Pyrenees Ski Stations Opened!
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Three ski stations in the Pyrenees have opened to the public, just in
time to welcome the influx of Spanish skiers expected next weekend when
Spain will have a particularly long bank holiday! The stations at Les
Angles, Font-Romeu and Pyrenees 2000 are using snow canons to ensure
that 50 to 60% of their pistes will be skiable. Across the border in
Andorra, the Grandvalira station is also now open.
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environmental issues in south France
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A renewable energies exhibition is to be held in Montpellier from the
6th - 8th December at the city’s exhibition park showcasing regional
companies providing renewable energy technologies. Amongst them will be
the company Bioviva who have created a complete “ecological house” in
which visitors to the exhibition can truly explore the many
construction techniques and technologies available to be eco-friendly.
The exhibition comes at a time when all manner of discussions are being
held with regards to improving environmental issues across France,
including one initiative being looked at by the Association for Food
industries and the Consumer’s Institute which aims to reduce the amount
of packaging on food products and to also increase the amount of
recyclable packaging used.
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Villefranche-de-Conflent.
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The 2008 Bottin Gourmand restaurant guide has recently been published
and highlights again the growing trend for top class chefs establishing
their premises across the Languedoc-Roussillon. Two establishments
received particular attention: Le Puits du Tresor in Lastours run by Michelin starred chef Jean-Marc Boyer, who was praised for his simple and authentic cuisine; and the Restaurant Cellier-Morel
in Montpellier run by Eric Cellier and Pierre Morel, who were given
high praise for putting Lozerian cuisine on the gastronomic map.
Olivier Bontemps restaurant, o Bontemps, in Magalas received
its first ever star from the guide and a host of other up-and-coming
establishments received the “coup du coeur” including: Auberge cote jardin in Conhilhac-Corbieres, Restaurant Bourgade in Saint-André-de-Valborgne, Le 5e péché in Collioure and the La casa de la Nine in Villefranche-de-Conflent.
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Students at universities across the region continued to protest against the Loi Pecresse with organi
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Students at universities across the region continued to protest against
the Loi Pecresse with organised strikes and blockades, and have now
been joined by a number of lyceé students. The strikes have now been on
going for nearly a month, with no clear sense from authorities as to
how the strikes are to be tackled. Students remain defiant and claim
that they will continue to strike until their concerns about the law
which is aimed at devolving certain powers from the state to the
universities are addressed.
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Local papers have presented the four possible options for a TGV train service from Montpellier to Pe
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Local papers have presented the four possible options for a TGV train
service from Montpellier to Perpignan that are believed will be
presented to the CIADT (conseil interministériel d'aménagement du territoire)
by the rail services engineer Edouard Parant. The first option is to
construct a purely TGV line suited to the 320 km/hour high-speed
passenger trains: passengers will have a much reduced travel time, but
freight would be consigned to the older, original tracks. The second
option would see track placed down that would accept both the
high-speed passenger trains and 110 km/hour freight trains, but the
freight trains would only be able to use the track at night when the
passenger train was not active. The third option still mixes the two
types of train on the same train but envisages a track that allows for
a less fast passenger train - one that travels at 220 km/hour instead
of 320 km/hour - thus allowing freight trains to be transferred to this
track. In this third option passengers would still enjoy a
significantly reduced travel time of 45 minutes instead of the current
90 minutes, whilst option one and two would get passengers from
Montpellier to perpignan in around 30 minutes). Finally there is the
forth option, which does not involve creating a new track, but rather a
vast scheme of improving the existing tracks to the advantage of
freight trains. The TGV passenger trains would not run any faster, but
local and international freight logistics would be greatly improved,
allowing for more freight to be redirected off the A9 motorway - which
currently carries about 9000 HGV lorries a day! However, whichever
option is eventually chosen, an plan of action is not likely to be put
into place for some time yet.
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According to statistics from the Languedoc-Roussillon regional council’s employment department,
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According to statistics from the Languedoc-Roussillon regional
council’s employment department, there were 96,800 people looking for
full-time employment at the end of September, an amount which is 1% up
on the figures for August. However, it would seem that the figure is in
part due to a remarkable rise in the number of people actively seeking
a return to work after a period of unemployment. According to the ANPE (L’Agence Nationale Pour l’Emploi ),
there has been an increase of 21.7% of people registering for its job
placement services. Commentators are thus speculating that recent
reports of job creation in the region has inspired more people to be
registered as officially unemployed and actively looking for work.
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