"On the road again..."

...a country and western song sung often by Willie Nelson and sparingly by Jim Schwobel. (That is probably the only time you will ever see those two names in the same sentence)

It is time to catch up on my travels in France.

I left Iceland on Sept. 13 and arrived in Paris that afternoon. I then stayed in the home of my friend Jo Sanchez and his wife Paulette – who live in a suburb of Paris. During that time, we played Petanque just about every afternoon with his club, played in two tournaments and I also bought a car to carry me through the rest of my journey in France. I call her "Fury" because she is a black 2002 Citroen C5 station wagon and tricked out with every option including leather interior, phone (I use my own) and GPS.  I'll sell the car at the end of my trip.

"Fury" - Giddiup!

 

On Oct. 10, I left on my driving adventure through France where I am managing to visit most of the major attractions relating to the game of Petanque, and along the way, discovering lots of other major attractions in France. 

The first night I stayed in a BnB in Tonnere, about 120 miles south of Paris, in a very old 3-story rock home only 100 ft. from the Bourgogne Canal. This is one of many canals in France that, starting in the 16^th century, were built for boat traffic that transported goods around France. There are over 3,000 miles of man-made canals in France (France is 2/3 the size of Texas) and my first encounter with one was when, in 1975, I lived near Toulouse and close to the Canal du Midi. This canal was a very important trade route because it connects the Atlantic Ocean (at Bordeaux) all the way across the southern end of France, and just north of the Pyrenees mountains, to the Mediterranean Sea. These canals are today populated with all kinds of live-aboard boats that people can buy or rent by themselves or travel on larger canal boats with other tourists. On several previous trips to France, I had concentrated on visiting canals, with the idea of perhaps some day buying a canal boat and traveling around France for a year or so. It is a very leisure and relaxing way to see the French countryside.

 

 

 Chablis, France - Yep, THAT Chablis.

The next morning, I drove about 250 miles to St. Bonnet du Chateau where I camped in the car that night. This is where the most famous Petanque boules (balls) are manufactured at the Obut factory. They have a great museum relating to this sport and a nice retail store where I somehow managed to avoid buying any more sets of Petanque boules (I have 6 sets in Austin and one set with me on this trip).

 
 

 

 

 
 

 

During the day, it began snowing for the first time this season in the middle of France and I got a late start on the road to my next destination. I ended up driving into the night, something I try to avoid here in France, and finally arrived in Mende where I checked into a nice 3-star hotel for a nice dinner of Muscat wine, Heineken beer, a sandwich, some pate and cheese - and a good night's sleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An early start the next morning took me 160 miles to Millau. This is where they hold the Petanque world championships every year in August. I stayed in a very comfortable campground for a couple of nights because I managed to find a group of local retirees playing Petanque and they invited me to play.

 

 

This is the World's tallest bridge in Millau, France.

I've taken photos at this same spot in 2006 and 2010.

 
 



 Photo taken in 2006.

Iceland revisited

I'm well into my travels in France (1 month now) but as I promised in an earlier blog, I wanted to share with you what I've learned about tectonic plates, in particular, the two significant plates that meet in Iceland. Try to stay awake.

As you will remember from high school geology, the earth's crust is a bunch of adjoining plates, much like the shell of a turtle. Unlike the turtle shell, these plates are in constant motion in all different directions. Most of the major earthquakes and volcanoes occur where these tectonic plates meet and each seam exhibits one of three types of motion.

Transform Slide slipping – where the plates grid past each other as we have in California. Friction causes pressure to build until there is a sudden slip or earthquake.

Convergent boundaries - occur when two plates move towards each other resulting in mountain ranges like the Andes in South America.

Divergent boundaries - are those that move apart, which is what you find in Iceland. What is most unique about Iceland is that it is the only place on earth where a divergent boundary is above sea level and thusly more easily observed.

The boundary, called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, passes from the southwest to the northeast corners of Iceland. The plate to the west is the North American Plate while the other is the European Plate – and these two plates are moving apart at the astonishingly rapid rate of 3 inches per year. "Astonishingly" is a relative geological term.

