here

To benefit the Village
Dans l’intérèt du Village
April 2010
President’s word
MH Comes of Age
As you can see our new Visitors’ Centre
is open. This service to English speakers
is the result of discussion with the mayor,
Mr. Yves Michel and his adjoints Mme.
Fabre de Roussac, and Mme. Demortier.
This is a major achievement since until now
all tourist information has been provided in
French... even though many visitors have
English as their first or second language.
We are strong advocates of the need to
preserve France’s wonderful language,
but the demands of commerce require
English... we also support the need to help
those who visit our lovely village to spend
their money here!
Let us hope that the economic situation
eases, and that people again feel able
to travel.Seasonal service providers are
dependent on conditions beyond their
control... we all hope for a busy summer.
When you make your holiday plans I
do hope that Marseillan will be high
on the list!
Patricia
Le mot de la Présidente
Comme vous pouvez le voir, notre local
d’information touristique vient d’ouvrir.
Ce service destiné au public anglophone est la suite de discussions avec
le Maire, Monsieur Yves Michel et ses
adjointes, Mme Fabre de Roussac et
Mme Demortier.
C’est une importante réalisation puisque
jusqu’ici les informations touristiques
étaient toutes données en français…
même si de nombreux vacanciers parlaient anglais en première ou deuxième
langue.
Nous sommes les garants de la nécessité de
préserver la « merveilleuse » langue française, cependant les demandes concernant
le commerce nécessitent l’anglais…
Nous soutenons aussi l’idée d’aider ceux
qui visitent notre beau village et qui viennent y dépenser leur argent !
Espérons que la situation économique
s’améliore et, que les gens veuillent encore voyager.
Les saisonniers sont à la merci de conditions indépendantes de leur volonté.
Nous escomptons tous un été actif et dynamique.
Lorsque vous planifierez vos prochaines
vacances d’été, j’espère que Marseillan fera partie de vos premières options.
Patricia.
Marseillan Historique’s Visitors’ Centre
Our Visitors’ Centre is open Tuesdays & Wednesdays 10.00 - 12.00.
Saturdays 10.00 - 12.00 & 14.30 - 16.00 Sundays 10.00 - 12.00.
Members will find:
*
Current literature on local events, sites to visit, and up-to-date village information.
*
Opportunities to exchange information and advice on any issue of concern.
*
A list of local enterprises with the opportunity to take up references with others who have used them.
*
Internet access, in English, with a QWERTY keyboard.
*
A Book eXchange of some 400 titles from which to select.
*
Filter coffee, English style, for those who just want to take the weight off their feet for a short while.
Notes
1.
A special Guest Membership will be available to holidaymakers, and people simply passing through.
2.
The centre, supported by the Mairie, is in no way part of the Marseillan Tourist Service.
The Future
Depending upon results it is hoped that the Centre will be able to stay open through the winter - at least on Tuesday mornings
(market day).
We also very much hope that it will be possible to host events such as exhibitions from time to time.
To benefit the Village
Bollards Gone!
The dreadful bollards that have plagued
everybody in the village centre are at last
gone!
Dans l’intérèt du Village
Roads & Regulations
There is great concern about road safety
- and quite right too ! But are the authorities taking things too far ?
We are experiencing ever more control
over drivers’ behaviour. Central reservations are appearing everywhere,
with vehicles forced into single lanes
with no chance to turn, nor to overtake.
Dead Bollard
No more tripping on them, no more car
damage because they can’t be seen from
the driver’s seat, no more pedestrians
popping out with no warning.
They have been replaced with sensible
fences, and there is an additional bonus:
two extra parking spaces.
It may provide safety, but it also creates
frustration. And that can lead to foolish
behaviour.
Crackdown
New measures to be introduced with
the aim of further reducing road deaths.
These will include a further 1,800 porta-
ble breath test kits, doubling radar speed
checks on stretches with a bad record and
requiring the police to carry out 100,000
drug tests (up from 63,500 last year).
Those testing positive at the roadside will
have to pay for the analysis that follows
automatically.
Bar owners are to be encouraged to have
breath tests available for their clients.
Maximum penalties are also being increased and the police are to have more
powers to put cars into pounds, and to
hold them for up to seven days.
Motorbikes, scooters and mopeds accounted for 28% of the road deaths in
2009 and they will become the focus of
special efforts to cut this figure.
