Category: Current Affairs

A COLD winter blast from the north across much of France has shaken off any lingering summer memories and seen heavy snow, rain and winds.

Night time temperatures are expected to be below freezing across eastern France, and over the weekend 15cm of snow fell on the lower reaches of the Alps, and a ferry was pinned to the harbour wall in Marseille after strong winds buffeted the region.

Here in the Dordogne the light of the moon shimmered on the frosty fields early in the morning, but once the sun had risen its warm rays began to sparkle on the melting chill.

The last of the cranes headed south over the weekend, their melancholic cry echoing across the valley, and with the last of the chestnuts being gathered I’m sure I saw a flash of red as a robin dodged under the laurel bush.

FOLLOWING the announcement by François Hollande on the blocking of seven shale gas permits in France, the website of the Ministry of Ecology has been updated.

The seven projects blocked are Brignoles; Montélimar; Lyon-Annecy; Montfalcon; Cahors; Valence and Beaumont-de-Lomagne.

You will see on each of the pages linked to above, section four features the decision made on each project, and in these cases they finish with arrêté d’attribution du permis / lettre de rejet although there is no link to the actual letter featuring the rejection decision.

Personally, the border of the Cahors permit went very close to where I live and so I’ve been keen to follow the progress of planned gaz de schiste projects.

And while it is good news to see shale gas plans blocked, the newsletter of a French protest group I’ve read is calling on people to remain vigilant as they believe industry lobby groups will not walk away and accept defeat.

DURING a government backed conference on the environment in Paris, François Hollande, has said seven permits for shale gas exploitation will be cancelled.

“J’ai demandé à la Ministre de l’Écologie de prononcer sans attendre le rejet des demandes de permis pour les gaz de schiste” #ConfEnvi

— Elysee (@Elysee) September 14, 2012

There is no detail on the exact permits being cancelled, the website of the Ministry of Ecology will hopefully provide more detail soon.

And at the same conference the president has said that the nuclear plant at Fessenheim, in Haut-Rhin, will close by 2016, stressing that no jobs will be lost.

The Fessenheim plant is the oldest operational power station in France and was the scene of an accident earlier this month when a vapour leak injured two staff members.

THE Tour de France heads up through the Lot region on Friday July 20, and opponents of the shale gas (gaz de schiste) plans for the region will be out in force as well.

The route heads out of Blagnac, in Toulouse, and stretches for just over 200km to Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Corrèze.

And protesters intend to take the opportunity of the passing of Le Tour to voice their opposition to proposals to drill for shale gas in the Lot impacting on the nearby Dordogne region.

Road painting and banners will be prominently displayed between Payrac and Souillac, with some protesters planning on wearing gas masks, on a section of the road that heads uphill on a category four climb.

The exploratory plans for shale gas extraction are titled the Permis de Cahors and covers a region that extends from north of Montauban, past Cahors and towards Brive la Gaillarde.

The permit is held by a company called 3 Legs Oil and Gas, which is a subsidiary of 3Legs Resources, who have offices in the Isle of Man and Poland, where they have already undertaken shale gas extraction.

A WARM sunny afternoon and from deep within the trees the sound of the Golden Oriole can be heard.

Although not rare, they are quite secretive and often stay high in the treetops with the male’s yellow plumage blending in to the dappled sunlight.

You can hear the call of the Golden Oriole at around three seconds, then at 9, 15 and 23 seconds.

THIS year sees both the 80th anniversary of the official opening of the Thiepval Memorial and the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Historial de la Grande Guerre, the Museum of the Great War, in Péronne, Picardie.

In commemoration the Historial has organised a free exhibition which is now open until November 25, 2012.

The theme of the exhibition is remembrance, as well as providing some background to the Memorial and how these men became and remain, the Missing of the Somme.

The major part of the exhibition tells the story of an individual recorded as missing on each of the 141 days of the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Stories are supplemented by personal objects, letters, memoirs as well as others which illustrate a general remembrance theme.

