French resort town cracks down on ‘half-naked' visitors
Authorities in Les Sables d'Olonne, located in the Vendée region on France's Atlantic coast, have announced fines of up to 150 euros ($175) for those walking around the town 'half-naked,' according to a Facebook post from mayor Yannick Moreau, published Tuesday.
Railing against topless men, Moreau criticized the 'indecent behavior.'
'It's a question of respect for locals who don't want people wandering around their town half naked,' he wrote.
'It's also a rule for basic hygiene in our markets, our shops and our streets,' added Moreau, who called on local police to ensure that the rule is enforced.
'If you want to show off your pecs and your best swimming shorts in Les Sables d'Olonne there are 11 kilometers of beach at your disposal,' he said.
Moreau's post was accompanied by an image of a poster announcing the fine, alongside the tagline 'In Les Sables d'Olonne, respect doesn't go on holiday.'
The move appears to have been well received, with many Facebook users leaving positive comments under the mayor's post.
'Thank you mayor. I find this completely intolerable,' wrote Dominique Camio-Martial.
Claire Gourlaouen added: 'My parents are shopkeepers, sometimes they ask people to get dressed.'
However, some suggested there are more important things to worry about, such as dealing with crime.
Les Sables d'Olonne is the latest in a string of French towns cracking down on what is seen as disrespectful behavior.
In Arcachon, another popular holiday spot on the west coast, authorities have also introduced a 150 euro fine for anyone walking around town in a state of undress.
In the south of the country, the town of La Grande-Motte has also introduced a 150 euro fine for scanty dress in any part of the town other than the beach or its seafront promenade.
And it's not just France that is trying to improve visitors' behavior.
In 2023, authorities in the Spanish city of Malaga announced that anyone seen in the street or public spaces without clothes, or wearing only underwear, would face a fine of up to €750 ($874).
And in September last year, the city hall posted billboards that aim to educate tourists on appropriate behavior during their visit, including one that reminds them to wear clothes.
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San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
This 250th anniversary in San Francisco will probably pass in silence
Tuesday is the 250th anniversary of a sea voyage that went down in history. Not long before dark on a windy and cold afternoon, Aug. 5, 1775, the Royal Spanish Navy ship San Carlos entered the harbor of San Francisco Bay and anchored for the night just off the beach at what is now the Presidio. As far as anyone knows, the San Carlos was the first ship to enter San Francisco Bay. The arrival of the San Carlos set off a whole series of events. Once the Spanish found out the extent and potential of the area, they decided to send a party of colonists the very next year; they arrived in the spring of 1776. It was the beginning of San Francisco and the end of a way of life for people who had lived around the bay for thousands of years. Two hundred fifty years is a big milestone, but any story about exploration comes with baggage: colonialism and the fatal impact of European contact on native peoples. So there will be no celebration of this anniversary as far as I know. But any voyage into the unknown has a certain fascination. As a kid I devoured stories about explorers: Robert Scott in the Antarctic, Roald Amundsen on the Northwest Passage. I just finished 'The Wide Wide Sea,' Hampton Sides' book on Capt. James Cook. I never outgrew these tales. So the voyage of the San Carlos to San Francisco was a natural. The commander of the San Carlos, Teniente de Fragata (Frigate Lt.) Juan Manuel de Ayala, kept a careful log of the voyage, and it's preserved in the Council of the Indies in Madrid. The Spanish descriptions are so clear you can visit the locations Ayala wrote about. You can take a ferry to Angel Island to the cove where the San Carlos anchored for a month, or sail to Vallejo up the wide bay the Spanish named for St. Paul. Just the other day I drove to the little beach at the edge of the Presidio where the San Carlos anchored that first night in San Francisco Bay in 132 feet of water with a sandy bottom. The spot is not far from what we call the Golden Gate. It's part of a national park, popular with joggers and dog walkers. Ayala anchored the