212. It's that time of the year again!

Thursday, 30th January. Woke up to a white world this morning - everything was covered with a carpet of hail.. (makes a change from the rain we've been having!)

To remind us all of the blue skies and warmer days that lie ahead, here's a video of the Pays Basque as seen from Bayonne. All these places are within 40 minutes of Pipérade Towers..

 

Now, tomorrow sees the start of the 2014 RBS 6 Nations rugby tournament.. for me, the world's greatest sporting competition.. This year the opening day sees fixtures between Wales (last year's winners) and Italy - a match that the Welsh should win reasonably comfortably. This is followed by the mouthwatering clash between France and England (or "Le Crunch" as it's known here) at the Stade de France. I was looking at the England selection earlier and the English pack looks pretty solid. Stuart Lancaster has some new caps in the backs - let's hope they're not overawed by the occasion. For France, Thierry Dusautoir (aka "The Dark Destroyer") is unfortunately out injured and will miss the entire campaign. This fixture has some ugly history - let's hope that we're just talking about the rugby on Sunday. Raphaël Ibanez (former French hooker) always talks sense so here are his views on the match.

Joe Marler (loose-head prop) is playing for England tomorrow and he's known as an "abrasive" character. Here he is stopping George North, the outsize Welsh winger (1.94m and 109kg) dead in his tracks in full flight - it's not often you'll see this..

Here are the BBC pundits predictions for the outcome of the 2014 6 Nations. Me? I'm going with Keith Wood's prediction and so that means either Ireland or England  to win.
  

The clip below is a view of how les Anglo-Saxons are seen from a French perspective. I very much regret that Stephen Clarke makes an appearance in this video. He's a British writer who's happy to live in France as it provides him with a convenient platform from which he can retail - via his various blogs and books - his consistently poisonous views on everything French. I am ashamed to say that his special brand of tripe finds a ready market with some sections of the British public.

Leaving him aside, many great former players pop up here: the late Jacques Fouroux, Roger Uttley, Philippe Saint-André (now coach of les Bleus), Andy Ripley, Philippe Sella, Paul Ackford, Raphaël Ibanez and others. There's also mention of that infamous France-England match in 1991 RWC in Paris and the 5 Nations match the following year! I think those days are behind us now.. the professional era means that players (and coaches) are free to ply their trades wherever they like and so this contributes to the breaking down of barriers/prejudices/stereotypes.

Here's some of the action from the England France fixture from recent years:

Finally, here are some good quotes on rugby..!

Saturday 1st February. I was thinking about rowing this morning but opening the shutters a few minutes ago revealed a very wet world out there.. I was down at the river yesterday and it was full of detritus from upstream - tree trunks bobbing along at speed, branches and all sorts of junk as the recent storms in the mountains swept on down. Even if it had been dry this morning, I'm not sure the powers-that-be at the club would have sanctioned any activity out on the water - in any contact between a thin-skinned shell boat and a tree trunk, there's only ever going to be one winner. I've been in several boats here that have had their rudders swiped off as a major log has rumbled underneath.. plus 2 years ago the coxless four I was in rolled over after a high speed collision with a semi submerged tree.. That was in January too! I don't need to relive that experience!    

Here's an excellent argument for unmanned lighthouses - this is a lighthouse in the region of Finisterre (Brittany) taking a pounding in heavy seas in the last day or so:

Sunday 2nd February. Just so that you don't think we've escaped the bad weather that's been afflicting most of western Europe of late, this was the scene in the centre of Bayonne at 5am yesterday morning.. as the Nive started rising to dangerously high levels..

Monday, 3rd February. We were up near Arcachon yesterday so we missed the Ireland - Scotland encounter in the RBS Nations.. but my second favourite team beat Scotland 28-6.. (must find a video of that match)

Here it is:

With doing all the driving I was able to think over the result of the "crunch" game on Saturday between France and England. We watched it with some French friends in Biarritz so I'd like to watch it again with the English commentary.. France took their opportunities well but they allowed England back into the game. In the end, France emerged with a 26-24 victory. Lots of "what ifs", "could haves" and "should haves" but they're all in the nature of the game.  I think Stuart Lancaster (England coach) will be unhappy with the result but not unhappy with the character and resolve shown by his team in coming back from 16-3 down - in Paris. Were les Bleus convincing winners? I'll leave that for you to decide. I'm sure they'll take the win and move on - just as England would have. A hard first match for both sides.

Anyway, here's the match in its entirety:

Wednesday 5th February. A Spanish cargo ship - the Luno (3500tons) - was wrecked just after 10am as it exited the port of Bayonne on the river Adour to make its way out to the open sea. More here.

It suffered total electrical failure and it was driven onto the breakwater (just by my dog-walking beach) where the heavy seas broke it in two while this video was being filmed:

Fortunately it was empty but there is a risk of oil pollution from engine oil. All 12 crew members were winched to safety.   

Friday, 7th February. Took the dog down to the beach early yesterday morning to give him a run and also to have a look at this half a ship that someone has inconsiderately parked on the beach.. I normally have the beach to myself at this time of day but "sapristi knockoes!" - there were already a few hundred other people there with the same idea. The sea was raging - there's no other word for it - towering waves with the strong wind whipping the tops away in curling clouds of spray and dazzling white foam everywhere.

Walking purposefully through the throng were several amateur photographers equipped with expensive-looking cameras - most of which sported foot-long lenses. You can get the general idea of what happened to the ship in less than a second by looking at the above photos. I just wonder what these camera enthusiasts will do with the pictures once they've been taken. As far as I can see, whichever way you look at it, it's still just half a ship stuck on a beach.. If you don't believe me, look here!  

In the afternoon we drove down to the plage d'Ilbarritz (at Bidart, just south of Biarritz) as it was 22°.. I've mentioned this area before.. Overlooking the beach and dominating the local landscape is the Chateau d'Ilbarritz.. It has a story that a Hollywood scriptwriter couldn't equal.. Eccentric millionaire playing Wagner on a cathedral-sized organ at night with the windows wide open.. Details here.

Reminds me of an old joke:
My neighbours are always banging on the wall, even late at night. Inconsiderate b*****s!

Doesn't stop me sleeping though, as I usually stay up late anyway, practising on my bagpipes.

Château d'Ilbarritz

Here's a freebie for you.. Ever fancied learning/massacring/improving a foreign language? This site looks interesting.. There's a review of it here. I've just signed up with the intention of brushing up my French. The free site also caters for beginners - so what are you waiting for?

211. Looking forward to 2014

3rd January 2014. I hope you all had a great Christmas and I'd like to wish you health and happiness in 2014.

Here's something not to be tried after eating a Christmas pudding..! Yes, it's Course Landaise - an ancient form of bullfighting that doesn't involve any bloodshed (no bandilleros or swords). The president of the association I belong to is heavily involved in this sport and has threatened to take me along to one of his events this year. Apparently the dinners afterwards are something special..☺

Previously, we've seen a few Courses de Vachettes.. which is something of a misnomer as these cows bear zero resemblance to anything you might have seen on a farm, placidly chewing the cud..   

No, these "vachettes" come from the same stock as Spanish fighting bulls and are lightning quick on their feet and will charge anything at the drop of a hat. They weigh between 250-300kg (about half that of a fighting bull) and they don't produce milk. 

When all goes well:

And then there are days like this!

This is what I like to see..!☺ No sympathies at all for the ones in white.

====================================================================

I think I've mentioned the pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela here before but perhaps only in passing. The full story is here.

For anyone contemplating walking the "El Camino" to Santiago de Compostela, it strikes me that these lines from The Golden Journey To Samarkand are very appropriate:

We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go

Always a little further: it may be

Beyond the last blue mountain barred with snow,

Across that angry or that glimmering sea..

A curious ritual takes places within the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela - the swinging of a large container - or Botafumeiro - of incense.. (go to 0:25 to see the start)   

From Wiki:

A dome above the crossing contains the pulley mechanism to swing the "Botafumeiro", which is a famous thurible found in this church. This thurible was created by the goldsmith José Losada in 1851. The Santiago de Compostela Botafumeiro is the largest censer in the world, weighing 80 kg and measuring 1.60 m in height. It is normally on exhibition in the library of the cathedral, but during certain important religious high days it is attached to the pulley mechanism, filled with 40 kg of charcoal and incense. In the Jubilee Years, whenever St James's Day falls on a Sunday, the Botafumeiro is also attached in all the Pilgrims' Masses. Eight red-robed tiraboleiros pull the ropes and bring it into a swinging motion almost to the roof of the transept, reaching speeds of 80 km/h and dispensing thick clouds of incense. One explanation of this custom, which originated more than 700 years ago—although incense has been used in Catholic ritual from the earliest times—is that it assisted in masking the stench emanating from hundreds of unwashed pilgrims.

________________________________________________________________ 

If you've been fortunate enough to have visited the Pays Basque (and if not - why not!), you will surely remember that tuna is a popular dish here. If you've ever wondered how they are caught, wonder no more!

This is fishing as you've never seen it before!

Sunday, 5th January. I came across these lines of W.H. Auden (from "Good-Bye to the Mezzogiorno") this morning..

