Albuga Reporting

All the reports on www.albuga.info

The National Museum of Prehistory, Bordeaux Anthropological Laboratory and the Regional Archaeological Organisation are to begin excavation work in the neolithic sanctuary discovered last autumn by Eric Castang and Jean-Michel Degeix, members of the G3S caving club. The latter are to participate in this thrilling protohistoric survey.

A joint team of French and American experts are to determine if the site was used for burials. Or was it a primitive refrigerator for Neanderthal Man?

The village of Saint-Geyrac, north of Rouffignac, spent a weekend living as Neolithic Man did, 8,000 years ago — taming fire, learning to work bronze, and in-between devouring a 100%-archeology-compatible and simply delicious banquet worthy of Emperor Charlemagne.

A now retired horticulturist but nonetheless still very active "gardener of memories", Norbert Marty reveals to us the very best of his investigation into the history of Le Bugue, the pearl of the Périgord Noir. He begins by explaining to us what, according to him, is the real etymology of the famous "AL BUGA".

A fashion model in the Dordogne in the 1950s, Micheline Garrigue and her husband Jacques ran the Hôtel de Paris in Le Bugue before going off to America. Back home, she recalls…

Rather than piling on the insecticides, the whole food solution developed at Mauzens-Miremont is to introduce "good" insects to fight the baddies.

On Saturday 17 June 2006 a magnificent ceramic plaque was unveiled on Le Bugue’s covered market place. It represents the edict that King Philippe V Le Long (“the damned king”) issued in 1319, proclaiming that for evermore Tuesday was to be market day in Le Bugue. See if you can spot the hidden messages and funny bits added here and there!

In August 2005, Le Bugue's "Grand'Rue", once the village high street but now largely ignored in favour of the new main street, was the venue for an open-air exhibition by numerous artists.

The "Pays de l'Homme", on the banks of the Vézère and the Dordogne.

This year the Félibrée sent a thrill through Dordogne and Gironde, decking both Port-Sainte-Foy and Sainte-Foy-La-Grande with beautiful flowers. But what exactly does “Félibrée” mean? Behind the folklore, the soul of the Occitan people sparkles and glitters.

The third Language Forum was organized by “L'Arbre à Palabres”, an association based in Le Bugue whose members, all bitten by the travel bug, dearly believe in the notion of sharing. The event, quite simply, gave each and everyone the chance to air their views, thus adding their own personal touch to the amazing concert of the countless languages of mankind.

To the music of the brass bands and the visiting folk music groups, the 2006 Saint-Louis Festival came up to everyone’s expectations and embodied the joie de vivre of the Occitan Périgord people, firmly attached to their merry country customs.

On this exceptional Sunday, Saint-Sulpice church was literally packed to witness a pastoral transition : Father Gérard Blanc taking over from Father Bernard Lambert and Father Julien Charrier as the new priest of the parish of Saint-Martin-sur-Vézère.

Gabrielle Bets, née Loste, aged 92, is a real character and still young at heart. She was born in Le Bugue in 1914 and she tells us of the time she worked at the château de Saint-Cirq and at the Cro-Magnon Hotel.

The annular eclipse on 3 October 2005 brought Marguerite Loste out in some unusual spectacles. At 79, she was still cutting her own firewood. Meeting with a fine locally-grown flower.

Sylviane Pouchot is a primary-school teacher who was born in Le Bugue. Something of an artist as well, she introduces us to her fascinating creature: "Sad Bear", a vigorous stuffed teddy who is the hero of a modern fable full of lessons for us all.

Murielle Castaing, voted Miss Périgord 2005, was born In Sigoulès amongst the Bergerac vineyards. She tells us of her childhood and her cherished dreams.

Ever since the seventies hearts have been beating to the rhythm of their “temps forts” (the point at which the action and the emotions reach a climax). The itinerary of a Périgord tribe that is understood the world over.

Special audience features: cheeks with traces of lipstick on them and happy smiles: on this market you pay, for everything from humour to tenderness and poetry, in kisses.