In particular the tendancy of owners to
upgrade the power of their motors. In the
second year after purchase of a scooter or
moped it will have to undergo a Contrôle
Technique (MOT).
Travellers
New fences in the village centre
It is now a requirement that all communes
provide temporary accommodation for
travelling folk.
Excellent - except that some are taking
things to extremes.
Agde, for example, has changed a charming vineyard lane into a two lane highway,
for our convenience !
Last issue we alerted readers to the new
road signs that warn drivers of the danger posed by deer running loose in our
vineyards.
Actually we think that a new road sign
is indeed needed - as our suggestion on
the right.
Beware the Gitane smoker!
Deer/des cerfs
Habitat: grassland, forest, mountains &
moorland; most numerous on moorland.
Quality deer habitat includes a mixture
of trees, shrubs, grasses and other plants
such as fungi and sedges. Certain plants
within each of these categories benefit
deer more than others. Desirable plants
should be well interspersed throughout
an area, the whole area functions as deer
habitat.Some type of water source should
be available every mile or so. Enough
area with appropriate plants should be
available to support a viable population.
The most important aspect of deer habitat
is an adequate abundance and diversity of
forbs and woody plants. Forbs are softstemmed, broad-leaved, flowering plants
and include most flowering plants spe-
La fois dernière, nous avertissions nos
lecteurs de la mise en place d’un panneau de signalisation alertant les conducteurs du danger causé par des cerfs
errant dans nos vignes.
En fait, nous pensons qu’un panneau de
plus devrait être installé – comme nous
le suggérons ci-contre :
Attention au gitan fumeur !
cies. Of the plants eaten, forbs generally
are more digestible and have more protein
than woody plants and grasses. Legumes
are probably the most important family of
forbs in deer diets.
So one can see that within our locality we
should be actively aware of the danger
posed by these animals !
To benefit the Village
Dans l’intérèt du Village
Carrefour Market
Marseillan has lost a popular store, but
gained a better one.
Our very own Carrefour Market opened
on March 17 to a minimum of promotion. Not for the French the British Grand
Opening. No coupon offers, no celebrity.
Instead the store just quietly opened its
doors and got on with trade. Pragmatic
the French!
By all accounts the store was packed
throughout the day, and it has certainly
been busy since.
Not surprisingly it also has 24 hour fuel
supply (and for the HGV’s also) - and a
car wash. We wait to see what will open
in the other buildings under construction
Carrefour have adopted the Market brand
for their superstores - they have yet to
emulate Tesco with Metro sites, but they
have long been operating autoroute filling stations. Worth pulling in if there is
a choice since they sell at supermarket
prices, well below the usual autoroute
pricing.
The old store, incidentally, is lying
empty. There are many opinions as to
what store may open - but nobody actually knows what will come next. We bide
ourselves in patience.
Regional facts
The Rhone-Sète Canal
Connects the river Rhone with Sète and,
unlike the Canal du Midi, is an active
commercial waterway.
* It is 97km long.
* Carries 315,000 tonnes of mercha dise each year.
(Equivalent to 11,400 lorry loads.)
80million euros will be invested in maineanance in the five years to 2013.
Michelin Stars
Four regional restaurants have been given
Michelin stars. The nearest to us is La
Réserve Rimbaud in Montpellier.
Thus we now have four Michelin starred
restaurants reasonably close: Le Jardin des
Sens (2*) in Montpellier and L’Octopus &
L’Ambassade in Béziers.
Tourism
languedoc Roussillon now ranks fourth in
the tourism league. Only the Ile de France
(Paris!), Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur and
Rhône-Alpes are in front.
103 millions of nights were racked up in
Languedoc-Roussillon in 2009… up from
only 6 millions in 2004.
46,000 people are directly employed in
tourism… 6.8% of all salaried employment in the region.
These visitors to our region spent some
6.9 billion euros whilst they were here.
Elections
Georges Frêche has been re-elected as
President.
The Regional Assembly is now made up
of pro-status-quo 54.2%; change 26.43%
and Front National 19.38%.
It can be difficult to make a purchase!
Me: Je voudrais acheter un véhicule dans lequel je pourrais transporter un
fauteuil roulant électrique.
I should like to buy a vehicle in which to carry an electric wheelchair.
