History, politics & economics

» Unemployment in France has now reached over 10%, representing 2.5 million people. France now has one of the highest unemployment rates in Europe.
[Jan Dodd; April 2005]

Environment

» According to a study by Migrateurs Garonne-Dordogne and a number of other organisations, of the 5 species of migratory fish in the Garonne basin, the Gironde sturgeon is on the edge of extinction, despite efforts to save it. Eels are also in danger, mainly from overfishing, with young eels (known as pibales or civelles) fetching up to 1500 euros a kilo. Apparently eels can't be farmed or bred specially.

Better news for the lamproie (a primitive fish and a delicacy in this region), salmon and alose (which looks like a large sardine and also ends up on local tables), all of which have healthy populations. To help them round the locks and dams, salmon are transported upstream by truck. But the locks aren't their only problem: according to Migado, only 1% of salmon born in the Garonne survive and return to breed.
[Jan Dodd; May 2005]

Books
(The links below take you to the relevant page of Amazon.com, should you wish to purchase a copy. Alternatively, these books are also available through Amazon.co.uk)

» The White Company, Arthur Conan Doyle (Dover Books)
This historical novel is a far cry from Sherlock Holmes, but a rollicking good read nonetheless. The story pits a gallant crew of Saxon archers - all heart-of-oak, rough but honest chaps (you get the picture) - against the perfidious French during the Hundred Years War. The action passes from southern England to Bordeaux and southwest France before the big show-down across the Pyrenees in northern Spain. Tremendous period detail, and chivalry by the bucket-full.
[Jan Dodd; Feb 2005]

» The Generous Earth, Philip Oyler (Pallas Athene)
First published in 1950, Philip Oyler's delightful book offers a nostalgic look back at village life in the Dordogne valley in the pre- and immediate post-war years. Though he claims to have understated its attributes, Oyler's view of the region is definitely rose-tinted. Even so, it's hard to fault his conclusion - it still is "the land of all good things".
[Jan Dodd; Jan 2002]

» Charlotte Gray, Sebastian Faulks (Vintage)
In the last of his trilogy (following Birdsong and The Girl at the Lion d'Or), Faulks takes his heroine to southwest France during the Occupation. There she finds echoes of the France she loves, tainted by a darker underbelly of collaboration and anti-Semitism as communities struggle to come to terms with their situation - and to survive.