ship a quarter-mile from the beach, but Ayala didn't like the look of it: too windy, too much current, whirlpools and riptides. So in the morning he moved across the bay to Marin to a place he called Carmelita, out of the wind. You can stand on that little San Francisco beach and see that cross bay trip in your mind's eye. But the bottom was soft on the north side, and that wouldn't do either. Ayala feared losing the anchor in the mud. Ayala's chief mate and pilot, José de Cañizares, had scouted a cove on the bay's biggest island, not far away, and Ayala eventually took the ship there. As it was near her feast day, the island was named for Our Lady, Queen of the Angels — Angel Island. Another island was found to be inhospitable, with steep cliffs and hundreds of pelicans. Alcatraz. Ayala sent Cañizares, the pilot, with 10 men in a launch to explore and chart the bay. They went north and east taking soundings and mapping the shore. They went as far as Carquinez Strait, which they named for the Karquin people they met, and into Suisun Bay. Another pilot, Juan Aguirre, went south toward what became San Jose. The chart they made became the first accurate map of the bay region. Juan Manuel de Ayala was born in Andalusia and was a graduate of the Spanish naval academy. By the time he was assigned to Mexico he was 29, and after 15 years in the service was still a lieutenant. But he had a good reputation and was one of five officers hand picked by the viceroy to explore the north coast on three ships. The Spanish knew about San Francisco Bay and wanted more information. Ayala must have been disappointed when he got to San Blas, a small base near Puerto Vallarta, to be given command of the schooner Sonora, only 36 feet long and designed for inshore work. The Sonora and two other ships sailed from San Blas on the afternoon of March 21,1775, the first day of spring. There was trouble. The San Carlos, a two-masted packet boat that was the largest in the fleet, hoisted a signal. The captain, Diego Manrique, a senior lieutenant, was sick 'and unable to continue the voyage.' He'd had a mental breakdown. He became paranoid, convinced himself that persons unknown were after him. He stashed loaded pistols all over the ship. The fleet commander relieved Manrique and picked Ayala to replace him. On April 4, when the fleet was near the Port of Mazatlan, one of the pistols the unfortunate former captain had hidden away went off and shot Ayala in the foot. Ayala was so badly hurt he couldn't walk. This was in 1775, and one can only imagine the medical help available on a ship at sea. Mazatlan was not far away and Ayala could have turned back. But this was his chance — an independent command with orders to go to the uncharted port of San Francisco. So, disabled as he was, he stayed in command. The voyage was long and tedious; the San Carlos was very slow, especially when sailing against the wind and in the heavy coastal fog. It took from early April to late June to sail from Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja California, to Monterey, where they stopped for repairs, and nearly a week from Monterey to the Gulf of the Farallones. At sunrise on Aug. 5, the ship was at 36 degrees 42 minutes north latitude and Ayala could see what we now call the Golden Gate. The rest was history. The arrival of the San Carlos was not the first contact between the people of the Bay Area and Europeans. An expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá first sighted the bay in the fall of 1769. In 1772, another expedition, this one headed by army Capt. Pedro Fages, explored the eastern side of the bay. They calculated the latitude of the entrance to the estuary. A gap in the coastal hills looked to them like 'a gate.' Three years later, Ayala knew where to sail. The Spanish sailors found the local people 'affable and hospitable.' They came aboard the ship and invited the foreigners to their camps. They offered food and small gifts. Padre Vicente Santa Maria was quite taken with what he called 'the heathens' and tried to learn their language and culture. The voyage of the San Carlos did not create the historic drama that followed, but it set the stage. On one of his exploring trips, the pilot Aguirre came upon a little cove. On the shore were three people, weeping uncontrollably. He couldn't understand the reason for the tears, but he called it ' La Ensenada de los llorones ' — the cove of the weepers. Today it's called Mission Bay, San Francisco's newest neighborhood.
