221. Le massif de l'Esterel

11th July 2015. Here's a short guide to the beaches between St-Jean-de-Luz and Hendaye on the Côte Basque:

9th July 2015. The annual madness that is the Feast of San Fermin is well underway just across the border in Pamplona. In the third video you can see that slippery stone sets combine dangerously with a solitary bull.. Feel like proving your manhood? (or perhaps losing it!☺) Step right this way..!

I don't pretend to like bullfighting - far from it - but, like it or not, it must be admitted that, in an increasingly homogenised world, the whole spectacle of the Feast of San Fermin at Pamplona is one of the last authentic remaining folk festivals in Europe. It combines the fascination of Mediterranean man with the bull, religious mysticism, alcohol, bravado and death. That's an unusual combination by anyone's standards. San Fermin gained much renown and notoriety via its promotion by Hemingway with the publishing of his book "The Sun Also Rises". Hemingway - a man who could have kept a psychiatrists convention entertained for several months - found that the excesses of San Fermin provided the perfect antidote for his particular personality. I'll leave it there!

I was in Biriatou on Tuesday - a village that's said of it that anyone finding themselves there is either a local who lives there or lost. One of the most charming villages I've found in the Pays Basque, it's on a bluff overlooking the river Bidassoa that separates France from Spain. There's an auberge that I stopped at for a coffee - the Auberge Hiribarren.. Unchanged for decades inside, with a dining room that overlooks a stunning view across the Bidassoa into Spain and with a "spoilt for choice" menu, it looks like a prime candidate for a visit! (Edited to add: Sadly the Auberge Hiribarren closed in 2019) Edited to add: it's re-opened under new ownership - and the first reports are very favourable.   

26th June 2015. This is a lady whose voice has the power to hypnotise.. She's also extremely funny..

22nd June 2015. Even if you've never sat in a rowing boat, I'm sure you'll enjoy this next video. It's the explosive final of the mens' VIIIs from Varese in Italy yesterday. For years, Germany has been the reference - the VIII to beat - and yesterday they were beaten:

      

After a race like this, none of the oarsmen would have anything left in the tank.. and there's only one thing that makes the total exhaustion worthwhile - and that's winning.    

20th June 2015. I was saddened to hear on the lunchtime news today of the death of that great American writer James Salter. I discovered his work only a few years ago and I wish I'd found it sooner. I greatly envied his ability in his first book ("The Hunters") to nail all the disparate elements that combine to form military aviation. If you're unfamiliar with his work, I would suggest that "The Hunters" would make a good starting point. His later books repay slow reading as they're densely written. At the moment I'm re-reading "Burning the Days" and taking my time.. line by line.. I found I missed the richness of his prose the first time around by my usual speed-reading and I had to learn to pace myself. He had the knack of being able to paint pictures with the minimum of words, his imagery was memorable and, perhaps most importantly, he had the uncanny ability to articulate our unexpressed thoughts - well, mine anyway. No-one else wrote quite like him.    

"Once in a great while, a talented writer survives combat to produce a work of literature. Rarest of all is a literary novel written by a blooded fighter pilot. In the English language, perhaps two works truly qualify. One is Winged Victory by Victor Yeates, who flew Sopwith Camels and brought down five Germans in the First World War. The other is The Hunters by James Salter. Salter tells the story of Captain Cleve Connell who arrives in Korea with a single goal: to become an ace, one of that elite fraternity of jet pilots who have downed five MIGs. But as his fellow airmen rack up kill after kill—sometimes under dubious circumstances — Cleve’s luck runs bad. Other pilots question his guts. Cleve comes to question himself. And then in one icy instant 40,000 feet above the Yalu River, his luck changes forever. Filled with courage and despair, eerie beauty and corrosive rivalry, James Salter’s luminous first novel is a landmark masterpiece in the literature of war."

If military aviation isn't for you, try "Burning the Days".. He wrote beautifully about France as the NY Times explains: "And for the evocations of places, and especially of France, "the incomparable taste of France, given then so I would always remember it. I know that taste, the yellow headlights flowing along the road at night, the towns by a river, the misty mornings." And Paris: "Early morning. Its cool breath astonishingly fresh. Its elegance and ancient streets, its always staggering price. The sound of early traffic. The sky blemishless and wide." This the expatriate's France: Salter knows that the secret is never to pretend you belong there."

Here he is interviewed in the Guardian.. and some of his quotes.

