaining fireworks off at once! It starts at 0:36..

According to a police estimate, there were between 50,000 - 60,000 people present. Afterwards, we headed off into the centre and found a table at a restaurant (now closed) - where we chose the "all you can eat" beef option from the "dead but could still be resuscitated" menu. Excellent beef - tender as anything - and it could be cut with a butter knife. And for a change, we also put a bottle of Graves out of its misery!

It's always during the last few days before Christmas that doubts set in about the presents that you've chosen for your loved one. Was it a good idea to have bought her a pair of slippers with matching oven gloves*? How many times will she watch the DVD of the 2018 Six Nations rugby*? Will a new vacuum cleaner hit the spot*? ☺ While I think I'm pretty safe this year, there's always that lingering doubt. Too late to do anything about it now though.
* Just in case there's any doubt, I bought Madame none of the above! However, my brother once bought his wife (a stranger to the kitchen) a food processor. <ouch!> I believe he was seen wearing it not long after!

In the meantime, there's never a better moment than the shortest day of the year to enjoy the mountain scenery of the Pays Basque.. (full screen!) plus a report on Pierre Oteiza's pigs.. in Les Aldudes, a must-see village up in the Pyrenees close to the border..

19th December. Madame's presents have been safely smuggled into the house - I've just one more to wrap and then I'm done. I also need to take one last trip down to the cellar to make sure that there are no major shortfalls in the bottle department. 

Most days I take a look at British Media online - and I shudder at much of the tosh I read there. New words continually bubble up to the surface of all the froth - and one curious addition to the trendy hack's lexicon is wellness. I have no idea what this means. Then there's the all-consuming obsession with celebrity - especially when the celebrities in question are total nonentities as far as I'm concerned. I'm convinced we have far too much media. I did ask a GP friend in England recently if he knew what wellness was and he had no idea. So what is it? Answers on a postcard please to the usual address.   

Here's one of those hyper-concentrated videos that attempts, in the modern way, to cram the Pays Basque into a frantic 2½ minutes. To enjoy? Dilute to taste with a / few / many / glass(es) of sangria / Jurançon / Irouléguy / whisky (insert drink of choice) - and r-e-l-a-x!

18th December. A disturbing statistic for casual observers of the European Union: according to figures released by the federal statistical office, Germany had a surplus of €48.1bn in the first six months of 2018, equivalent to 2.9 per cent of economic output — the highest level since German reunification in 1990. By contrast, France, the other major EU political player, had a €58bn budget deficit in 2017.  

How long can this dysfunctional situation be allowed to continue? It should be enough to send shivers up and down the spines of economists throughout Europe - and indeed further afield. The adoption of the euro by all those EU countries was, and is, a triumph of post-sixties wishful thinking, inspired perhaps by smoking too many exotic cigarettes (think John Lennon's 1971 hit "Imagine"), and unchallenged by economic reality and common sense. Germany's economists saw the potential advantage for them in a flash and quickly convinced their politicians to ditch the mighty D-mark in favour of the euro, as they saw that by doing so it would serve to preserve and enhance their economic dominance. Had Germany retained the D-mark, it would by now have had to be revalued upwards at least once. However, following the switch to the one-size-fits-all euro, they are making serious amounts of hay while the euro is pegged artificially low for the German economy.

And curiously, at a time when Macron is under pressure from popular opinion, French political commentators are unwilling to make the link publicly between France's economic woes and the contraints imposed by being in the eurozone. The EU project - beloved of post-war French politicians - is an article of faith for politicians of the mainstream parties. How long will this mindset continue to be the case after the UK's departure? 

One of these days someone will come along and explain to me how two countries such as Germany and Greece (but I could equally use France these days) with two totally disparate economies can possibly share a common currency. I think I'll have a long wait. Europe is paying the price for allowing French federalists (with their long-held ambition of setting up a European Superstate to take on the US) free rein with their flights of fancy nurtured in the rarified hot house atmospheres of their Grandes Ecoles. To my Anglo-Saxon mind, 'events' happen when they come about as a result of popular demand from the electorate - not when they are imposed, unasked for, by a political élite.

Peppone, 31 Cours Georges Clémenceau, 33000 Bordeaux

We're now nearing the end game of my request for French citizenship (Naturalisation) and so we went up to Bordeaux yesterday in good time (in case the gilets jaunes were up to their tricks on the autoroute) to be ready for the interview at 2pm. We had a couple of hours to spare so no prizes for guessing how we filled in the time! We found an authentic, quaint and oh-so-typical small Italian restaurant - Peppone - where we could have been in Italy. The photos say it all. (take a look down in their wine cellar - a feast for the eyes!) Fortunately, we'd arrived early and we had no trouble finding a table - but it is small - so say no more.. Great attentive service and excellent food. This is definitely one to return to. (I've added it to the Restaurant map)

Suitably refreshed, we made our way to the Préfecture where I was strapped in a chair under hot lights - no, seriously, it was really all quite civilised.. A lady came down at the appointed hour and we went through into a small interview room where she ran me through all the possible questions that officialdom could conceivably wish to ask in making its mind up about such an application. I think it was carried out in a relaxed manner - she had a form to guide her through the process that covered every aspect and we went through it all. After this meeting, I'm hoping that my application will be signed off by the Préfet of Nouvelle-Aquitaine - following which it will be sent up to Paris to be signed off (or not!) by Mr Christopher Castaner, the Minister of the Interior (at the time of writing). Once this has happened, I can expect to be invited to Pau (the capital of Pyrénées-Atlantiques) in the May/June 2019 time frame along with other successful local applicants for a short ceremony where we will all be presented with our new French passports. Phew!

We picked up Nutty on the way home - he'd had to spend a night and a day in the kennels - and then home for a quick bite before I was off out for choir practice. I must say that my enthusiasm low level warning light came on steady RED at 10pm when our choir leader decided we were going to start learning a new piece - right there and then. That had been one loong day! (Spoilt only by getting 'flashed' on the autoroute way home from Bordeaux.. Grr!)

