TGIF - Bordeaux - April 17th

Today we visited a hospital in Bordeaux which differed from the others in management style. This was a “clinic” that was run by a private non-profit cooperative group. Health Care in France can be catagorized by hospitals (government run) clinics (privately run for profit) , mutualist clinics (not for profit co-ops created to keep rates down for patients who use the system's services.) Patients have the option to choose which type of medical facility they use however their rates may be more or less depending on their decision as the obligatory national system will only cover a percentage. At the mutualist clinic we were surprised to learn that their nurses’ tablet computers are US army surplus, because they are tough enough to withstand the daily rigors of hospital usage. Apparently the tablet computers are fresh from US army use in Iraq.



While we were at the hospital Kelly tried to talk her way into the American Consulate office for a career visit. She was unable to breach their security though, despite the fact that we all joked we had seen a brown-haired American woman on the evening news breaking into the consulate’s office. The security here is set very high, and the office is not allowing any visits, so unfortunately she will not be able to experience a true “career” visit while here in Bordeaux.

We presented to the Bordeaux-Est club today at their lunch meeting at the Bordeaux automobile club.

After the meeting we headed off to Angela’s “career day” at the Musee des Beaux Arts, which has a temporary exhibit all about the quays along the waterfront in Bordeaux. The quays (known as warfs in English) were a center of commerce back when Bordeaux was primarily an import/export town, and many pieces of art were created about the area. Our very knowledgeable guide Thierry Saumier, showed us the progression of painting styles throughout history as portrayed by these water scenes.

Pau-Bordeaux, Monday, April 13th

As the title suggests, today is called "lundi pache" which translates to "Easter Monday" and is celebrated as a day off here in France. We took a reluctant farewell of our Pau friends and headed to Bordeaux via the train. The one we caught was a rickety old train that reminded us of times gone by. There was a super skinny outside passage that led to enclosed little booths on one side. Once we arrived in Bordeaux we found out the town was completely closed for the holiday, even restaurants and shops. We ate lunch at a very famous fast food joint which will remain nameless, and had a meeting to discuss strategies for our district conference presentation for next week.

Pau - Easter Weekend

As it was Easter weekend, Saturday and Sunday were free days for our group to explore the region. Saturday, Kelly and Angela spent the day with one of the Jurancon Rotary members for a tour of Pau and dinner at their home while Elizabeth, Damien, and Charity took a bus from Pau to Gourette to spend the day skiing and snowboarding. It is the closest ski resort at approximately 45 km south west of Pau into the Pyrenees.





On Sunday, one of the Pau Rotary Club members agreed to drive us to Lourdes for Easter mass and a tour of the well known Catholic destination. We were all very surprised at all of the marketing and commercialism that poured into the streets surrounding the cathedral and grotto. What was most interesting, besides the amazing structures, was the number of people who were visiting from all over the world and that services were held to accommodate the various languages and cultures that were represented. Angela and Charity even had the unique opportunity to observe a portion of a Hindi service and were told that a Ukrainian one had been held earlier in the day.



That evening, as all businesses were closed for Easter, we all gathered in one of our hotel rooms for a delicious dinner of cheese, baguette, ham, wine, and of course, chocolate…our five course meal for the evening.

Orthez - Friday, April 10th

Our morning began with a lovely drive through the countryside with our Oloron hosts to Orthez, a small village with an incredible history, as we have seen in many of the small towns here in France. We were greeted by 6 representatives from the Orthez Rotary Club including Victoria, an exchange student from San Francisco who had been staying in Orthez for the last 7 months.

They took us on a wonderful walking tour of their historic city. One of their members, Andre, guided us through town while providing interesting facts about the many historic sites along the way. Of significance was the bridge Le Pont-Vieux, known primarily in the area for the fact that protestant priests were thrown from the tower during the 1569 Battle of Orthez.

Also of significants were the historic castle towering over the town on a hillside with many of the original barrier walls still intact, a 13th century church, and an original door that has bullet holes from the Battle of Orthez in 1814. Orthez is also the birthplace of Gaston Plante who invented the car battery on April 22, 1834.

Following our walk through town, we toured the surrounding area visiting many historic churches and castles before heading to another delicious meal in one of the small villages.

In the afternoon we visited Domaine du Château de Laàs whose most recent inhabitants had owned many castles previously and brought a selection of furnishings and art from those historic sites. As they did not have any family, they willed the home away to the local historical society. Our tour guide explained the significance of many of the rooms and decor and then we headed out into the rain to see the extensive gardens that surrounded the castle.

We after Laas, we visited a local textile company and had the opportunity to purchase some items and as we were leaving. The very kind owner gave each of us a souvenir to take with us.

After taking a short break in the homes of some of the Rotarians we headed to the Lacq-Orthez Rotary meeting for another wonderful dinner and to give our presentation. Typically the Lacq-Orthez club meets twice a month on Mondays but because of Easter Monday and our visit they arranged a Friday night dinner. We were honored at the number of members who participated with such short notice. We then returned to Pau late that evening and parted way with our gracious Orthez hosts.

Oloron - Thursday, April 9th

Last night we stayed in the mountain town of Oloron. Today was a very special day spent in the Pyrenees mountains in and around the town of Aramits. Our Oloron hosts told us that in contrast to the large-scale industries we had already seen in Pau, they wanted to show us some small-scale businesses that sustain the regional way of life. First off, we entered the life of a sheep rancher and cheese maker. Early in the morning we drove through the spectacular French countryside, ending up a little dirt road on a working sheep cheese farm.