At one location in the southwest corner of Iceland, there is a very pronounced valley that clearly shows this line of separation. The valley is only 50 meters wide, maybe 10 meters deep and a half-mile long. A small footbridge has been built there and spans this gap and the two ends of the bridge are not permanently attached. In the middle of the bridge is a sign with a line showing the exact location of the two plates.

Because of this divergent movement, the earth's crust is thinner in Iceland which gives rise to lots of volcanoes and geysers in Iceland. In fact, there is a town in Iceland named "Geyser" which is the generic name used all over the world. This thin crust also means that thermal wells are easily accessed and the steam from those wells generates 90% of the country's electricity.

 

Most of the geology in Iceland is relatively new, quite jagged with little erosion except in the valleys where glaciers have eroded the terrain.  

Class dismissed.

Doublettes a la melee - What the hell is that?

OK, it wasn’t the finals at the 2013 Petanque World Championship in Montauban, France - but it was France and it was a petanque tournament...and I played in it.

Today, the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois Petanque Club held the second tournament during my stay with Jo Sanchez here in France, just south of Paris. It was a “doublettes a la melee” competition which I understood to mean that there would be a drawing for partners and you would change your partner every game – but in fact, you kept the same partner throughout the tournament. I really don’t like that format, not because my partner and I were eliminated (we won 1 and lost 2), but because as you can imagine, it really is the luck-of-the-draw that determines the best teams and ultimate finalists. Plus, this was an open (and free) tournament so all levels, novices to former champions, participated.

It was a random drawing among 60+ players and my partner was one of the 2 children participating in the tournament. Gaetan was a 12-year-old boy and his younger sister was the other child in the tournament. Their parents were also participating in the tournament and since we were eliminated earlier, I got to watch his mother play into the quarter-finals and his father play into the semi-finals. Gaetan was relatively new to the sport, however, he was a good tactician and we worked well as a team because we discussed tactics throughout the games. Our one win was against one of the best shooters in the club but alas, he was unlucky and drew a weak partner.

After the tournament, I visited with the entire family and had a very nice time with them. It was a pleasant afternoon filled with clacking boules, sunshine, perfect temperature and lots of French people laughing and talking while playing petanque.

Regards,

Jim Schwobel

 

My Petanque Tour de France – 2013

As someone who enjoys the French culture and the game of Petanque, I am living a dream. For the past week, I have been in France visiting Jo and Paulette Sanchez. Jo is a former Petanque champion of both France and Algeria and his wife, Paulette, is a most gracious hostess. Their home is a spacious, three-story house that Jo designed and built in 1967.

Jo is a retired electrician and is the best example of a Renaissance man that I know. He plays the harmonica, he is a prolific painter in watercolors and in addition to being a champion Petanque player, he is an excellent coach in the sport. He has a fantastic workshop in his home where he can fix anything.

During this past week, Jo and I have played Petanque every afternoon at his club, Club de Petanque de Sainte Genevieve des Bois, where I have received a most gracious welcome by everyone in the club. Yesterday, they even let me play in a tournament sanctioned by the French Federation of Petanque – which is just for French people. Jo talked to the officials and they let me play. Having my USA Federation of Petanque membership card also helped. I was the only foreigner in the tournament consisting of 80 two-man teams!

 

 

I probably don't have to tell you that we did not win the tournament (in spite of Jo's excellent shooting and my not-so-bad-for-an-American-in-France pointing). In fact, we lost the first two games of the double elimination tournament by the scores of 13-7 and 13-11. What I must tell you is that just participating in an event like this was one of the most memorable experiences in my life. To be surrounded by 160 Petanque players, most of whom have played this game since they were children, in a tournament of the iconic French sport was pure ecstasy.

I hope that all my friends in the Heart of Texas Petanque Club in Austin, Texas get to have an experience like this. 

Energy and Water in Iceland

I was in an Internet café and met a British grad student who was studying Hydrology and was working at an Iceland power plant during a year-long exchange program. He explained to me that Iceland has both water and electricity in abundance. 90% of their energy comes from thermal wells drilled 1,000 to 2,000 feet deep that bring super heated water to the surface. As the water comes to the surface, the pressure is reduced and the water turns to steam that drives turbines that generate electricity. Because of the high sulfur (and other chemicals) content, you cannot drink the excess water created by this process but they do use it in a heat-exchange process in other industrial applications.