16th December. This beautiful oboe piece comes from the soundtrack of "The Mission" - a film I saw once in the late 80s and couldn't get into. You might remember the film for the disturbing scene in which a Jesuit priest, lashed to a wooden cross, is launched on a river and goes over the Iguaçu Falls..
12th December. With less than 2 weeks to go before you-know-what, I have to say that - so far - I haven't received an invitation to a single bunga bunga party! Only joking! Wasn't it Bill Bryson who said that, at his age, he now views sex as a welcome chance for a lie down!* (I agree!) (Eek! What am I saying?!)

* In modern parlance, that would be a "lie down with benefits"..

Anyway, moving swiftly on, I have to make a start on writing Christmas cards - so, I suggest you find something to occupy yourself with for the next few hours.

At a time when earthbound media is huffing and puffing over such events as the "No Confidence" vote being triggered in the UK this morning - or that French lawyers (en colère*) are demonstrating outside the courts this morning over recent "preventive control" measures taken during the ongoing gilets jaunes disturbances - despite all that, it's worth taking a step back to absorb the fact that we are the first generation of human beings in history ever to know the colour of a Martian sunset. That's a staggering thought isn't it? And how many different technologies had to be present to enable this photograph?

Here it is (at no extra charge!) - I believe this was taken on Mars in 2015 and I've only just found out about it in 2018 - there were clearly far more important events happening. Like what for example?

* Strikers, demonstrators or simply just malcontents are routinely described as being en colère here.. It just means that they're furious, angry, not happy or - insert word of choice.
 
8th December. Walked to town this afternoon to pick up a few things for Christmas.. it was so warm that we stopped off at this café on the banks of the Nive and had a hot chocolate and a pancake each in the sunshine. 

7th December. We're back after a few days away (just to give Madame a break before Christmas). We went down to Saint-Jean-de-Luz today - I'd received a letter from the Prefecture in Bordeaux (in connection with my request for French citizenship) telling me that they wanted to see me up there on 17th December - armed with more copies of paperwork that they already have in their possession. This time we need a letter from our bank in St-J-d-L that states that we have a joint bank account there - and it's active. I don't question any of this any more - I just do it. 

On the way down to the bank, we spotted a group of swimmers having a swim in the bay (above) - no wet suits either!  

It was around 17-18°, sunny with a cloudless sky so after calling in at the bank, we drove around to Socoa for lunch at Chez Pantxua.. We sat outside in the dazzling sunshine and had one of our best ever lunches there.

261. Autumn marches on.

26th November. This track by Laura Pausini was the ever-present soundtrack when I was working in Italy in the 90s:
Here's another great song from Laura with Andrea Bocelli.

The weekend rugby results were uniformly good news for the English-speaking nations - and here are the headlines as they might be reported by the English tabloids: the New Zealand tsunami made tiramisu of the Azzurri (highlights); Scotland made Argentina cry (highlights); England walloped the Wallabies (highlights); the Welsh bashed the Boks (highlights); the Irish tanked the Yanks (highlights) and, to round it off, France flopped against Fiji (highlights)..

25th November. Out on my ebike yesterday afternoon (before the rugby!) for a ride along the Adour - and I thought I'd try a ride through the Forêt de Pignada (mentioned a few days ago). I thought it would have had all the ingredients necessary for a great ride - but it didn't work out like that. Every now and again, I encountered drifts of sand across the paths and I'd come to a wobbling dead stop as the tyres cut through the sand rather than riding over it.  

22nd November. We both have ebikes and I was surprised to read that the tyres need pumping up to astonishingly high pressures. For example, mine need around 65-70psi (4.5 - 4.8 bar) and if I don't ride it for a week or two, the tyre pressures soon seem to drop off. As the nearest garage with an air line is a fair way from here, I thought it would be a good idea if we had one of these handy little Michelin air compressor gizmos (left), so I ordered one this week and it arrived yesterday. It plugs into the 12v cigarette lighter socket in the car and it works a treat.

The chart below hardly needs any words to explain it. The graph shows the exchange rate between the pound sterling and the euro - and you can tell to the minute when the news was released that the EU and the UK negotiators finally agreed the Political Declaration this morning. However, this is only Part 1 and it has yet to be approved and signed off by all 27 EU states and the UK House of Commons. The Trade talks are going to grind on for a few years. I think we'll have all lost the will to live by the time that gets signed off.

19th November. I make no apology for including the full match between Ireland and New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin - for I doubt that we'll see a better international this year. This is a rugby match to watch again and again. Highlights below - full match here.
If you want to beat the All Blacks, take a leaf out of Ireland's book - and do likewise (easy to say!). There were many thunderous tackles, mighty collisions and much heroic defending on both sides from start to finish and Ireland didn't take a single backward step. Ireland were inspired and relentless and they took the game to New Zealand with a vengeance. I wouldn't single out one player for Man of the Match - for me, there were 15 Men of the Match - and they were all Irish.

Ireland's Tadhg Furlong, Rory Best, Cian Healy, Peter O'Mahony and Devin Toner celebrate the final whistle.

Here's a short video of Bayonne that captures much of its spirit.. Within its historic ramparts (designed by Vauban), the streets are narrow and so all building had only one place to go - up! Outside, however, it's a different story and the adjacent tree-lined boulevards boast some highly desirable houses in the Basque style, interspersed by a number of pleasant parks and gardens.
18th November. I was just closing the shutters upstairs at 8pm when I heard the sound of cranes overhead on the move again. I thought they roosted overnight? If anyone knows better, please leave a message.

We've found a new place for walking the pooch - aka tree heaven! It's the Forêt de Pignada at Anglet.. and it's full of tall maritime pines, tranquil paths ideal for those contemplative walks and - at this time of the year - precious few people!

Walking through the woods, there's only the occasional sound that penetrates from the outside world. There are multiple routes through it and the little feller is in his element! The activity shown both here and below is typical of the summer months - outside of July-September, many of these places can be enjoyed in peace:
There were two massive games of rugby of interest to me yesterday - England vs Japan at Twickenham and Ireland vs New Zealand in Dublin. While I'm primarily an England fan, Ireland has long been my second favourite as they play with an aggression, a passion and an intensity that England find hard to emulate. Sit back and enjoy these highlights from the Aviva stadium as the boys in green finally record their first and well-deserved home win against the All Blacks.

