281. Braced for the invasion!

31st July. This video sneaks in under the wire to make it into my July offering.. If you make it to the end without a single goosebump, contact your nearest medical practitioner asap. I have to say that it gives me the shivers.. plus it makes all the hair on my arms stand to attention! We've become so accustomed of late to hearing "The Star Spangled Banner" sung by warbling female singers (think Superbowl) that this beautiful rendition is a timely reminder of how it should be sung.. Well done to the Kentucky All State Choir! (Try setting the playback speed to 1.25 or 1.5)
Spectacular fires, fanned by strong winds and helped by the drought and the heat, swept through about 100 hectares (about 250 acres) of tinder-dry pine woods in the forest of Chiberta, Anglet, last night, forcing the evacuation of many homes. It broke out in the early evening and "is under control but it is complicated because we still have occasional flare-ups near the houses", according to Claude Olive, the mayor of Anglet.

The firefighters had to maintain "great vigilance all night long" in this wooded area of ​​over 250 hectares located in the town centre, between the Adour and the Atlantic, and bordered in particular by a golf course and luxurious villas. At 3am this morning, a spokesperson for the prefecture said that the fire had destroyed 100 hectares of forest and damaged a total of 165 hectares, including partially affected urban areas. Seven houses were damaged by the fire, three of which were completely burned out. Canadair fire-fighting aircraft were brought in at the height of the fires to try and bring them under control as the twenty fire appliances that attended the fires had difficulty accessing the various sites.  

29th July. Here's another of those minor differences between life here and elsewhere that I've been meaning to mention for some time. I've noticed that the deceased in French funerals are not transported, as you might have expected, in extended and enlarged limousines - but in windowed Ford Transit vans or Mercedes Vito vans. It's something that's always jarred with me - it seems a bit undignified to turn up in a vehicle that might otherwise have a ladder or two on its roof..   

Things are warming up here. The forecast for tomorrow is for temperatures in the region of 39° - 41°C (depending on who you listen to).

For those of you watching in black and white, that's somewhere between 102° - 106°F. This is pith helmet weather!

27th July. I took the pooch for a long walk around Bayonne this morning before it became too hot. I passed by an estate agent that specialised in property sold by the Viager method.

It sounds a little ghoulish to the Anglo-Saxon ear at first - but the essentials are as follows: a deal is struck between the owner of a property (usually an elderly widow or a widower) and the potential buyer whereby the buyer agrees to pay the owner a capital sum agreed by both parties (known as the bouquet) plus a monthly figure. When the owner dies, the house/apartment becomes the property of the buyer.

Looking in the shop window this morning, the adverts for property to be sold by Viager specified the owner (a woman or a man) and their age. (for example H 81 ans - or Homme (Man) 81 years old) Full explanation of how it works here. Viagers are usually available as Viagers Occupés or Viagers Libres. Here are some examples of adverts for Viagers Occupés. (

26th July. We went for a walk around Lac de Mouriscot this morning - situated in the outer suburbs of Biarritz - and even at the height of the season there weren't many others there. It was very pleasant indeed to do a circuit of the lake..

25th July. It's whispered here that the French government may shortly decide to close the border with Spain. From a purely selfish point of view, that would be a real disaster as my stocks of Highland Dew are non-existent. So, at 5pm, I made a dirty dart for the border (and the ventas) and just over an hour later I was back home with enough liquid gold to see me safely through to ........ (insert month of choice here). 

Just before I reached the village of Souraïde, the view across to the Pyrenees in the late afternoon sun was époustouflant (aka breathtaking) - as the blue hills and mountains stood out in sharp relief in the heat haze against the distant pale blue sky. I think it will be a long time before I tire of that view.     

24th July. Chuck Berry had the happy knack of being able to write classic R&B songs - they seemed to flow effortlessly from his pen - that matched perfectly the mood of the moment, his distinctive style of guitar playing and his showmanship! Here's one of his tracks that sums up his style - and it was borrowed to great effect by Uma Thurman and a stoned John Travolta in Quentin Tarantino's highly rated "Pulp Fiction" (1994) - the music starts at 1:27..

23rd July. This great Ray Charles song seemed to fit the bill this evening - it was one of my father's favourites. I wish he could have been here - I know that he would have enjoyed sitting out on our terrace cooling down with one of these rhum drinks mentioned below.