Drinking water is extracted from shallower wells (generally 200 ft deep) that tap into the predominantly basalt rock – which is very porous and efficiently traps the 90+ inches of annual rain in much of the country.

This guy also explained that there was a complete lack of effort to conserve water or electricity. Everywhere you go, there are electric wall heaters going full blast, even in unoccupied rooms, buildings, etc.  Lights are on all night where they are not needed. Every small town has an outdoor heated swimming pool and hot tubs going full blast 24/7.

 
In contrast, solid waste recycling bins are located everywhere, are free and more widely used than in the USA.

I've included several photos of power generating stations located in the southwest part of Iceland where the two diverging tectonic plates are the thinnest and they don't have to drill so deep to get the hot water.

(Stay tuned for the lesson on "diverging tectonic plates")

Entertaining day in Iceland

Wow! What a great day. Most of my trip, so far, has been spent enjoying the geological features found in the vastness of Iceland. Today, I was fortunate to spend time with some Icelandic people enjoying some local customs.

 

It all started with a great night's sleep in a nice B-n-B. This morning, the owner told me about a local event happening today that few, if any, tourists know about.

Way back in the spring, all the sheep ranchers in Iceland herd their sheep up into the mountains where summer grass fattens them up and there is plenty of glacial water to drink. The ranchers in a local area will mix their sheep together because it would be impossible to keep the herds separate and it no doubt helps in cross-breeding among the herds. When winter comes, they all get together, saddle up their beautiful Icelandic horses (that's another story to come) and herd the sheep back into the warmer lowlands. The trip takes several days as the sheep travel 50+ miles.

When they arrive in the lowlands, they are herded to a place where the ranchers can then sort their sheep. This is done in a big round pen about 100 ft. in diameter - with a dozen or so smaller pens along the circumference. Each pen belongs to a different rancher. There is an entrance to the big pen that is used to get them into the middle then that gate is closed and the fun begins. Everyone starts grabbing sheep and looking at ear-tags for their own and wrestling them through the gates to their pens. It was particularly fun to watch the kids helping their family with this chore. Later, the sheep are loaded onto trucks and taken back to their respective ranches.

It is quite the social scene of the year as all the neighboring families gather in the big pen to visit. I stood in there with them and my feet were constantly trampled on by sheep and my pants smell of wet wool. 

 

All this started about 9:00 am and by about noon, they had filled the big pen 5 or 6 times with a total of about 6,000 sheep sorted into the separate pens. Did I mention that most of this activity is accompanied by drinking that began at 9:00 am! There was lots of canned beer being consumed but the majority of drinkers (the majority of adults in attendance) were drinking out of flasks and pint liquor bottles – from licorice-flavored vodka to some very fine cognac – and I had some of both. I was the only tourist there and when someone found out I was from Texas, there were lots of folks insisting that I try their favorite – so I did.

After the sheep sorting, most of the men gathered in the middle and sang one traditional Icelandic tune after another. I was surprised how good they sounded for being a bunch of drunk sheep herders but I later learned the men in Iceland are quite good singers as it is a rich part of their culture. Be sure to click on the video to hear/see some of the singing.

 

They were still singing a couple of hours later when I was sober enough to drive.

 

Reindeer in Iceland

REINDEER:

Reindeer are in Iceland, however, they are not indigenous. They were imported a long time ago by some of the original settlers in hopes of providing a good source of meat as there were no sheep here either. The problem with reindeer is that they migrate great distances because they need lots of grazing range. They simply could not convince the Icelanders to become nomads and follow them all over the place. So shortly after they were imported, they were let free. They have sustained a respectable population to the point where they are hunted in limited numbers through a national lottery that allows a fixed number of hunters to take a specific number of reindeer.

I was told that the hunting season is about to begin – and the reindeer know it because each year at this time, they go hide in the most remote valleys and hunters have a difficult time finding them.
 
I was lucky to see one and take some pictures of him. You will notice that he is shedding his velvet. He will shed his antlers, an annual occurrence, in the coming winter months when the mating season is over.