Ganaderia de Buros, a passion for wild cows

How on earth can cow farming be anything exciting, you wonder. But I'm not talking about the idle milk cows now, bred to be calm and obedient. I am talking about the fierce cows of the corrida race that you use in the course landaise competitions. These ones look a bit like our cows, but they have a quite different temper!

Course landaise is a living tradition with roots from the Medieval times. A course landaise display belongs to the permanent elements of any village festival in the region. It is a mixture of sport and show, where a man provocates a cow to attack, only to jump to the side at the very last moment. Or jump over the cow, in one of the predefined jumps. Many cows participate for tens of years and get more dangerous for every year, as they learn about human behaviour.. read more about when I saw a competition of  course landaise here.

These wild cows live in herds with a strong hierarchy. The bulls defy each other to define who the leader bull is. They all define themselves against the other members of the herd, so they are born with an instinct to define a territory and protect it. The female cows have a similar behaviour, but act a bit differently. Her instinct is more based on the protection of her babies, so she will not give up. She will continue attacking relentlessly - while a male bull will rather try to go away, admit he is beaten. This is the reason to use the cows instead of the bulls. They never give up.

A cow that enters an arena will attack instantly. The space is too small for her to accept anybody else. Have a look at the video and you will start understanding what it is all about. The music is lacking, but the jumps are spectacular!

The Ganaderia de Buros history started with his grand grandfather, Joseph. He had a small farm but worked for the childless owner of a huge farm. Joseph inherited the 100 ha farm in 1890.  He built the Buros castle and expanded the propriety to over 2000 ha. Jean was born at the castle, but his share, after the double heritage splits, were 130 ha. He also got a rich family history, linked to the course landaise.

I was fifteen the first time I stood in front of an attacking cow, he says. Here it is like a manhood ritual to do it, at least once. But for me it was the beginning of a passion and a ten year career with course landaise competitions. A knee damage forced me to quit, but I still miss the adrenaline kick out of meeting such a wild and unpredictable animal. Today I will do an exceptional show, but in general I concentrate on the breeding.

The Buros castle, where Jean was born. Today it is owned by a Dutch couple that has made an excellent hotel and restaurant there.

Jean demonstrates how to feint a jump with one foot to one side, bring it back and turn your back against the cow.

A special bike with cow horns, to give an inkling of idea of what it feels like to be in front of an attacking cow. Like a cow, Jean can turn the wheel at the very last moment...

A bull and cows in front of the Buros castle

My seven year old discovers surfing

Clara was lucky enough to start her surfing career last summer with Christophe Reinhardt, a surf legend. He took her on a surf trip on top of his shoulders - pretty impressive, isn't it! He then explained to the children how to use the tandem board with him, an excellent way to right away give them a feeling for what surfing is about. Then they got their own surf boards and started trying to surf on their own. I was in the water with my own problems, but I have been told that Clara surprised everybody by standing up on the board for a really long while...

The next time we went to the same place, the Erretegia beach in Bidart, but with Johanna, my Swedish surf instructor friend. Clara continued training and improving. I enjoyed this incredibly beautiful beach with Bjorn.

The third time was with her ten year old twin friends Julie and Pauline. Look at how small Clara looks compared to the waves... This time we were close to home, at a beach called Lette Blanche which is situated between Moliets and Saint Girons in Landes.

At the time of these photos, Clara was 7,5 years old. There are surf schools at practically every beach, if you are interested in surfing for you or your children, check with the tourist office. They usually accept children from six years, if they can swim. The beginner boards are made of mousse, soft and light.

Joyce Jonathan sings Pas besoin de toi

Something soft and sweet for a Friday morning. Joyce was discovered by MyMajorCompany. I find it extremely interesting that there are other ways out for young artists than the traditional labels... vive Internet!

At MyMajorCompany the internet users invest money in the artists they believe in. She made it thanks to 486 persons. The biggest bet was around 1500 euros! Last year another artist from MyMajorCompany made a huge success in France, Grégoire - but he is not among my favourites...



Pas besoin de toi = (I) don't need you

This one is good too Je ne sais pas

Cakes and other sweet things

Photo Wikipedia

The French have a serious talent for making cakes, cookies, pastries.... whatever! I have made a short personal selection of my favourite local specialties. Enjoy!

Canelés from Bordeaux Let's start with the famous canelés that you find every where in Bordeaux and around. They are made with pancake batter, but with vanilla and dark rum added... d e l i c i o u s.  The mixture is put into small copper molds with a caracteristic wavy shape, and baked at a very high temperature, which makes the surface crispy while the inside is still soft and a bit chewy. The best are said to come from the bakery Baillardran. The French eat them at all times, as dessert, as a snack, for breakfast... A recipe if you want to try on you own!

Photo Wikipedia

The canelés exist since the 18th century, but became very popular again the last years. Today you even find them in some bakeries in Paris for example. 

