The Earle Revolver House

This distinctive house is near the Roman Bridge in Ascain, in the Pyrenees. We stumbled across it when we were on holiday in 2019, staying in Saint Jean de Luz. At the time we could find out very little about it. What we did know came from the official listed monuments site, which longtime reader Carolyn pointed us to.

So this is all we knew: Film set designer Ferdinand Pinney Earle (born in New York in 1878, died in 1951 in Hollywood) became famous in Hollywood in the years 1910 to 1920. In 1930, he moved to Ascain and built a house whose appearance is reminiscent of the adobe houses built around Santa Fe around 1920. The floor plan in the shape of a revolver is a particular feature. The elevations and decoration incorporate many elements of the pueblo style.  Many show business and arts personalities were guests of Earle there. 

 

Then a few days ago we got a lovely email from one of the Earles' grand daughters, and she was able to tell us a bit more and shared some fun family anecdotes.

She said: "My mother was born there in 1934. She told stories about riding a tricycle through the inside from one end to the other. She also said that they hid a dog from her father for many weeks because the home was so large. Her father was often in his studio painting. He was trained by Whistler." 

 

This prompted me to go looking for any more information I could find on the internet, and nowadays there are a couple of websites and blogs in French with more detail, which I've included below.

 

Due to its atypical architecture the house is known locally in French as la Maison des fous (or La Maison du fou), and in Basque as Eroen etxea. Both names mean 'the Mad House' (or the madman's house). The adobe style of the building, with its minaret like towers, is also influenced by cinema sets, and Gaudi's constructions in Barcelona.

The place is massive, and the revolver floor plan is apparently the result of a bet with the architect Frank Lloyd Wright. The Earles' guestlist included Marlene Dietrich, Charlie Chaplin, Abel Gance, Louis Jouvet, Mistinguett, Josephine Baker, Maurice Ravel, Leon Baykt and Le Corbusier.

 

The local press loved having a Hollywood celebrity on their doorstep and made sure they pointed out to their readers that Ferdinand Earle was living amongst them whenever a film he was involved in was showing at the cinemas.

In 1940, fearful of the advancing Germans, the Earle family packed up and returned to the United States. The story goes that Ferdinand launched his car into the river before they left, and it can still be found there today.

The house is privately owned.

The Environment Police

A big part of the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB) responsibilities is policing the environment. Their officers are part of the decentralised State administrative and judiciary system (which is to say, they are not a branch of the military like the gendarmes are, and they are appointed by the prefectures). As such they have police powers to step in to manage issues of disruption of public order, taking either preventative or ongoing action. Their areas of responsibilities can be quite broad, taking into account environment laws and the penal code, but also laws specific to forests, rural areas and marine fishing.

Their roles include checking that the detention and health of wild animals; the development of natural areas; and water quality, all meet the requirements of the law. They may work in a marine or aquatic environment, in natural areas (where they are concerned with nature protection, and the circulation of motor vehicles), protecting wildlife and geology, hunting, fishing, education and outreach, and infractions involving littering and fly tipping. So they might be booking someone riding a quadbike on a dirt track where motorised vehicles are banned, or they might be investigating the dumping of tyres in a ditch, or they might be checking the health of circus animals. According to a friend who has had cause to call them a couple of times they will arrive to investigate situations as diverse as your dog being poisoned to a farmer burning used plastic 'mulch' on a melon farm.

 

Environment Police in the Pyrénées National Park, photographed by me in 2023.

They work closely with the gendarmes in rural areas, and with customs officers in relation to the international trade in wild animals.

There are 3000 environment police in France and every year they conduct 20 000 checks to ensure individual or businesses are complying with the law. This work makes up two thirds of their activities. Most of these checks (31%) are conducted on hunters. Checks on the preservation of aquatic habitats are 16% of their work, and checks on water quality are another 16%. 

