British Embassy Events

 

We have received the following from the BCC with attachments from the Embassy which draws attention to this website: http://gov.uk/living-in-france:

I attach a letter addressed to the British Community Committee of France from Pam Deegan, Director Consular Services at the British Embassy.

As the letter explains, the Embassy and Consular Services are holding various outreach events around France to inform and keep up to date  UK nationals living in France on their resident rights and how these might change when (if!) the UK leaves the EU. 

As requested by Pam Deegan, we are circularising the letter to our member associations and would ask you to kindly forward it to your association’s own members. In addition, if you are able to, you might like to print the attached British Embassy Poster (if possible on A3 paper) and distribute copies around your local community where UK nationals might see it, such as your local mairie, doctors, vets, etc. 

If you or your local mairie or any other local organisation would like hard copies of the posters to be sent by post, then please contact Pam Deegan at her email address at the top of her letter.

Howard Norman, Chairman, BCC

Letter from British Embassy

British Embassy Poster

Bauduc

Our OUS SW France association has made a regular habit of chateau visits, characteristically to chateaux in vineyards. Such was our visit on 9th May to the British-owned Chateau Bauduc, notable as a supplier to top chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Rick Stein and (for those who know North Wales well) Bryan Webb, in whose restaurant members first encountered Bauduc.

It was not the best day for sunning ourselves amongst the vines, but we did note the black vines first planted in 1947 and the netting being tested to protect against the hail which often destroys substantial percentages of the annual production. The chai contains two sections for red and white, generating a substantial volume of production that seemed immense to your correspondant. Shipping to bottling requires an exercise of military precision.

The Chateau has its own website which tells the story of the Quinney’s successful venture and it was Angela who very kindly greeted us in their chateau-home for an extensive degustation of Crémant de Bordeaux, whites and reds.

Sensible planning by Nigel ensured that we were not late for lunch at la Table in Créon where we enjoyed an excellent menu around a single large table, as the photos display (other photos can be found at OUS Bauduc ).

2019 Sainte-Mere Festival

Our member Piers Killeen writes:

2019 marks a new step forward.  Sainte-Mère Festival has supported over 50 talented young musicians and one of the most promising new quartet ensembles in Europe. This year we are also supporting an exceptional young composer. The Festival has been fortunate enough to join the famous Aldeburgh Festival of England and The Philips  Collection of Washington, in a co-commission of a new piece for string quartet by Freya Waley-Cohen.  The European premiere forms part of this year’s exciting summer programme. The details are now on the website.
With best wishes,
Piers

Draft 2019 Programme

Your committee met in November to formulate ideas for next year’s events. We would greatly appreciate your feedback.

This is especially the case if you would like to participate in the OUBC, Bayonne or Toulouse visits (these latter two will involve an overnight stay for most members). If so could you please indicate your interest in the forms below in order to help us gauge the level of interest.

As always, suggestions from members are welcome for further events. As always also, we welcome family members and friends at our events and, of course, any volunteers to help organise an event.

31 December or early January – Lunch with the OUBC crews at le Temple-sur-Lot (47). This has become a popular annual event. Details to be confirmed.

 

 

12 March, 12:30 – Lunch with the committee at the Restaurant La Bastide St. Louis, Prayssas (47).

April or May – a Château visit for wine tasting followed by lunch. Candidates for this are:

  • Sauternes: Château Guiraud (33) with lunch at restaurant La Chapelle at the chateau
  • Bordeaux red and white: Château Bauduc (33) with lunch at Créon.

We much enjoyed our visit to the Tonnellerie Sylvain, near Libourne (33) a few years back and this could be added to one of these visits. It would also be possible to do both château visits, with one taking place in October.

May – A visit to St. Emilion for wine and lunch.

June – an overnight excursion to either Bayonne or Toulouse. The less popular could be held over for 2020.

For Toulouse, this could include museum visits and a concert or another event of interest in la ville rose.

Bayonne (64) has many attractions including its museum, Basque culture (language, games – a visit to a match of “pelote basque” could be arranged) and food (jambon, pintxos, excellent restaurants and maybe a visit to a chocolate factory, as Bayonne is renowned for its chocolate). There is also the art nouveau spa of Cambo-les-Bains nearby.

 

 

 

 

September 6 – AGM in Albi (81).

For the AGM itself, we hope to have a guest speaker as well, to entertain us over lunch. We visited Albi some years ago, but the floods then prevented us taking a river trip. Members may in any case like to visit or re-visit the truly magnificent cathedral and the Toulouse-Lautrec museum.

 

 

2018 AGM

The restaurant Le Caillou near Vire-sur-Lot was this year’s venue for our AGM. Discussion centred on the substantial continuing interest among members and the forward programme for 2019. An agreeable lunch followed for the 13 members attending and 12 partners and friends: apologies were received from a further 17 members. Our thanks to Greg Hawes and Nigel Griffin for their organisation.