This French Life

Support from Alcoholics Anonymous in France

FOR many people the wines of France are one of the reasons for visiting and living in this wonderful country, writes the Alcoholics Anonymous France South West Intergroup.

But what if the dream starts to be tainted by an uncontrollable desire to drink more and more and you, or somebody you know, find that drinking alcohol is causing a problem?

Nobody likes to be classified as an alcoholic because the image of a down-and-out in a dirty raincoat sitting alone on a park bench, drinking from a bottle wrapped in brown paper is the one that is normally associated with alcoholism.

But it doesn’t have to have reached that stage: broken relationships, lost jobs, financial problems, losing your driving licence, blackouts and periods when you can’t remember what you did the night before, secret drinking and behaviour unacceptable to your friends and relations are all part of the downward spiral.

One of the members of Alcoholics Anonymous writes a cautionary tale, when ignorance is anything but bliss:

There was a time when I enjoyed a glass of wine or two with a meal or at the pub with friends. Then something changed. Due to a life event I discovered that a glass or two or three blocked out what I didn’t want to deal with emotionally, and it worked.

However, things progressed. I did not realise it but somehow along the way I had lost the choice of having a glass or two. That did not do the job and my drinking gradually escalated to the point where it became an absolute necessity to function.

Always having access to a supply became essential and still I did not realise that I had a problem. Of course I could control my drinking, if I really wanted to that is. I always had a strong will. So I tried to stop the downward spiral and to my great surprise I could not.

Fear, panic, self condemnation and loss of self-respect followed. Living both with and without my daily medication became a living hell.

What I had not realised was that I had an allergy to alcohol which condemned me to obsessively consume it, a progressive illness in fact.

However I did find the help I needed through the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. With their help I am now happy and sober because I accepted that for me alcohol is lethal.

If my story raises any doubts for you, or rings any alarm bells then get in touch with AA. You will not be judged because they know how hard it is to come to terms with the problem as they have all experienced it themselves.

Our websites are listed below and give details of most of the meetings conducted in English. Just turn up at one. You will be made most welcome.

The websites also give the contact e-mail addresses for each meeting. The telephone numbers listed on the websites might be private ones so you may need to try more than once – but don’t give up.

You have absolutely nothing to lose and a life with choices to regain, I promise you.

Websites
www.aafrancesud-ouest.com
www.aa-riviera.org
www.aa-europe.net
www.aaparis.org

Related: Alcoholics Anonymous in France there for 'dangerous' Christmas period

Festivals, film and plenty to discover in January

LOOKING for a bit of inspiration at the start of the new year, or just a different take on things, then check out some of the events taking place across France in January.

Paris Jazz Club Festival, 2 to 25 January
Check out this festival which brings together 16 jazz clubs in and around Paris for a special buy-one-get-one–free promotion for all concerts.

Les Coquecigrues, various locations in Brittany, 22 January to 25 March
A fabled bird that takes flight throughout Brittany, every Sunday, Les Coquecigrues puts on two brilliantly entertaining shows for children as well as a guided visit for all the family.

International Comic Strip Festival, Angoulême, Poitou-Charentes, 26 to 29 January
The French are big fans of comic strips (Bande Dessinée or BD as they are affectionately known in France) and this enormously popular festival is hosted every year in the city which is home to the Centre National de la Bande Dessinée et de l’Image.

Contemporary Art Market, Paris, 26 to 29 January
150 artists, painters and sculptors come together at the Halle Freyssinet in the 13th arrondissement to showcase their art.

International Short Film Festival, Clermont-Ferrand, 27 January to 4 February
French and foreign short films are showcased at this festival, which has become the most attended in France after Cannes. A simultaneous English translation of films will be provided by headphones.

Saint Vincent Tournante, Dijon, Burgundy, 28 and 29 January
In one of the most famous wine growing regions in the world, the Saint Vincent Tournante wine festival brings back the spirit and ritual of Saint Vincent, the patron saint of wine-growers with a religious service, numerous processions and plenty of wine-tasting opportunities.

EU makes employment options easier, a threatening Santa and more

OTHER stories from France include a croissant thief, Turkey unhappy with French parliament and surgeon who treated Kim Jong-il

EU unveils mobile workforce plans - BBC
The EU has announced plans to improve professional mobility in Europe, including a new electronic certificate intended to speed up job applications.