Salter's books are not to be read in a railway station, in a departure lounge or on a beach. Their time comes when everyone has gone to bed, the house has become quiet, the last embers of the fire crumble in a shower of sparks. Take a sip of that whisky and read. Read slowly.  

10th June 2015. Busy catching up with life after a week away in the Massif de l'Esterel. This is another of those blessed and much-visited corners of France and it's situated between the Mediterranean and Provence. We stayed at a hilltop hotel (with views to die for) near Les-Adrets-de-l'Esterel to the north of Saint Raphaël. I'll get around to posting a few photographs one day.. Meanwhile, have a look here.

144. Add James Salter to your Must Read list

16th May 2011. I've been reading James Salter lately, an American author whose prose is capable of stopping you dead in your tracks. He's a former F-86 Sabre pilot who flew combat in the Korean War and this was the subject of his first book - "The Hunters". The book I've currently got on the go is his autobiographical "Burning the Days". I read it far too quickly the first time around but I'm taking my time with it now. I was pulled up short by one sentence in particular - he was describing a friend who'd died during WWII and he wrote, "His death was one of many and sped away quickly, like an oar swirl."  The image of that oar swirl receding in the wake of life was one that struck me forcibly. I found it such a powerful simile* and I struggle to imagine how he came up with it. His books repay slow careful reading - I can't read them in my usual headlong rush. Here's an interview with the great man (from 1992). His books are well worth searching out.

* just realised it's not a metaphor.

Here's something you don't see every day.. It was the 100th anniversary last year of the birth of Django Reinhardt, the legendary gypsy guitarist. If three guitars are good - then surely a hundred would be fantastic.. non? Just as well Django didn't play the banjo then! Make your own mind up - listen here if the YouTube clip below doesn't work.

17th May 2011. Another perfect evening out on the river. This time it was an outing in an VIII sculler. Good outing in a well-balanced boat. Going up-river we had a warm breeze behind us that matched our speed so with the temperature at 26° (79°F), it was warm work. Coming back, it turned into a welcome headwind but despite that we romped home at a fine pace. Did 12km (Running total: 686km) Think I'll be just shy of the 1,000km mark (which is 621 miles - it sounds better in kilometres!) for the year which ends on 5th August.

18th May 2011. Quick trip over the border this morning to stock up the cellar with sangria et al ready for the summer. I passed through Ainhoa and already the first tourists to this honeypot Basque village were in evidence.

I haven't provided an update to the Chibby situation. If you've just joined us, Chibby is our cocker spaniel. Some friends here have a cocker spaniel bitch that's en chaleur at the moment and for the past 3 days Chibby has been extremely active in attempting to extend his lineage. So far he's had at least 50 attempts by my reckoning..! What do they say about a picture being worth a thousand words..?

20th May 2011. Pleased to see P & M yesterday - some friends who came down from Lacanau for the day. Madame excelled herself for lunch and so it was afterwards that we thought we'd add to the number of confused pensioners ambling around Biarritz in the late afternoon. We finished up at the Bleu Café, which is ideally situated on the sea front overlooking the Grande Plage. It must have been 28° at least and it was very pleasant watching and listening to the crash of the surf close by - think it was high tide. Here's a web cam view of the Grande Plage that may or may not work. 

Well spotted.. no rowing for me yesterday! Oh yes - and Chibby had a day off too!

Now that the warmer weather's here, the lizards are back! Walking around the neighbourhood you'll often hear the scurry and the rustle of quick little feet as you pass a sunlit garden wall. Lizards lie on warm stones soaking up the warmth of the morning sunshine and they disappear as quick as a flash when they sense someone approaching.

I was in the garden a few minutes ago when I heard a deep rumbling sound in the sky to the south. Not the usual Ryanair 737 or an Air France twin jet taking off from Biarritz airport.. No, this was an Airbus A380 - the new behemoth of the skies. I spotted it in the distance heading out to sea - and with the illusion of moving incredibly slowly. 

Very impressive.. first time I've seen one of these puppies.. I have to say that Boeing's mighty 747 is the runaway winner as far as looks are concerned. But looks aren't everything - especially if you're running an international airline and you're looking to squeeze those last fractions of a per cent out into the 'profit' column.

Update on Chibby - Day 4. I think we have a result! In contrast to his previous 60 or so attempts over the last 4 days, this happened this afternoon. I'd not seen this before ever and the two dogs just stood there looking a bit bemused during what apparently is called a 'tie'. If all goes well, the litter should appear towards the end of July. Then the fun will really start!