Of those checks, 44% were on private individuals, 19% on farmers, 10% on organisations, 11% on businesses and 6% on property owners. Many of the checks (40.5%) are regular and scheduled, 22.3% are unannounced and 34.4% are in response to a complaint. Those found to be in contravention of the law will be issued with a warning or a fine (3600 in 2021). The environment police may also conduct a judicial enquiry (5900 in 2021).

In the field the officers may be expected to intervene in potentially confrontational or even violent situations. To protect themselves they wear uniforms with distinctive logos and clearly identifiable branding. They also carry handcuffs, telescopic batons and pistols, which can be used only in self-defense. They receive firearms training when they are recruited, and undergo frequent training on behaviours to adopt when dealing with the public.

The fact that they are armed is somewhat controversial, and has been a target of criticism by farmers unions, who feel it is inappropriate and unnecessarily threatening for officers to turn up armed when they visit farms. I've also been told of a case where an officer turned up at a conservation association meeting wearing his side arm (we assume because he couldn't leave it in his car, but my source commented that it seemed inappropriate).

France, Queen of the Roundabouts

One of the things some visitors to France comment on is just how many trafffic roundabouts there are in France. And they are not wrong. The statistics bear this out and show that France is a world leader in roundabouts. 

 This roundabout, in the industrial boondocks of Amboise, has an abandoned helipad in the centre.

According to the painstakingly calculated figures on the blog 'Beyond the Maps', the most roundabouts per population are to be found in mainly western France (Vendée, Loire-Atlantique, Landes, Mayenne) plus Pyrénées-Orientales in the south. The fewest roundabouts per population are around Paris and in the north east. We in Indre et Loire appear to sit in the middle. 

 A plane on a stick. To be precise, a Dassault Mirage IIIB two seater training jet previously of the French Air Force, now a roundabout decoration in Saint-Amand-Montrond

In terms of actual numbers of roundabouts there is a roughly east-west divide in the country, with the west being generally much more heavily endowed with roundabouts than the east. Toulouse takes the prize as the municipality with the most roundabouts (499 at last count). Virtually everywhere roundabout numbers are going up.

 

 A roundabout in the middle of le Blanc, a town about half an hour to the south of us.

 

France is the European record holder for roundabout density, easily outstripping neighbouring countries. The most famous roundabout in the country is of course the horror known as the Etoile, a six lane roundabout in central Paris, surrounding the Arc de Triomphe.

 

Arc de Triomphe and the Etoile.

This post is dedicated to entomologist Simon Leather, who loved aphids and France, but sadly died while being treated for colon cancer a few years ago. His blog is called 'Don't Forget the Roundabouts'.

Col d'Aubisque

This is the road at Col d'Aubisque in the Pyrénées. We were there last year, and also in 2022. In 2022 we sat on the terrace of Les Crêtes Blanches, eating ice-cream and watching Vultures. It's one of the big iconic climbs.

The writing on the road is because the Tour de France went over the pass a couple of days before we visited in 2022, and supporters paint the name of their favourites on many of the big climbs.

Six weeks later the Vuelta Espana travelled across the same piece of road.

Mountain Singers

Back in September we mentioned that back in July we had seen a mens' mountain choir in Cauterets.

This is what they sound like. I hope it's worked.

Obviously it didn't. I'm working on fixing that.

Done. Phew. What a palaver.

Pyrenean Mountain Dogs

The Pyrenean Mountain Dog (Fr. chien de montagne des Pyrénées), known colloquially as a 'patou', from the Occitan 'pastor', is an ancient breed of shepherd dog used in the south-west of France and the north-east of Spain, particularly the Pyrenees, to protect the herds against predators, especially the bears that live there. They are guardians, not herding dogs (the shepherds use a black and white collie type dog called a labrit, or berger des Pyrénées for that). Patous are very big dogs, big boned with long white hair, and weighing about 65 kilos. The breed is mentioned in documents from the 14th century.

This Patou at Aubisque was seeing off all the motorcyclists and cyclists passing on the road. Its flock had settled themselves around the carpark in a way that was less than ideal for the poor dog.