England were less impressive - however, after trailing 10-15 at half time to a sparkling Japanese XV, Eddie Jones made a few substitutions and although they ran out 35-15 winners at the end - a scoreline that flattered them in my view - I think it's fair to say that they never really subdued Japan, led by their inspirational captain Michael Leitch. Japan pose a genuine threat and they are more than capable of causing a few upsets in the upcoming Rugby World Cup in Japan (only 10 months away!).

A name to watch for England in the Six Nations: Joe Cokanasiga.. a massive talent at 21 years old. His stats are impressive: 1m93 tall (6'4"), 120kg (260lbs) and he's fast. Look here.

17th November. On looking out at the sky this evening, I was reminded of an unusual sight I saw about a week ago. At around 3am early one morning, I was persuaded by Nutty, our 17kg cocker spaniel, that he had to go out. Standing in the garden, I heard the now-familiar raucous screechings of cranes migrating south - and suddenly there they were revealed in the moonlight: an immense ghostly formation of cranes (grues cendrées). There must have been close to 150 of them as they passed low overhead - perhaps 300 feet up - in a single, broad, flattened vee formation. I'd always assumed that they rested up at night and waited for light before continuing. From this map, it looks as though they rest up just north east of here at the lakes at Arjuzanx.

You don't have to dig too deeply into the soul of a Frenchman to find the beating heart of a revolutionary. Today sees a nation-wide 'Manif' ('demo' in Angliche!) against the recent rise in fuel prices. Apparently it's a leaderless movement that's been put together with the help of social media and the plan is simply to disrupt traffic around the country - and the identifying mark of the protesters will be the gilet jaune (the yellow jacket that all drivers are supposed to carry).

Taking the pooch for his morning excursion this morning, I could hear the sound of sports motorbikes being revved to the limit and the screech of tyres from the direction of the town centre. On reaching Allée Paulmy (mentioned previously), the road was filled with several hundred sports motorcycles, many of whom were practising burn-outs and other 'tricks' to impress the onlookers.. There were tractors bedecked with Basque flags, cars with girls in yellow jackets hanging out of the windows pumping their fists, horns being sounded, engines being revved - in short, all the evidence you'd ever need that France is, at heart, a nation of anarchic revolutionaries.

Could this happen in Ye Olde Englande? I don't think so - even with the ongoing train crash that is Brexit, I don't see the Brits getting out on the streets in huge numbers across the country. Here's how Brexit is being reported here:

15th November. For those of you out there who aren't all "Brexit'd out" - here's the 585 page Draft Agreement that's taken so long to produce. There's a shorter 7 page summary here with the catchy title: "Outline of the Political Declaration Setting Out the Framework for the Future Relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom" - that's going to race off the shelves nearer Christmas! I admit to not having read it yet - but if this Draft Agreement passes through Parliament, then reportedly the UK is going join a customs union with the EU for an unspecified period - but one which we can only leave if both parties agree.

Another phrase that caught my eye is that the UK is now described in the Draft Agreement as an "independent coastal state". I wonder if Bill Bryson will be renaming his first book: "Notes from a Small Independent Coastal State"?

President Hollande once warned darkly that there would be 'consequences' if the UK left the EU.. in the same way that Mafia protection teams warn restaurant owners of the fire risk if they fail to pay up. The EU has carefully contrived an end game where neither of the two choices on offer to the UK are especially appetising. One is to agree to this preposterous Draft Agreement that will see the UK shunted into a siding - from where there's no release until the EU agrees - a position that will cost us somewhere in the region of £40bn to £60bn - a colossal sum sufficient to buy between 162 and 243 brand new Boeing 777-300ER airliners.

The alternative is to walk away and trade on WTO terms. However, untangling the resultant chaos with an uncooperative - oops, sorry, what am I saying! I mean our "friends and partners" in the EU could be challenging indeed!

All this to exit a political grouping of nation states that we entered into freely (following a democratic referendum) - and one that we now wish to leave (again, following a democratic referendum). 
 
11th November. Back from walking the dog alongside a surging sea and, on returning home, I was faced with a sight on the television that stuck in my craw: a group of black-clad world leaders walking in a gaggle along a Parisian boulevard towards the Arc de Triomphe. Maybe I'm out of step with popular opinion but I've long held the view that it's politicians who cause wars and the sight of their faux-sombre faces as they 'paid homage' was too much to take - especially as they saw fit to preface it with a glitzy dinner last night at the Orsay Museum. (it wouldn't do to pass up an opportunity of a free feed would it?)

One phrase that our politicians are careful to avoid using is that War is a failure of politics. The only people who should be upfront and central in remembering and honouring the dead are not those who cause wars but the military - those who have to pay the price for doing the politicians' dirty work - and the families of the bereaved. It is only they who have to confront, and pay, the true cost of war - and it's at times like these that we should pay our respects to those of the military - both dead and living - who stepped forward at times of national need to serve their country - unlike the politicians, whose instinctive reaction is to take a step to the rear. Am I alone in thinking this? If our politicians describe our fallen soldiers as our 'Glorious Dead', how should we best describe our politicians?
These images are almost unwatchable - row upon row upon row of silent witnesses, forever on parade in their serried stone ranks. Why them - why not me? If one man's death is a tragedy - what words could be used to describe all these deaths?
10th November. At around 7.20pm (UTC + 1) this evening, an asteroid the size of a house, and travelling at 4 miles per second, will whiz past Planet Earth - missing us by an estimated 237,000 miles. This appears far enough away until you think of its speed in standard astronomical units (light years) - then it sounds far more threatening as its miss distance will be less than 1½ light-seconds away - which is uncomfortably close. Gulp. Odd to think that everything we know hangs on such small margins.. You can watch it here with the Virtual Telescope Project from 7pm.

