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Friday, 24 August 2007 |
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“Splice the main brace, arrgh Jim-lad”, writes Dave Blake
in this final exerpt from the log of the ‘Cirrus II’.
Ilike a pub. Especially a riverside
pub. And without any doubt, Pub
Gabariers at the Saint-Simeux bridge
is the pub on the Charente. Big Si
Constant has run the place for years. An
ardent Charente booster, he’s concerned
about the river and campaigns for the
restoration of the towpaths. He came in
1979 with fellow rugbyman Maurice
Colclough, who later captained
Angoulême, then played for England
and the Lions. (Maurice died of cancer
this year, aged 52.)
“The locks had been derelict since
the 1930s,” said Si, “and they were just
being opened up. So Maurice and I
started a little boat holiday company,
the first on the river. Brought the boats
over from the UK, six of the crappiest
boats we could find on the
Midlands waterways…”
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Friday, 24 August 2007 |
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La Vallée des Singes near Romagne, the primate
and monkey park where the animals live freely
in trees and on their own private islands, has
become the only closest tourist rival in Vienne to
Futuroscope. But it’s a serious research centre as
well, and zoological director Jan Vermeer reminds
us that August 8 will be devoted to the Fête des
Lémurians (lemurs) and to nature conservation on
Madagascar, that island off southeastern Africa
which is 600,000km2 – bigger than France.
Go along and see gorillas, chimpanzees, lemurs and all the
gang.
Info 05 49 87 20 20 or www.la-vallee-des-singes.fr
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Friday, 24 August 2007 |
Sanxay, a village nestling in the wooded hills on the border of
the Deux-Sèvres in the Vienne, is known especially for its
beautiful Gallo-Roman amphitheatre, its Roman public baths
and temple.
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Friday, 24 August 2007 |
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Mayor of Mauprévoir and Vienne député Jean-Michel Clément speaks to David Blake.
It’s often the way in our
media-dominated world
that an elected official will
put aside his constituents in
favour of a photo op, a
soundbite or five seconds of
on-screen fame. Not so Jean-
Michel Clément, the newlyelected
Socialist député from
the Vienne. The 52-year-old
lawyer and mayor of nearby
Mauprévoir agreed to meet
me in his office in
downtown Civray.
The Parti Socialiste
headquarters are shabby –
they don’t spend their money
on pretty. There was wine –
but it came out of a box into
plastic beakers. The clocher
of the great Gallo-Roman
Church of Saint-Nicolas
across the square tolled the
hour of seven. His assistant,
Martine, started putting the
office to bed.
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Friday, 24 August 2007 |
Canter up, equestrians, it’s
August again, and time
for the Romagne Horse
Show – strictly speaking,
the Journées de l’Âne et du
Cheval.
On the 3rd, 4th and 5th,
this village midway between
Civray and Gençay will play
host to the finest equines,
draught horses and baudets,
the bizarre but much-beloved
dreadlocked donkeys of
Poitou, as well as to
equestrians, artisans and
plain folks from all over
France – and Europe, as the
reputation of this event
grows every year.
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