NEWSLETTER: EUROPE 2018 - PART 2A€¦ · 25-07-2018 · newsletter: europe 2018 - part 2a Two days after our Paris adventure we ﬂew to the south of France, more exactly to Nice,

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Home | Available Shells | Auctions | Shell Topics July 25 2018

NEWSLETTER EUROPE 2018 - PART 2A

Two days after our Paris adventure we flew to the south of France more exactly toNice in order to visit some major customers and collaborators of Conchology Inc Nice wasvery busy and the size of the airport was times 5 since my last flight there about ten yearsago I can measure my age on the expansion of airports throughout the world In the firstdays we got a few hours free and we profited to visit a partner in some exotic adventures ofmy earlier conchological life Patrick Fourlinnie He has now what I should call A brocanteand antiques shop in the harbor of Frejus A very nice place indeed Here some photos



The harbor of Frejus a quiet and very clean place surrounded by small shops and manyrestaurants perfect for the multiple boat owners

Patrick who likes to play old pirate but still very fresh and nice in the mind On the leftSheila myself and on the right Mona



A painting in the shop of Patrick which I should have bought as it depicts many sea urchinsand I did not see many paintings as such But hard to transport with the plane so we left it

there

Many may wonder who is Patrick from Frejus but hundreds possibly eventhousands will remember him as a fidegravele participant in shell shows all over Europe Patrickgot his love for the oceans via his family son of the French Admiral of the Pacific his familystayed a long time in Tahiti and he acquired his love for the sea while staying for somemonths on a remote Island in the Tuamotus With Patrick I share wonderful memories from agreat adventurous collecting trip to the Marquesas now about 30 years ago and afterwardshe was so kind to introduce me to his family in Papeete For sure Papeete and theMarquesas have changed a lot since Some particular moments I will never forget and Iwant to document one here on an early morning Bruno Briano Patrick and me decided togo diving in the open sea Tahiti has a wide lagoon on many places and we stayed a fewkilometers north of Papeete So we took a small canoe with one outrigger our snorkelinggear and there we went on the lagoon In front Patrick with a paddle in the center meenjoying in the back Bruno also with a paddle None of us said one word in first instanceBruno and myself were both sick but not sick enough to stay in bed After half an hour notfar from the reef on a lagoon that looked like a mirror appears at about 50 meters from ourboat the dorsal fin of a shark that draws on the flat water dark wavelets in a perfect V-shape Seconds later in the absolute silence of the open ocean Patrick who says calm andas it was announcing there is a coffee on the table Shark at eleven oclock That was it Itwas a glorious moment and ten minutes later we were all three in the water with the shark

But back to our trip in southern France now

These few days we were happy to be in the mild and sunny climate of the Cocircte dAzur afterfresh Belgium and Paris A few views of these rare moments before we left to the higher and

colder areas of the hinterland of Cannes and Nice



This is a typical view of one of the many small harbor-corners in this exclusive part ofEuropean coasts which is also sheer rich in malacological life despite the fact that a bigpart of the coast has been destroyed is polluted and the like A small harbor in Antibes

In Cannes we got the chance to see air acrobats at work On the left they are in a loop andthe state of the art is to pass at high speed through towers that are put on the water in the

bay Amazing a little suicidal if you ask me On the left one of the acrobats upside down inthe center a helicopter for urgencies and on the right a successful passage through the

towers



We then went inside the country as Sheila and me wanted to share this fantastic area ofFrance with Philippe and Mona for who this was a premiegravere The countryside behind Cannes

and Nice are the French Pre-Alps and a little further already the French Alps It is aspectacular area with great sceneries all over But first we stopped at the entrance of all thatwhich is a small city called Grasse It happens to be a center of lavender factories and the

world capital of Perfumes

A view on the roads near the center of Grasse In this city you either go up or down Modernis mixed with very old and the general atmosphere is very charming



This is the entrance of one of the Fragonard perfume factories Fragonard being one of theolder Grasse brands In this very case an old factory which is now an uppermost interestingmuseum on the perfumes combined with a shopping center for their products Remark the

great Renoir light seldom seen in the north of France but often around in the south

One of the many tools used to make perfume from lavender on the back of the copperdistillers a big photo of the lavender fields in full blossom



Our guide in the Fragonard factory a gentle Swedish lady who spoke perfectly English Theladies and young Alex shopping well adapted perfumes for each particular body smell

Back in the city dwelling around in the narrow streets and on the right is the house whichinspired Philippe for his magnificent photo of sandstones and red painted walls typical for

the area and shown at the start of this newsletter



After Grasse we went up fast and the scenery along the road to Castellane is often grandWe spent the next 4 days most often between 600 and 1000 m high occasionally up to 1600meters Here behind Grasse a view on the coast you can see the peaceful Mediterranean

on the horizon in the corner left

After leaving Grasse we pass only after 12 km in Saint-Vallier-de-Thiey This is acharming place in the Alpes Maritimes and famous for Bronze Age relics such as menhirsand dolmen So we are definitely not the first ones to find the area fantastic our farancestors were of the same opinion But we stopped because there was an open-air marketfinishing already as it was about 2 pm