9th November. It's usually about this time of the year that we light the fire - and think about putting one of our favourite videos on. I think we could well be in for an evening at the foot of the Ngong Hills:
Health Warning: A few lines on Brexit. Juliet Samuel writes for the Daily Telegraph and she has produced a stinging (& well-deserved) one minute critique of Theresa May's shambolic handling of the negotiations. (don't forget to turn on the volume)

8th November. The questions have started - "Any idea what you'd like for Christmas..?" Truthful answer? No.. Probably the only thing I'd really like is more time between Christmasses. They seem to be coming along more frequently these days. Must be a sign of the times. Then there's the question of what can I get for Madame. I walk around town and fail to get inspired. I prefer to do my Christmas shopping in November - as it takes the desperation out of it! There's nothing worse than going out on Christmas Eve having to find something that doesn't look like the last chicken in Sainsburys!

Bayonne (& the rowing club) looks nice in the winter sun here:
7th November. On Sunday we took a drive out to the stunningly beautiful Les Aldudes valley to see the autumn colours but I think we were a couple of weeks too early. As we climbed higher and higher we started to see snow lodged in gullies high up on the hills and, far off in the distance, the top of the Pic du Midi was completely covered in snow. We finally achieved a long held ambition of mine which was to visit Urepel - a small village that I had always thought might be as far from Calais as it's possible to go and still remain in mainland France. (Just checked - it's actually Menton that's the furthest)

Urepel

We're having some work done in the kitchen by someone who comes from this valley and, speaking of restaurants in that area, he told us to try this place.. They've not heard of nouvelle cuisine here.

There's also a Logis hotel - St-Sylvestre (above) with a restaurant that's long been on my 'to do' list. (Top tip: don't forget the elasticated waist trousers..)

Here's a short video about the branding of the cattle* in Urepel and their subsequent journey back up the mountain to their summer pastures. 

* they seem completely unconcerned by the process.

3rd November. A cold start to the morning today and mist lay on the river as I drove with the dog out for a mid-morning walk through the woods. Major advantage - he didn't come back soaking wet from here! If I'd still been rowing, it would have been an uninspiring and damp start to the day in the mist.

2nd November. Here's a glimpse of the future.. think these boards fitted with hydrofoils will be all over the beaches down here next year:

1st November. Today being la fête de la Toussaint (All Saints day), it's a public holiday here in France, despite it being a secular state. Traditionally, it's the day when families return, like so many spawning salmon, to their natal village to pay homage at the graves of their loved ones - usually with a bunch of chrysanthemums*. 

Bearing in mind that in France, as in many other countries today, the descendants of those resting in peace have often moved far from their spiritual home, the days surrounding Toussaint see an exodus of elderly drivers, unaccustomed to driving long distances (especially after a good lunch!), out on the roads. For this reason, Toussaint is associated with a peak in the number of road accidents. This year, as Toussaint falls on a Thursday, many people here will be taking a day of holiday (known as a pont - or a bridge) - thus finishing up with a 4 day weekend. If I have to be out on the roads in the afternoon, I try to keep well clear of cars driven by anyone wearing a hat! Say no more!

* Chrysanthemums are traditionally associated with cemeteries in France, so it's not a good idea to offer them to your hostess when invited out.

I mentioned a day or two ago about the trees on Allées Paulmy being trussed up in anticipation of the roadworks necessary for the new Tram'bus service - well, here they are! You could be forgiven for thinking it must be a slow news day here - but as it's Toussaint, everywhere's closed and it's grey and wet.

Madame has just opened a tin of cassoulet* (below) for lunch. (It's said that sniffy Parisian chefs are fond of saying that the only kitchen implement required for 'cuisine du Sud Ouest' is a tin opener!) I spotted a half empty/half full (you choose) bottle of Saint-Pourçain lurking on the kitchen table - so there's hope!

* from here - given to us by some kind neighbours.

I stopped earlier in the year (en route to Provence) at the Aire de Port Lauragais, a service station on the A61 some 30km south east of Toulouse (it's worth making a note of this address). The service station lies at the intersection of the autoroute and the Canal du Midi - and there you'll find La Dinée situated on an island in the marina. It's one of only two privately owned restaurants to be found on the French autoroute network and if, like me, you enjoy the traditional cooking of South West France, then the menu there is the mother lode. Whatever else you do, go there hungry. The cassoulet that we're having in a few minutes comes from the Hotel du Lauragais (map here) and they also supply La Dinée. I'd recommend the La Dinée set menu for 20€70.. starting with the salade Lauragaise (smoked duck breast and duck hearts) followed by the Cassoulet Maison de Castelnaudary (Try as I might, I couldn't finish mine). A nap in the car park afterwards will seem like a very good idea. I'd be surprised if there's a better cassoulet than this anywhere. As you might expect, there's a Confrérie of the cassoulet..

Far be it from me - un Anglais! - to suggest one recipe is better than another as each town around Castelnaudary is proud of its own version of this classic dish. Here's another view on how it should be prepared.

Verdict: Marks out of 10 for the cassoulet? 37! Thick with haricot beans, Toulouse sausage, duck confit and richly flavoured with duck fat.. Just the job for a cold winter's day and excellent for keeping the draughts out.

We've just had a few heavy rain showers blow through out of the Bay of Biscay - so I'm hoping that this isn't a foretaste of how the rest of November is going to pan out.

260. Off season

30th October. Fascinating fact for when it goes quiet in the snug.. For those of you who, like me, grew up on such stirring stories as "The Battle of the River Plate", it will come as something of a shock to learn - as I just have - that, for decades, we've been getting it all wrong. In Spanish, the river is known as the "Rio de la Plata". Us Anglophones - in our wisdom - called it the River Plate. That film should have been called "The Battle of the Silver River". (That should ensure a few more minutes of silence!)

Preliminary work has been going on for some time now preparing the local road systems in readiness for the launch of the new Tram'bus service (as they're calling it) that is coming to Bayonne.

Tram'bus is a battery-powered articulated bus (no overhead wires required) that is planned to enter service on the first of two routes on the Basque coast next year.

Five minutes walk from Pipérade Towers brings me to Allées Paulmy - an attractive boulevard in central Bayonne that's also a busy traffic artery. It's lined with many mature trees and some substantial houses (left) in the Basque style. There is clearly some Tram'bus-related work programmed to take place here as many of the trunks of the trees have been wrapped in coils of 3" plastic tubing and have been further protected by substantial wooden planks that have been lashed vertically around the trunks over the tubing. This is an occasion when a single picture would have saved me a lot of blah blah! The road visible at lower right in the photo above is a service road that runs parallel to Allées Paulmy - the dual carriageway just out of shot to the right. I believe the Tram'bus will be routed via this service road - no doubt amid howls of complaint from those who currently use it to park!

