VELUX 5 OCEANS boat race

La Rochelle hosts the velux 5 oceans boat race. In this photo is the mayor of La Rochelle (center with glasses) and behind is the president of the race Sir Robin Knox- Johnston and on the right of him are the 6 competitors. The race kicks off on 17th October 2010 from La Rochelle to Cape Town, from Cape Town to Wellington, from Wellington to Salvador then upto Charleston & across the Atlantic back to La Rochelle. The 6 skippers are all single handed, they'll sail 55 000 kms in 9 months.

Day of strikes in France

Yesterday was a national day of strikes, thousands took to the streets of the small town of Rochefort, Charente Maritime. Le president monsieur Sarkozy is raising the retirement age from 60 to 62yrs.

Grape picking

Sunday us & all the villagers with children were invited by the Mairie to pick the vines of the commune. After picking the grapes they were crushed (not using feet!) by a machine placed on the back of the trailer by the children, strained & then bottled. While the kids were busy the adults were given a 'gouter' (snack) of pàté on bread & of course a drink of wine.