AMAZING PROPERTY FOR SALE
I was really sad when I heard some
good friends of mine were going to move away from Huelgoat,
but I know where they live now so they won't get rid of me
that easily!
If I'm telling you this it's because
they've left behind them a stunning property in the centre
of Huelgoat that they've completely renovated to a high
standard that you don't see everyday. It's just come onto
the market and you can visit their blog with stacks of
photos of this amazing building where it is said Gauguin
once stayed.
http://www.property-for-sale-brittany-france.blogspot.com/
Art exhibition centre
Have you visited ‘leK° art
contemporain Huelgoat’ yet? (Notice the word play with
K° and Huelgoat's Chaos!) which has
taken the place of the old primary school on the way out of
Place Aristide Briand in the village centre. There are
around 300 square metres of exhibiting space and that's just
what the artist Michel Guinot does along with the
contemporary artists he invites.
To find out more, visit the excellent
website!
GREAT EXHIBITION!
If you missed the recent exhibition by
the two excellent artists Tom Hickman and Guy Dennning you
can see their two completely different styles and some of
their work on their websites:
http://www.tomhickman.org.uk/
http://www.guydenning.org/
ACTIVITIES ON THE LAKE
If you went past the lake last summer,
you'll remember some new sit-on-top canoes for hire. In
fact, Canal Loisirs has kayaks, canoes, boats and bikes for
hire. And they're back for summer 2011, but this time from
the municipal campsite.
For more information or reservations,
you can contact them by mail,
contact@canal-loisirs.com
or by telephone on 06 58 48
85 79
or visit their site at
http://canalloisirs.com
LOCAL ARTIST : VANIMO : Embracing
nature
You can usually meet Louise Midgley at
her market stall in Huelgoat on a Thursday where she sells
her wicker baskets. But she has several strings to her bow.
She's also a ceramic artiste. You can discover her animal
creations at her workshop in Poullaouen, 5 minutes from
Huelgoat.
Lousie:'s workshop can be found at:
2 rue des Camélias, 29246 Poullaouen,
0298990353
louise.midgley@sfr.fr
Her website :
www.vanimo.jimdo.com
Art gallery and activities
Tim Bates and Amanda Bates recently
moved into the area and are about to open an Arts centre in
La Feuillée (5 mins from Huelgoat) where they will be
running art courses for adults and children as well as a
small gallery showing craft works from British and Breton
artists. They are opening on September 13th
and you can have a look at their website which is
currently being updated with course dates etc.
Visit their site at
http://artichautateliers.com/ in French and English!
Mumei Juku Dojo
Mumei Juku is a small
private martial arts dojo, located in Poulpry, Nr. Scrignac
(29).
The main art taught at
the dojo is Wado-Ryu karate. There are also lessons in Muso
Shinden Ryu Iai-do (drawing and cutting with a Japanese
sword) and Shinden Muso Ryu Jo-do (4ft. Stick against a
Japanese sword).
The instructor is Stephen
Chamberlain 5th Dan Wado-Ryu karate, who has been
training/studying Wado-Ryu for 35 years and is a senior
instructor with Shikukai Karate International. He is also a
3rd Dan in Iai-do and a 3rd Dan in Jo-do with the British
Kendo and European Kendo Federations.
For more information you
can contact Steve on 02 98 78 14 86 or e.mail:-
stephen.chamberlain@orange.fr
Visit his site
here or read
an article about Steve
here
You may have heard
that there's a tennis club in town.
The "Tennis de l'Arrée"
club offers training seesions with a coach for players from
6 to 77 years old (or more if you're interested) on
Wednesday evening in the local omnisports hall from 6pm to
9pm. The charge for an hour's lesson a week (term time only)
with French Federation of Tennis membership included is
165 euros a year payable in three installments (that's 3 x
55 euros cheques) for over tens. It's 120 euros a year for 6
to 10 year olds (also payable in three goes: that's three
cheques for 40 euros). The association also has a package
for those who don't want lessons but just want to play a few
matches together at 50 euros a year, with the all important
FFT membership included and unlimited access at the times
that have currently been agreed with the town hall and when
the sports hall is free. Around thirty people have already
shown an interest which is not a bad start. The first
lessons start on Wednesday 19th September. All are welcome
to the sports hall at 6pm. Gor more info phone
02.98.99.99.56, or 02.98.99.99.37 or 06.83.48.68.19 or even
02.98.99.75.99.! It should be noted that for 5-10 year-olds
this year the first 1000 new members in Finistère (yes, that
means you've got a chance!) will receive their first racket
free from the fédération départementale
Thanks to Yann for this
information.
Garden and Gîte
services
So you dreamt about that cute little
cottage in Brittany with the nice little garden and you
finally made the leap and bought it. You've spent some nice
holidays there but you always spend the first couple of days
mowing the lawn and weeding the flower beds while the rest
of the family are off having fun. So how about getting a
gardener in to make sure everything's ready for your
arrival? Well, Carol and Mike at nearby Loqueffret have
recently set up a gardening and gîte service for the
Huelgoat area which is already finding success with people
in such a situation. They can keep your garden tidy or even
your gîte. For more information about the services they
offer give them a ring on 02 98 26 43 19 (That's 00 33 2 98
26 43 19 from the UK) or send them an e-mail at
mike.lloyd@tiscali.fr
Translator, Interpreter, Teacher!
Perhaps it's time to have
a go at learning something new or maybe improve on something
you can already do... such as speaking French!
You probably realise the
best way to integrate in a foreign country is to speak the
language. Let's face it though, learning a language is quite
a difficult thing to do. However help is at hand!
Johann Maunet is
continuing his popular French and English classes. Lessons
can take place in the evening or the daytime according your
availability. All are welcome. You should give Johann a ring
to register as places are limited since the aim is to have
small personalised groups catering for the learner's level.
These lessons are just part of his
activities which include teaching in local primary schools
and working as a translator-interpretor:
For more info:
Phone. 06.15.85.78.28
You can also consult his
website at
http://jmtrad.freefronthost.com/ or e-mail him at
ymaunet@hotmail.com
Breton TV
Did you know fewer and fewer people
are watching Tv these days and that kids are spending more
time on the internet than in front of the box? Well, France
being anti-minority languages (it's the only country in
Europe to have signed the EU charter for regional langueges
and not put it into practice via national law!) Bretons are
making the most of the Net by creating Web TV sites in
Breton. You can check some of these out for example at
blog.gwagenn.tv
(mostly filmed reports by young people) ,
brezhoweb.com (which has
has weekly 2hr live reports called WebNoz and watched by up
to 2000 internautes) or
dizale.org (for great cartoons dubbed into Breton).
These sites all provide a French translation for most of
what is written there. Anyway, it's a great way to
experience some Breton culture without leaving the house!
At the moment there are plenty of reports on the Vieilles
Charrues music festival. Check it out!
