I TURNED and skied a shot high over the bar – I was finally playing football in France and loving every minute of it.
Author: Craig McGinty
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Football training, French style
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A taste of Périgord Noir
THE area of the Dordogne I am in is known as the Périgord Noir and is a landscape of forests and river valleys. -
The living art of Zadkine
RUSSIAN born sculptor Ossip Zadkine made his home in the small village of Les Arques, in the Lot region of France. -
A wing of beauty
WALKING through the wood this afternoon I spotted a butterfly wing lying on the path. -
A day of remembrance in the village
ARMISTICE Day is remembered with equal reverence in France as it is in the UK.Villefranche du Périgord marked 11 November with a ceremony of touching simplicity outside its mairie, the town hall.
By late morning a small crowd had gathered close to the war memorial which is at the head of the village close to the post office.
Children were selling small badges, le Bleuet de France, worn in a similar fashion to the poppy in the UK.
Then the fire service arrived in their engine and two police officers also arrived in the gendarmerie car.
Two tricolores were then brought forward and walked to the war memorial where local school children had gathered to read out the names of the soldiers who had died in the two world wars.
There were ten children and each walked up to the microphone, read out 3 or 4 names and then went back to their classmates stood at the side of the square.
The local paper, Sud Ouest, led on the fact that there were only 36 surviving soldiers from the first world war in France, the youngest being 101 and the oldest 106.
It also highlighted an internet site that has been set up which can be searched and contains over 1.3 million names of French soldiers killed in the 1914-18 war.
The ceremony in Villefranche was brought to a close with a short speech and then the playing of the French national anthem.
What I thought was important was the part that the school children played, not only did they pay their respects, they also ensure that Armistice Day will always be marked.
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Taking pot shots at a sanglier
IN a strange irony on Armistice Day, hunters and their dogs shattered the peace around my house.
I was at Jean Marc’s boulangerie collecting some old pieces of wood he had put to one side that I could use on the fire, when shots rang out across the valley.
Running up and down the road and through the woods at the back of the boulangerie were four hunters with their hounds in tow.
Although I wasn’t able to see what they were shooting at it was most probably a wild boar, or sanglier.
They were armed with high powered rifles and shot guns and they did not hold back in the pursuit of their prey – or concern for property.
“They just run through your land with their dogs,” Jean Marc said as one of the blokes fell over the electric fence he had put up.
I wondered if the boar is sold, but no, “they just eat it,” said Jean Marc.
Another volley of shots were let off as we all ducked behind the cars and buildings, the woods were that dense you were not sure which way they were shooting.
Then the dogs started howling and barking as the hunters scrambled off through the trees and splashed through the stream in hot pursuit. -
Out on the bread run
BREAD has an almost mythical status in France so a chance to go out on the daily delivery run could not be missed.Marie Ange Brouqui was to be my guide and as we loaded up the van, with the still warm loaves, she also checked over her route.
It was to take in the surrounding villages, schools and farms with a longer stop at Villefranche du Périgord.
“The bread is different compared to regular bread as it keeps fresh for longer,” Marie Ange explained.
“This comes about from the baking process so it means that many of the homes will buy a loaf every couple of days.”
As we hit the road you could hear the bread crusts crackling as they slowly cooled in the back of the van.
But it also means that inside the van it is warm, useful in the winter but a problem during the long hot summers.
Soon we disappeared up a single-track lane into the woods and discovered a small cottage or group of farm buildings.
And with a beep of the horn someone would pop out of the house and pay a couple of Euro for a large loaf, which measures about 18 inches.
“Many of the people we deliver to have been buying bread off us for years so they know they are going to get good quality,” Marie Ange said.
“But times are changing and younger people especially, don’t buy their bread from the boulanger they just visit the supermarket every week.”
Driving down a tight narrow track we would come across a collection of tumble down buildings, with smooth stone archways and a crumbling stairway to a wooden door.
Or the valley floor would open up and a large farm often producing foie gras would come into view.
“I used to be a post woman which comes in very useful for remembering which lane leads where,” Marie Ange said.
“And often on the drive you will see a beautiful view or catch the sun in the leaves, it really is very calming.”
By mid-morning the van had been loaded up again and it was off to Villefranche du Périgord.
Here we stopped in the market square and attracted a bit of a crowd as they bought up their bread straight from the back of the van.
We would also shoot up and down the four main roads in the village beeping the horn, or tapping on the window, as people came out.
“I sometimes think I should stand in the middle of the square and whistle to attract everyone to the van,” said Marie Ange.
“And you always get one or two who think they are the boulanger and ask how the bread was made, is it fresh, what does it taste like?”
By lunchtime the deliveries are made and the ritual of the bread begins again in the boulangerie ovens – but that is another story.
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Monpazier and its tortured history
MANY of the towns and villages in the Périgord were built as bastides, strongholds on the major trade routes through the region.One of the best is Monpazier with its fortified gates, streets laid out at right angles and covered arcades.
Although originally built to promote trade, with the heart of the bastide centred on the market square, many soon gained defensive walls and gates.
At Monpazier these gates can still be seen and they lead right into the market area.
Here you will find galleries with gift shops and coffee bars, and plenty of people picking up their morning bread.
The timber, covered market has antique measuring equipment and the legs of the roof stand on stone plinths to protect them from standing water.The history of Monpazier stretches back to 1284 when it was founded by the English king Edward I.
But it was situated on the frontline of the French/English border, with an opposite bastide built at Villefranche du Périgord, around 20km away.
It led a troubled existence with delays in its building, hostilities between Edward I and the lords and then 300 years later, the leader of a peasant revolt was tortured to death in the square.
If you walk through Monpazier to the other side there is a fine view out across the valley, and you can see why the bastide was built where it was.
Directions: On the D660 to the south east of Bergerac.
More things to do in the Dordogne
The Tuilières hydroelectric dam and fish lift
Milling around at the Filature de Belvès
A walk around Prats-du-Périgord, the Dordogne
Belves Medieval Fair – stepping back in time
Prats du Perigord, walk around the village -
Not your usual lunch
THE Perigord region is famous for its horse chestnuts and mushrooms and there are plenty out in the woods at the moment.
The parasol is a common mushroom and is delicious if fried in butter with a slice or two of onion and then piled up onto a baguette.
There are recognisable by the small ring that at first holds the head of the mushroom tight and eventually gives up the fight and falls down the stem.
The open, umbrella like plate can be around 15cm wide and it is dark brown in the middle.
The parasol mushroom is found on paths in woods, in grassy clearings and can be seen from July to November.
Horse chestnuts can also be found all over the pathways of the woods and these are like little parcels of potato after roasting.
The best way to prepare them is to cut a cross into the top of them, but leave one uncut.
Pop them on the fire or in the oven and when the uncut one bursts, you know the others are ready.