Hunters turn rescuers as they save a man's life

Hunters often get what some might consider something of a bad rap here in France where the activity is, in many rural parts of the country, undeniably something of an institution.

If they're not "accidentally" killing the wrong animal such as Cannelle the bear then hunters might well be inadvertently shooting each other.

Not surprising perhaps as with over 1,350,000 registered hunters, France has by far the largest number of any European country with only Spain (almost one million), the United Kingdom (800,000) and Italy (750,000) coming close.

So it's good to come across a hunting story that entails saving a life rather than taking one - be it intentionally or by mistake.

On Saturday a party of hunters in the southwestern French département of Tarn became "saviours" rather than "destroyers" when they rescued a man.

Arifat cascade (screenshot from YouTube video)

The group from the village of Arifat had gathered in the forest to hunt deer but instead, according to the regional daily newspaper La Dépêche du Midi, heard cries of pain.

They were coming from a 39-year-old man

"He was groaning and lying on his back when I found him," the president of the club, Christian Valéry, told the newspaper.

"He told me he had fallen eight metres from a nearby cliff as he had been taking photographs of animals and hadn't been able to move for two days."

The hunters immediately switched mode and became rescuers as some of them went off to contact the emergency services - there was no mobile 'phone reception in the forest - while the others remained with the injured man.

He had broken his leg and pelvis and was suffering from hypothermia and dehydration after at spending two nights out in the open with temperatures dropping to minus 10.

It was, as one of the hunters said, a miracle that the man was discovered as the accident occurred in a remote part of the forest pretty much in the "middle of nowhere".

Lady Gaga "hates the snow" but still "loves the French"

It must surely have been enough to send Stefani Germanotta as her stage name might suggest, completely Lady Gaga.

For the second time the 24-year-old had to postpone one her Paris concerts, and the Lady certainly wasn't amused.

Lady Gaga (source Wikipedia, author John Robert Charlton aka Bobby Charlton of Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, England)

In fact she was steamingly irate as she let all those following her on Twitter know.

"I'm furious and devastated," she wrote after the trucks carrying her set had been been prevented from arriving at Paris Bercy, the venue where she was due to play two concerts.

"It's unfair to my fans and me."

The reason of course was the bad weather that hit many parts of France over the weekend and the decision by the authorities to stop all heavy goods vehicles from entering Paris or even circulating in the surrounding Ile de France region.

It was a measure taken to allow snowploughs and gritters easier access to major routes in and out of the French capital and to avoid the kind of mess that occurred a couple of weeks ago when snow brought the city to a near standstill - or not as the interior minister, Brice Hortefeux, insisted at the time.

That was little consolation to Lady Gaga though who had been forced to postpone the Paris leg of her Monster Ball tour back in October and reschedule for Sunday and Monday.

Then it was nationwide strikes (that French pastime) and protests against government plans to raise the retirement age which caused fuel and transportation problems throughout France and had stopped her set making it to Bercy.

Now it was the weather - or more precisely, the snow.

Still the thaw arrived, the embargo on lorries was lifted and all 28 of those carrying the set and props managed the final few kilometres in time for Monday night's bash.

And it'll be third time lucky for fans who had tickets to the previous evening's concert as the "show will most definitely go on" with an extra date scheduled for Tuesday evening.

No wonder the pop princess "hates the snow".

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy prepares a new album

It's time for music fans to pin back their lugholes once again.

France's multi-gifted first lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, has confirmed that she's working on a new album - her fourth - and if reports are to be believed is ready to return to the recording studio early next year.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (source Wikipedia, author - Remi Jouan)

The news came last week as she and her husband, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, hosted the annual Christmas tree ceremony at the official presidential residence, the Elysée palace.

According to the French media, Bruni-Sarkozy has written and composed most, if not all, the songs herself - reports vary.

Although no fixed date has been given either for her return to the studio or the subsequent release of an album, one or other could coincide with a timely announcement from her husband that he's seeking a second mandate.

Rumours have been rife for some time now that Bruni-Sarkozy was preparing to treat her fans to another delightful and delicious dose of her gasping, rasping and breathlessly sensuous ("Get down Shep") voice.

And there were suggestions that advisors to the French president had asked delay her planned musical comeback (Bruni-Sarkozy's last album, "Comme si de rien n'était" was released in July 2008).

That didn't stop her from making a return to the studio earlier this year, albeit as a composer, when she penned "Je chante le blues" on the latest album from one of this country's first "girls of rock 'n roll" and now a long-established star of the French musical scene, Sylvie Vartan.

Bruni-Sarkozy's most recent venture into the studio though was to record a cover version of David Bowie's 1986 hit "Absolute beginners".

She was one of many artists to record Bowie tracks for a double album paying tribute to one of rock and pop's undisputed greats.

Unfortunately for France's first lady her rendition was panned by many (including that arbiter of great taste, Britain's Daily Mail) as "Absolutely awful".

Here's wishing the soon-to-be 43-year-old (whose birthday is on December 23) more favourable (musical) reviews in the New Year.


Carla Bruni - Absolute Beginners
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