Highlights this month -

• Alix Sundquist  - Member of the Month  
• Book Club Relaunch
• Gardening -  Splitting Iris's and the joys of having a pond. 

Message from our President 

Bienvenue!

Welcome to the website of the Dordogne Ladies Club International. We are a vibrant and enthusiastic community of women of all ages and nationalities (with English as the lingua franca) who have settled across a wide area of the Dordogne. The DLCI was formed almost 35 years ago with the original aim of cultural exchange and providing mutual support for new lives in another country and we remain true to that today.

There are many opportunities to meet regularly, both informally and through more structured events, which are designed both to entertain and inform. We enjoy exploring the beautiful countryside through our guided walks. We are also very proud to acknowledge that we raise significant funds for local charities.

Some of our members work and many, though retired, are active on a voluntary basis in our local communes. Some of us have been in France for many years and others have only just arrived. Whatever your situation, you will find a warm welcome from the DLCI.

I hope I have whetted your appetite and that after you have browsed our website, you will get in touch! I feel very privileged to belong to such an active and friendly association and I look forward to meeting you in the near future.

Cordialement

Kathy John

Dordogne Ladies Book Club 
​Some of the members of the Dordogne Ladies Book Club met this week in small groups in both Monpazier and Bergerac.  Thanks to the initiative and ideas of  Sue Morrison  who has helped define a new format for the book club relaunch.  It was the first time since the book club started that it has been possible to meet face to face.  It was decided that meeting in different locations across the region and in smaller groups would work well.  It gave those attending the chance to discuss the books and authors they enjoy reading.  The face to face discussion worked well over tea and cake the groups discussed how to make the book club work for all the members.  It was such a success that we decided to keep that format and meet monthly in 3 locations across the region - Monpazier, Bergerac and Sainte-foy-la-grande.   You are welcome to come along and join us.  Please just get in touch and let me know  if you would like to get involved - email Patricia.a.fielding@gmail.com
We have chosen our next book to read which will be " A gentleman in moscow"  by the author Amor Towles. There were several recommendations of books to read in the group and the shortlist was as follows:
All Visible Things by Brian McPhee . 
The Ice Princess, by Camilla Lackberg.  
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. 
All Those Who Are Loved, by Victoria Hislop. 
  I'm sure we will read these books over the coming months.  We will put a review on the DLCI website once we have finished it so that you will be able to see what books we have enjoyed.    We hope you like our book choices and passages please let us know.. 
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Book Club Passage 

 In the month of August we will celebrate the birthday of arguably one of  France's most famous men  - 
Napoleon Bonaparte
born on the 15th August 1769  an intriguing man living an epic life.  Our Member of the Month Alix Sundquist is an expert on Napoleon and has provided this famous quote from him. 
L'imagination  gouverne le monde. 
It prompted me to do some research and I found this along the way.. A book I will surely try and read at some point.
Napoleon's favourite book was said to be "Paul et Virginie" a novel by Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, first published in 1788. The novel's title characters are friends since birth who fall in love. The story is set on the island of Mauritius under French rule, then named Île de France.

Here is a passage from that book: 

 .. "All the crew rushed in crowds to the sea, on yards, planks, chicken cages, tables, and barrels. We then saw an object worthy of eternal pity: a young lady appeared.  in the stern gallery of the Saint-Guéran. It was Virginie ... "

​and it continues thus... 

Gardening Column
​by Christine Lees

Dividing irises

I'm sure many of us have bearded irises in our garden.  Although I had irises in my garden in London, I did not think I had any in my garden in France, until a large conifer was reduced in size and there were clumps of irises revealed underneath.  I separated the clumps and planted them in my front garden, amongst roses, lavender and herbaceous plants.  In the second year they flowered and they have a very attractive pale blue and beige flower.

Bearded irises love full sun, good drainage and poor soil.  Most of my garden has very heavy clay soil which is very wet in winter and baked hard in summer.  The soil in the front garden is better and certainly better drained.

It is easy to rejuvenate your existing irises and create new plants by dividing the rhizomes.  After several years the rhizomes become desiccated and the new rhizomes grow on top of each other. You can dig them up after they have finished flowering, knock off surplus soil and cut or snap off old wizened roots.  The stronger pieces with a fan of leaves can be planted separately.  The leaves can be trimmed and then (as recommended by Carol Klein) make a double trench 5-8 cm deep with a ridge of soil in the middle.  Drape the roots on either side of the ridge and fill the trenches with soil.  The rhizome should be just above soil level, where it can bake. Ideally the ridges run north to south with the fan of leaves at the north end and the rhizome in full sun.

Rosemary (Copley) kindly brought me many irises from her garden.  I am waiting for some rain to make it easier to make trenches and am looking forward to planting them. They are such a traditional French flower with beautiful colour ranges.