As well as guarding flocks of sheep, or sometimes goats, cattle or even beehives, they make good guard dogs for properties and family pets. Depending on the threat -- bears, wolves, foxes, rustlers, stray dogs, corvids -- one, two or three dogs may be required per flock. Bears require two or three Patous defending the flock just because of their size and strength. Wolves hunt in well organised packs and can easily out manoeuvre a single dog on its own trying to protect a flock. Other threats are put off quite easily by a single barking dog that actively advances towards them.

In the Middle Ages they were used to guard chateaux and to protect herds against predators (which in those days included bears, lynx, wolves, and even man). At this time they would have worn heavy iron 'wolf collars', studded with spikes, to protect them from attacks. Very popular in the 17th century, there were even some at the court of Louis XIV. There are stories of them being used to smuggle goods across difficult mountain passes on the Spanish Franco border too.

The Patou became less common in the countryside, and finally by the end of the 19th century, not present at all except in parts of the Pyrenees, because the big predators became locally extinct. But since the 1980s, following the return of wolves across the Alps and the return of bears in the Pyrenees, there has been a resurgence of interest in the breed amongst shepherds. The breed is part of the official campaign to protect herds, along with night pens enclosed in electric fences and extra shepherds. Farmers benefit from grants to buy, train and keep the dogs, as well as other strategies to protect their herds. The dogs can reduce stock losses from predation by up to 90%.

In 1965 the breed became famous because of the French television series Belle et Sébastien.

At the heart of the flock they are remarkable guardians. Their role is not to herd, but to protect. To do this they are accustomed very early to live with the flock and become part of it. If the dog detects an intruder, they bark and insert themselves between the flock and the perceived threat.

Like all dogs, Patous occasionally bite humans, and there have been several instances widely reported in the media. There can be issues between working dogs and holiday makers on the hiking trails and mountain meadows.

The poster above says "Hello. I am a Pyrenean Mountain Dog, known as a Patou. My role is to oversee the security of the beasts that I protect. In order to avoid upsetting the flock, please give them a wide berth and keep your dog on a lead." The cartoon part tells you to get into the habit of adopting certain behaviours if you meet a Pyrenean Mountain Dog, such as not approaching or patting the sheep, and not running around or shouting. If you have a dog with you do not allow it to interact with the Pyrenean Mountain Dog, even though the Pyrenean Mountain Dog may approach you and your dog. Don't try to pat a Pyrenean Mountain Dog, or brandish your hiking pole at one, or throw stones at one. If you run away screaming, expect the dog to chase you. Don't stare directly into the dog's eyes -- it will see this as an attempt to dominate it and react aggressively. If you are riding a bike, dismount and walk until the dog is no longer interested in you. If you ride past the dog will chase you. If you are walking, do so calmly and steadily, not taking too much notice of the dog. You can speak gently to them, but don't interact further than that. Once you are no longer a threat the dog will peaceably return to its flock.

But as one of the shepherds I've seen interviewed said, it is more or less impossible to train a dog to ignore domestic dogs if their job is to attack wolves. To avoid conflicts some places are trialling a geolocating app whereby hikers can download the positions of all the flock protection dogs wearing a device and thus give them a wide berth. The shepherds are happy to do this but I have my doubts about whether hikers will even realise they can do this or in some cases even understand why they should. It is quite common to see sheep dogs lounging about near cars in the mountains and I wonder how many tourists realise they are working dogs, accompanied by a shepherd who has driven up to check the flock, not somebody's pet out for the day.

Every year there is a Pyrenean dog breed show in mid-September in the park in Argeles-Gazost. This year will be its centenary.

Further Reading: 

The website of the association of working Pyrenean dogs https://www.pastoralepyreneenne.fr/ [in French].

The website of the association of Pyrenean dog lovers, who run the annual dog show https://www.chiens-des-pyrenees.com/ [in French].