During the winification process many wineries use egg whites to clear the wine, which of course means they have many egg yolks left. Incidentally the canelé recipe contains a lot of egg yolks!

Tourtière from Dax: Tourtière is a cake that doesn't look much at a first glance. Pretty flat, made of flaky pastry and decorated with either apple slices or dried plums. Don't pass it without trying! The pastry has been worked in several sessions, folded houndreds of times. But the most important ingredient is the armagnac that is poured on top! Try it lukewarm with a little vanilla icecream. Heaven. I buy mine at La Tourtière in Dax.

And if you want to do like the locals, you cut the cake using scissors instead of a knife!

Gâteau Basque: A classic! The cake pastry contains almonds and the filling is a kind of jam, usually a jam made with black Itxassou cherries or a thick vanilla cream. A recipe.

Gâteau russe in Sainte-Oloron: You only find the real gâteau russe in Sainte-Oloron at the Artigarrede bakery - and their affiliates in Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Pau. The recipe is kept top secret. Many try to copy it, but according to the rumour, no one has succeeded so far. The cake got its name after the Russian tsar that liked it so much it had to be sent by special post to him in Russia...  It is made with two featherly light cake parts made with hazelnuts and a butterbased fluffy filling with almonds. A sweet dream, to be taken in small parts.

Gâteau russe aux noix

Macarons from Saint-Jean-de-Luz: Irresistible! Sweet, so you won't eat that many each time, but really the best! They look like cookies, crispy on the outside and soft and a little chewy on the inside with a distinctive taste of almonds. There are many versions all over France, but all are made with almonds, sugar and egg whites. The difference in quality is about the almonds. In Paris you will often see them put together two and two with butter cream or chocolate cream.  Here we eat them "nature", with a cup of coffee.

Best place to buy macarons, according to reliable sources, is Macarons Adam. According to the legend, Adam offered his macarons to the king and his future wife Marie-Thérèse in 1660. They loved them and so started a successful history of making macarons.

The lake in Vieux Boucau

Isn't it delicious when you get one of those summer days before summer? We took this sudden burst of heat and made a trip to Vieux Boucau! The headline photo of my blog comes from this place...

The Adour river met the sea at Vieux Boucau until it was deviated in 1578 to Bayonne. Today you have an artificial lake between Soustons and Vieux Boucau, with nice restaurants and a walking lane around the lake. A lot of people in summer, but for us, enjoying a sudden burst of summer in the middle of March, it was close to deserted. We had lunch at Le Bistrot and then spent some time on the beach around the lake.

There are many lakes along the Atlantic coast, frustrated rivers that have become lakes. It is a whole subject on its own...

Long school days for small children

My mum was here to see us and asked me at what time school starts. Nine, I said. And when does it end?she continued. Half past four, I answered. Oh, so late! she exclaimed.

Yep, compared to Sweden, French school children have very long days. The small ones have among the longest school days in Europe. But what I am to do? I live here, so I also live with the school system.

In France the children start voluntary school the year they are three years old. You can start with a half time if you wish, 9-12, but after the first months almost all children do full days until 16.30, Monday to Friday, except Wednesday. Wednesday is a day off, supposed to be dedicated to sports and other extra activities like music. The second year you can't do any half days anymore, but they still have a nap every afternoon. As the third year. Then the serious business starts at 6 years with CP, cours préparatoire, which indicates the start to really learn how to read and write.

Clara is now 8 years old and comes home almost every day with some home work. She writes a beautiful handwriting, with ornaments, like my own mother writes!  Her little brother is four and doing his second school year. He was proud to start school last year, walking beside Clara. She had briefed him about everything. The toilets. The lunch room. The recreation area, where a yellow line separates the smallest ones from the bigger ones.

Both of them love school and I have never any trouble taking them to school in the morning. They are happy to go - and for the moment that is all I ask to be happy myself.

Example of Clara's handwriting

Flowers again - is it spring or something?

Twenty degrees and sun. Got this sudden urge to go buy some flowers.... what happened to that cool city chick? As we entered the flower place, my son, still at home from school with his pneumonia and antibiotics, said null, c'est null! Null means zero, and in plain language it stands for something that is worthless, bad, boring... But he cheered up when he got to chose the colour of the flowers and the whole thing went pretty smoothly.

When we came home I thoroughly enjoyed myself putting these flowers in place. A broken nail and dirty hands are OK, really. I am even thinking about growing some plants, like carrots and strawberries. For the kids of course. Like a practical demonstration of nature and how it all fits together. Or maybe I am getting older? I remember my dad, in Sweden, buying those tomato seeds and having them grow indoors until they were strong enough to put outside. He spent a lot of time with those tomato plants.... so maybe it is genetic? Maybe I should not fight this urge, but accept it.