The shopkeepers at Pujols (47) are an enterprising lot : on
Saturday June 21 their association is running its first
beach rugby tournament. The sport is based on rugby union,
typically five-a-side, on a smaller field (45m by 35m) or
beach and with matches up to 10 minutes long, or less for the
young as the action is quite tough. They’ll have several
categories of team — juniors, ‘hopefuls’ up to 23, seniors
over that age, veterans over 45 and competitions between
firms. The organisers are looking for English players to make
up a team, in all age categories. The day’s fun will be
rounded off in the evening with a a celebration meal to
accompany the live music from Déjà Vu and dancing. On the
Sunday there’ll be a competition between local rugby schools
to get children interested in the sport.
Puymirol, founded in 1246, is the oldest bastide town in the
South-West after Cordes-sur-Ciel, and held out against the
English in the Middle Ages — but can it survive intact into
the next century? Last month a 20m stretch of its ramparts
suddenly subsided onto the road below, only just avoiding
injury to staff who had been cutting the grass the day before.
Experts have put this down to movements in the clay base
caused by high rainfall and wide temperature changes,
together with inadequate drainage. Maire Jean-Louis Coureau
has been drawing attention to the risks since 2003, and
salutes the present préfet for making a special grant of
€23,000 — but appeals for much more financial aid to save
his historic bastide before it is too late.
This year Agen will host the 10th national area waste
management conference (assises) on June 18 and 19. It aims
to find new approaches by bringing together more than 2,000
professionals in the field to take part in a wide variety of
workshops, forums, displays and visits. There will be a
scientific symposium open to all participants, at which
researchers will share their latest findings on waste and
public health, and the organisers are expecting a
lively exchange of views on best practice and
‘eco-conception’.
Bordeaux is France's most
pleasant city, according to a
survey publishedin May.
According to the survey
carried about by national
estate agents' group ORPI,
32% of residents in Bordeaux
interviewed found their city to
be "more than pleasant". This
was the highest figure in the
survey, with Biarritz/Bayonne,
Lyon and Paris following
respectively. Shockingly, the
national average was almost
half the percentage of
Bordeaux's, at 19%.
It would seem that
Bordeaux's 'pleasantness'
reflected in other aspects of
the property survey, the desire
to build or buy a home in
Bordeaux was much higher
than in other French cities.
However, nearly half of
those interviewed believed that it was expensive to buy in Bordeaux, and that the price in housing would continue to rise in
2008. This, it would seem has stopped many people from already buying a house, with 21% of Bordelais saying that they
would wait for the prices to go down before they would consider investing in a property project.
The restrictions on the right for state sector employees to strike has exacerbated protests
against government reforms. The notion of maintaining a minimum service for the public
has been put to the test in the latest strikes, first by transport workers and now by teachers.
So who should look after the kids when there’s no one at school? Colette Davidson finds out.
Périgueux saw several protests in May regarding dissatisfaction with the state education system.
New regulations on a draft
law in May has split
teachers, parent groups and
local mairies as to the best way to
accommodate working parents
while providing an equal
education to all children.
The service minimum d'accueil
(SMA) was proposed in January
2008 by the Minister of Education
Xavier Darcos, former mayor of
Périgueux. The law states that all
mairies must provide a place for
maternelle and primaire pupils to
go during strikes by state
education staff. On May 15,
President Sarkozy announced that
he hoped to pass the law this
summer, adding that those
striking must give 48 hours’
notice of a strike in addition to
providing childcare. Parents in
communes which refuse to
provide the reception service will
be allowed to sue for damages
in the Tribunal Administratif.
The political fire in Coulounieix-
Chamiers remains ablaze
following claims of defamation by
former mayor Michel Dasseux
against current mayor Jean-Pierre
Roussarie. This is the second case
against Roussarie since the local
elections in March, leading to two
days of hearings in separate
Bordeaux courts.
On May 22, the long-running
feud between Dasseux and
Roussarie landed them before the
Tribunal Correctionel. Dasseux is
accusing Roussarie of making
libellous remarks in his blog
regarding the former mayor. The
tribunal, in an attempt to avoid
being weighed down by such
“pathetic” affairs, forced Dasseux
to pay €3000 before June 15 to
lodge his complaint.
Further to recent articles in French News about women's pensions, the UK Department of Work and Pensions has issued a press release explaining that "women pensioners could boost their state pension or even be in line for a windfall payment under special terms.
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