I’m proud to announce an update with a new series of daytrips.
And there are more additions: check the update-log.
New update of “The bordermarkers of the Pyrenees”
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Author Archives: Eef Berns
Steel protection
On 29 may 2014 we (Jan-Willem Doomen and I) were in Bourg-Madame to check – among other goals – to see how bm481fr was doing: both the new – tarmac-covered – plaque and the old borderstone.
Well: the old one has been re-erected again besides the newly constructed customs-office at Rue des Narcisses. But we were surprised that its bronze replacement at the original spot (see this webpage) has got a special protection:
A steel manhole’s cover! Jan-Willem uses a rope to lift the cover which was quite easy.
Bordermarkers should be visible – we think – but we like the way this bm is protected now and appreciate the willingness to take such measures.
Meeting Murgoi
On 25 may 2014 we (Jan-Willem Doomen and I) met finally Jesús Murueta Goikoetxea, aka ‘Murgoi’. Our meeting place was appropiate: in the Basque country on a borderbridge between Hendaye and Irún.
Murgoi undertook countless trips in the years 2000-2003 to find and photograph all the esfr-bordermarkers of the Basque country (no. 1-272). He compiled “the Murgoi files” giving each bordermarker its own page with descriptions, directions and pictures. See this post for more information and a link to download the Murgoi-files.
Together we spent a very pleasant afternoon, visiting Col de Lizarrieta and redoing the bordermarkers bm044-045 with its many submarkers.
New update of “The bordermarkers of the Pyrenees”
I’m proud to announce a new update with a new series of daytrips and GRPdesBF-stages.
And there are more additions: check the update-log.
Bm196 buried again
Lucien Thomas revisited a few days ago bm196 and found that the “the poor thing” has been covered again. Bm196 has been buried for about 40 years, the last years being completely covered. In 2013 he was found again.
Lucien asks: what to do now? Well, I don’t know. Without any official involvement and reinstallment, this was bound to happen. I know that letters have been written to the municipalities on both sides of the border but nothing has happened so far.
The ‘bornés’ meet each other.
I was honoured to be invited on 12 april 2014 by Serge and Martine Poncet for an informal meeting of ‘bordermen’ or – mockingly in French – ‘bornés’ (freely translated as: stubborn on bordermarkers) who share a passion for the Pyrenean bordermarkers. Even a news-reporter was invited who wrote this article for the L’Indépendant-newspaper: 
I felt happy to meet (again) Serge and Martine Poncet, Charles & Josette Darrieu, Alain Laridon, Cayetano and Jean & Carmen Iglesias while enjoying a delicious catalan-style meal. In the après-diner, I was lucky to sit in between the laptops of Serge and Charles, watching their pictures and listen to their stories, both testimonies of our shared passion.
Robert identifies the unidentified bordermarker!
In spring 2011 I received a documentary on Jean Sermet (“L’homme de la frontière”). Jean Sermet was an erudite French bordermarker-commissionary.In the documentary we see Jean Sermet while showing slides of bordermarkers. One slide puzzled me: no number or location was mentioned and I couldn’t identify the very spot or bordermarker.
But I think that Robert Darrieumerlou now has found the answer which he kindly shared with me. Between bm061 and 062 there’s the former venta Urtxola, just over the esfr-border in Spain and only accessible from France. As a young man, Robert used to frequent this place with his mates. Nowadays it’s a restaurant. In front of the restaurant there’s a local bordermarker with a S (Sare) and B (Baztan) on either side, there are more like these in this region. We found this one on 7 april 2009. Robert compared the various pictures and that’s pretty convincing! Judge for yourself:
And this comparison will show it even better: the building must be the same! Mystery solved, thank you Robert!
Fighting the blackberry
My faithful walking-trousers served me a long time in the Pyrenees. But at april 9th they were finished, teared to rags when I tried to fight my way through blackberry. My car was just a short distance away at the hamlet of Can Damoun but I had to give up this shortcut.
That day I had done bm536-542 once again, exploring new routes. These hills – south of Coustouges from ± bm522 to bm542 – are densely forested and silent, For me they remain mysterious and intriguing with their forgotten trails, ruined farms and chapels.
New update of “The bordermarkers of the Pyrenees”
I’m proud to announce a new update with a new series of GRPdesBF-stages.
And there are more additions: check the update-log.
New website: the blog of Jacques Koleck!
Published today, Jacques Koleck surprised me with his blog: http://jkbornesfrancoesp.over-blog.com/. I thought he still preferred handwritten letters and hardcopy photos above the digital dimension.
Jacques is one of the most industrious and thorough bordermarker-researchers I know in the Pyrenees. At the age of 71 he started with his passion and at present – after 7 years – he has covered the Pyrenees from coast to coast. He doesn’t limit himself to the obvious well-numbered bordermarkers in the 1-602 range but has an open heart for the few hundred other unnumbered bordermarkers, varying from plain intermediate crosses and borderstones until demarcation plaques in bordertunnels. The blog has started with an intriguing “inventaire etc” cq counting of all the esfr-bordermarkers in a different approach than my counting.