IT is now compulsory for children under-12 when cycling with an adult to wear a helmet, including when a child is sat on a seat on the back of a bicycle.
Adults face a fine of €90 otherwise, and helmets with the CE quality mark are required bearing the NF EN 1078 numbering.
More on the Sécurité Routière website.
IT seems likely that some ares of south west France will face water restrictions in the summer months after the failure of the winter rains to refill water courses.
Sud Ouest reports that regions such as Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime have seen half as much rainfall as normal, with the Dordogne down by 36 percent.
The deepest water resources in the area seem to be OK at the moment, these are often used for drinking water, and whilst some water levels are three quarters below normal water authority bosses don’t believe the situation to eb ‘catastrophic’.
Locally here in the south of the Dordogne the small agricultural irrigation lake in Loubejac, les Griffouillères (above), is still quite low and it doesn’t look as though it will fill completely this year.
DURING the quieter winter months Bergerac Airport has been building a covered car parking area, and on top of it has been placed a large number of solar panels.
The promotions team at Bergerac Airport has taken a photograph of the panels across the parking bays and there is likely to be an official announcement in the coming weeks before the summer holiday season takes off.
STRONG winds battered the Dordogne throughout Sunday and Monday causing extensive damage to buildings, power cuts as well as sparking a fire in local woodland.
Winds of up to 90km/h blew across the département, with an electricity cable torn from a pylon close to Mazeyrolles causing 15 hectares of woodland to catch fire.
Around 70 pompiers were called to the scene to ensure the fire did not spread as it was whipped up by the strong winds and after a dry winter much of the woodland in the area could easily catch light.
Elsewhere many people reported missing roof tiles and fallen trees, while an old tobacco séchoir in Loubejac was severely damaged as the side walls gave way due to the strength of the wind.
FRENCH public holidays for 2017 are set to favour the workers over the bosses as many days off take place either before or after the weekend this year.
One advantage of the long weekends is that they should help boost tourism numbers especially if the weather plays nice and the sun shines.
It is also important to remember that businesses and many public offices will be closed on these days, so it will be important to plan ahead.
The public holidays in France are:
New Year on Sunday January 1
Easter Monday on April 17
Fête du Travail on Monday May 1
1945 Armistice on Monday May 8
Ascension on Thursday May 25
Pentecôte Monday on June 5
Fête Nationale (Bastille Day) on Friday July 14
Assomption on Tuesday August 15
Toussaint on Wednesday November 1
1918 Armistice on Saturday November 11
Christmas Day on Monday December 25.
THE fight is on to save the La Poste office in Villefranche-du-Périgord after notice was given that its opening hours will be reduced.
Bosses at La Poste have said that the office will close on Monday afternoon, it was already closed in the morning, but local mayors and villagers are opposed to the closure notice.
La Poste say the number of customers has declined, forcing the reduction in hours, but it is feared that like other villages in the Dordogne, the decision will see a slow strangulation of the service until it is ultimately closed.
Villefranche-du-Périgord mayor, Claude Brondel, said that local funds are given to La Poste to provide services and that they are obliged to provide postal deliveries six days our of seven.
He said that La Poste also has to ensure banking options are available to local inhabitants and warned that if La Poste decide to close the office it will be increasingly difficult to attract people to live and work in the area.
Already the gendarmerie service has been scaled back, while a primary school in nearby Saint-Cernin-de-l’Herm closed its doors for the last time in the summer.
Claude Brondel warned that as public services disappear all that will be left behind is a deserted region.
The reduced opening hours for the La Poste office are set to begin early next year, but a petition was launched to show the volume of support to ensure a full service is available in the area.
A PICK of places to visit and things to do close to Villefranche-du-Périgord in the southern Dordogne, with a few further afield that you might enjoy as well.
This first selection is for things you can do within around 30 minutes of Villefranche-du-Périgord.
A guide to Église Saint-Martin in Besse
There have been human settlements in Besse dating back possibly as far as the Prehistoric age, and with iron ore in the ground and wood for charcoal from the nearby forests it later became important for the Celts.
A magical walk with the trois évêques, near Lavaur, Dordogne
You are sure to see the steep rock face from the road as you navigate the tight bend, but not many people stop and take a stroll to the Fontaine des trois évêques.
A walk around Prats du Perigord
Stroll around the small Dordogne village of Prats-du-Périgord*, but keep an eye out for the speedy Nordic Walkers as they stride past.
Woolen mill Filature de Belvès
The spinning mill sits beneath the hill on top of which sits the Dordogne town of Belvès, and it produced yarns up until the 1990s.
Pottering around Virebent pottery, Puy l’Eveque
Down through the riverside village of Puy l’Eveque, across the bridge over the Lot, past the fish and chip restaurant and at the small roundabout you’ll see a sign for Virebent pottery.
Abbaye Nouvelle, a place of hidden stories
As you walk around the Abbaye Nouvelle, found between Gourdon and Salviac in the Lot, you begin to wonder what life the monks must have experienced in this corner of south west France.
These are places to visit that are at the most an hour away from this southern tip of the Dordogne.
Canoeing on the river Dordogne
Glide through the water in your canoe as you pass the turrets and towers of Castlenaud on the river Dordogne.
Visit to the Museum of Resistance, in Cahors
Across six rooms you learn how the Resistance in the Lot département took shape to attack armoured columns, bomb railway lines and support Allied troops and operations in the region.
The Tuilières hydroelectric dam and fish lift
The dam and adjoining fish ladder, or more accurately fish lift, are found on the D660 between Lalinde and Bergerac.
A ROUND table meeting was held in the National Assembly in Paris on Thursday to discuss the impact of Brexit on British people living in France.
I watched the full two hour discussion and I think it was the first time that any French MPs really got a first-hand account of what the UK’s decision means for those with homes, family and connections here in France.
The chair of the meeting was Claude Bartolone, president of the Assemblée Nationale, and he highlighted that with as many British people in France as there are inhabitants of Bordeaux there are likely to be many questions as well.
But he said after the meeting that the last thing he wanted was for “our British friends in France” to feel unwanted.
Here are some write-ups of the morning’s meeting:
Brexit may not have happened yet, but the impact of the EU referendum on Brexpats in France has hardly been positive.
via www.thelocal.fr
A specialist in EU law Myriam Benlolo-Carabot told the round-table meeting that was chaired by Claude Bartolone, the president of the National Assembly, that unless reciprocal agreements are made the impact on the rights of Britons would be “cataclysmic”.
via www.thelocal.fr
BREXIT would be ‘cataclysmic’ for Britons’ rights in France unless it is agreed otherwise in the negotiations after article 50 is invoked, an EU law professor said at the National Assembly today.
A meeting of the French National Assembly this week, chaired by the Speaker (président) of the House, Claude Bartolone, heard at first hand the anxiety now felt by British families who have chosen to make their homes in France.
via www.ecreu.com/
One thing that was raised at the meeting was that some British people had faced difficulties with social security, and other administrative, applications with French civil servants saying that British people could no longer be helped.
This is not true and whilst the long drawn out procedure of the UK leaving the EU is running its course, the right for British people in France under EU legislation remain in place.
Should you need to print off an official statement one is available here:
Lors du référendum du 23 juin 2016, le Royaume-Uni a voté pour sa sortie de l’Union européenne.
Pour l’heure et pendant une période transitoire au cours de laquelle les modalités de la sortie seront négociées, les règlements européens de coordination en matière de sécurité sociale continuent de s’appliquer entre le Royaume-Uni et la France ainsi que plus généralement avec les autres États de l’UE/EEE et la Suisse. Cette période est d’une durée maximum de 2 ans à compter de la notification officielle au Conseil par le Royaume-Uni de sa volonté de sortie (Cf. Déclaration faite lors du Conseil européen du 29/06/20016).
via www.cleiss.fr
DRIVERS are being warned to take care on the roads during autumn, after a series of accidents in recent days in the Dordogne.
Sud Ouest reports on a number of accidents where vehicles have slid off the road due to surface water.
There is also the risk of petrol and diesel being on the road, especially after short downpours that bring it to the road surface and which is very difficult to see.
The Dordogne préfecture has posted a notice to its Facebook page about being aware in the autumn offering up advice about fog, the risks of wild animals on the roads and ensuring your car is prepared and safe to drive.
ON Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 October, Villefranche-du-Périgord will be hosting its popular festivities marking the chestnut, and if available the cèpe mushroom.
The 28th Fête de la Châtaigne et du Cèpe sees the village play host to giant cèpe omelettes, the brother and sister hood of the châtaigne and even a chestnut spitting competition.
Saturday will also have a busy market day where you can try many artisan products based around chestnuts and other delicacies, and local restaurants will offer up special menus and you can walk off the excess with forest walks.
Detailed information will be available from the Maison de la Châtaigne, on Rue Notre Dame.
Une fête traditionnelle pour celebrer, le Châtaignier, la Chataigne et le Cèpe
Les 2 jours : Vente de châtaignes grillées et de jus de pommes frais, marché fermier, produits régionaux. Marché aux cèpes en après-midi (Si pousse en cette période)
Samedi : 9h/10h : Marché et concours primé aux châtaignes, exposition variétale.
12h30 : Repas de la Châtaigne
14h: Randonnée de la Châtaigne
16h30 : Concours de ramassage de châtaignes à l’ancienne
20h: Repas de la Châtaigne. Sur réservation au 05 53 29 98 37 ou 05 53 31 71 00
22h: Bal de la Châtaigne
Dimanche Animation folklorique
09h: Cyclo de la châtaigne
09h30 : Messe (bénédiction des Confréries)
11h30 : Intronisations par la Confrérie de la Châtaigne de Villefranche du Périgord
12h: au Foyer rural : Dégustation d’une omelette géante aux cèpes
15h: Concours de craché de châtaignes
16h: remise des prix des concours.