Latest news with #Dordogne
Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
French mayor gives DNA to police over murder of British mother
A French mayor is among 15 people who have supplied DNA samples to police investigating the murder of a British-South African woman in the Dordogne. Karen Carter, 65, was stabbed to death on the front porch of the gîte she rented to holidaymakers in the tiny village of Trémolat on April 29. Hours before her death, Ms Carter had attended a wine tasting hosted by her 75-year-old lover and retired Fujitsu executive, Jean-François Guerrier, at his home. Fifteen other guests, including Eric Chassagne, the mayor of Trémolat, also attended the event. Approximately 10 minutes after driving home and arriving at her front door, the mother-of-four was found by Mr Guerrier sprawled on the ground next to her car with eight serious stab wounds on her 'chest, groin, arm and leg.' Investigators initially detained Mr Guerrier and a 65-year-old neighbour, Marie-Laure Autefort, who was said to have been passionately in love with Mr Guerrier, but both were quickly released without charge. Two months on, police are looking to narrow down the field of potential suspects. Ms Carter was was in the process of separating from her husband, Alan Carter, but he was in South Africa at the time of the murder. Gendarmes have taken DNA samples from all those who attended the event, according to Mr Chassagne, in the hope of making a match with DNA traces found inside Ms Carter's car. In an interview with France 3, a French news channel, Mr Chassagne said: 'I believe that everyone who may have met Karen during the day and evening of April 29th has been sampled. 'They [the police] want to close off certain lines of enquiry. The idea is to eliminate possibilities and move forward. Mr Chassagne said a squad of gendarmes has been stationed in the village throughout the course of the investigation. 'That was three weeks ago, a month ago. They were assigned to the case as a supplement to gain a fresh perspective.' 'Life has returned to normal. But as soon as there is the slightest micro-event, everything comes back to the surface.' 'People want the results of the investigation.' A clear motive for the murder has not been established, but investigators believe that the attacker may have harboured a grudge over Carter's burgeoning relationship with Mr Guerrier. Sylvie Martins-Guedes, the public prosecutor in Bergerac who is handling the investigation alongside her counterpart in Périgueux, Jacques-Edouard Andrault, said all hypotheses remain open. The night before her death, Carter told Beverley Needham, her neighbour and fellow expatriate, over dinner that she had filed for divorce. She was also in the process of buying a one-bedroom £135,000 cottage where she planned to settle and live alone with her dog. Mr Carter, who was in South Africa at the time of his wife's murder, had voiced concerns over his wife's relationship with Mr Guerrier but did not know it was romantic until it was announced publicly by French authorities. Mr Carter visited the scene of the attack the week after his wife's death and described her as an outgoing, friendly person who 'wouldn't hurt a fly', and said her death has been 'traumatic' for his family. 'I'm an introvert, and she's the exact opposite. She's an extrovert; she loves people, she loves to have fun. 'People love her, she has a good heart. 'She's the one who would bring home the lost dog, or cat, or whatever. She's that sort of person. Everyone liked her. That's why I married her. She's just lovely.'
Times
4 days ago
- Times
Spit, don't swallow: And what else a holiday in Bordeaux taught me
I'm a cyclist. Not a Lycra-wearing, hand-signalling cyclist, more of an urban approximation, so when the opportunity came up to velo my way through the peaceful rhythms of rural Bordeaux and its wineries, I was saddling up quicker than you can say merlot, dragging my (cycling-averse) sister and friend with me. It's hard not to romanticise Bordeaux: France's wine capital is a panorama of sleepy villages and medieval châteaux with a beautiful city at its heart, the backdrop of many a French masterpiece. It's also vast, divided by the Dordogne and Garonne rivers with the left bank known for its cabernet sauvignon blends, gravelly soils and structured wines and the right bank hailed for its merlot, clay and limestone soils and softer, fruitier wines. The plan was to sample the lot, without spitting. Easy by bike, right? We got off to a good start, freewheeling our way through leafy French forests near Créon, a small village in the Entre-deux-Mers region on the left bank, just 45 minutes after disembarking our plane. The former train line between Créon and the village of La Sauve is now a greenway anchored by the L'Aiguillage restaurant housed in the original train station in La Sauve, where we stopped for lunch, lazing in the pretty garden to the cacophony of a nearby French family celebrating their grandmother's 100th birthday. As we soon learnt, cycling in France requires some level of self-discipline and so we forgo the second glass of wine for a tour of the nearby Benedictine abbey in La Sauve, a