The area is extremely rich in local food especially cheese and sausages the latter often fullof garlic and they are all delicious Fruits are abundant Mona is an achieved cook of highlevel and she here surprises a local sausage maker with comments Sheila and Alex are

watching the scene



Great discounts and a relax atmosphere Look at the purity of the crystalline air

And this gigantic dog was a premiegravere for Alex and for me as well At first it looked like agigantic white golden retriever but the size was almost twice that of a Golden and the

weight for sure was quite impossible A talk with the owner taught us that this gentle animalis locally called a Pyreneacutees I googled this breed and in English it is called the Pyrenean

Mountain Dog in America they call it the Great Pyrenees It is rare in Belgium andapparently not existent in the Philippines Later on this trip we met two more Pyreneacutees and

it is interesting to read on this not so common but beautiful dog in Wikipedia



But of course we did not forget our vocation and we looked at the snails Shortly after thevillage a first stop and classics for the region On top dead Solatopupa similis and one nice

Helicid not determinated yet On the left again the very common S similis seen abouteverywhere in the region On the right common throughout Europe but an uppermost

pleasing species Pomatias elegans None of these shells were worth collecting

We spend about one hour circling on mountain roads stopping here and there tophotograph nature - our photographer Philippe took more than a thousand shots in these 4

days - and to enjoy the landscape We then arrived at our destination Castellane



Above are two views on the centre of Castellane - there does not seem to be much morethan the main places with a few streets around The population is only around 1600 at

present

There is one fine hotel in Castellane where we stayed for the next days using this small butvery pleasing city as our base for visiting the region Read more on Castellane in WikipediaThere is an extensive history going back to the Neolithic Today it is the first major stop on

the very beautiful Route Napoleon which runs from the Mediterranean to Grenoble



Life is definitely different in Castellane than in most of other European cities Two children atwork on their bike in the centre of the street On the right medieval walls on the left not so

old inhabited houses

On the left modern hidden between buildings from over a thousand years old On the righta mysterious medieval door closed The secret of what is behind is well kept

And this is remarkable likely a centuries old piece of metal with a great shape I am a fan ofmetal objects and one of my big hobbies decades ago were African knives which have thestrangest of shapes Few years ago in Philadelphia we visited the Barnes Foundation an

impressive ensemble of world-class paintings brought together by a certain Albert Barnes inthe first half of the 20th century Remarkable in his collection of paintings is a collection ofiron works from medieval Europe which he personally brought to America and he placed

them between his paintings You can see this in google images A strange type of collectionof metalworks as the one seen here but uppermost pleasing and interesting



To finish this first part on the southern France trip a splendid photograph by PhilippeDoors in Castellane

Next week follows part B of this newsletter with our viewings of the environs ofCastellane

I take the opportunity to give some Auction News as this is long ago

Auction results

Since a little more than one month there is great enthusiasm for our auctions thereare many participants the number of bids is big and one feels the enthusiasm translated innice prices for the chosen shells we do our best to locate every week We feel there is akind of shortage of very nice material at present and this may be one of the reasons of thesuccess

The biggest number of bids 14 went to a cowry a mappa with a cross design thatresembles a modern work of art got that honor



The famous mappa that got 14 bids well deserved The end price was 315 euro which wethink is correct for such a fantastic piece It may take decades to find its equivalent

The highest amount out of the 21 chosen shells went to a beautiful Conus cervus of a bigsize 111 mm+ This is very big and combined with the excellent quality beautiful pattern

the price is rather low as usually such shells reach over 600 euro in our auctions The buyerwas lucky because as I explained few cervus were collected the last two months while twodozen were found a few months ago Such things often depends on the success of just one

fisherman that found a perfect spot



Definitely the cowries were doing well in this auction A very rare - few are known -Monetaria annulus f circumpicta went for 300 euro and a setepausensis of surprising beauty

combined with big size reached 380 euro Both are in their condition major rarities



One out of about 4 bargain prices in this auction is a Terebra angelli from Margarita IslandVenezuela This is a rare species I spend 50 aquatic days on Margarita - 8 hours a day at

between 8 and 16 m deep but never found even one The condition of the shell here offeredcompared to the holotype is fantastic and so were the colors It went for a modest 41 euro

- and after 13 bids - to a Belgian collection

All by all in Conchology Inc we are happy with the result and it allows our companyto have some extra finances so that we can do even better in the future We thank all thebidders for their enthusiasm and continuous support

Sincerely yours Guido T Poppe For Conchology Inc

You can contact us philippeconchologybe

guidoconchologybe sheilaconchologybe

httpswwwconchologybe

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The harbor of Frejus a quiet and very clean place surrounded by small shops and manyrestaurants perfect for the multiple boat owners

Patrick who likes to play old pirate but still very fresh and nice in the mind On the leftSheila myself and on the right Mona




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NEWSLETTER: EUROPE 2018 - PART 2A€¦ · 25-07-2018 · newsletter: europe 2018 - part 2a Two days after our Paris adventure we ﬂew to the south of France, more exactly to Nice,