NEWSLETTER: FRANCE, BRITTANY 4 · 2019. 8. 24. · Michel is a local celebrity: I got the...

8242019 httpswwwconchologybenewsbodyphpid=195

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Guido T Poppe amp Philippe Poppe - Since 1994

New Additions | Auction | Encyclopedia | Shell Topics August 24 2019

PAIMPOL and the region

Moving once more westwards from the harbor of Dahouet to Paimpol will take youwith lots of traffic about one and a half hour less so if no traffic You first start on what iscalled Departmental roads and soon you join a National road the N12 which guides youstraight through Saint-Brieuc We are traveling now in a region called the Cocirctes-dArmorThe meaning is not obvious Cocirctes means coasts and Armor is derived from Ar Morwhich is the Breton name of Sea So the translation of the regions name is The Coastof the Sea Saint Brieuc is the capital of this important region in the north of Brittany butthe French call it not the capital but the Preacutefecture

Saint-Brieuc has been built on a valley(s) and in the city one goes up and downSeveral shell shows - the club was part of the French AFC - were held there about 20 to 25years ago and the restaurants at that time together with the general atmosphere we mustcall brilliant All enjoyed and all have the best of memories Personally I took out alwaystwo days extra on the shell show to roam around along the fabulous coasts

After passing over Saint-Brieuc you turn on the departmental roads 6 and 7 andthese take you northwards to Paimpol It is truly relaxed driving on perfect smooth roads ina pleasing green environment

At the end of the D7 you arrive in the city of Paimpol which is the start of 15 km oflittle paradise on earth

For newcomers to the newsletters best follow this trip on Google Earth by typingKey words such as Paimpol This will give an easy geographic overview of how we moveThe same key words can be used in Wikipedia many of the places are so charged withhistory that Wikipedia has pages and pages with the most interesting details on each ofthem Icircle-de-Breacutehat is a good example on that

We continue with documented photographs

NEWSLETTER FRANCE BRITTANY 4



Paimpol is situated in the southern part of a gigantic estuary of the Trieux streamThis estuary is a gigantic ensemble of mud and sand flats with multiple small Islands Theharbor of Paimpol the main city of this region is perfectly organized Here a view on thehundreds of yachts sheltering there

Another part of the harbor is organized for an elaborate fishing industry Part of thisindustry concentrates on the bivalve of national fame Pecten maximus locally called theCoquille St Jacques and there is an annual feast dedicated to the fishing and success ofthe industry on this scallop



Where the city touches the harbor a row of colorful pleasing facilities such as barsand restaurants and parking lots in order to make your stay around the maritime world inPaimpol pleasant

Strolling in the harbor these gentlemen They look like fishermen and if you ask me Ithink - but possibly I am wrong - they are waiting for a boat with the young generationcoming in Modern already one is in the cell-phone



The harbor of Paimpol has all what a photographer needs and I take the opportunityto finish with some of the better photos we took out of hundreds including the sea birdsHere a set of wheels to handle the dredges on the boat



In the harbor there are a few sailing boats resting When the evening came all gotclothed with a golden tint irresistible



And this is not Norway but truly in the harbor of Paimpol Brittany In front of thebusiness houses a special boat This type of flat boat usually serves the work on themultiple oyster beds



With this photo - it is not a painting - Philippe proved the best of himself in thisspecial art of documenting a place with a camera

Later when almost dark we moved to a place special in my heart and the heart ofSheila the house of longtime friends Michel and Sylvie Le Quement They are of courseshell collectors



Here the four of us in admiration of some of the best Pecten maximus on the planetFrom left to right your author Sheila Sylvie and Michel

Michel and Sylvie live in the village that listens to the name Ploubazlanec It is justnorth of Paimpol on the road to famous Pointe de LArcouest and the gateway to evenmore famous Icircle-de-Breacutehat

Michel is a local celebrity I got the impression that 50 km around Paimpol they allknow him He is an expert in the coastal marine life of Brittany and has written incollaboration with a few other experts 3 books on the subject Especially the chapters onshells are his expertise but he knows also all about the other animals found in the intertidalzone

For several years I have known a marine aquarium in the living room of Michel andSylvie with one healthy lobster in it The name of the lobster was Leacuteon the lobster Eachtime Leacuteon changed carapace Michel kept and preserved it with date on it This startedwhen Leacuteon was small in 1995 In December 1999 was the 10th and last change of



carapace of Leacuteon Today there is another nice lobster in the aquarium together with onefish both very alive We will see how that ends

Apart from the book writing Michel made a fabulous collection of local mollusksmainly But the best thing is that he has a didactic vocation So he organized his collectionin fixed drawers with a glass cover of (out of my head) like 90 x 50 cm When there was ashell show in the past Michel amp Sylvie could display many meters sometimes twenty ormore meters of Brittany shells to show the many visitors Short texts enhance theensemble Each drawer is made with a great sense of aesthetics Occasionally our friendswill keep long time exhibitions in aquaria and on special cultural activities in the regionThis is a truly living collection Above a view on the drawer with some fantastic Haliotistuberculata A splendid growth series that ends with a 140 mm giant likely the biggest oneknown on the planet



One of the drawers I love so much because of the spectacular colors of the shellsshown and the perfect presentation Each piece chosen out of hundreds

And this is only one out of several drawers with the varia scallop Too good to betrue but its reality

We spend a couple of days with Michel and Sylvie They were so kind to let us stayin a real century old Brittany house they own in Pointe de lArcouest at meters from Icircle-de-Breacutehat I here take the opportunity to thank them once more for the great moments wecould share



Sheila and Alex with Michel and Sylvie in front of their Brittany house wherewe could stay