Bordeaux Father Christmas pulls gun on tree seller - The Guardian
French police arrest man for brandishing hunting rifle at nephew, who was also his boss, at Bordeaux Christmas market.

Croissant thief on the loose in France - The Telegraph
French police are on the hunt for a man in his forties who has held up a series of bakeries in Paris suburbs to steal croissants and other baked goods.

Turkey threatens France over stance on killing of Armenians by Ottomans - The Guardian
French parliament to debate proposal to prosecute people who deny mass killings were an act of genocide.

French neurosurgeon secretly treated Kim Jong-il - The Telegraph
A French neurosurgeon has confirmed that Kim Jong Il had a debilitating stroke in 2008, and described secretly treating the reclusive dictator while the North Korean public and world remained unaware of his condition.

Foreign currency charges to be made clearer

THE Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has secured agreement from banks and travel money providers to significantly improve the information on options available for consumers purchasing foreign currency in the UK or using credit and debit cards abroad.

Following a super-complaint from Consumer Focus, the OFT has found that charges for purchasing foreign currency and using cards overseas can be confusing and often not at all clear for consumers.

The OFT has engaged closely with the industry to tackle the problems it has identified and welcomes a raft of commitments made by banks and other providers, including:

• Agreement from Lloyds/HBOS, Barclays, RBS/Natwest, Santander and the Co-operative Bank to scrap charges for consumers using their debit cards to purchase foreign currency in the UK (typically between 1.5 and 2% of the amount being purchased).


• A joint agreement from the UK Cards Association and the British Bankers Association, on behalf of their members, that they will give clearer, more accessible information about their charges for using cards abroad, on websites, statements and through call centres.


• Lloyds/HBOS, HSBC, Co-operative Bank, Capital One, RBS/Natwest and American Express have agreed to display the actual charges incurred by customers for using cards abroad far more clearly on their monthly and annual statements.


• Many foreign currency businesses have agreed to review their marketing to make the various costs and conditions that apply clearer, particularly those applicable to '0% commission' deals.

The OFT's report found that, in 2010, people spent around £32 billion abroad (of which £27 billion was while on holiday), using both their debit and credit cards and foreign currency bought in the UK, resulting in an estimated revenue of £1.1 billion for travel money providers active in the UK.

The OFT welcomes these initiatives, and the effort invested by the UK Cards Association and the British Bankers Association in progressing these issues with their members.

"Companies should be earning profits by competing to provide the best value products and services, not through charges that are hard for customers to identify or interpret," said John Fingleton, OFT chief executive.

"We are very pleased that the travel money industry has agreed, following a OFT short investigation, to make these significant voluntary changes.

"We believe they will reduce confusion about the charges that apply when buying travel money in the UK or using cards overseas, and hope they will allow holidaymakers to be far better informed when making choices about how they spend abroad. This should drive greater competition in the UK travel money market."

See the full OFT response to the Consumer Focus super-complaint.

Strauss-Kahn's wife tops poll, cut work hours say Greens and more

PLUS Marine Le Pen attacks Sarkozy and the financial system, looking at the future of the euro and how Neanderthals built shelters.

Strauss-Kahn's wife wins French woman of the year poll - Reuters
Anne Sinclair, wife of the disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, is France's most popular woman, just ahead of new IMF chief Christine Lagarde and well ahead of French first lady Carla Bruni, according to an opinion poll released Monday.

Marine Le Pen: French turned into debt 'slaves' - BBC
Marine Le Pen, the new president of the French far-right National Front party, told Stephen Sackur that French leaders have betrayed their population by signing up to the EU and the euro, and that French people have become "slaves" to their debts.

Greens call for 32-hour week - The Connexion
The party’s national secretary, Jacques Archimbaud, said the debate on the 32-hour week was part of a vision for a new kind of society.

Why the euro turkey is well and truly stuffed - The Telegraph
"Those who had bet on a seasonal gift of salvation from this month’s Brussels summit have already lost their wager. With a gun to the head of monetary union, European ministers, in effect, invited bond markets to pull the trigger. Without a new mechanism for very large and permanent fiscal transfers – from the prudent to the profligate – the euro turkey is stuffed."

Neanderthals built homes with mammoth bones - The Telegraph
Neanderthals were not quite the primitive cavemen they are often portrayed to be – new research has revealed that they built homes out of mammoth bones.