This is the proposed new tram'bus:

Bayonne is a very green town with many parks, gardens and some magnificent trees - take a look here at these pictures taken around the historic ramparts on the fringe of the town centre.

28th October. It was c-o-l-d down at the beach this morning with a stiff breeze coming off the sea.. a cold 9°C. The average winter temps here bottom out at 8°C - a fact for which I'm forever grateful! OK, it's not in the same ballpark as Winnipeg or Wisconsin - but nonetheless.. There were quite a few surfers (a good 20+) out there in the uninviting waves too. I was glad of my scarf!

Living, as we do, in town now, our ears are no longer assailed by sporadic gunfire as weekend hunters attempt to blast four-legged and feathered game into next Christmas. These sounds were a regular part of our soundtrack when we first arrived here as we lived further inland in a rural location. One spin-off from all the sound and the fury of the hunt at this time of the year is that many local restaurants (such Oppoca at Ainhoa) start featuring game on their Autumn menus - wild boar, venison, wood pigeon, hare etc. Say no more! (I've mentioned this before - those without very long memories can re-read it here)

Don't misunderstand me - I'm always on the side of the hunted. This (above) looks like a fair fight to me. I've always viewed hunting with a rifle or a shotgun as an unfair contest - but if game has been killed, then I do enjoy eating it. 

27th October. One from 1977 and sounding as fresh as ever:

26th October. At last, the voice of reason - and coming from a surprising quarter too - the German Parliament. I wouldn't argue with a word of Dr Weidel's speech. However, she's a member of the AfD Party - founded in 2013 and now the largest opposition party in the Bundestag. Its policies have tapped into some understandable resentment against the EU - and what it's brought Germany. Unfortunately, so far the anti-EU rhetoric has only emerged from the far Right - there seems to be no cross party support for its policies in the way that UKIP managed in the UK a couple of years ago. And the far Right in Germany includes some strange bedfellows with their demands reminiscent of darker days.. Still, with this speech to the Bundestag, I think she nailed it:
Just had a surprise visit from a large, leather-jacketed policeman while Madame was out at the shops. And no, he wasn't selling calendars! He was a friendly individual and his visit was in connection with my ongoing request for French citizenship.. I think it was in the nature of a 'belt and braces' confirmation that - despite the myriad documents and photocopies I've submitted that certify chapter and verse that I am who I say I am, and that I actually exist as described - that yes, Pipérade is alive and well and living in Bayonne. He asked me to confirm a few basic points - all in French - and then he went off quite happy. (I think!)

Been busy painting garage doors, pruning trees and preparing the garden for winter - quite a few trips to the déchetterie (tip) with sacks of rubbish - as well as covering up the table, & cleaning the plancha and lugging it to the garage.

In recent years, there seems to have been some kind of annual competition for being the first presenter in the televised media to sport a Remembrance Day poppy.. an "I'm more virtuous than you are" thing. I saw the first poppy of 2018 yesterday on Sky TV. This race to be the first signifies what? Remembrance Day should not be an occasion for mindless presenters to display their political correctness. To a simple soul like me, the day for wearing a poppy - and meaning it - is 11th November. Not before and not after. It appears that the poppy has been 'politicised' - at least, according to the BBC (who else) in its guide to the humble poppy..

19th October. I mentioned Shawn James here a few weeks ago - he's a resourceful character who built his own log cabin out in the Canadian wilderness - and I thought I'd put up a couple of his videos that are, to me at least, compulsive viewing. He summed up his philosophy of life on his website thus:

“The problem is you think you have time. The hours have a way of turning into days, the days into weeks, the weeks into years and the years into a lifetime. How different would your life and your memories be today, ten years later, if you had done that?!”

There's also a quote from Mark Twain there as well:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mine could be summed up as:

 ".. the more we put into our lives, the better we feel." 

I've long been of the opinion that our "stuff" expands to fit the space available - and then some! The reality is that we don't need more than a fraction of all our accumulated possessions to live a happy and contented life. And watching these videos puts all the hot air and tension of Brussels into perspective. He has an enviable lifestyle.. (and I like his dog!)

  

18th October. For those Brits whose stomachs churn (and knees jerk) at the financial excesses of the EU - knowing that UK taxpayers contribute 12½% of the EU budget - I wouldn't recommend that you click on this link. The unchallenged corruption that seems to be endemic in the EU goes straight to the heart of why so many voted to Leave.

17th October. I've been following Adrian Holovaty's YouTube channel for some time. He's a gifted player and he's transcribed many great songs for guitar. See what you think:

16th October. There's been some massive flooding in the Aude (at the other end of the Pyrenees) where 18cm (7 inches) of rain - equivalent to 3 months rainfall - fell in the early hours of Monday morning - one village was flooded to a depth of over 6 metres (20 feet) and some unfortunate people were drowned in their own homes. It doesn't bear thinking about. Altogether there have been 11 confirmed deaths with possibly more to follow.

I've tried to keep this blog as free as possible (as much as I'm able) from discussions on the merits or otherwise of Brexit and the associated negotiations but the events of the last few days have brought the EU's negotiating strategy into sharp focus.

From the outset, they selected the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as the schwerpunkt for making the exit talks with the UK as unhelpful and obstructive as possible (while I'm being polite here, part of me wants to reach for a baseball bat!). I think it's fairly obvious why they're doing so - it's pour décourager les autres and also to ensure that whatever outcome emerges from the exit talks, it will not be in any way advantageous for the UK in comparison to its present position as an EU member state. Depending upon your point of view, you may or may not think that they're being reasonable.