And this is outside the house on the road the view with nearby Icircle-de-Breacutehat



The channels between Pointe de lArcouest and the Icircle-de-Breacutehat This is one of themost magnificent corners of France and on top of that Icircle-de-Breacutehat has a microclimatewhich approaches in quality the one as experienced around the Mediterranean

There are palm trees and thousands and thousands of flowers The place is home tosome of the wealthiest people of France who have discrete villas nearby The Island itself iscar-free



A few of the flowers Mona photographed in seconds in the little garden of romanticBrittany house from Michel amp Sylvie



More endless rocks and channels around Icircle-de-Breacutehat Needless to say that this isa collectors paradise for shells At spring tides especially in wintertime hundreds gatherto go shell hunting - for the kitchen - at low tide Many of the shells are well protected byquotas For example even snorkeling divers can only collect 30 Pecten maximus a dayStrong regulations also for Haliotis tuberculata

With the bird camera taken from the mainland the landing of the vedette that bringsvisitors to licircle-de-Breacutehat

With this nice view we stop the present stage in our trip In the next newsletter wevisit around in the region some interesting topics in relation to natural history This with ourexcellent guides and dear friends Michel and Sylvie

AUCTION RESULTS

The last auction was a great success 24 shells were auctioned and 23 of these wentto lucky buyers



The one not sold is a giant Tutufa oyamai of the female form with a striking whitecoloration complemented with pastels Hard to understand why such beauty was nothunted after However Bursidae in the mind of many collectors have a hate or loverelationship they are fascinating but not truly beautiful From where

The giant textile of a stunning 1294 mm an unseen size in virtually all collectionsincluding museums was floating much of the weekend between 300 and 400 euro



However at the end of the auction several players came in the price went up at the end upto a surprising 655 euro We congratulate the winner with this top level conchologicaltreasure

A grand classic the cowry surinamensis star of the Caribbean cowries sincedecades and with its burned orange coloration with a brown pattern just irresistible Thisshell went for a moderate 150 euro this is a correct price as many are on the market Whatmade this specimen a little better than average is the saturated shape and great brownspot We started at 1 euro and there were not less than 25 bids which shows the taste forcelebrity-shells in todays market

NEW PRESTIGE AUCTION ONLINE

We now have 24 prestigious and highly selected shells for auction This auction endson Monday 26 August at 2 pm CET (Central European Time)

httpsauctionconchologybe

THE SURVEY

The survey went well and we will send a small report around on the results Howeveryou can still answer in the coming days the more answers the more correct the resultsthe better Conchology Inc can do something on your needs

Philippe arrived from Beijing shell show only two days ago so we will Raffle theprices on Monday Until then your participation will be taken into the Raffle

httpswwwconchologybet=73



THE BEIJING SHELL SHOW

Two days before the shell show your author got sick and had to cancel the trip toBeijing few hours before taking the plane But Philippe amp Mona assisted and did apparentlya very good job They were with close friends He Jing and Grace and Victor Dan amongstothers

With 12 000 visitors this was a success for all participants The visitors were only inpart for the shells as five big events of different tastes and branches - like informaticashows - were acting as one in a huge facility

This was definitely the best organized shell show ever all participants got theirplaces assigned with pre-made boards with publicity and all with the same type of tablesAll was very spacious to allow the thousands of people to move between the differentstands

Philippe and Mona were situated next to Victor Dan definitely not a coincidence asthe organizers knew about the long-time friendship

Chinese people have definitely shells in the blood and as the country changes andameliorates we expect in the coming decades much malacological interest and activity Asyou can see the public is young and full of enthusiasm Here we continue with somephotos



Our booth with Philippe and Mona at work behind Victor Dan



Here Philippe with some young collectors all is relaxed and neat

Philippes talk He Jing translates in Chineseon Biodiversity in the Philippines



Top technology and big screens and perfect acousticsHere Philippe on some Amphidromus

Much interest in the subject



In the meantime Mona hard at work with so many people Most of the public werenot shell collectors but there was a huge interest in the subject and hundreds ofinexpensive shells went over the table We expected that so Mona and Philippe virtuallysold out as we got the correct shells for the correct public

Amazing to see how things go in a megacity in Asia The number of stands wasreasonably limited about 20 shell dealers went to the event All were professionallyprepared by a company specialized in such mega-events - perfect stands prepared inadvance with big space - thousands of people need special attention for all urgenciesambulances security and the like



After the show 16 of the dealers joined in a party to visit the great wall of China andthey took two days off to visit Beijing After that all went back home with much satisfaction

Sincerely yours

Guido T PoppeFor Conchology Inc

You can contact us

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copy 1994-2019 Guido T Poppe amp Philippe Poppe - Conchology Inc



Paimpol is situated in the southern part of a gigantic estuary of the Trieux streamThis estuary is a gigantic ensemble of mud and sand flats with multiple small Islands Theharbor of Paimpol the main city of this region is perfectly organized Here a view on thehundreds of yachts sheltering there

Another part of the harbor is organized for an elaborate fishing industry Part of thisindustry concentrates on the bivalve of national fame Pecten maximus locally called theCoquille St Jacques and there is an annual feast dedicated to the fishing and success ofthe industry on this scallop

















































AUCTION RESULTS













THE SURVEY






























Sincerely yours


You can contact us





















































AUCTION RESULTS













THE SURVEY






























Sincerely yours


You can contact us
















THE SURVEY






























Sincerely yours


You can contact us































Sincerely yours


You can contact us





NEWSLETTER: FRANCE, BRITTANY 4 · 2019. 8. 24. · Michel is a local celebrity: I got the...

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