As it was another hot and humid evening, and I had a thirst that could be photographed, I decided to squeeze a few citrons verts (limes) into an old pewter pint tankard, to which I added a splash of cane syrup and a bigger splash of French white rhum from Martinique*, a good handful of ice cubes and finally topped up with some San Pellegrino.. Did it ever hit the spot..! 

*  Rhum Blanc de Martinique La Mauny 50° BV (made from sugar cane juice). For those in the UK, this is probably a good substitute rhum.

One of the benefits of having my own blog is that I get to choose the music! Here's a piece I've long enjoyed - Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez for guitar and orchestra. Enjoy the First Movement (Allegro con spirito) as it's played by Marcin Dylla with the Cracovia orchestra:  

It's followed by Narciso Yepes with the famous Second Movement (Adagio) before we return to Marcin Dylla and the Third Movement (Allegro gentile). Narciso Yepes is famous for this haunting melody beloved of fledgling guitarists the world over and often heard on the streets of our big cities. 

22nd July. An oppressively hot and sticky afternoon here with a temperature of 24° and humidity at 73% - although it feels much more humid than that with some rumblings of thunder and lightning up in the mountains this morning. Normally, we only open the bar at the weekend - but I feel the need for a cold attitude adjuster this evening - maybe a long G&T..

19th July. Here's a nice little video from an Aussie family visiting the area that shows, among other things, Bayonne's indoor market. Health warning: don't go in if you're feeling hungry!☺

17th July. We went up to Arcachon yesterday to meet up with our good friends N and A from Paris - and it soon became clear that many French people will be holidaying in France this year as we've never seen the town so busy. After finding our friends and after a quick sangria, we were able to find a restaurant with a table for four.. 

After lunch, we walked along the seafront that looked out over the bay of Arcachon - but the crowds of people (many from Bordeaux) made us realise how lucky we are to live here in less crowded surroundings. 

Sometimes, memory works in unaccountable ways. These lines popped up in my head earlier (prompted by I don't know what) since first reading them many decades ago:

And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,

   They danced by the light of the moon..

12th July. Here's an old Gilbert Bécaud song (from 1967 - the year that Madame and I met).. and the lyrics (Eng trans here) fit our story as though they were made to measure: 

A tip for anyone planning a visit to the Pyrénées-Atlantiques this summer - give the busy beaches a break for a couple of days and head inland to the Cirque de Gavarnie - a spectacular natural phenomenon (its scale is deceptive - just bear in mind that the waterfall is higher than the Eiffel Tower). It's only 130 miles or so from the Atlantic coast. Words aren't adequate to describe it - but suffice to say, if you're in this part of the world, it merits a place high up on your must-see list.  

    

Great bass drum crashes and rumblings in the heavens interleave with violent crackles as lightning flashes briefly illuminate the grey morning sky here in the Pays Basque. Not a day to be camping here - or to be walking up in the mountains! Here's a piece that fits what's happening outside:

 

    

(a comment below on a video of this piece on YouTube made me laugh - someone wrote: "I put this on every time my mother-in-law is visiting.") 

10th July. Here's Alessandro Carbonare showing astonishing breath control with the clarinet solo from Rachmaninof's 2nd Symphony:

       

9th July. Down here in south west France, duck sits front and centre in the region's cooking - and it makes its contribution in many forms. The "Moulard"* duck is pre-eminent and for those of you wishing to know a little more about this key ingredient - look no further. Quite apart from the meat of the duck, Madame always keeps a supply of duck fat in the fridge and it adds an unmistakeable and distinctive zing to many dishes. 

* Just realised that this is (perhaps) where the word mallard comes from!

In particular, one of the tastiest ways it can be used is, in my humble opinion, in making pommes de terre Sarladaise (English translation here) - thinly-sliced potatoes fried in duck fat until crisp, with the addition late on of garlic, parsley - and sprinkled with sea salt just prior to serving. It's a close run thing between this mouth-watering dish and steamed new potatoes from Noirmoutier with a knob of salted butter - but my money's on pommes de terre Sarladaise. It's too early to be talking about food!

               

The only comment I would make to the above would be to use sea salt instead of ordinary kitchen salt - and I would add some chopped garlic about 5 mins before the end. Drain on kitchen paper and serve with a green salad and a glass of Madiran..! 

7th July. While a glass of cold rosé at lunchtime is still a good choice in the heat of a summer's day, you need to exercise a little caution when buying these days because the alcoholic strength of wine in general is climbing steadily and stealthily upwards. Time was when few wines - be they red, white or rosé - came in at 14° alcohol by volume (ABV) or more. 14°+ was historically the province of the wines of Gigondas - a powerful southern Rhône red - but today more and more wines are being produced north of 13½°. Someone recently offered us a bottle of Gigondas at 15°.. we're in fortified wine country here.