Here's an extract from a think-piece by Dr Sheila Lawlor that neatly encapsulates the situation:

To anyone reflecting on the many thousands of miles of borders between the EU and 19 third countries, the fact that the Irish border has prompted so much political frenzy may seem bizarre: other EU borders are with a variety of third countries, including a motley  collection of states – dictatorships and lands racked by armed struggles, or used as transit points for mass immigration, or for smuggling and the slave trade. By contrast, the Irish border divides two peaceful, democratic neighbours, sharing a common law tradition and the closest ties of culture, history and economy, living in harmony and mutual self-interest and with the Belfast Agreement a matter of practical cooperation – an agreement it should be noted to which the EU was not a signatory.

You can read another paper by Dr Lawlor - "Ruling the Ruler - Parliament, the People and Britain's Political Identity" here.

I think the only winners out of Brexit are those endless political talk shows and commentators who get paid small fortunes to speculate about the speculation. I've had to become very selective about who I listen to these days - otherwise my knuckles would be white all day!

 

13th October. I don't think I've mentioned this before but, for finishing off a meal on a warm evening, it doesn't get much better than pouring a splash of limoncello over some lemon sorbet. You'll thank me for this! We'll explore the delights of a Sgroppino in another post.

10th October. More info for expats potentially affected by Brexit here.

Every now and again, when listening to a conversation in French, I'll pick up an unexpected combination of words that makes me realise that I've just heard a new idiom. So it was when we bumped into a friend in town yesterday and we stopped off in a café for a chat. In the midst of some rapid fire French, our friend said: ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard.. I thought whoa there! I've got to find out what that means. 

I asked what it meant literally and what the meaning was. The literal meaning is: that doesn't break three feet of a duck. I was still none the wiser - so I asked what the meaning was. Apparently it means that whatever the subject of the phrase was - it was nothing special. The thinking behind it being that as ducks have only two feet, it would take someone or something truly exceptional to break three. Another mystery solved! ☺

9th October. Looking at the blog hit counter, I see that we're fast approaching 75,000 hits. I remember the early days when getting those first 100 seemed like an impossible achievement! Many thanks to all those of you (OK, both of you!) who have stayed the course!

We'll be making a trip up into the Vallée des Aldudes (here) before too long to see the spectacular autumn colours. The valley extends into Navarre like a blunt finger. Might just stop off at the Auberge Hotel Restaurant Saint Sylvestre while we're up there.

This will give you an idea of what's in store:

 Merci à Mariano pour ce diaporama magnifiquement réalisé

In the absence of any real news, the chattering classes often try to occupy themselves, and distract us, by urging us to adopt the latest 'de-stressing' lifestyles. Their latest attempt is based on yet another fad that's emerged from Scandinavia - we've had koselig from Norway, hygge from Denmark - to which (according to these under-worked journalists) the Swedes responded with lagom - and now it seems we're supposed to copy the Finns and get completely kalsarikänni - or 'pantsdrunk' - at home. Apparently we have to "find our most comfortable underwear – the really holey ones where we’ve forgotten their original colour. Perhaps invest in some wool socks, too. Pantsdrunk is not about getting wasted". This drivel is what you end up being paid to write if you read Media Studies at Uni.

Rest easy - you'll be pleased to know that I won't be illustrating these pages with graphic examples of your correspondent in the Pays Basque getting pantsdrunk! (not that I do that these days) 

8th October. This song - Vivere - is one I often heard while I was working in Italy in the mid-90s. The singers are Andrea Bocelli and Gerardina Trovato:

7th October. The weather is definitely autumnal now - down at the beach this morning, the sea was slate grey and the first hundred metres or so were covered in foam as a blustery onshore wind whipped up the surface. Out to sea, the horizon was dark with showers and so I curtailed the dog's usual walk. Here's a live web cam that shows what Biarritz looks like right now (ignore the annoying advert - it doesn't last long).

We spent the rest of the day lurking indoors as rain lashed down intermittently..

Well, it looks like I (and other British expats in France) won't have to fear the squeal of brakes as a Citroën Traction Avant pulls up outside the house at 3am in the near future. Nathalie Loiseau - France's high flying and impressively qualified Europe Minister (and mother of 4!) - put forward a bill last Wednesday that will unilaterally guarantee the rights of British citizens living in France, who would otherwise immediately become illegal migrants in the event of a no-deal Brexit when their EU citizenship is revoked on 29 March 2019. Personally, I always found that particular 'Project Fear' scenario highly unlikely - but, as I've mentioned here previously, I decided a good while ago that a "belt and braces" approach (applying for dual nationality) would be a wise move if EU expats were ever to be used as political pawns following a breakdown in relations between the EU and the UK.

From the noises coming out of Brussels during the last day or two, it's starting to sound as though someone is paving the way for a soon-to-be-announced rapprochement with the UK over the Brexit negotiations. I think the onward march of the calendar plus the prospect that the UK's £39bn might evaporate from the EU's balance sheets (if there's 'no deal') has started to focus a few minds on the political and economic realities. I hope so, at any rate. The Irish border question has always been nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt by the EU to put a stick in the UK's spokes. Meanwhile:

5th October. We had some English friends over today from L'Isle-Jourdain in the Gers where they have a second home. They were staying here at Hotel Ur Hegian (right on the Franco-Spanish border) and so I thought I'd take them for lunch via a spectacular route up and up into the high country via some steeply winding single track lanes. We ended up at Venta Burkaitz (here - find it and win a prize!). We found a shady spot outside as it was 29° and blue, blue skies. We all had the same menu - river trout, followed by suckling pig, and then various desserts and coffee.. As we were just inside Spain, it seemed only right that we handed out some gratuitous punishment to a bottle of Rioja. Thus primed, we then set about solving the more pressing political problems of the day. No problem too challenging!

4th October. I was up in the loft earlier fitting a new filter to a dehumidifier gizmo we have up there that pumps dry air into the house - it's one of those fiddly jobs that you just don't have enough hands for. Anyway, between me cursing under my breath as I tried to tighten some screws in the dark while trying to hold on to a ladder at the same time, this memorable scene from "Manhattan" came to mind. I think it's Zubin Mehta and the lush strings of the NY Philharmonic.

2nd October. Out on my ebike this afternoon - along the banks of the Adour until we hit the coast - then a left turn on to the Boulevard des Plages to parallel the coast all the way down to Biarritz where I stopped off at Kostaldea (right) for a cappuccino and to take in the uninterrupted view of the sea. I've been driving past this place for several years now but this was the first time I had occasion to stop there. It won't be the last.