Blog Stops: Festive Paris windows, meeting Chirac

A PICK of Christmas posts, plus keeping the home lights burning if the electricity goes off and meeting Jacques Chirac.

Twinkle and Tinsel: Christmas Displays in Paris - Vingt Paris
Boulevard Haussman is the main drag where all the action happens. Just look for the crowds of people and you'll know you're in the right place (the more people crowded in front of a window, the better the display).

Post office doesn’t like brown packaging paper - Le Franco Phoney
The man at the post office explained that brown paper packages were no longer acceptable. Cardboard boxes are now the way forward. He mentioned ripping and lost addresses and suggested I gaffa tape the entire package and rewrite the address details in a thick marker pen.

The last Christmas of the world - Berry Deep France
This year there is tangible misery about Christmas. At work we didn’t have a tree, simply because someone forgot or couldn’t be bothered to put one up.

Electric power cut? Suggestions to help deal with it - Deux-Sèvres Life
I received a plea for help after the storms last week (12/2011) from a couple who only moved to France at the beginning of 2011. With pouring rain and a flooded courtyard, their electrics had completely failed!

Chirac's disgrace, my slight distaste - Salut
Our paths crossed a couple of times, once when I was among British correspondents he perhaps unwisely invited to the Elysée before an official meet-the-Queen visit to the UK, and later at the New Year's drinks party he threw for the press. Some of the reporting of that first meeting was harsh, but his chief mistake was probably in thinking it could be otherwise. And I'll never forget the man from The Guardian describing the grandfatherly paunch spilling over his waistband.

Eurostar summer tickets for south of France

YOU can reach Provence with Eurostar on their direct weekly summer services to Avignon that starts on July 7 and runs until September 1, 2012.

Ticket sales for the route to the south of France open on 20 December, 2011, and are available from £109 return in standard class and £249 return in standard premier.

With a journey time of less than six hours from St Pancras International in London and Ashford International in Kent, the direct summer service operates on Saturday and is a favourite with travellers heading to the south of France.

If direct services are full, Eurostar offers connecting services all year round that arrive into Avignon TGV station, which is located just outside the town centre.

Tickets for the connecting services are available from £119 return in standard class and £239 return in standard premier.

Timetable (all times are local):
Outbound
St Pancras International 7.17am
Ashford International 7.55am
Avignon Centre 1.47pm

Inbound
Avignon Centre 4.27pm
Ashford International 8.37pm
St Pancras International 9.11pm

Tickets for the Avignon direct summer service and for connecting services all year round are available from www.eurostar.com.

Petition to block shale gas permit in south west France

THE fight continues to block exploratory work on shale gas deposits, or gaz de schiste, at locations across France.

Despite legislation being passed by the French government banning the use of 'fracking' techniques to extract the gas, research by drilling companies can still take place.

The team behind the Schiste Happens website are hoping people will sign a petition aimed at blocking the creation of a permit covering land in the south west of France (click thumbnail image to enlarge).

"The petition is calling for a rejection of the Permis Beaumont de Lomagne in the Lot, Dordogne and Tarn-et-Garonne, as well as the rescinding of all existing permits and a general tightening up of the law passed in July which only banned commercial hydro-fracking," writes Schiste Happens.

"It still allowed companies to go ahead and get the gas out if they could do so without hydro fracking. It also allowed for experimental fracking for research purposes. A cynic may interpret that as using fracking to find a new way of fracking which is not called fracking...

"But this misses a critical issue which is that while the prospect of 'easy' energy is dangled in front of oil companies and governments, research and development into alternative and renewable sources will be greatly reduced. Also the drive to reduce the use of all energy derived from carbon based fuels will also slow down.

"If you are in any doubt about this, witness Canada's withdrawal from the Kyoto agreement yesterday on the grounds that they could not reduce their consumption and withdrawal would mean they could not be fined for missing their target - brilliant! Oh yes, and they have massive reserves of shale gas.

"Petitions in France work. They were in no small part responsible for July's law but they need to get to 100,000 (or so) before they have any effect. So far there are fewer than 600 signatures on this new petition. Let's see if we can get that into the thousands before the end of the week."

Sign the petition now.

(After you sign the petition you will get an email from Petitions24.net asking you to confirm that you are the person you say you are. Just click the COMFIRMER link in the email.)

Related:
Total continues shale gas studies in south of France
Fighting shale gas plans in the Lot

Tips for your first yoga class in France

GOING to a new yoga class in France can be daunting, but with a few familiar words you can soon make a start, writes Carol Miers.

