The "course des serveuses et garçons de café", it's like life.  You need to be quick, agile, know how to stay calm and not spill anything.   Saturday 22 september 2018, 170 contestants waited for the start in the Place de la République, 60 for the local event and most of the rest for the national event.  However, sponsors and families also took part even if they igored the rules. 

Everything is carefully measured and there are penalties for every drop spilled.  Proper shoes too, trainers are allowed, but there is a hefty time penalty.  The race is over 4.4km (two circuits of a 2.2km course) and includes a lot of up and down hill work plus a few sets of steps.  The national event was won by Thomas Vieron of Duplex in Angers. Julia Brissaud of Relais Limousin won the womens prize.  A double for Cheverny of Limoges for the local event, with Tom Dugué and Tatiana Damiens.

I photographed the runnners in the Cours du Temple, in the Place Barreyrrette and mounting the steps opposite the Hotel de Ville.

"One of the most important festivals of the art of mime in Europe (the only one in France) Mimos takes place in mid summer in the streets, parks and theatres in Périgueux."

Founded in 1983, the festival Mimos covers every aspect of the arts of movement : mime, gesture, dance, circus, marionnettes...

As in 2017 I went to Périgueux with some friends from the Jumilhac photo club on 24 juillet.  It was VERY hot, over 35° and the light was very harsh and strong, but the performances were superb, some moving, some amusing - all in all a very enjoyable day.

Mid june 2018 I spent a few days with some photographer friends in the Haute Pyrénées.  Each day we hiked in the mountains, starting at around 1400m, the highest you can normally take a vehicle, then following trails to around 1800/1900m.  Magnificent, but very tiring, in part due to carrying a ton of camera, several lenses and a tripod !  We ate in restaurants each evening, then an hour or two to sort the day's photos before an early night.  The weather was magnificent, between 25 et 30°C with a refreshing breeze.

One night we camped out at 1500m (just a sleeping bag, no tent) so as to see and photograph the sunrise.  Unhappily it was rather misty, but an unmissable experience just the same. 

The 4th edition of the Engie Open in Limoges runs from 4th to 12th november 2017 at the Palais des Sports de Beaublanc.  It is ranked the third womens' tennis competition in France after Roland Garros and Strasbourg, and is the number one indoor competition.  The 2016 edition attracted over 13 000 spectators !

I went on the afternoon of 10th november with three friends from the club PhotoLim.   The Palais des sports is well lit so it was possible to photograph with a 70-200mm at f2.8 and 1/500s without exceeding ISO 1600.  Capturing the ball however was not so easy.  130km/hr (the services often exceed 160km/hr) translates to more than 30m/s, so even in burst mode (7/s) the ball has moved over 4m between frames - totally useless.  The only option is to time the shot manually by anticipating the moment that the ball is hit...