Unesco world heritage site and a masterpiece of Romanesque art, where we climbed to the top of the 11th-century bell tower for a bird's eye view of Entre-deux-Mers. It's a scene of such sylvan tranquillity we almost forget we have to hightail it to our next stop, a 30-minute cycle away. My sister is complaining about my failure to book electric bikes as we huff our way up hills until we turn down a dirt track signposted for Château Thieuley and arrive at a beautiful sandstone château where we all gasp. We are met by Sylvie Courselle who, together with her sister Marie, now runs the family estate. Sylvie is charming and knowledgeable, taking us through the vineyard's history and philosophy, which includes combining 'tradition with modernity'. There's a certain mettle to their metier, devoting half of their production to bordeaux blanc, a brave move considering it's something of a paradox in the region. We retire to the bar to taste their rosé, claret and white blends — all easy drinkers with plenty of substance and flavour for their €8-€10 price tags — before picking up some homemade pâté, olive oil (and a couple of bottles) . It's a family affair, one that feels effortlessly charming and personal. There are about 6,000 wineries in Bordeaux and 57 different appellation d'origine contrôlées (AOCs — indicating the geographical area), all of which taste different depending on the terroir: the subtle differences in soil, slope and climatic exposure. This we learnt in depth at the Cité du Vin, Bordeaux's sleek, shiny swirl of a building and a seriously impressive wine museum, not just any museum but one that manages to engage, educate and delight both oenophiles and the mildly curious (aka us) alike. In truth, you need to know nothing about wine for a successful trip to Bordeaux but it's a hot day and the museum is a cool lung in which to spend the afternoon, flying over vineyards in Greece and Chile by means of giant screens, learning about the origins of wine through 3D models, holograms and displays, strolling through galleries of civilisations from 6000BC to 19 th-century Paris detailing the history of wine and sitting back in dark rooms with plush velvet couches wrapped by large screens to be seduced by the romance of wine making. It makes wine fun even for those who can't tell a cabernet from a Coke. We ended our tour with a tasting on the top floor overlooking the river before crossing the street to the Halles de Bacalan food hall for a cheese plate and accompanying glass of minerally white wine, no spitting. Bordeaux is smart and elegant, all those honey-coloured buildings shouldering up handsomely together, a miniature Paris of sorts. But it wasn't always the case. It has been coaxed back from its gritty past by the former mayor Alain Juppé, who metamorphosised the soot-stained shipping hub into an intoxicating city, brimming with history, galleries, bustling markets, boutiques and enough wine bars and restaurants to shake a stick at (there's more restaurants per capita here than Paris, which is saying a lot). • 23 of the best things to do in Bordeaux As much as we'd love to linger, we're after a slice of Bordeaux in just two days. We wander the old town with its fairytale towers, baroque churches and grand vintage buildings, past the swish designer shops of the Golden Triangle and on to the riverbank via Place de la Bourse and Miroir d'Eau — a reflecting pool where kids play in and out of the misting machines. It's Sunday and the Quai des Chartrons food market is in full swing along the promenade, where you can smell the briny freshness of seaside oysters and Basque sheep cheese. We dogleg on to Rue Notre Dame, normally buzzing with boutiques and bars but it's Sunday and the street is sleepy, save for one restaurant, Le Bistro 111, where we stop for a lunch of warm burrata served at tables outside. Our hotel, Villas Foch, is a ten-minute stroll from one of the city's best wine bars, Le Bar à Vin, located in the Bordeaux Wine Council's headquarters, where we sample some of the best regional wines accompanied by local cheese and meats before heading to bed. On a tree-lined avenue that ends in the famed Place des Quinconces, Villas Foch is a quiet, unassuming and sophisticated boutique hotel housed in a former bank. It's a step up from our first-night lodgings at Hôtel Konti, a smart budget-friendly option but heavy on the retro furnishings. Villas Foch is small but manages to pack a punch with everything you need for a stay in the city: a sauna, gym, pool, elegant bar, breakfast room and bedrooms that riff on 'modern library' style with high ceilings, bookshelves, objets d'art, bathrooms stocked with Hermès toiletries and views over the rooftops. After filling up on the hotel's generous buffet breakfast we make a beeline for Saint-Émilion, known for its medieval town and for producing some full-bodied reds, and into the throng of tourists. There's a distant rumbling of thunder from the leaden sky and so we head underground with our guide to marvel at the monolithic 12 th-century church, which is partly subterranean and one of the most important religious monuments along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. We