LPBIWC NEWSLETTER JULY AND AUGUST 2007 Dear Ladies, When my husband and I retired in les Landes four years ago I realised that I would hardly be speaking English any more. In the beginning this didn’t bother me much as, like most of us, time was taken up fixing the house, digging the garden and ‘settling in’. I then started scouting around for English-speaking activities, but didn’t find any close-by. So I started teaching English in Capbreton and thought about starting up my own English-speaking club. However, through one of my pupils, I heard about an already existing club and Glen Varey phoned to invite me to a coffee morning at Françoise Bervillé’s house, and hey presto I discovered the LPBIWC. Nicole David founded the club three years ago and put all her energy into building up activities and membership. She has now resigned and at the AGM on Tuesday 12th June I have been elected President of the club to replace her. Nicole will remain on the Board as Founder and Chairwoman. Ragnvi Robson, who as you know is probably the most active member of the club, has very kindly agreed to be Deputy President. I am honoured and very happy to replace Nicole and hope to carry on her good work and keep up the high standard of the club. Lunch was very enjoyable with, as usual, delicious food made by club members. Several new members were present and hopefully numbers will continue to increase. There was a very sad moment when Selina, our wonderful Happy Hour group leader, announced that she was returning to the States to support her daughter in her new acting career. She said that although she was happy to return home, she would really miss us all and promised that when she came back each summer she would keep in touch. The two-monthly newsletter will continue to be issued by e-mail (by post for members without internet) and all articles, descriptions of past activities, future events, etc. plus any other interesting features you wish to share with other members should be e-mailed to Ann Lessiter as early as possible before the end of the second month so that it can be edited and published before the two month period begins. The calendar will be issued at the same time, but activities that are not included in it will be advised by e-mail once the dates are known. Jenny Jones will be helping Ann with the newsletter and calendar. Have a great summer and see you all soon. Pamela Bas, President

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THE COMMITTEE PRESIDENT DEPUTY PRESIDENT FOUNDER AND CHAIRWOMAN TREASURER SECRETARY PR BOARD MEMBERS

Pamela Bas Ragnvi Robson Nicole David Chris Robinson Ann Lessiter Teia Maman Louise Faure Elaine Hickin (assistant treasurer) Jenny Jones (assistant secretary) Micha Layley Glen Varey

As Founder and Chairwoman, Nicole will liaise with other international clubs and will organise meetings as appropriate. The Treasurer, Chris Robinson, deals with telephone calls regarding membership, sends membership forms to potential members and membership cards to all new members. She handles all financial matters for the Club including depositing membership cheques in the bank. She also maintains an up-to-date list of members. If you haven't already paid your membership subscription, you may send your 40 € fee to her. Elaine Hickin replaces Chris when she is absent. Ann Lessiter, the Secretary, assisted by Jenny Jones, is responsible for the two monthly Newsletter and Calendar. She also takes minutes in meetings and the AGM. Teia Maman will now be our Public Relations officer to promote the club through the press and have flyers flowing. GROUP LEADERS BOOK CLUB BOOK LOAN BRIDGE CLUB CINEMA COFFEE MORNINGS COFFEE MORNINGS COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS ENGLISH CONVERSATION CULTURAL OUTINGS FRENCH CONVERSATION GOLF HAPPY HOUR HAPPY HOUR HIKES MONTHLY LUNCHES RESTAURANT OUTINGS SPA DAYS TENNIS & CYCLING WEEKLY WALKS YOUNG MOTHERS

Pamela Bas Jenny Jones Nicole David Veronica Rossignol Louise Faure (November to April) Françoise Bervillé (May to October) Chris Robinson Elaine Hickin Monique Durou Odile Talfumier Glen Varey Bridget Watkinson (Biarritz area) Colette Deveaux (Hossegor area) position available Ragnvi Robson Nicole David Nicole David Nanou Brenac Ragnvi Robson Brenda Badouin 2

05 59 45 60 25 05 58 57 78 43 09 51 12 10 73 05 58 72 05 41 05 59 23 83 74 05 58 72 64 25 05 58 72 62 97 05 58 43 91 50 08 75 43 07 00 05 58 43 72 14 05 58 72 84 82 05 59 24 40 87 05 58 41 90 54 05 58 43 93 37 09 51 12 10 73 09 51 12 10 73 05 58 49 80 58 05 58 43 93 37 05 58 90 14 38

☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼CLUB ACTIVITIES IN JULY AND AUGUST☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ For details about location, timing, etc. of events, you should contact group leaders between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, on weekdays if possible. If you leave a message, please give your telephone number only. Each group is self-supporting, so a fee may be required from participants for activities. Group leaders will send a reminder to all members by e-mail a week in advance of each activity. If you don’t have internet please contact the group leaders by telephone for any confirmations or enquiries. Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses can be found on the list of members which you all should have to hand as well as the list of directions to members’ houses which will follow shortly. LPBIWC cannot be held responsible for any accidents, injuries or otherwise which may occur whilst participating in any proposed activities. It is an individual’s responsibility to take any precautions that may be required. COFFEE MORNING – Françoise Bervillé, 05 58 72 64 25, [email protected] A coffee morning has been planned at Françoise Bervillé’s house from10 – 12 a.m. on 4th July. If you are planning on coming please telephone Françoise to let her know. TALK ON HAND MADE SOAP – Pamela Bas, 05 59 45 60 25, [email protected] Diane Winks’ daughter, Elaine Stavert, who is going to talk on hand made soap, started making hand made soap three years ago and now supplies seventy shops around the UK. The talk will take place at Joy Martin’s house at 3 p.m. and will be followed by afternoon tea. If you wish to attend please contact Joy to let her know, 05 58 72 48 38 BOOK CLUB – Pamela Bas, 05 59 45 60 25, [email protected] Meetings usually take place on the last Friday of each month. The July meeting will be at Nanou Brenac’s house on 27th July at 2.30 p.m. and the book we are reading is BEL CANTO by Ann Pratchett. The August meeting will take place on the 31st and the venue and book will be advised at a later date. LUNCHES – Ragnvi Robson, 05 58 43 93 37, [email protected] Two barbecue lunches have been planned this summer. On 20th July at Pam’s house starting at 12 noon. If the weather is hot don’t forget to bring your bathing costumes for a swim in the pool. The other barbecue lunch will be at Dany Leportier’s house on 29th August also at 12 noon. Please call the hostesses to let them know what you will be bringing. As these are barbecues/planchas we suggest suitable meat for grilling, various sausages etc., salads, cheese, deserts and wine. Please call the hostesses to let them know whether you will be attending and what you will be bringing. GARDEN VISIT - Pamela Bas, 05 59 45 60 25, [email protected] A visit to Le Jardin de Belvedère in St. Laurent de Gosse will take place on 10th July at 3 p.m.. This garden is very interesting and contains many samples of trees and plants from all over the world. The owner will give us a guided tour of the garden in English and the entrance fee is 5€ which is donated to an association helping children in Cambodia. Pam suggests a car pool from Hossegor Golf Club at 2.30 p.m.

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BIKE RIDE – Nanou Brenac, 05 58 49 80 58, [email protected] Nanou has organised a bike ride for 11th July around the lakes in Seignosse. We will meet at her house at 10 a.m. and will cycle through the forest around the lakes in Seignosse. A mountain bike would be preferable, she can lend one out, but ordinary bikes will be OK and if there is too much sand we can get off and walk. We will have lunch at the restaurant Les Roseaux where they have salads and snacks for a light meal. CHILDREN’S PONY DAY – Brenda Badouin, 05 58 90 14 38, [email protected] Brenda has arranged a children’s pony outing for Wednesday 25th July. Details will follow by email when available. COURANT DU HUCHET – Pamela Bas, 05 59 45 60 25, [email protected] This outing will take place on 24th August starting off at Ann Lessiter’s house and walking 15 minutes to the Lake of Leon to board a canoe manned by a batelier (boatman in English) and off we sail across the lake and along a stream. The batelier comments on the nature and it should be very enjoyable. Afterwards we will have tea at Ann’s house. If you are interested in this nature outing, please contact Pamela Bas. ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON THIS SUMMER IN THE REGION☼☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ SEA SUN AND SURF If you fancy going to the beach in the hope of meeting friends, the club’s meeting point will be on Hossegor main beach in front of the Hotel de la Plage. LABENNE On Saturday 30th June from 6.30 p.m. you can try different Basque and Landes specialities and get in the festive mood at Landeus y Tapas on the square in front of the town hall next to the church in Labenne. In order to taste as many local dishes as possible, the prices are fixed at 3€ per portion. There will also be bandas (typical local brass band) and an orchestra and dancers. CAPBRETON The Fêtes de la Mer takes place on 29th/30th June and 1st July. As well as processions, bandas (typical local brass band) and street restaurants the local fishing boats take you out free of charge on the Sunday for a short trip along the Hossegor/Capbreton coast – weather permitting of course. TOURIST OFFICES The tourist offices will supply plenty of information on what is going on in the area Look out for the brochures Côté Sorties and Guide des Animations Landes, both packed with information for summer events. Côté Sorties exists both for Les Landes and Pays Basque. ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN THE CLUB IN MAY AND JUNE☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ CHOCOLATE MUSEUM AND BIARRITZ HISTORY MUSEUM We visited these museums on 16th May and found both very interesting. At the small history museum we discovered that Biarritz had been originally a whaling village, then in the 18th 4

century doctors recommended that the ocean at Biarritz had therapeutic properties, inspiring patients to make pilgrimages to the beach for alleged cures for their ailments. Biarritz became more renowned in 1854 when Empress Eugenie (the wife of Napoleon III) built a palace on the beach (now the Hôtel du Palais). The British royal family regularly took vacations in Biarritz: European royalty such as Queen Victoria, Edward VII, and Alfonso XIII of Spain were frequent visitors. Planète Chocolate welcomed us with some dark, milk and white chocolate buttons (yum yum) and after a brief film on the making of chocolate, an English speaking guide took us through the museum explaining the origins and history of chocolate and how it reached Bayonne and became popular in France. We finished the visit drinking a delicious hot chocolate. WALKS Ragnvi managed to fit in several interesting walks over the last two months. One in Labenne along the Boudigau and through the forest to the beach then back to Pam’s for tea. Another one took us to Seignosse where we started off trekking through the forest and back again along the beach and lastly at the Barthes just outside Hossegor leaving Ragnvi’s house down past the Garden Tennis Club and along the stream, past bee hives and over grassy marshland on a circular tour returning to Ragnvi’s for tea. These walks usually last between 1 – 2 hours and are really enjoyable. BOOK CLUB The book club, still going strong, met at Pam’s house on 1st June. We started off sitting in the garden and had to dash inside when the wind and rain made a sudden appearance. The book under discussion, The Island by Victoria Hislop, was about life on a tiny island off Crete where people suffering from leprosy were sent to live and eventually die. The story covered several generations of a family in the village on Crete opposite the island and the book could be described as an ‘easy read’. COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS The cookery demonstrations are proving very entertaining and popular. In May, Teia demonstrated two delicious recipes; American poppy seed cake and chocolate brownies. 16 of us attended and had a great time, especially tasting the results. Thanks very much to her and to Ragnvi for hosting the demo. As it is fairly short, easy to do, is chocolate and not fattening at all!!, here is the recipe for brownies: Melt 110g dark chocolate (70% or more cocoa, eg. (Lindt dessert) in a pan with 2 thirds of a cup of butter or lard. Turn off the heat, beat in 2 cups sugar and 4 eggs. Sift and add 1.5 cups of flour, 1 teasp baking powder and 1 teasp salt. Mix in 1 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts. Spread in a greased tin approx 33cm x 23cm. Bake at 170C until the top is dull, about 30-35 mins (a little less if you want it a bit gooey). Yum-yum. (1 cup ==240ml) Miyuki is doing the next demo at the end of June but I am looking for more volunteers for later in the year. I'm sure all of you have a favourite recipe you could share. Don't worry if your kitchen is not large enough, I can always find someone to host the demo. Hope to hear from you, Chris.

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CULTURAL OUTINGS About 14 club members spent a very pleasant 2 hours in Cambo-les-Bains visiting the impressive home of Edmond Rostand who, thanks to the huge profits made by his play in Paris (especially Cyrano of Bergerac at present a success at the Comédie Française and shown on FR2 the day after our visit), was able to employ a famous Parisian architect to build the beautiful villa between 1903 and 1906. The outside was traditional Basque style (red and white) but the inside style was luxurious with marble and parquet floors, electricity and hot air heating and even a sauna. The poet had chosen to live in Cambo after convalescing there to recover from pleurisy so no expense was spared to ensure his comfort. In every room we were drawn to the magnificent view of the gardens we had visited, French style gardens around 3 pools: to the east, a pergola and a beautiful view of the mountains, to the west and up the main drive were the English gardens with blue, purple and pink hydrangeas. The town of Cambo took over the Museum in 1960 and it was listed as a historic monument in 1995. If you have the opportunity, please go to visit this beautiful estate and gardens Terry Fourloubeyx CYCLE RIDE Friday 12th June dawned sunny and warm and several members set off for a pleasant cycle ride from Capbreton to Ondres for lunch. We arrived earlier than anticipated and spent a lazy hour sitting on the beach with some people being brave enough to venture into the sea. After an excellent lunch at La Plancha eating moules and sardines, washed down with rose wine, we made our way back to Capbreton. Some members found that it was different than cycling to the shops and have now invested in soft saddles and padded cycling shorts as there were many sore bottoms towards the end. Many thanks go to Nanou for organising an excellent event. HIKING Tuesday 19th June Nina Carillo and Nicole went for a lovely hike with Brigitte Lelay in the Basque region starting in Maccay. They walked up some paths between a hoard of marvellous mares with their foals, sheep, lambs and cows, listening to the birds singing. They had a picnic on the top of a hill with superb views of the Basque country. Thanks go to Brigitte for discovering such a marvellous place. END OF YEAR DINNER It was a great delight to see so many members attend our end of the year dinner. We had the pleasure of meeting some of the new members in a jovial atmosphere. The dinner was very entertaining and held in very pleasant surroundings. Thank you Téia for suggesting the restaurant and everyone for making it into such a lovely evening.

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☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼CLUB NEWS☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ ☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼ • • •

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Welcome to new members: Michelle Biron, Catherine Chalk, Carrie Chida, Angela Deane, Nanna Dubois, Anne-Catherine Estrade, Francoise Laumet, Marie Tomas and Sarah Thompson. Sadly our Happy Hour Group Leader Selina Caradona is leaving us to go back to the USA. We wish Selina the best of luck in her new life. Bridget Watkinson has kindly agreed to take over as Group Leader of the Biarritz area Happy Hour. 20 members attended Miyuki’s amazing piano performance on Sunday 17th June at Chateau d’Estrac in Hastingues whilst enjoying a delicious brunch and admiring paintings and sculptures by the castle’s owners. Thank you Miyuki for giving us the opportunity to hear you play. By the way, did you know how many nationalities we represent? The answer is 10. British French American Japanese Dutch Danish Swedish Belgian Irish Mexican

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