258. Bon voyage!

31st August. It's not every day that I stumble across a replica of a 17th century Spanish merchantman moored at the bottom of our avenue - but there's a first time for everything! Welcome to the imaginatively-named Spanish ship El-Galéon.. (made of wood and - wait for it - fibre glass.. I wish I hadn't read that). Ships such as these were the Apollo 11 spacecrafts of their day - going on long voyages and exploring the New World. To my land-lubberly eye, she doesn't look too dissimilar to the replica of the Mayflower I saw once in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The length of El-Galéon is given as 50m - whereas the Mayflower II is 32m.

She's in the Adour until 9th September. 

27th August. The unmistakeable sight and sounds of Ferraris were greatly in evidence around Bayonne this weekend past. For 25€, people could go for a drive in a Ferrari (as passenger!) with all the proceeds going to children in need. A worthy cause generously sponsored by the local Lions Club of Bayonne.

I spotted one of these parked at the top of our avenue this morning.. It appears to this old curmudgeon that the designers of the vehicle have managed to incorporate (at great expense) all of the disadvantages offered by both cars and motorcycles - and none of the advantages..
I see from a quick google that one could be yours for around 35,000 euros.. I just can't imagine to what question this is the answer. I must be getting old! ☺

26th August. The pooch and I went down to the beach this morning.. and there's no sign of any diminution in the number of tourists yet - even though according to the news yesterday, many people were heading back north. The season here continues much as before for at least another month. If you want to escape the mass of tourists who clutter the coast, then the best advice is to head for the hills inland (a 30 minute drive from here).     

25th August. Here's Gunhild Carling and her Swing Band with their version of "Dark Eyes":

24th August. We're having a very welcome downpour here this morning.. a garden hose can only do so much. This will keep everything as green as nature intended - as well as cooling down the air.

As the Brexit negotiations enter the final stage, for any Brits resident in France, or indeed elsewhere in the EU, I'd strongly recommend downloading this free Brexit Guide. Even though you might have done your planning for all eventualities, it's a very useful "sanity check". It prompted me to consider one or two things I hadn't previously thought of.   

23rd August. This mighty piece - Symphony n°3 - by Saint-Saëns played by Daniel Roth at the organ of the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, could well have been the inspiration for that oft-quoted comment by Admiral Farragut of the United States Navy: "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead"! Those majestic opening chords give me goosebumps.. Go on - crank up the volume!

21st August. I was spraying the garden around 9pm this evening - as it was parched after a long hot day - and, as if by magic, the water brought the smell of the hot earth and the plants to life - along with someone in the vicinity who was barbequeing some meat. Aah, the smells of summer...

I went for a ride along the Nive this morning as far as the rapids at Ustaritz (30km). Very enjoyable.. not too many other people out and about and not a soul out on the river.

Who said “too much of anything is bad, but too much good whisky is barely enough”?

* answer at the foot of this post.

Meanwhile - where can I find one of these?

"Say when..."

19th August. The weather has been kinder to us of late. Thankfully, the temperatures have lowered a few notches from the stifling heat of recent memory - and more importantly, the humidity has decreased to sub-Amazonian levels. Previously, any physical activity would have quickly resulted in a wet shirt and a longing for a cold shower. This morning, I spent an hour or two cutting back the latest growth in the garden - notably our three palm trees that have been growing as if on steroids! At this time of the year, visits to the déchetterie (the council waste disposal site) have become a twice weekly event.      

16th August. Spent most of yesterday up in the mountains with a few kindred souls - all related to the Comet Line. The spectacular weather allowed us almost unlimited visibility.. We were accompanied by a couple of journalists who are preparing a feature for their paper. We were right on the Franco-Spanish border here - a significant location during WWII - as this was the very spot where around 125 Allied airmen - shot down in northern France and the Low Countries - crossed the border at night en route to freedom. German mountain troops were based at Esteben Borda, an isolated farm that now serves a hearty lunch to hikers.

If you click on the above link, looking slightly south of due west from Esteben Borda, about 1 km distant, you'll see a small building in Spain - this is Jauriko Borda - and during WWII, this was the first 'safe house' outside occupied France. It's incredibly well hidden and only visible from a couple of distant viewpoints. We took the journalists down to the old farm building that nestles into the hillside surrounded by trees. After this, we went back up and over the ridge to Esteben Borda for a lively lunch. Highly recommended!