fuel up with coffee and a croissant from Le Médiéval and we're back on two (electric) wheels, much to my sister's delight, cycling the 15km loop around some of Saint-Émilion's most prestigious wineries. We ride under a heavy sky, through sloping vineyards, past manicured vines to the soundtrack of thunder and lightning. • 25 of the best vineyard hotels to visit in France Just as the downpour begins, we roll into Château La Dominique and retire to La Terrasse Rouge for lunch. Château La Dominique is one of a smattering of wineries marked with the hand of an ambitious architect, in this case Jean Nouvel, whose modern touch includes the wine-coloured metal cladding and a terrace laid with thousands of glass 'grapes' inspired by the artists Jeff Koons and Anish Kapoor. From here you can marvel at the perfect parcels of vineyards as far as Pomerol, including the modernist splendour of neighbouring Cheval Blanc, one of only two châteaux that earned the premier grand cru classification. They are so close in proximity I wonder whether their blends are similar? 'Yes and no,' says Christian, our guide. 'It's all about the blue clay ridge, which only a handful of wineries in the region have, including Cheval Blanc. It's their secret weapon,' he explains. 'A type of clay that is rich in iron and allows them to age their wines for longer than everyone else. We have a small section of it and our best wine comes from that parcel.' A hectare in Saint-Émilion costs in the region of €100,000 and upwards — it's a profitable business but you have to start with deep pockets. At 29 hectares Château La Dominique is a medium-to-large size vineyard, owned by the Clément Fayat family — the fourth largest construction company in France … deep pockets. We head to the cellar to see how their premier wine is made. A grand cru classé means strict processing rules involving 22 separate steel tanks for the 22 different parcels of land and ageing the wine in oak barrels, which are only used twice before being sold on, usually to whiskey distilleries. There is so much riding on the quality of wine, it's dizzying. The terroir, which can change from one side of the road to the other, clay and oak storage vessels, the weather — it can all dramatically affect the quality, and price, of the wine. At Château de Ferrand, a 30-minute cycle away, we learn that a vine that yields a 'good' wine is one that is suffering. 'If you don't trim it, it's going to try harder to grow,' says Elliot who, together with his colleague Josephine, is passionate and knowledgeable. 'We don't irrigate, we don't trim, we stunt it so it produces the biggest, juiciest grapes.' Château de Ferrand is another family-run estate. Not just any family, but the Bich family, responsible for bringing us Bic pens, razors and lighters. Pauline Bich then married Philippe Chandon-Moët, giving it additional kudos in the world of wines. This place is more than just a winery; it is a seriously smart château that feels like an art gallery-cum-winery. We are greeted at the front door by a very amiable and friendly team framed by a large sculpture of a chewed pen lid. After a tour of the wine cellar and vat room, we are ushered into a tasting room so pretty we forget to sit down, marvelling instead the 360-degree wall mural of the château, hand-drawn with Bic pen. 'Look at the colour of the wine against a white surface,' says Elliot as we sit down to taste. 'Then swirl and smell. Is it fruity, floral, herbal, buttery, oaky? Now sip.' We sip, they spit, we follow suit. Full disclosure, I don't actually like red wine, preferring the light and crisp swell of white wine. But I may well be converted. It's silky, fruity, delightfully fresh with just the right hit of oak. 'It's a wine full of pleasure to drink with friends,' he says, smiling. • 9 of the best wine-tasting holidays in France The team here are eager to press the point that Château de Ferrand may have accommodation — three stunning bedrooms that walk the line between luxury five-star hotel and comfortable family home — but it's all about the wine experience. Dinner can be arranged in the dining room among the family's private art collection (original Picasso included) or group tastings, tailor-made tours, parties and events can all be organised in the cellar or one of the newly renovated rooms. Our elegant dinner was an exquisite experience. It felt at times too formal: at the big polished dining table surrounded by expensive art, but that comes with the territory. It is after all the most expensive wine region in the world, but not exclusive. After three days of touring the best of it by bike I remain a bit of a wine beginner, but I do have a renewed appreciation for what goes in to making it and in future I will remember to spit. Aer Lingus operates daily flights from Dublin to Bordeaux between June and October; Hôtel Konti, double rooms cost from €112; Foch, double rooms cost from €285; de Ferrand, double rooms cost from €350; Rustic Vines runs a day trip from Bordeaux, which includes transport, bike hire, three tastings and lunch and costs from €175pp;
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Foreign Office chief who was on holiday during shambolic evacuation of Afghanistan 'retired' with £260,000 payoff
