European Elections 2019

Sunday 26th May is European Election Day

If you are now resident in France, hopefully, you registered to vote before March of this year. Check this government page for information on how to get on the Electoral Register - there might still be time! Everyone votes in the marie of their commune.

If you live in

• Poitou-Charente (e.g. Charente or Vienne), in 2014 you voted in the Western region electing 9 MEPs
• Limousin (e.g. Haute-Vienne), in 2014 you voted in the Massif central-Centre region who elect 5 MEPs
• Dordogne or further south, in 2014 you voted in the South-West region electing 10 MEPs

However, for 2019, there is now only one constituency - this is a change from 2014. French voters choose from the same list of candidates regardless of where they live. More details on French voting is available on this EU site (you will need to translate it or risk reading the UK or Irish versions instead).

Wikipedia has some explanatory information on the 2019 European Parliament election in France and summary details of what happened in 2014. The European Parliament has its own site too.

The Local offer a summary of what is going on this year and no doubt closer to election day local newspapers will be full of information on the candidates. You can follow official news of the election published by the Ministry of the Interior which will list all the candidates after 3rd May - the last day for registering as a candidate.

Cafe Laitgendaire

The Cafe Laitgendaire in Availle-Limouzine is open 7 days a week 10am-6pm

Find it at 6 Rue Principale, Availles Limouzine - its on the market square, what was previously the Tourist Information Office.

A terrific menu of snacks and drinks is on offer:

• homemade crepes, waffles and ice cream. 
• hot chocolate, coffees, teas
• cream teas
• ice cream sundaes
• loaded sandwiches, including a Ploughman's Platter

All their dairy products are made with fresh milk from their own herd of jersey cows on their nearby farm. The whole range of products can also be found round the corner in the village dairy shop Jersey Laitiere.

Their milk is LEGENDAIRY.

HOPE Vide Grenier

HOPE Association

The HOPE Association are hosting a Vide Grenier by their main shop between Confolens and Anzac-sur-Vienne.

Over 50 stalls expected

• book fair
• spring plants
• entertainment from Chris Kern
• refreshments and grub
• dog show

There may even be some hot-cross buns left over

Coriobona Gaulish Village

Coriobona open for Easter

The Gaulish village near to Esse will be open to visitors at 15:00 during the 2 week school-holidays over Easter

• Tuesday 16 - Saturday 20
• Tuesday 23 - Friday 26

The village is a reconstruction of a pre-Roman Lemovices (the Gallic people of the Limousin) settlement. Take care, the Romans have been known to attack the village without warning... 

Summer opening extends through most of July and all of August with occasional week-ends at other dates.

JEMA

Des Journées Européennes des Métiers d’Art

Or the "European Craft Days" - is intended to be a celebration of the skills and talents of local craft workers - throughout Europe. In France, the week-long event is promoted by JEMA.

For this year - 2019 - the JEMA website has a handy mapping tool that lets you search for specific events close to you; using this tool we can list:

• 16 events held throughout Charente
• 9 events held throughout Haute-Vienne (5 in Limoges itself)
• 20 events held throughout Vienne (nowhere in South Vienne sadly)

Events within about 40kms of Confolens include

• 16460 Bayers Mill: Exhibitions and demonstrations
• 16490 Alloue: Exhibitions and demonstrations
• 16420 Brigueuil: Ceramics - potter & sculptor
• 16230 Sainte-Colombe: Haute-Couture accessories
• 16110 La Rochefoucauld: Exhibitions and demonstrations
• 87330 Montemart: Enamelled volcanoes
• 87150 Oradour-sur-Vayres: Traditional wood-working
• 87310 Cognac-la-Forêt: Glass bead demonstrations

It would be a tall order to get round more than a few of these!
Check out the full list of events if there is a specific craft of interest to you.

First Annual English-speaking Meeting

The Touraine & Poitou part of Credit Agricole are hosting an event for local English-speaking entrepeneurs.

Thier first Annual English-speaking meeting will be held in the Val de Vienne circuit in Le Vigeant on

Friday 5th April 2019 at 5pm.

Places are limited so you should book your place. Follow the link on the bank's Facebook page or their Linked-In page (both sites may require a login).

Meeting agenda:

• Presentation of Crédit Agricole
• Preview of the new English-speaking banking and insurance
• Topical subjects
• "Setting up a business in France" presented by Robert Nemeshanyi from the Ginger Cat Brewery

Refreshments will be served after the meeting. Places are limited, so do not forget to book.

April Newsletter

The April newsletter is published and we launch our new Website

Newsletter

A slightly revised format of the Newsletter referencing various pages on our website for greater detail. We expect to improve the layout to make it more compact summarising content on the website.

The monthly newsletter will continue to be published to highlight specific events as they approach.

You can view the latest newsletter if you did not receive it.

Website Launched

In the latest Newsletter we reveal our new website!

A perennial problem with the monthly newsletter was that we could not add events after it had been issued. Perhaps worse was its publication date - at the start of each month - meant that for events occurring in the first 2 or 3 days of a month got very little exposure and at times could be reported after they had finished.

So our goal with the various calendars on the website is to keep rolling calendars - no longer synchronised to the start of a month!