12th August. Out on my ebike this morning.. A very pleasant ride down the Adour to the Atlantic coast then a left hand turn to parallel the sea and then straight down to the lighthouse at Biarritz (27km total). Lots of people out on two wheels so much care needed. Biarritz looked alive in the sunlight with a mass of sun-lovers already stretched out on the Grande Plage.
9th August. I was reminded earlier of Karen Blixen - a Danish national who moved to what is now Kenya (British East Africa at the time) in December 1913. There, she bought a farm and planted coffee. Most of us are familiar with the story through the film "Out of Africa" - inspired by the book of the same name she wrote under the nom-de-plume Isak Dinesen.

I once mentioned here that her book was the only reading material I had for 5 months when we moved into a gîte on our arrival here in August 2007 - all our other books having been boxed up and put into storage before I had the time to extract a few old favourites to last me for an unknown number of months. Fortunately, I'd been reading "Out of Africa" at the time and I stowed it in an overnight bag. I doubt if I could have improved on my choice. I think I read it three times during that period. Her opening sentence in this beautifully written autobiographical account still stops me dead: I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong hills. 

Ngong Hills

Highly recommended for her insider's view of the colonial community - but mainly for her lyrical view of an Africa that ceased to exist a long time ago.    

8th August. Here's the Symphony Orchestra from the Bulgarian National Radio playing an old favourite of mine - George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue..(1924)
 (And - genuine question - did the player of the kettle drums come in half a beat too soon at 3:24? Or half a beat too late. I can't tell.. It sounded a bit odd there to my untutored ear)

See what you think of this version by the Royal Academy of Music (keep an eye on the violinists!). Plus see if you can spot the banjo.

6th August. There was a fragment of this piece in the soundtrack of "Florence Foster-Jenkins" - well worth a listen:

There's something about Paris that lends itself to black and white photography.. I first visited "The City of Light" in in the mid-sixties and, to my eternal regret, I didn't take a camera. Fortunately there's no shortage of period photos on the web - so I thought - hang the expense! - I knocked up a quick slideshow for you. Sit back, relax and enjoy these evocative and nostalgic images of this, the most photogenic of cities:

Trying to think who's singing the song? It's Lucienne Boyer - with "Parlez-moi d'amour".. from 1930. And well before my time before anyone thinks I'm an old fogey..!

3rd August. For those unfamiliar with French roads, I thought I'd add a few words of explanation. Where to start..? There are three main types of roads here and the prefix letter identifies what type of road you can expect. 

A roads, or Autoroutes, are designated by the letter A followed by a number. An Autoroute is the equivalent of a British motorway or an American freeway. Autoroute signs are indicated with white lettering on a blue background. Although some are free to use, most Autoroutes in France are toll roads - and these are indicated when joining by a sign indicating Péage (the clue's in the name!). 

N roads, or Routes Nationales, are the major trunk roads throughout France and on directional signs are depicted with white lettering on a green background. They are designated with the letter ‘N’ followed by a number which is normally shown as white lettering on a red background. Since the recent regionalisation of responsibility of main roads, road numbering has become somewhat misleading and therefore it is recommended to follow the directional signs for your place of destination. 

D roads are the Departmental, or county roads, and can range from busy local routes, recently downgraded route nationales or the much smaller country roads and lanes France is so well known for. I must admit to liking driving on D roads as you can find that yours is  the only car on the roads. The other main advantage is that you get to see France - as elsewhere, the autoroutes are largely indistinguishable from one another. Then there are the roadside restaurants..

However, a note of caution. Drivers on D roads should remain alert as local councils seem to change the posted speed limits arbitrarily.

When entering a town, village or hamlet, its presence will be advertised by a sign such as this (right). This means, unless otherwise advised, that the speed limit is automatically 50km/h (30mph). It is commonplace to see the name of the town repeated underneath in the local language. Within the town or village, you may find that the limit changes within the space of a few hundred metres from 50km/h to 30 or even 20.

Exiting a town or village will be marked by a sign like this (with a red strike through) which indicates that the 50km/h restriction no longer applies.

Speed cameras have become de rigueur on all roads - and average speed cameras (that make use of automatic number plate recognition technology) are steadily being introduced on autoroutes. The maximum speed limit on D roads (without a central reservation) was formerly 90km/h. It's now 80km/h. 

One final tip - offered in the best interests of preserving marital harmony - if your car is fitted with GPS, do yourself a favour and update the memory before travelling! Enjoy your trip!

* Answer: Mark Twain.