A Foreign Office chief who stayed on holiday during the shambolic evacuation of Afghanistan received a £260,000 payoff. Top diplomat Philip Barton was handed the bumper 'golden goodbye' when he 'retired' from his £205,000 a year job in January. Sir Philip was heavily criticised over the chaos as the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021. During a bruising session with the Foreign Affairs Committee that year, the mandarin admitted that if he 'had my time again' he would not have remained in the Dordogne for 11 days after the fall of Kabul. Boris Johnson and Dominic Raab both returned from breaks when that happened, but Sir Philip was not back until the day civilian evacuations ended. He insisted cover arrangements were in place and he had 'stayed in touch with the department all the way through the period'. Top diplomat Philip Barton was handed the bumper 'golden goodbye' when he 'retired' from his £205,000 a year job in January British, Turkish and US military help a child during the evacuation of Kabul in 2021 British and US personnel in action during the evacuation of Kabul The latest Foreign Office accounts revealed the 'voluntary exit compensation payment' for Sir Philip A report published in 2022 said the committee had 'lost confidence in the Permanent Under-Secretary, who should consider his position'. The cross-party MPs said: 'The fact that the department's top civil servant did not return until the civilian evacuation was over, while staff across the department struggled to implement a poorly-planned evacuation process under intense pressure, is difficult to understand and impossible to excuse.' However, Sir Philip - who had been in the post since 2020 - remained until after Labour took power, when he was replaced by Theresa May's former Brexit envoy Oliver Robbins. Foreign Secretary David Lammy expressed thanks to Sir Philip 'for his many years of dedicated public service, in particular his leadership as (Permanent Under-Secretary) and his support through the recent political transition'. In the latest departmental accounts, published yesterday, the non-executive directors referred to Sir Philip's 'retirement from the FCDO earlier this year'. The document also said: 'Sir Philip Barton received a voluntary exit compensation payment of £262,185 under the terms of the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS)...' The Foreign Office has been contacted for comment. John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers will be furious at this reward for failure in the Foreign Office. 'Golden goodbyes of this size always infuriate working Brits, but particularly when the person receiving it has been responsible for such a disaster. 'A cap of £95,000 should be placed on all exit payments in the future.' The accounts also disclosed that Sir Oliver is being paid £235-240,000 - around £30,000 more than Sir Philip. After leaving the civil service in 2019, Sir Oliver worked for Goldman Sachs and a strategic advisory firm.
The Sun
11-07-2025
- The Sun
I quit the UK for France to live in a huge farmhouse costing just £12k – I won't miss it & I'll never work a 9-5 again
A WOMAN has revealed why she ditched the UK for France to live in an abandoned farmhouse. Sam Maunder, 34, moved into the 500-year-old cottage, which her parents bought for £12,000 when she was 4. 3 3 But the farmhouse, two cottages and barn located in Dordogne, France, were left abandoned when her parents divorced in 1998. Maggie, 69, and John, 71, divorced, and Sam and her mum moved back to the UK leaving the land and its properties abandoned. Untouched for more than two decades, Sam decided to return in 2018 to see if she could bring the once-loved family home back into use. She had to break into the main home and discovered it was still full of their possessions, but had been taken over by animals and dust and required an entirely new roof. Overgrown plants meant the properties were totally hidden from the road nearby, but the outbuildings had been emptied - and some were just a shell. In 2019, she began the painstaking renovation to bring them back to their former glory - a project she admits will cost "thousands" and take another three years. She is splitting her time between the UK and France, allowing her to do some of the work herself and keeping costs down. Sam, a laser clinic business owner from Cardiff, Wales, said: "I was really young when we first bought it. "My parents are well-travelled and adventurous, so it was them who decided it was for them and they stuck with that plan. "I have so many memories there as a child, and it's the only place where my mind is at ease. 3 I fled the UK for sunny Dubai - life back home is miserable & no-one has any cash "I've been obsessed with it for years. It's really relaxing, and the whole lifestyle is just what I want. "It does need a lot of work, but I know that and I am willing to do that. I can't wait to call it my own." Sam's parents found themselves in the South of France because their neighbours, who they were very friendly with moved there and while visiting them they loved it so much, they