It was literally a state of frenzy at Le Bugue’s music festival this year with the wonderfully wild “Guinch’Pepettes” singers at the Café de l’Union and a jazz concert on the Place des Ors with Charlie Miller, trumpet player from New Orleans His presence showed just how strong the bonds are between Le Bugue and Louisiana in the aftermath of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Meet the man behind the illustrations for « Jacquou le Croquant » - the man who gave us his vision of Eugène Le Roy's famous revolutionary character, Jacquou (the ringleader of the peasant uprising). Come and discover a multitude of hitherto unpublished drawings and sketches.

In summer 2006 Le Bugue’s marketplace housed the works of Julien Saraben. The man who illustrated “Jacquou le Croquant” was also a wonderful art teacher who none of his pupils has forgotten.

The incredible adventure of a village club, the oldest one in Dordogne, with its summits of fame in the year 2000 thanks to a fabulously united team. An epic journey into Le Bugue rugby club's past.

The Le Bugue Athletic Club made a spectacular come-back in spring 2006 and won access to the “Féderale 3”. As in the past, the key to success lay in the remarkable alchemy of a bunch of chums. The proof of the pudding: their quarter-final win over Capestang in the “France Honneur” Championship June 4, 2006 in Grenade. A red-letter day if ever there was one.

Le Bugue v Lectoure on the field at Fumel in the semi-final of the “France Honneur” Championship was indeed a rugby match to be remembered, gripping and closely fought, with two remarkable tries on each side... but, it was Lectoure that eventually pulled it off 16-13.

An army of Lilliputians attacking the dizzy curves of Michel Albié’s circuit. All the local riders are on www.albuga.info.

Former champions, keen as ever, incorrigible collectors… and all of them out for a “brum, brumming” good time! See all the national competitors on www.albuga.info.

Rugby, Fédérale 3. Le Bugue v Tulle: 21-3. 17 September 2006.

Rugby, Fédérale 3. Terrasson v Le Bugue : 3-21. 24 September 2006.

Boggy ground and determined bikers on Bernard Mazet’s motocross track. A spectacular performance by the riders who battled their way through the mud to pull off this round of the French Championship.

Provençal poets, come sing hand in hand
In the age-old idiom of our Occitan land!
The language of kinship -
A blessing from God -
Uniting the family,
The symbol of brotherhood.
Therein lie our roots and that unyielding thread
Secures the nest in its sweet leafy bed.

Less of a bother than logs, wood granules – like graded wood shavings which are called “plaquettes” – can easily be used with press-button heating systems. Discover the pioneering work done in Dordogne by the farmers at the GRA.SA.SA., a cooperative that has been established in Ste Sabine Born since 1969.

A scene from another age – the swearing in of two knights – took place this summer beneath the towering walls of Paunat Abbey. A singularly strange ceremony which we were authorized to film in the aroma of Paunat’s far-famed cauldron. “Les haricots couenne de Paunat” are the carefully kept secret of an age-old recipe of slow-cooked white beans and pork rind.

« Mummy, Today, you’re 80. You were born on 4 November, 1926 at the Moulin Blanc in Rouffignac. At the age of 12 you left school and you no longer had to walk 4 kilometres through the woods each day. You left school to look after your brothers and sisters because you were the eldest child… »

Rugby, « Fédérale 3 ». Le Bugue 25 – Bergerac 13. 10 December 2006. A terrific local derby - with the two sides going all out to offer the jam-packed stand a fine performance. A victory for rugby in general and for the Le Bugue players, who were determined to remain unbeaten right up to the Christmas break. Enjoy all the highlights of the match and the celebrations that followed in our reports.

The fortunes and misfortunes of a make-believe rugby club, the pride and joy of a purely fictitious village. Any resemblance to any village club (in the Périgord, for example) is totally accidental. What’s more, there’s no proof whatsoever that Daniel Chavaroche and Jean Bonnefon ever even played the game in Saint-Cyprien, Le Bugue ot Montignac in their young days.

A child from Le Bugue who became an African viceroy, Jean Batailler travelled the length and breadth of the Périgord and Côte d’Ivoire in his job as a land surveyor. He enthusiastically built up an extensive collection of photographs and artworks. One can venture to say that, in his own way, he has become a man of wisdom. He has revealed to us a big secret: by the cantou or in the shade of an African hut one finds exactly the same warmth and warm-heartedness. Take a look at a few of his ethnographic postcards; they all go to show that men and women all over the world are tender at heart.