The exhibition also explores how the fate of these men affected society for many years afterwards and why remembrance continues to be important today.

The exhibition is designed to show of the personal stories of those from British and South African Regiments who not only lost their lives but were also, by force of circumstances, denied the honour of a marked grave.

The Historial de la Grande Guerre, located at Chateau de Péronne, 80210 Péronne is open daily from 10am to 6pm.

Admission prices are: Adult – €7.50 (€6 with a voucher available online); over 60s – €6.20; Children aged 6 to 18 – €3.80; a family ticket of 2 adults and 2 children – €20.

Admission to the Missing of the Somme exhibition is free.

ARE you feeling the pinch more than you feel is fair? Is it because of the appalling exchange rate? Is it because you pay more than your fair share in taxes to the UK?

All those on fixed incomes with private pensions might well be affected, writes Brian Cave.

Those of us who by law have to pay income tax to the UK are probably paying far more than a French person would with the same income.

Such people are the ex military, ex-fire service, ex-police service, ex-teachers and ex local government workers.

This group of people on modest pensions probably lose out on the tax rebates, for example available to French people for home helps or gardening help, because you can’t get tax rebates on income tax paid to the UK.

Are you amongst the very elderly who, because you emigrated before 1998, or because you reached retirement age after leaving Britain, do not receive the Winter Fuel Payment?

I have written a piece on my own blog which details the kind of financial affliction that falls on many people.

Graham Richards (who has been leading the battle for fairness for the Equitable Life investment losers in Europe) and myself are compiling evidence on the problems facing some British pensioners in France and elsewhere in Europe.

I am very well aware that this could be a largely hidden problem. I know of two hard up people who have no computer access and haven’t a clue about finances. People are reluctant to come forward.

We would like to create a dossier of case histories, with your help. All information will be kept anonymously, unless you indicate otherwise. Please contact:
Brian Cave (lefourquet@gmail.com) or Graham Richards (graham.richards@orange.fr)

P.S. We would especially like to hear from any former RN personnel who are experiencing financial hardship.

Brian Cave runs the Pensioners Debout! website which campaigns for the British expatriate pensioner in France and Europe.

YIKES! The price of petrol is heading to record levels again in France, and I’m sure some are still recovering from paying for extra heating fuel after cold snap.

Unfortunately petrol prices are flirting with the €1.60 a litre barrier, and domestic fuel is around the €1 a litre level.

With demand around the world for oil appearing relentless, it seems many will have to change driving habits as well as look at alternative methods of heating.

But if you want to keep an eye on petrol prices don’t forget the official Prix des Carburants en France website.

The site is run by the French government and collects data from thousands of filling stations across the country.

You can start your search via département, commune or postcode, with the results displaying the name of petrol stations and supermarkets closest to your chosen location and the individual prices per litre.

If you register an account with the site you can track prices over time at different stations local to you.

And if you want to make sure you are not paying over the odds for heating fuel then the rather bare bones, prix de vente moyens des carburants, du fioul domestique et des fiouls lourds en France website will help out.

IT has struggled to get above freezing across most of France this past week, here in the south of the Dordogne morning temperatures of -9C have almost become the norm.

But with the snow and ice meaning little traffic on the road, the school bus has not run for the past two days, there is a chill stillness to the countryside.

With wisps of smoke rising from chimneys and a small herd of cows huddled around a bale of straw, you feel a long way from the busy world of the 21st century.

SUPPLIERS of electric blankets and duvets will be breathing a sigh of relief as le grand froid arrives in France.

With Météo France predicting temperatures of -15C in the east of the country by the end of the week, I’m sure many have been stocking up the wood pile and making sure there is plenty of food in the cupboard.

Here in Loubejac, in the south of the Dordogne, the weather forecast is talking of temperatures of -10C, but when the cold northerly wind is taken in to account we are looking at -18C being predicted for the morning of Friday.

So it looks like my weekend football match will be called off, and instead the soup will be on, the candles ready in case of power cuts and an eye kept on the sky for signs of snow.