It's usually packed during the season, but today - now that we're in October - there were just a few tables occupied. The way down there is mainly via cycle tracks - which suits me fine - and it was a real pleasure to be out and about in perfect weather - temps in the low 20s (I'm guessing) and low humidity - under the maritime pines with the heat of the sun releasing the smell of the needles.

We were saddened yesterday to hear of the passing of Charles Aznavour - at the ripe old age of 94. There was a time when he appeared regularly on British TV screens and and it was fashionable among the chatterati to mock him. This at a time when he had no competition in the UK (unless you count the late Matt Munro or the dire and equally late Max Bygraves).

Aznavour was an authentic performer, he loved singing to an audience and he'd just returned from giving a concert in Japan. He left school aged 9 and subsequently taught himself at least 5 languages and he could sing in 9. He reportedly wrote over 1200 songs and recorded 91 albums. What a work ethic..! Here's a favourite I remember hearing back in the sixties..

Out of all his songs, this was the one that did it for me - I wouldn't change a word: 

259. That's it, then.

29th September. Seems like Gary Larson was right on the money with this cartoon! (click on it to enlarge)

26th September. I heard this morning that the raft of plastic waste in the north Pacific - known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - is twice the size of France.. (don't worry, we're not being left behind - there's a North Atlantic Garbage Patch as well.)

This is a problem that's not going to go away and we can't ignore it. How to contact your elected politician? In the UK? In the US? In France? Please take the time to write to ask what action he/she is taking to address this global problem..

The Bellevue casino
as it was..

..and as it is today

We went to the Bellevue, the former casino of Biarritz, at midday to see the "Biarritz 1918 - 2018" exhibition - that was billed as featuring work by Picasso, among others. Look here for a glimpse of Biarritz in all its former splendour.

We both thought this exhibition was grossly overhyped - yes, there was his small - 12" x 9" - painting "Les baigneuses" (below) - but I'm afraid that was the only thing worth seeing. There were letters to Picasso and much (as in practically everything else!) that fell into "the Emperor's new clothes" category - but very little from the great man himself. For an alternative viewpoint, there's a review of the exhibition here. (translation in English)

Disappointed, we headed off to have lunch at Bar Jean.. a long-time favourite of ours next to the covered market - but it was their day for closing.. 

Not our day - so it was a day for pot luck.. We walked down to the Place Sainte-Eugenie and eased into Le Capri.. Madame had moules marinière followed by sardines while I had a pizza.  

25th September. We've been enjoying some wonderful September weather here for the last few weeks - blue skies, temperatures in the mid-twenties, lower humidity - but the clear skies have brought with them cooler evenings. So - this afternoon I stopped off to pick up some logs for the wood-burner we put in a couple of years ago. To be honest, I'm quite looking forward to the first time we light it this autumn.. it gives a real cosy atmosphere. It doesn't get much better than contemplating the flickering flames, suitably encouraged by a glass of you-know-what (above)! (I think this is known as hygge in Denmark)     

23rd September. There's been an exhibition running in Biarritz since 7th July (it finishes on 30th September) entitled "Biarritz 1918 2018" that we've been meaning to get to.. There's this Picasso "Les baigneuses' (right) and many others on display apparently. We thought we'd try today but on arrival in Biarritz earlier this afternoon we discovered that there was a braderie in progress.. This is when the shops have a clear out of all their 'old' stock.. with the pavements cluttered with clothes rails and whole areas of town are closed off. Of course, old stock to them means this season's.. I don't think I have anything that new! I'm proud to own many items of vintage clothing.. such as two Lacoste polo shirts I bought in the US in the mid-1980s! (now 30+ years old!) I like my old favourites and I have to say that shopping is waay down there on my list of things I like to do. So you can see that old and new depends on your perspective!

I've been busy with our annual Comète weekend which was last weekend - it involved a lot of unseen preparation work, then the long weekend itself, and then afterwards tying up all the loose ends. I'll post a few photos in a day or two.

Meanwhile, the mosquitoes have been busy here.. and it appears that they're very partial to a spot of rosbif! (namely me!) We've not been bothered much - if at all - by mossies in previous years but with the more or less continuous rain we had here for the first 5-6 months of the year, followed by bakingly hot temperatures and high humidity in July and August, it's been all the encouragement the little bleeders oops, blighters needed to breed in large numbers. From my knees down I've been trying hard to avoid scratching the maddeningly itchy bites - but every now and again, my resolve has weakened and I've been scratching myself like a demented chimp! My hands and arms are just as bad - and then there's my ears and neck. I've been spraying mossie repellent all over me, setting up anti-mossie plugs at night (right) but all to no avail. 

To more cheery subjects, this morning I was down at the beach with the dawg - and if you ever plan to visit the Pays Basque, this is the month for it. While May and June are relatively tourist-free, the sea is still cold and hence the weather can't be relied upon. July and August are best avoided if you can (just too many people) - but September is virtually guaranteed to be the ideal month to visit. The majority of families with children have returned home, the sea is warm and the weather is stable with temps usually in the mid 20s.

This was the beach at Anglet this morning - Biarritz is just the other side of the headland with the lighthouse, with the mountains of Spain in the distance:

Tempting - or what?

13th September. This is the first video in a series that describes how someone out in the Canadian wilderness built himself a log cabin.. It promises to be addictive! Let me know what you think of it.

He has all his videos listed here - so plenty more to choose from.

Our annual Comète weekend starts this evening.. Sadly it only comes around once a year.

Here's a song that speaks to me - especially the first couple of verses:

10th September. For those of us of a certain age, fifty years ago we'd all have been watching transfixed at the remarkable television coverage - often live - of NASA's Saturn V rockets, each just shy of 3000 tons, blasting off from Cape Canaveral as they headed for the moon on incandescent tongues of flame. The sheer scale and power of these rockets was hard to comprehend. Little did I think then that years later I would be lucky enough to visit Florida and see one of these giants (40-odd feet taller than Big Ben) close up. From JFK promising - in September 1962 -  in that unforgettable spine-tingling speech ("We choose to go to the Moon") where he announced America's intention to land an American on the moon by the end of the decade, this was a stupendously ambitious project and it was all conducted in the unforgiving spotlight of global media attention. The Apollo programme was surely the most remarkable engineering achievement in the history of Man - and it all worked perfectly.

