November 2025

An uneventful October...

A few more beautiful days helped the area around our house in the Auvergne region to bloom again, and a few strawberries to ripen. But it will definitely be a year without raspberries or zucchini blossoms, our prolific delight of last summer. The last tomato plant is trying to capture every last ray of sunshine to complete this year's abundant harvest. As for the cosmos, they truly deserve the prize; I'm wondering if I shouldn't plant them throughout the entire rock garden, they're multiplying so rapidly!

We've barely left the tranquil Combrailles region this month; a mini-tour, two conferences, in St Gilles Croix de Vie and Royan; but we've hardly seen the sea, apart from the docks of La Rochelle where we had the pleasure of dining with our friend Jean-François Fountaine, former mayor of the city and founder of the Fountaine-Pajot company, which builds magnificent catamarans in series. He's even building one for his own use and plans to set sail for the Caribbean and Polynesia. Thank you to the many viewers who came to see our film about the Caribbean, superbly presented on the very large screens of the Cinémarine and Le Lido cinemas. Apologies to those who couldn't get in; both theaters were completely sold out.

A week in Paris, enough time to take a little stroll in the Albert Kahn, Albert Kahn gardens, to see also in an extraordinary cinema, the Pathé Palace (which we both wanted to discover, especially for its rooms with LED displays… no more projection booths!) the amusing film Nouvelle Vague, which tells the story of the birth of Chabrol's legendary film with Jean-Paul Belmondo "Breathless", and a beautiful silliness, the film by Bourdon and Elsa Zylberstein "It Was Better Tomorrow" (it's not Back to the Future!) and here I am back in Auvergne where Francette will join me in a few days.

Yesterday morning, a blanket of low-lying clouds over the Limagne plain gave the impression that the sea had risen all the way to our region. When will Chatelguyon finally get its marina? It's true, there almost was a marina here when, in 1967, the mayor asked me to draw up plans for a body of water with tourist facilities, which never materialized.

I don't know what the Paris Boat Show, which will take place at the end of November in Le Bourget, will be like; if you go, you'll find me from time to time at the Globe Sailor stand (perfect for a globetrotter).

In the meantime, I wish you a wonderful November.

Antoine