Dealer One:
Nous ne vendons pas de fauteuil roulant.
We don’t sell wheelchairs.
Dealer Two: Nous n’avons pas des fauteil.
We don’t have wheelchairs.
Dealer Three: Nous n’avons pas de voitures électriques.
We don’t have electric cars.
Snippits
Chimp to captain Davis Cup team
This announcement caused outrage across
middle England as no one could understand what outgoing coach and former
centre court pin-up David Lloyd had done
wrong, apart from lose to Lithuania.
In any case why does the British team
need a captain in the first place. They are
perfectly capable of losing to Lithuania
on their own.
In the end the chimp was never required
to don the team tracksuit and sit courtside
because animal rights activists argued
that this amounted to animal cruelty (not
dressing the chimp up - making it watch
the British team play).
Apparently there were further concerns
for the chimp’s freedom after a 30-minute practice session immediately revealed
that he was far better at tennis than any
of the team. Nature lovers argued that it
would only be a matter of time before
LTA officials coached the natural flair out
of his game.
Read more: http://www.mailonsunday.
co.uk/sport/article-1263064/THAT-WASTHE-SPORTING-WEEK
Feminine logic?
Wife:
Are you going to the kitchen
Husband: Yes.
Wife
Please switch on the heater in
the bedroom.
Did you see...
That, according to the BBC Text Service
Sky is to be forced to reduce the prices it
charged other broadcasters to draw from
Sky Sports One & Two ? Did you also
notice the price the BBC quoted as the
new figure ? It was £10.63!
They missed out p.p., shame!
Contact
President: Patricia Worsam
Secretary: Nicolas Ghorra
Treasurer: Mike Worsam
Translation: Laetitia Hadji
BP29, 34340 Marseillan,
Hérault, France.
+33 4 67 77 38 64
[email protected]
www.marseillanhistorique.info
European Union Quiz
There are 27 countries within the European Union (with others waiting to join).
How much do you know about them?
Test your knowledge (test your research skills) and win one of these Grand Prizes.
1.
Plateau of Coquilage for two at the Restaurant le Glacier.
2.
Meal for two at the Boulevard Restaurant.
3.
Lunch for two at the Delicatessen Restaurant.
4.
Meal for two at the Délices d’Oc Restaurant. 5.
Voucher for 20€ at Sancho Pizza.
To enter:
1.
Select 12 EU countries.
2.
Answer the questions about the chosen countries.
3.
Send your answer, with personal details to [email protected] before 19.00 on Friday, May 7.
Prize draw & presentation: 12.00, Sunday, May 9 at the Grill (by the Marianne)
Winners and answers will be displayed at MH’s Visitor Centre and placed on the website..
Austria
What is the Tiergarten Schönbrunn? ........................
Belgium
Over 800 kinds of what are made in Belgium? ........................
Bulgaria
Which sea is the eastern border? ........................
Cyprus
The highest point on the island is......? ........................
Czech rep Czech people are the world’s largest consumers of ...... ?
..........................
Denmark
Denmark has how many named islands?
..........................
Estonia
What is the currency?
Finland
Finalnd has how many inhabitants per km ?
..........................
France
When was La Marseillaise composed?
.........................
Germany
The first country to introduce Daylight Saving Time. When?
..........................
Greece
The Cretan lyra is a ...... ?
..........................
Hungary
What divides the country almost in half? ..........................
Ireland
An evening of Irish music and dancing is a...... ?
..........................
Italy
Has three active volcanos. Etna, Vesuvius and ......?
..........................
Latvia
Is famous for which type of gemstone?
..........................
Lithuania
The flag is yellow, green and ...... ?
..........................
..........................
2
Luxemburg What is the mother tongue? ..........................
Malta
..........................
The three Maltest islands are: Malta, Gozo and ...... ?
NetherlandsJenever, invented in the 16th century is today known as......?
..........................
Poland
Who is the only Nobel laureate in two different sciences?
..........................
Portugal
Has how many rivers ?
..........................
Romania
The country has ...... land boundaries ?
..........................
Spain
Is the Costa Brava north or south of the Costa Blanca?
..........................
Slovakia
Which pop artist is of Slovak descent?
..........................
Slovenia
The national flower is? ..........................
Sweden
Why would you visit the Nordstan?
..........................
UK
Great Britain is England, Scotland and ....... ?
...........................