Out of a gothic North, the pallid children of a potato, beer-or-whisky Guilt culture..

Think there's something in this.. certainly as far as the pleasures of the table are concerned.

Monday 6th January. Sometimes it appears that people can't be saved from themselves. This clip shows the mindlessness of a young man in the face of major waves on Saturday 4th..

This was the scene a day later after two people were swept away by an unusually large wave near the lighthouse at Biarritz. They'd disregarded barriers and warning notices and were watching the spectacular seascape from a closed off vantage point when a rogue wave came along.. I believe the man managed to escape after 20 minutes in the water but his female companion was not so lucky - her body was found a few days later.

I forgot to mention that I went down to the river on Saturday morning for the first outing of the New Year. We took an VIII out that was missing (for reasons unknown) stroke's riggers.. so we went out as a VII.. As the boat was rigged for sculling (ie, with 2 sculls each) it was no problem. However, once out on the water we faced the strongest current I can remember and a significant headwind. The upshot of all this was that we progressed upstream at little more than walking pace. Instead of the usual chatter in the boat (which was streng verboten when I was at school!) we all fell strangely silent as we bent to our task (made all the more difficult by the thousands of extra calories that had been freely ingested during the preceding 2 weeks!) What's that expression? No pain, no gain..? It was never truer than on this morning in early January.

Friday 10th January. The giant wave at Belharra has been active these last few days..

In the following clip, watch the sequence from 02:45...!

One wave around midday had the power to break 6 (yes, six!) surfboards.. (Dirty Harry's famous quote springs to mind here: "You've got to ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?")

Freddy Verdoux (right)

We went to Biarritz yesterday for a retail experience (please - not therapy, never!) and as lunchtime approached, I remembered a new bistrot I'd spotted the other day conveniently located in the Avenue de Verdun (2 mins from the Place Clémenceau in the centre of town). It's Aux 3 B (the former bistrot Ahizpak) and it's run by the genial Freddy Verdoux. It appears that it has only been open for a few days - these small places come and go - but we tried their 15€ lunchtime menu. A garlicky salade aux pleurotes with some parmesan shavings, then a faux filet and frites maison - this really hit the spot! - and then a crumble (v fashionable!).. As they say here - an excellent rapport qualité prix. Despite it only having been open for a few days, it was well patronised by locals and it filled up rapidly. A useful and friendly address to remember.  

210. Countdown to Christmas..

11th December 2013. On the northern side of the Adour there's an unfortunately-named shop that I spotted a few weeks ago.. Wouldn't you think that, given that we're in the era of "Frankenstein foods" as the UK tabloids insist on calling GM food products, someone somewhere might have roused himself from his post-lunch torpor with a start - and suddenly realised that, "Hey, perhaps Le Mutant isn't the greatest name we could have picked for our supermarket..."

Classic moment of marital bliss this morning.. I can laugh about it now.. (almost) We were walking around Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Madame drew my attention to a shop that had been one of her favourites - but which is now empty.. As I looked to my right, I felt an indescribably sharp pain across the front of my legs and I went down as if pole-axed, heading straight for the pavement - as though someone had cracked me across the knees and shins with a solid steel baseball bat. Some bright spark in the council had had the brilliant idea of positioning a great knee-high stone block squarely across the pavement to deny cars access to the pedestrian-only area. This block of pavement-coloured stone – the original immoveable object - was about 6 feet long and almost 2ft by 2ft..

After I’d gone a**e over breakfast, Madame uttered those immortal words – words to which no answer is possible.. (while I still felt as though I’d been knee-capped).. she said, “Didn’t you see it?”  

(“Aaaarrgghh!”)

In the interests of domestic harmony I thought it best to say nothing.. (but my knuckles got a good clenching!☺)

17th December 2013. A quick raid across the border to Irun this morning for some retail therapy.. A loudspeakers outside one shop there was pumping out "Jingle bells" in Spanish.. which had me doing a double take..

I'm in two minds whether or not to mention what follows but - what the heck! Coming back from Spain we did a dogleg to Ascain intending to drop in at the racily-named Hotel du Parc Trinquet Larralde for a dose of their fixed price lunch (highly recommended by the way) - but we'd forgotten that many restaurants are closed on Tuesdays, including this one.

Xoko Ona

Undaunted, we looked around the village until we came across Xoko Ona, a small bar/restaurant in the Rue Zerbitzari-Ren Karrika (must remember this for the next time we play Scrabble!). We just made it there before the boom came down.. home made vegetable soup complete with chunks of duck in it, then chicken cordon bleu (ie, stuffed with ham and cheese) served with (shock horror!) chips (frites) fried in duck fat... eased down with a half litre carafe of an excellent red, then a slice of apple tart and coffee.. 24€ for two! Try it - that's all I'm saying! A very friendly place.. 