8th September. I took Nutty to the "Naughty Boys Club" (aka Obedience class) this morning and he did so well, he's been upgraded to the next class up for slightly older dogs. The secret behind this sudden change of fortune was that I didn't give him his breakfast before we left. That ensured that he gave all the exercises his full attention (especially those that came with an edible reward!) - and he romped through them all in a near-faultless display. The girl who runs the class was impressed. I know better though! 

It's been a while since I've included a Basque choir - so without further ado, here's Oldarra - with their beautiful rendition of Agur Jaunak - a song of welcome.

If my dear old Mum was here, I'm sure she'd be saying that, in the interests of balance, I should include a Welsh male voice choir - so as I'm a quarter Welsh, who am I to argue! I grew up to the sound of her singing as she went around the house - and she loved Welsh choirs. I think there are quite a few similarities between Basque and Welsh male voice choirs. See what you think:

6th September. This song was the soundtrack to our early days and it's for all those who have had a long distance relationship - the interminable waiting at airports and windblown train stations, the hellos and the bittersweet goodbyes:

A few minutes ago I felt like reminding myself what it's like to row in a fast VIII.. and I found this clip on YouTube. I've never rowed six abreast in an VIIIs race, but looking at this video of the Olympic final of the Mens VIIIs in Rio, I can only begin to imagine the exhilaration in that British boat after the controlled fury of that thunderous start when they found themselves leading the race. All the pain of endless training - the early starts, the weights, the dieting, the rowing machines, the runs - would have disappeared in that one golden moment. Need I say it but it's best in full screen. The overhead view from the drone camera really does capture the spirit of that event.

3rd September. I was down at the beach at the Plage des Cavaliers, Anglet, this morning with Nutty for a quick run.. This is definitely September weather now - always the best month here. Most of the holidaymakers have gone and the weather has cooled down a notch or two. The blue green ocean was calm with impressive breakers forming just at the water's edge. Silver mist hung over the empty golden sands with the mountains just a faint blue line in the distance. Days like these remind me why we love this blessed part of the world and also the fact that we're lucky enough to be spending our retirement years here.

"Tally Ho"

2nd September. For the past few months I've been following the inspiring story of Leo Goolden, a resourceful young English boat builder, who has taken on an enormous restoration challenge: that of rebuilding "Tally Ho" - a 108 year old wooden yacht (right) that was teetering on the brink of total dereliction. He's rebuilding it in Sequim, WA, and he intends to sail it back to the UK once the mammoth task of restoration is complete. Looking at it, I would have said it was beyond economic repair. The story is being told via a series of short bite-sized YouTube videos - and if you're anything like me, you'll find them compulsive viewing. He seems completely undaunted by any of the challenges that the boat throws up at him - and believe me, there's no shortage of those. It seems that there's nothing that fazes Leo.. I tip my hat to him in total respect. 

If this project interests you but Washington State is a bit far away, then there's this traditional pilot cutter - all 68 feet of her - that's being built from scratch in Truro in the UK.

1st September. Had a good session with Nutty down at the dog training class this morning. I think there's a film waiting to be made here! Put 15 assorted dogs into a fenced off enclosure, let them loose and watch the fun develop! The girl who runs the class has one of these (left) - a Cane Corso Italiano - and, as you might expect, he's very well trained. He's a large gentle dog with an excellent temperament and he simply sits there watching the chaos developing all around him. If he wanted, he could sort out the 'bad lads' in a few seconds. But he's seen it all before and he occasionally shifts his position - but does little else. You'd need a large house for him to be comfortable. (It appears here that Nutty's not the only dog who eats pebbles!)   

As I write this, there's a bullfight in progress in the neighbourhood (5 minutes walk from here) - and occasionally I can hear the jeers and catcalls of the moronic crowd as a bull hasn't read the script and doesn't die as he should. Ugh.. How people can watch the spectacle of 6 bulls being dispatched in this manner - for their entertainment - is beyond me. I believe there's another corrida tomorrow too. Instead of fiddling about with summer time, Juncker and his unelected cronies should set about banning this barbaric 'sport' from Europe - a spectacle where animals are killed and their deaths are applauded to amuse the crowds. Shameful.    

September - this is our kind of weather. Temperatures in the lower twenties, humidity down from the unbearable wet blanket that lay over the land just a few weeks ago, and blue skies.. 

Meanwhile, it appears I won't have much time for blogging! I read that these are the tasks I should be carrying out this month: removing dead and non-productive vegetable crops; apply manure and compost to clay soils; planting crops for late autumn harvest: cabbages, peas, fennel, cauliflower, lettuce, swiss chard, onions, leeks, Chinese peas, and endive; drying peppers and squash; start new strawberry beds; dig up and divide garlic, perennials, iris, daylilies, bulbs and onions; keep watering properly even as the weather begins to cool; clean up all dead fruit; fruit trees fed and sprayed with tonics; seed lawns with rye grass for winter colour; remove any dead shrubs or trees; dig holes for planting trees and shrubs; purchase potted trees and shrubs for planting in autumn; continue to mulch trees and shrubs; raking fallen leaves and add to compost pile; purchase bulbs from nurseries; feed lawn with slow release fertilizer; remove spent blooms from roses; weed vegetables and shrubs, mow lawns; start to prepare sheds, tools, and equipment for Winter weather; repair roofs.

My response to all this would be to ask: "And what, pray, should I do with the feather duster?" Answers on a postcard please!

Quote of the day: Remember: we're all in this alone.

I remembered late tonight that it was 11 years to the day since we arrived here in the Pays Basque - thus setting in motion the second part of a dream we'd had for many years. The first part was selling up in England. Having successfully managed that, we put into storage all the non-essentials and headed south in a rented van with everything we thought we'd need until we found our house in the Pays Basque. Living the dream - it's not often in life that you get to do this.