Marylène Patou-Mathis has been treading on the heels of Neanderthal Man for the past 20 years. Her sole concern is their rehabilitation so they will no longer be regarded as second-rate beings. In her job as a zooarchaeologist, she carefully examines remains that apparently hold little interest for her fellow archaeologists: the bones of animals (mammoths, reindeer, bison, cave-dwelling lions) that have much to tell us about Neanderthal’s hunting strategies and his refined manner of living.

150 years ago a very old human cranium was discovered: the skull of Neanderthal Man. It was born a second time, so to speak… but in a nineteenth century strictly catholic context when no-one would have dreamt of querying the fact that man was a creation of God. These men from our ancient past with their ape-like faces were to give our family tree a mighty shake – and in a state of frenzy we went climbing up the branches of our tree to those inconceivable times long past. Prehistory was born, but the “forceps delivery” was a painful one. A century later, Jean-Louis Heim, an anthropologist in charge of the study of fossil man specimens, set out to restore them, with their bones all back together, to their rightful place in our history books. He meticulously rebuilt the skull of the man from la Chapelle-aux-Saints and studied, amongst others, the seven Neanderthal sepulchres at La Ferrassie.

At Lascaux it is as if Paleolithic man were holding out his hand to us before his traces disappeared forever beneath the surface of the earth. However, one thing is for sure: under the sediment that keeps building up and up lie more masterpieces of artwork which are getting hidden away that bit more each day.

Norbert Aujoulat, the eminent cave art expert, tells us the conclusion he has reached after years of meticulous study in Lascaux Cave: the Sistine Chapel by no means advocates chastity! There on the walls before our eyes it’s all about roaring and rutting and lust for life. His findings have been revealed in a beautiful book, a sort of “goodbye to Lascaux”, entitled “LASCAUX le geste, l’espace et le temps” published by “Editions du Seuil”. He has allowed us to show you a few pictures from it and to briefly outline his scientific and philosophical approach to the mysteries of this sanctuary of prehistory in the Périgord Noir.

In each and every one of us lie unbelievable stores of strength and vitality. Rugby teaches children to channel this energy in the right direction - to attain physical maturity and well-being and develop a healthy mind. Take a look at the 1,300 young players in competition at the second Alexandre Selves / Christophe Côme Tournament in Le Bugue on April 28, 2007; they are the picture of health and happiness!

Rugby, « Fédérale 3 » French Championship Semi-Final. Le Bugue 23 – Mugron 6. June 3, 2007. There was Yassine Ouali’s try in the 81st minute of play, coming just when it was needed… and there was Maxime Chalon’s whirlwind try in the last minute of extra time, literally a coup de grâce. Both will go down in the history of French rugby… they shot the village of Le Bugue up into the “Fédérale 3” French Championship Final – for the first time ever!

The great film of the great Le Bugue rugby team victory in the French “Fédérale 3” Championship: “Les Chevaliers d’Albuga à la Conquête du Bouclier”, is to be shown on Thursday, August 2 at 10 p.m. before its release for the general public. This exceptional open-air cinema event is a gift from the village of Le Bugue. Refreshments and barbecued meats will be available from 8 p.m. till nightfall in an ideal setting on the banks of the Vézère where the great film will be projected onto a giant screen. Shout and cheer to your heart’s content! It’s going to be a wild and wonderful party in the company of our fabulous champions who have thrilled us throughout this absolutely unforgettable season and in an epic final with stunning acts of bravery and courage! Remarkable rugby and a must-see movie !

Built as a complement to the decorated sites and the museums in the Périgord, for the past 20 years Préhisto Parc has been offering us scenes depicting prehistoric man’s daily life; these scenes have been reconstructed thanks to the enlightening information provided by Professor Jean-Louis Heim, an anthropologist at the Muséum Naturelle in Paris and an expert on fossilized man. On the occasion of the park’s 20th anniversary a tribute was paid to the Professor for his humanism and his vision of indivisible humanity perpetually on the move.