If you are interested in finding a class, ask at your local mairie, visit the tourist office, look in the local paper and read the notices pinned up on the sports hall and salle de fête notice boards.

You can also search online, don't worry yoga is just yoga in French or in English.

In class although it's usually possible to stand next to someone and follow their movements, unless you are told to close your eyes, knowing a few words can make it easier.

So you can practice a few yoga movements while saying the French phrases below:

• Chat-Vache à quatre pattes - Cat-cow pose on all fours
• Assis sur les talons - Sit on your heels
• Levant les deux bras au-dessus de la tête - Lift your arms over your head
• Debout - Standing
• Inspirez/expirez - Inhale/exhale
• Accrochez les doigts - Interlace your fingers
• Faites les cercles avec la tête - Make circles with your head
• Allongez-vous sur le dos/ventre - Lie on your back/stomach
• Fermez les deux poings - make fists with your hands
• Levez les jambes vers le ciel - Lift your legs towards the ceiling (for example in shoulder stand)
• Penchez-vous vers l'avant - Bend forwards
• Assis les jambes tendues devant - Sit with the legs straight out in front
• Accélérez - Go faster
• Attrapez fermement le gros orteil de chaque pied - Grip the big toe of each foot
• Accroupissez-vous - Crouch down
• Gardez la colonne droite - Keep the back straight
• Expirez en vous penchant vers l'avant - Exhale as you bend forwards

And some individual parts of the body:

• le pouce - the thumb
• le menton - the chin
• le gros orteil - the big toe
• l'oncle - nail
• les sourcils - eyebrows

Carol Miers holds Kundalini yoga classes in Villefranche du Perigord, Dordogne and qualified to teach Kundalini yoga with the Amrit Nam Sarovar school in France (KRI Level 2).

What's on in the mountains of France this winter

HERE is a quick look ahead to what's on in the mountains of France for the early months of 2012, pointing out some of the shows and festivals that may appeal.

Full Moon Evening, Les 2 Alpes, 9 Janaury
The ultimate night skiing experience. Ski on the glacier until sunset, then head downhill in the moonlight from the summits to the ski station.

The evening is rounded off with a mountain dinner at altitude (3,200m) with music. Skiers and non skiers are welcome, so all the family can enjoy a full moon evening on Les 2 Alpes glacier. www.les2alpes.com

The Grand Odyssey, Maurienne Valley, 11 to 13 January
The famous course runs through the Diamond Zone and the resorts of La Belle Montagne, the biggest dog-sled race in the world in which, 'man and animal move in perfect harmony in the wilderness'.

The race runs through the Savoy region over 800km and climbs up to 25,000m of height difference. www.lessaisies.com

Salsa en la Montana, Saint Lary, The Pyrénées, 13 to 15 January
Free salsa sessions in the snow. A weekend of fun and frolics with DJ sets, sledging and copious amounts of the traditional tartiflette. www.saintlary.com

The first French Ice-Climbing Competition, Champagny en Vanoise, La Plagne, 2 and 4 February
Taking place on an ice tower, competitors will climb as high as they possibly can on a wall of ice which gets steadily more and more difficult towards the top. With only six to 12 minutes to climb, the winner will be the one who gets to the highest heights. www.la-plagne.com

French and European Skicross Cup, Val Thorens, 9 to 11 February
With the sport’s recent accession to the Olympic status, the Skicross Cup is a ski competition in which a group of skiers (usually four) start simultaneously on top of an inclined course with jumps and woops, then race to reach the finish line first.
www.valthorens.com

Nordic festival la vallée du Haut Giffre, 12 February
The resorts of Morillon, Samoëns, Sixt-Fer à Cheval and Verchaix rally together to reveal Nordic sports, but also to promote an exceptional area dedicated to the world of Nordic skiing: la vallée du Haut Giffre.

The Nordic festival offers a whole day of play and festivities to discover free of charge the joys of Nordic skiing, in the Haut Giffre valley: cross country skiing, ski Joëring with dogs or horses, biathlon- with rifles, Nordic-Walking, snow-shoeing, dog-sledding for the youngsters and learn about Nordic equipment adapted for handicapped people. A prime opportunity to be introduced to snow sports. www.festinordic-hautgiffre.com

More events and festivals taking place in the mountains of France.