21st December. Very crisp morning (code for freezing!) down at the riverside this morning - at most 1 or 2°C - with a layer of what looked like steam rising off the water.. There were enough of us to put out 2 VIIIs - and so we set off. I was in an VIII set up for ramer-en-pointe while the other boat was set up for ramer-en-couple. (explanation here) The other major difference was that my boat was largely mecs and the other boat was, with one exception, all nanas! You can guess the rest can't you..! Sure enough, it wasn't long before we were racing side-by-side (briefly!) with the inevitable result.. Still, it kept us warm and it enabled the customary banter to be exchanged between the boats!☺

Madame has worked her customary magic with the house - it really looks like Christmas.. and an intriguing collection of beautifully wrapped presents has materialised beneath the twinkling tree - the end result of many mysterious solo trips into town - there's even one for the dog! I've been warned not to go "'investigating" - as if!☺

Best wishes to you all for a Happy Christmas with friends and family!

This story made me laugh! It was the night of the golf club Christmas dinner and one of the older members (he was 70) turned up with a mid-twenties blonde who was definitely bimbo material.

His playing partner took him to one side during the evening and said, "Bill, you old devil..! How did you ever manage to get her! Did you tell her that you were 50..?"

Bill raised one eyebrow and replied with a cunning smile, "No - I told her I was 90!" ☺ 

Monday 23rd. This was the scene off the coast just to the south of Saint-Jean-de-Luz yesterday when the conditions were just right (don't ask me what they are!) for the wave known as "Belharra" to form.. 

It doesn't matter how many times I see this wave, I still take my hat off to anyone who dares to surf it.. 

Saturday, 28th December. Sad news today.. First of all, no rowing for me because it's a wild, wet and windy start to the day down here. Surprising - because it was a very welcome 20°C yesterday! The other piece of sad news is the report in this morning's Independent of the imminent demise of the much-loved VW Campervan.. 

After a lifetime spanning over half a century, Volkswagen plans to stop the production of perhaps its best-loved vehicle, the Campervan. 

The end of the line comes after Brazil, the last remaining producer of the iconic campervan, introduced tougher safety regulations on production. Talking to Autocar, the head of product development for VW in Brazil said that to comply with the new legislation, the van would have to become “a new car”. With deviation from the classic design not being a viable option, the Brazilian factory will cease its campervan operations on the 31 December this year.

Introduced in 1950, the Volkswagen Type 2 has enjoyed pretty much continuous production, and has endeared itself to owners across the generations. Jason Jones, a campervan dealer, said that the car “has been ingrained into British people’s hearts” and that the end of the year will mark “the end of an iconic era”. 

I've wanted one of these ever since I saw my first one (in the 60s I think) but somehow I never got around to buying one.

If you're a rugby fan and you're trapped indoors by bad weather, visiting relatives, domestic duties - or all three! - then find yourself a quiet corner and watch this next video (it lasts about 1¼ hr).. It's a very personal insiders view of tackling and "big hits" by my favourite practitioner of the art - former England flanker Mickey "The Munch" Skinner - and it's just about the most enjoyable rugby video I've seen. Why we don't see and hear more of the very entertaining "The Munch" I'll never know. One of the game's true characters.

Mickey Skinner and Eric Champ embark on

a Hegelian dialectic during the 1991 World Cup

quarter final in Paris with Skinner proposing thesis,

Champ stating antithesis, the pair hoping the 

tension will be resolved by means of a synthesis

(according to the Guardian!☺)

The video starts with what is perhaps the greatest try-saving and game-changing hit of all time.. It happened during the infamous France-Angleterre clash that took place in Paris during the quarter finals of the 1991 Rugby World Cup. This was an ill-tempered affair that was, as far as both teams were concerned, a "must win" match. The traditional pre-match rendition of the "Marseillaise" seemed to unnerve many of the French, especially as President Mitterand was in the stands. Emotions were already running high and the clattering of Serge Blanco by the English pack served only to add fuel to the flames. Brian Moore in particular had a magnificent match and he caused havoc in the front row battle. Never one to back down, here's "The Munch" going eyeball-to-eyeball with Eric Champ (right) in that same match in his typically uncompromising fashion..

In a match-defining moment, Marc Cecillon (no slouch he) came bursting around the base of the scrum 5 metres out from the English line only to meet "The Munch" - who stopped him dead in his tracks with a colossal hit.. before driving him back 5 metres.. Mickey talks us through the match and that tackle at 20:40 for which he will be long remembered by English fans. Watch and enjoy..