On 2 August, Le Bugue rolled an immense 5m x 6m screen down from the balcony of the town hall to prove how immensely proud the whole village is of its champions, the ASBB players, winners of the French Fédérale 3 Rugby Championship. Sophie Cattoire’s film recounting their heroic match and also the third half: the fans rushing onto the field to hug and kiss the champions, the celebrations in the changing rooms, the baptism of the shield with champagne, the journey back to Le Bugue and the party on the covered marketplace, gave everyone the chance to relive those unforgettable moments with the same enjoyment. The film will be released in September on DVD and there will be some “extra-specials”: the champions’ “bodega” in Le Bugue on 7 July, the presentation of the shield on the balcony of the town hall in an atmosphere of sheer bliss and more surprises which we’re keeping secret! Towards the end of September another giant-screen showing of the film is being organized at the Cinéma Lux in Le Buisson. Once the date is fixed you will be the first to hear.

There are few of them left to recall what happened in the Périgord in 1939 at the start of World War II. Forced to flee from their homeland, thousands of Alsatians arrived here with nothing more than a suitcase, seeking safety far from the combat zone. Paulette Bousquet was just 4 years old at the time and she saw them arriving in her little village of La Vergnolle in the commune of Campagne. She tells us how kind and compassionate the Périgordin country folk and the Alsatian refugees proved to be.

After a four-year break « Le Bugue Toucouleur » are back to work and they held their 16th exhibition at the Porte de la Vézère in Le Bugue at the end of last summer. The organizers and members of the Association “Oeuvrer pour Le Bugue” are once more in high spirits after being requested to withdraw from their activities on 1 April 2007.

On October 13, 2007, at the Clos l'Envège in Monbazillac, Patrick Montfort received the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur Cross from the hands of the prefect of the Dordogne, Jean-Francois Taillec. He was being rewarded for the time and energy spent promoting the wines of Bergerac, of which “Julien de Savignac” has been the finest representative for the past 26 years. But who actually is - or was - this famous Julien? To find out a bit about him we went up on top of La Ferrassie rock.

Be the first to see the fabulous “Femm'en Folies” and our very own Périgord Chippendales, “les Mappas” in a stunning performance, prior to their world tour, at “Les Ecuries de la Passée” in Saint-Cyprien on 21 December 2007

Do you have to be dead to make a name for yourself? Do you have to be a rusty old skeleton before people start taking an interest in you? Gaëlle Chancerel's answer to that question was « most certainly not! » when she plunged headlong into the prodigious mingle-mangle of Juan Frutos's studio during her long Caribbean stay not far from the Mexican artist's coastal home. The results of her painstaking, archaeology-style exploration have been published in a beautiful book revealing in minute detail the artist's imaginative world. Gaëlle Chancerel now works in the Périgord; Juan Frutos's art is presently on show at La Visitation in Périgueux.

In Le Bugue's old tax office, opposite the primary school in rue de la Boétie, when the "braderie" (clearance sale) is on it's the very best place to go for second-hand clothes for the whole family... and you'll get the warmest of welcomes from the devoted voluntary workers who collect and redistribute all the clothing. The Red Cross needs you - to continue helping people, quickly, simply and with the same efficiency.

Forced to leave Paris during the 1940 « Exode » (* the flight of civilians from the north of France during the German invasion), the year that Lascaux was discovered, Alain Roussot found refuge beside Primitive Man in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. The famous Neanderthal giant is often mistaken for a Cro-Magnon but Alain Roussot never fell into that trap and he has remained a keen and privileged observer of the adventure of the science of prehistory in the Périgord. By a stroke of luck he was to wend his way alongside Abbé Breuil, Abbé Glory and also Chanoine Jean Bouyssonie and together they amassed a “divine” collection of records.

Nobody can forget her video-clip “Save the last dance for me”, choreographed by Edouard Lock - with beautiful Louise Lecavalier - where she danced with her hands and with that mischievous look in her eyes… On Saturday, June 14, Carole Laure, the beautiful Québécoise who played Solange in Bertrand Blier’s film “Préparez vos mouchoirs”, was in Le Buisson-de-Cadouin where she had a bite to eat with her admirers, out in great numbers for the preview of her latest film “La Capture” which was a roaring success.

Right… now you can tell everyone: Le Bugue will be crossing swords with Fédérale 1 at the start of the new season. It’s a first… it’s unbelievable… but there you are! The players have fought it out and have reaped the rewards… and their sponsors will be one hundred per cent behind them in their next adventure.