Once again I would encourage you to think about making a pond in your garden in the autumn.  I made my wildlife pond 2 years ago, it is full of frogs,  attracts dragonflies,  and other insects and in the evening the birds go down to it to drink and bathe.  Today I have 5 waterlily flowers on my 2 waterlily plants.

Napoleonic Historical Society Gala Dinner in Toronto, 2015

Napoleonic Historical Society Gala Dinner in New Orleans, 2011

Our member of the month is​
​Alix Sundquist

​People have often told me I am lucky. Looking back at my life so far, I have to agree.
I keep fond memories of my elementary school days at a French Catholic school in my
native Buenos Aires. The Soeurs were gifted and dedicated teachers, and helped make
me fluent in French and a lifelong Francophile.
When I was eleven or twelve years old, vacationing in my grandfather’s estancia, I found
in his musty library Emil Ludwig’s mesmerising biography of Napoleon. Thus began my
fascination with the Napoleonic period, one that has made me friends around the world,
and given me many opportunities to travel, attend conferences and jubilees, and dress up
in gorgeous Empire fashions. PHOTO
Eager to expand my horizons and escape my parents constant fighting, I wanted to leave
home from an early age. Encouraged by an older neighbour, I applied in secret to several
prestigious American colleges. I was elated when Smith College in Massachusetts
accepted me and offered an attractive scholarship. Although my father was adamantly
opposed to letting me go, my mother, teachers and family friends finally persuaded him
that it was too good a chance to pass up. They were right: Smith not only gave me an
excellent education, but it changed my life!
After graduation I lived in New York for eleven years, and the city remains my favourite
in the world, with Paris a close second. Following a short-lived marriage, I enjoyed life
as a single woman in the artsy West Village of Manhattan, obtaining a master’s degree in
Economics, and working on Wall Street. Then I met Erik, and we have been together for
almost 50 years. Last March, we celebrated 45 years of marriage.
In 1979, I was admitted to the Foreign Service, and had my baptism of fire in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia. As the first woman diplomat in the Kingdom, I had to meet some
challenges, but was amply rewarded with a quick promotion and an assignment to Paris!
We lived in a beautiful Art Nouveau apartment in the Seventh arrondissement, a short
walk to the Eiffel Tower, Napoleon’s Tomb, and the Alexander III Bridge. In 1984,
when I was pushing forty, my “last chance baby” Karin Alexandra, was born at the
American Hospital in Neuilly.
Following Paris, we did several years of hardship duty in Washington until fortune
delivered another good turn and I was designated Consul General in Bordeaux, then our
oldest extant American outpost, established by Thomas Jefferson in 1791. (It
unfortunately succumbed to budget cuts a few years later). My last overseas tour in the
Foreign Service was Rabat, Morocco. Shortly after retiring, however, I was asked to take
various short term assignments, including a whirlwind tour as Acting Ambassador to the
tiny but amazing Republic of Malta.
We celebrated the millennium with old friends in Bordeaux, and settled to a pleasant,
tranquil life in the Washington suburbs. We lived at Erik’s childhood home in Arlington,
Virginia, in close proximity to his aged father and our beautiful daughter. We socialised
with Foreign Service friends, attended concerts, plays and the opera, and travelled as often as time and pocketbook would allow. I worked hard knocking on doors during both of Barack Obama’s campaigns, and felt proud to be an American when he was elected twice, and every time I handed in my passport at Charles De Gaulle.
Then came the catastrophic elections of November 2016 and my world exploded. After
several months of sleepless nights seeing our country unravel, a flash of genius crossed
my mind: “why don’t we move to France?” Erik’s father had passed away, our
professional activities had dwindled, and our daughter encouraged us and promised to
come see us. Why not trade the torment of Trump’s Washington for a country we know
and love? Erik did not need to be persuaded, and we set out on our life-changing
journey.
And now here we are in Bergerac and have no regrets. We love living close to the
historic center, and having a small garden and an indoor pool. We enjoy driving in the
gorgeous countryside surrounded by vineyards, and a stone throw’s from some hilltop
castle or marvellously preserved 13th-century town with a medieval church, a bustling
market square, affordable antiques, and a memorable meal. And joining DLCI has been a
great source of new friendships and activities – weekly coffees, outings, crafts, and much more. I am very lucky indeed.

Members on the Map

Charities 

The Dordogne Ladies Club International was founded to provide friendship and support as well as to raise money for local charities.  We aim to do this in a way that is sustainable and maintains the beautiful environment in which we live.  We look after our planet the way she looks after us. 
We are proud that in the last five years we have given in excess of 20,000 euros in donations to local charities chosen by our members.  In 2020 the members will be nominating and choosing new charities to receive donations.