just took the leap. When the family bought it in 1993, Sam described it as "a shell." It had concrete floors, was not very inhabitable in the slightest, was very old-fashioned, and had not been lived in for 50 years. It was abandoned in 1998, and Sam came to stay for six weeks in 2019 before she got married. She said that to be legally married in the country, you have to live there for over 40 days. By then, the already old home had fallen into near total disrepair. In the main house, some of the ceilings have totally collapsed, the beams are rotten, and the whole roof needs replacing. The walls need repointing, which Sam wants to learn to do herself. Sam has done two deep cleans, recycled and cleared out boxes from the second cottage, and her dad has rebuilt a wall in the barn. She's currently flying or driving to France to do two weeks of renovation work every two months and has yet to apply for a visa to eventually live permanently there. Sam said: "As I've grown older, I have felt more confident. I would be nervous about moving to a new country. "I am also slightly nervous because of the language barrier, but I have started taking one-to-one lessons, which I enjoy, and that is going well. "Once I move, which I hope will be around two to three years, I won't miss the UK and I'm just so excited. "The overall plan is that the first cottage will be for living in or holidaying in, and the second cottage will become a three-bed rental. "The barn would be a recreation area that would be turned into a storage unit, bar, and seating area. Outside will be landscaped, possibly with a pool. "The ground needs cleaning, but the roof is the most urgent job. "I have a vision for the existing cottage, which is great, but because the other properties are so barebones, it is tricky to tell which direction it needs to take. "It's a little tricky to see the vision, but I can start with the fun stuff once the roof is done. My dad can help on the projects as he worked in the trade, which is really helpful. If we were living there full-time, it would be a bit quicker. "I just can't wait to host family parties and BBQs at my home in France. This is a really exciting project and I can't wait till it's finished."
Irish Times
11-07-2025
- Irish Times
What will €215,000 buy in Spain, France, Norway, Mexico and Co Mayo?
Ireland: Westport This charming, thatched cottage with an extension extends to 102sq m (1,100sq ft) and is located a 15-minute drive from the popular Mayo town of Westport . It contains original features such as a cailleach alcove bed space and exposed stone walls. The living space consists of a country-style kitchen with a wood-burning stove for cosy evenings in the living area. As well as a double bedroom, there is also a converted attic. It sits on 0.47 acres with outbuildings. Ber D. Price: €215,000 Agent: Sherry FitzGerald Crowley Townhouse close to the beach in Mojácar Playa Spain: Mojácar Playa This two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse extending to 80sq m (862sq ft) in Mojácar Playa is just 180m from the beach. It is in a cul-de-sac of 16 homes with access to a communal pool and offers plenty of outdoor space with a terrace on each level and a wow-factor rooftop solarium with sea views. Inside, everything has been updated with a modern kitchen and white marble-effect flooring throughout. With parking to the front, it is about an hour's drive from Almería airport. Price: €215,000 Agent: Renovated French farmhouse France: Saint-Chamassy This renovated 18th-century farmhouse and attached farm in the Dordogne region is the stuff of French countryside dreams with gorgeous rustic features, including exposed stone walls, wooden beams and even a tower for good measure. The home extends to about 60sq m (646sq ft) with a mezzanine bedroom and a converted attic room. In a lovely bucolic setting, it has a wraparound garden and access to walking trails. It's about a 50-minute drive from Bergerac Dordogne Périgord Airport. Price: €214,000 Agent: Studio apartment in Trondheim Norway: Trondheim READ MORE This contemporary sixth-floor studio apartment extends to 45sq m and has a covered terrace with views over the city of the mountains and the sea. A double bed is built into a nook behind the kitchen, with a curtain to pull to hive it off from the living space. The building has a commercial centre on the ground floor with a gym, restaurant and shop. Trondheim is a picturesque, historical city known as an educational hub for students. Its airport is located just 30 minutes from the city centre. Price: €200,000 (2,240,000 kr) Agent: Balcony of apartment at Tulum resort Mexico: Tulum This modern one-bedroom loft apartment is in a boutique resort in Tulum characterised by wooden walkways and lush tropical planting. Extending to 77sq m (832sq ft), it is fully furnished with an open-plan kitchen/living/diningroom, a spacious double bedroom and a bathroom with a double sink. There is also a laundry area behind built-in doors. The living area opens on to a spacious covered balcony. Amenities include a communal pool, fitness pavilion, a co-working space and rooftop terrace with jungle views. Price: €195,000 ($229,437) Agent:
