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By Meri Grigoryan
Saint Affrique is a town of rivers, mountains, bridges, pétanque, chess, cheese and wine. It is situated in south of Aveyron area, where Roquefort cheese is made, in the Midi-Pyrénées region. Saint Affrique grew up in the 6th Century around the tomb of the bishop St. Africain and in the 12th Century a fortress was built on the neighbouring rock of Caylus.
The town has five bridges over the river Sorgues, which cuts through seven hills: des Anglais, de la Quille, de la Fous, de la Serre, des Cazes, de Nougayrolle et du Rocher de Caylus. The land area is 110 km² and there are 8300 inhabitants. It’s the birthplace of the musician and inventor Pierre-Augustine Sarrus (1813-1876) and the mathematician and politician Émile Borel (1871-1956).
Le Pont Vieux (the Old Bridge) was built in 1270 and is classified as a
Historical Monument
“A Room With A View”: this is what I see from my window
A metallic creation of Gavroche, a fictional character from the novel Les
Misérables by Victor Hugo.
Place de la Liberté, with another metallic creation
When I was told that there is an international tournament in Saint Affrique every summer I was surprised. I had never heard about it before. And as I like to write about things people have never written about I decided to visit the town for a holiday, explore the Aveyron area and practice my French – with no intention of playing chess!
I travelled via Montpellier and before getting to my final destination I had time to enjoy the city’s impressive Antigone district architecture created by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill (born December 5, 1939).
Antigone district: cross to the arcade and shopping centre Polygone and
all your money will soon be gone...
Antigone district: a scene overlooking the Polygone arcade
Antigone district: Insulae
Finally I arrived in Saint Affrique! The general welcoming atmosphere made me feel like home and I decided to play but with one condition: if I felt tired I would not continue the tournament. My request was granted, and so I played four games. After all, this trip was meant to be my holiday...
The tournament was run smoothly and many activities were organised. 201 players, even from India, took part in the 15th St. Affrique International. The winner was Moroccan GM Hichem Hamdouchi and the lady’s prize went to Indian WGM Nisha Mohota. I scored 2.5/4, lost my second game against Glenn C. Flear.
# |
Name |
Country |
Title |
Elo |
Points |
1 |
Hamdouchi, Hichem |
MAR |
GM |
2576 |
8 |
2 |
Degraeve, Jean-Marc |
FRA |
GM |
2520 |
7.5 |
3 |
Flear, Glenn C. |
ENG |
GM |
2479 |
7.5 |
4 |
Boudre, Jean-Pierre |
FRA |
IM |
2329 |
7 |
5 |
Dselrme, Axel |
FRA |
FM |
2317 |
7 |
6 |
Mohota, Nisha |
IND |
WGM |
2332 |
7 |
7 |
LeJarre, Ludovic |
FRA |
FM |
2359 |
6.5 |
8 |
David, Vincent |
FRA |
FM |
2390 |
6.5 |
9 |
Petrossian, Armen |
FRA |
2392 |
6.5 |
|
10 |
Prie, Eric |
FRA |
GM |
2518 |
6.5 |
11 |
Hamdouchi, Adina-Maria |
ROM |
WGM |
2287 |
6.5 |
12 |
Collas, Silvia |
FRA |
IM |
2393 |
6.5 |
13 |
van Elst, Andreas |
FRA |
FM |
2294 |
6.5 |
14 |
Janev, Evgeni |
BUL |
IM |
2488 |
6.5 |
15 |
Collas, Didier |
FRA |
IM |
2458 |
6.5 |
Winners from previous years:
Year | Name | Country | Title | Elo |
2006 | Jean-Marc Degraeve | FRA | GM | 2540 |
2005 | Anthony Kosten | ENG | GM | 2522 |
2004 | Viesturs Meiters | LAT | 2487 | |
2003 | Jean-Marc Degraeve | FRA | GM | 2541 |
2002 | Alexander Delchev | BUL | GM | 2557 |
1992 | Didier Collas | FRA | IM |
Playing hall: la Salle des fêtes
The Mohota sisters, Swati and Nisha, in front of the Salle des fêtes.
One of the sisters will marry soon and if I keep my long hair until then, I
will most likely attend the Indian wedding.
Aarthie Ramaswamy plays against the tournament winner Hichem Hamdouchi, who,
by the way, came third in the Montpellier Open this year.
Adina-Maria Hamdouchi vs. Jean-Marc Degraeve
Mohota sisters: Swati and Nisha in full concentration
WGM Silvia Collas of France
GM Glenn C. Flear vs. WFM Meri Grigoryan
Clockwise from left: Armen Petorsyan, Nisha Mohota, Eric Prie, Aarthie Ramaswamy,
Lejarre Ludovic, Meera Sai Ravi
Chief arbiter Stephen Boyd
Myself and arbiter Maya Todorova
Couscous
night out in the city
Third from right is the organiser Allain Herrero, myself, Nariné
and her husband Armen Petrosyan
After a nice dinner follows the traditional pétanque!
The annual summer fête: a brass band entertaining visitors
Video clip: the band playing “Emmenez-moi”
by beloved Armenian Charles Aznavour
Can you imagine a fête without crêpes?
... or without roast potatoes?
Gateau
a la broche, Aveyron’s speciality
Roquefort: visiting the cheese caves with friends
Roquefort (pronounced "rock-for") is sheep milk cheese produced in the south of France, which has distinctive veins of blue mold. This mold (Penicillium roqueforti) is found in the soil of the local caves. Traditionally the cheesemakers extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was consumed by the mold. The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a powder. Nowadays the mold is produced in laboratories, allowing for greater consistency. The mold may either be added to the curd, or introduced as an aerosol, through holes poked in the rind.
A boat trip on the river Tarn
I enjoyed myself enormously and I am looking forward to my next Saint Affrique trip! Incidentally, you can actually play in Montpellier International Open and then go to Saint Affrique, so you have five days to explore the surroundings and witness the annual summer fête. You get there via Montpellier or Nîmes and then by bus or via Saint Rome by train and then by bus.
A watercolour painting of Banyoles by Meri Grigoryan (with the painter reflected
in the picture)
Born on 02.09.77 in Yerevan, Armenia, Meri Grigoryan was taught chess by her father and only coach. She became: