Category: Other

Books galore, 47!

Marion writes:

The now traditional English book sale in Monteton (Lot-et-Garonne) will be on October 11th/12th. This is a very well-established event, with hundreds of books, CD’s etc., also with good coffee and English cakes to restore the energy of tired browsers. For those who don’t know the picturesque hill-top village, this would be a good reason to go.

All books at 1€, and proceeds to charity.

A similar event for French books  will be held on 25th/26th October, with the added attraction of the sale of second-hand jewellery. 

Books 1€, jewellery 2€.

There is a restaurant in the village, and plenty of possibilities in the area.

Information at the Mairie de Monteton : 05 53 20 20 08

Marion writes: Chopin in Duras and Art in Nerac.

Here are two events which might interest members :

1.  Sunday 14th September, at 17h30, Château de Duras, a Chopin concert “Chopin, l’âme slave du piano” concert with the Symphonistes d’Aquitaine and soloist Alexey Chernov. On-line reservation possible at helloasso.com/associations/duras-association-du-chateau/evenements/les-ducales

2. A fantastic exhibition at Nérac in the former sous-préfecture (a grand building) “Art d’Asie et les influences sur l’Occident”. really interesting and beautiful exhibits, well presented. Open until 26th September (longer than first stated). Tuesday – Friday 14h – 19h, Saturday and Sunday 10h – 19h. Entrance 10€. Address : 2 Avenue du Maréchal Foch, easy parking. While in Nérac, don’t miss a visit to the château. Great fun.  Among the exhibits there I was taken with the medieval beauty treatments described. While, at a pinch, I suppose I could try sleeping with raw veal escalopes covering my face, the one which requires marrow from the bones in a wolf’s paw is a bit more tricky.

I would add that there is also Chopin to be heard in Prayssas on the same date https://www.institutmarcderanse.com.

Join our Cambridge friends at Carsac, 11 July

The Cambridge alumni group have kindly invited us join them on a visit to the Jardins d’Eau in Carsac, near Sarlat, with lunch to follow in a nearby restaurant. If you have never been there, this place is really worth visiting as it has an eye-popping collection of water lilies, lotuses and other aquatic plants. 

Located on the north bank of the Dordogne river on the outskirts of Carsac-Aillac at St. Rome is the botanical garden of the Jardin d’Eau. More than 25 years in the making, the ponds, waterfalls and water maze have been created by the Bernard family and inspired by the tropical garden of Monte Palace in Madeira. The garden is home to 30 varieties of exotic lotus and 55 varieties of stunning water lilies. Seeds within the remarkable lotus trumpet have been found to be viable for as long as a 1000 yrs.  In addition to the extensive ponds, the tour goes through areas of shaded gardens with collections of approx. 200 plants, shrubs and trees labelled for the inexperienced botanist. 

Members should send a message to info@ousswfrance.com before Tuesday 8th if they wish to participate.

Monteton Book Fair this weekend!

Marion writes:

This coming Saturday and Sunday, 22nd and 23rd October, there is the annual English book sale in Monteton (47),  with hundreds of books for all tastes at 1€ each. Tea, coffee and home-made cakes. Monteton is a charming village with a fine church and chateau (Anglican sung matins at 10h30 on Sunday). It is also near Duras with its castle and Allemans-sur-Dropt with its mediaeval frescoes.

A message from OxCAN

We have received the following message from this network:

” Dear OUS South West France,

We are excited to announce the launch of the Oxford Climate Alumni Network (OxCAN) on September 8 as a part of Meeting Minds Global.
OxCAN is a collaborative initiative by the Oxford Climate Society, alumni and academics across University departments, including the Environmental Change Institute and is an official group under the Oxford Alumni Office.

The network aims to connect climate conscious alumni to one another, to the latest climate and sustainability research and to initiatives and students working on climate at Oxford University.

We thought this might be something you and your Oxford alumni would be interested in learning about. 

Please find details about the launch and registration here: https://oxcanlaunch.eventbrite.co.uk

Ahead of the launch, we have also created a 10 minute OxCAN consultation so that we may hear directly from alumni about their climate-related experiences as we build the network.

We look forward to hearing from you and hope that you’ll be able to join us at the launch.  
Best wishes, 
The OxCAN Team 

Alumni & Outreach Team, Oxford Climate Society “

note: times below are BST etc, so 11h00 and 18h00 CEST respectively.