Today, I was out looking for a dry rosé from Provence when I came across one at 14°. This is serious stuff and would see me in an enforced snore-a-thon before the coffee arrived! That single degree or so extra can make all the difference. I started taking my reading glasses when out shopping for wine a few months ago as I noticed the trend for wine strengths to be climbing up. I managed to find one at 12° today which will be a saner choice. If you can't find a rosé at 12°, the trick is to add a couple of ice cubes to your glass - this will keep it cooler longer and water it down to a lower alcohol level.   

I'm pretty sure that Vin de table (table wine) used to be sold at 9-10°. Once wine gets much above 14° - you really need to take things a lot slower when drinking it - otherwise you'll end up face down blowing bubbles in your main course - if you make it that far! Interestingly, in the US, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau and Code of Federal Regulations define table wine as grape wine having an alcoholic strength of maximum 14% ABV. Wines between 14% and 24% ABV are known as dessert wine. It implies that wines in the US in that latter category attract more tax. Can anyone confirm that?  

6th July. As first generation post-war baby boomers, we were lucky to have established ourselves here back in 2007. It had been clear to me for some time that the extreme south west of France would soon become a destination of choice (compared to the Côte d'Azur say) for newly-retired baby boomers from France (and elsewhere in Europe) seeking the sun and a more agreeable way of life than that offered further north. 

Sure enough, we've watched as old buildings have been demolished to be replaced by glitzy new apartment blocks and, further inland, housing estates have sprung up tagged on to Basque villages. However, the area is still largely served by the same old infrastructure to cope with the influx of incomers. To add to the disconnect, the Town Halls here have seen fit to embrace green policies - nothing wrong with that surely? - except that the net result is that the increased level of traffic on the coast has been squeezed by two developments into less and less road space than ever before. 

The first of these was the introduction of the all-electric Tram'bus. It was deemed necessary to create dedicated lanes for it so as to enable its proponents to claim with some legitimacy that it offered a speedy form of transportation. No prizes for guessing where the space for the Tram'bus lanes came from. They run at 10 minute intervals - so for 9 minutes and 50 secs its two lanes stand empty while shimmering queues of tailbacked cars wait alongside with their occupants fuming.  

The second development to make inroads into road space previously occupied by vehicles is the push to encourage cycling. Again, in itself a praiseworthy initiative - but its implementation leaves much to be desired. To that end, yellow painted cycle lanes have appeared on several busy roads - and notices have just appeared giving cyclists priority at roundabouts. I can't help feeling that there's a tragedy or two waiting here. 

The Netherlands has long had a multi-mode approach to urban transport - and there they chose to physically separate cars from bikes by giving cyclists their own dedicated lanes - not merely separated from traffic by yellow lines painted on the road.    

On returning from the beach yesterday, I came across a mass cycle event as several hundred cyclists, divided into four groups, started from the banks of the Adour in response to an appeal by the Bizi and Txirind'Ola associations. They rode in temporary cycle lanes, in particular that of the Boulevard du BAB, which links Bayonne, Anglet and Biarritz. The objective was to demonstrate the viability of these "coronapists", as their detractors call them, so that they become permanent.

It's well known that the Pays Basque is a humid area (code for rain!) - so will these same cyclists be out cycling to work in the rain? I very much doubt it. 

The fundamental problem is that the patterns of urban and suburban development we see today were laid down over the last 100 years based on the availability and freedom of individuals to own their own mode of transport - in most cases, that means a car. If it's decided that cars are no longer flavour of the month, we need to take a long look at how we should be thinking of living in the future. Slapping taxes on cars and/or fuel or constraining the roadspace they have is no substitute for a coherent long term strategy. What am I saying?!  

5th July. It was obvious down at the beach this morning with Nutty (our cocker spaniel) that the annual migration of tourists has started. We live in a region that has largely escaped the Covid19 virus - whereas those arriving from the Paris region have been less fortunate. We're going to try and minimise our exposure to crowds over the summer season as much as we can. Did I hear someone say 'good luck with that..'!

Perhaps in anticipation of the arrival of those from outside the region, I spotted a group of some 12-15 people practising Kendo on the grassy field behind the Plage des Cavaliers beach at Anglet. Kendo is one of those peculiarly Japanese martial arts that I have no wish to encounter from the point of view of someone at the receiving end (here's why!).