The tidal bore (mascaret in French) on the river Dordogne is at its largest at this time of year. It passes the Chateau twice a day, at each low tide. Even though we are some 50 miles from the sea the mascaret can be over a metre high. It passes at about 10 miles an hour, quite noisily when its this size.

It attracts surfers – to the uninitiated it might seem rather like schussing down a nursery slope; apparently the challenge is to stay on the same wave for 20 minutes.

We watch the mascaret from our jetty or our balcony and enjoy a powerful natural phenomenon . Although there are around 60 tidal bores in the world, their number is diminishing as mankind continues to alter river mouth geography.