The owner of the farm Jean Francois Casaux, showed us all the workings of his cheese making operation, which is very grass-roots. He milks all the ewes twice a day, using machines similar to those we use for cows. He then chills and stirs the milk in a large vat, and then once the milk reaches the constistency of yogurt, transfers it into disk molds, and voila! Delicious cheese. We of course sampled his product with the regional white wine inside his historic farmhouse. It seems the Rotarians in this region are expert multi-taskers and M. Casaux is no exception, in addition to his farming obligations he is also president of a local bank!

After the tour Jean Francois whistled to his herding dog, and before we knew it, about 15 ewes were being herded past us! This is the region of the Basque culture, and the farmer used basque commands for his dog, which performed in precise movements. The sheep were herded into a field and then put through a variety of maneuvers.

Monsieur Casaux has won a number of awards for his herding demonstrations at the town competitions, and it was apparent why! We were all in awe at the display, it was fantastic. Click on the video below for your own sampling of this amazing event.

Our next industrial tour was with a trout farmer (Jean-Marc Peillen) in Licq, who also happened to be the mayor of his town (Licq-Atherey). The trout farm (La Truite des Torrents) was nestled in a valley about 15 kilometers from the Spanish border. The trout rearing system was an innovative yet simple sequence of ponds using diverted water from a river which flows down the adjacent mountainside. The water is diverted into two rearing pond systems, one for the hatchlings indoors, and one for older trout outside. The trout are all separated out according to size, often transferred by hand.

The amount of water a fish farmer is allowed to divert from its natural course depends on the size of the farming facilities and the classification of the river. A water rights permit must be purchased for the desired amount of water, but the water must be returned to the river downstream of the facilities. If the river classification does not allow for fish farming activities, an application to change the river classification must be submitted.
It was interesting to see how the whole operation runs on "borrowed" river flow with minimal effects to downstream processes. During the hatching stage of the fish lifecycle, river water goes through a series of filters which remove harmful gasses and leave the correct levels of oxygen to ensure a high survival rate of the juvenile trout. The hatchlings remain indoors for three months before being transferred to their outdoor home. From start to finish, the fish have a survival rate of about 60%, including those lost to predatory birds and other hungry critters.

After the trout farm we went to the La Cathedrale Ste-Marie Oloron which was built in in 1102 during the Romanesque period. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and is on the St. Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage route. We then gave a presentation to a small gathering of the Oloron Rotary club which was fun because everyone there had been showing us Oloron and Licq all day, and it felt like presenting to friends by that time!

Pau - Wednesday, April 8th

Our Pau hosts Pierre and Philippe took us on a gastronomical tour of the region today. We started at the Cave de Jurancon wine distributor, where we learned about their cooperative strategies of wine making. This company works with many local vineyards to produce their products, this ensures the growers can focus on their agriculture while the front office handles storage, bottling, marketing, and sales.

Of course we also got to sample their wares! Just down the road we stopped for a fromage (cheese) tasting, where several varieties of sharp French cheeses were sampled.

Every time we turned our backs our hosts bought us local products, and by the time we left the fromagerie we were laden with cheese and wine. We had expressed an interest in local cuisine, so for lunch Pierre and Philippe took us to a wonderful local restaurant where we tried Gourmande, a soupe made of local ham, cabbage, potatoes, and white beans. We enjoyed the rustic meal, and ate way too much! The region we are staying in is called Bayonne, and they are renown for their hams, so our next stop was the ham museum. We learned the local variety started when one of their nobles shot and wounded a wild boar, which then ran and died in a salt bog. When found some time later, it was perfectly preserved and delicious, and thus their particular curing process was born. We toured the museum, which covered everything from ancient pigs in mythology, to the three little pigs. As you may have guessed, the tour ended with a sampling.

The evening ended with a beautiful walkikng tour of Pau, where we took in all the wonderful architecture and history. We were treated to another regional meal which was fantastic, before waddling back to our hotel.

Pau - Tuesday, April 7th 2009

Tuesday started out with another white wine tasting tour at the Domaine du Cinquau winery (http://www.jurancon.com/sommaire/html/english/sommaire.html). They have a slightly larger winery than the one we toured Monday, but produce a very similar white wine that is paired with oysters, fois gras, or desserts. The proprieter, Patrick explained the whole operation to us, and described the way the machinery cleans the bottles, bottles the wine, and corks and pressurizes the bottle. The location has also in recent years become an event facility for weddings and conferences.

The highlight of the day was visiting one of the largest producers of Foie Gras, Euralis, along with a tour of their corn factory that is a 50/50 partnership with General Mills and Geant Vert (Green Giant). We shook hands with a giant Green Giant statue, and had an amazing tour of their sweet canned corn factory.

The tour guide showed us all the machinery for processing corn so that it is canned at precisely the moment it is ripest, and canned the same day it is picked. Even though it was not the harvest season while we were there, we still got to see some of the labeling machinery in operation as it processed thousands of cans per minute. We also learned that there is a minimum five day waiting period between canning and shipping, so that any unwanted bacteria in the can has time to reproduce and be detected. The unwanted bacteria is detected by a machine that checks each and every can for the proper vacuume pressure, since if bacteria are present they consume oxygen and alter the vacuume pressure inside.