USA Today
9 hours ago
- USA Today
uTalk Language Learning: Lifetime Subscription (150+ Languages)
DescriptionInstructorImportant DetailsReviewsRelated Products uTalk can help you start speaking like a native within minutes. Using the uTalk learning App you can listen to real native speakers to help you navigate through your next vacation or business trip. We all learned a language as children so you'd think we'd know how to learn one as adults? But somewhere along the line - maybe because of all the other info we've been cramming into our brains since then - we've forgotten the trick of it. One thing for sure though is that our childhood ability to learn a language wasn't dependent on reciting verbs and conjugations. And it wasn't dependent on using voice recognition technology when our own ears did the job. So learning a language with uTalk is child's play for all the right reasons. With more than 2,500 words and phrases to learn in each of our 150+ languages, the app gives you a running start on your journey to language fluency. Simple and easy to use, you have fun as you develop your language skills naturally - just like you did with your first language. Every single word you hear on the app is spoken by authentic native speakers so you're constantly immersed in your new language. And, because uTalk mirrors the way we all learn best as children, it lets you learn what you want, when you want, so you can progress at your own pace. Sometimes, even in this age of screens and technology, we could all do with learning the way Mother Nature intended. uTalk's language programs let you understand how native speakers actually talk and feature independently verified translations so you'll be able to navigate through your next vacation or business trip and speak like a real local. You can learn any of our languages from your own language too, so whether you are a Spanish speaker who wants to learn Arabic, an English Speaker who wants to learn Spanish, or a French speaker who wants to learn Urdu, we've got you covered. The uTalk learning method is tried and trusted by more than 30 Million users. Access to all 150 + languages for life (see Important Details for full list) to learn from any device, any time you want Discover real, practical vocabulary that you can use in real-world situations Measure your achievements as you go along Verify your learning by playing speaking games Over 60 different topics to help you learn Learn from native voice artists who really know what they're talking about Access your account from any device so you can pick up where you left off anywhere Awards & Reviews The Queen's Award for Innovation and Export The Chartered Institute of Language Threlford Cup Winner 2019 4.3/5 stars on IOS App Store: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Important Details Get a lifetime access to all and any of uTalk's 140 languages, including: Afrikaans Albanian Amharic Arabic (Egyptian) Arabic (Gulf) Arabic (Lebanese) Arabic (Modern Standard) Arabic (Moroccan) Armenian Assamese Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Breton Bulgarian Burmese Cantonese Catalan Cebuano Chibemba Chichewa Chinese (Hakka) Chinese (Mandarin) Cornish Croatian Czech Danish Dari Dutch Dzongkha English (American) English (Australian) English (British) English (Canadian) English (Cockney) English (Indian) English (Scottish) Esperanto Estonian Fijian Filipino (Tagalog) Finnish Flemish French French (Canadian) Galician Georgian German German (Swiss) Greek Greek (Ancient) Greenlandic Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew And more. Check full list here Length of access: lifetime To view complete terms and conditions, click here Have questions on how digital purchases work? Learn more here Learn more about our Lifetime deals here ! Unredeemed licenses can be returned for store credit within 30 days of purchase. Once your license is redeemed, all sales are final. This item is excluded from coupons. All reviews are from verified purchasers collected after purchase. The web interface feels clunky and you must download an app to really use it. The lessons leave a bit to be desired As an educator, uTalk misses out on a lot of the effective teaching techniques such as spaced repetition and feels like a flashcard app. However, I am giving it credit for having excellent coverage of languages as there are more than 100 options compared to the 14 or so offered by most other language apps. Estoy muy complacido con esta aplicación móvil y, además, tengo acceso a través de la web. Es vitalicia. Excellent value, and best language selection . This is one of the few apps I found which offers tagalog as an option. haven't had time to get too far into it yet, but enjoying the basics so far. can't give it a five star rating until i see how well i'm able to learn these languages. All the major world languages are covered. There is the same basic sequence of language learning for all the languages. The situations are mostly identical. Your cart is empty. Continue Shopping! Made in Venice, CA & powered by
Business Insider
10 hours ago
- Business Insider
I left my job in tech and moved to Spain. Being alone in a foreign country is hard, but it's changed me for the better.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Parrie Hartley, 30, who moved from Austin to Barcelona in February 2025. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. I'm from a really small town outside of Houston, where there are not a lot of employment opportunities. I've always been a city girl at heart, so in 2020, after a brief stint living in Australia, I moved to Austin and started working in software sales. Austin's tech scene is booming. Many, like big corporations, like Amazon, Tesla, and Meta, have opened offices there, bringing with them a lot of jobs. Moving there definitely built my career and made me a lot of money. Living in the city was awesome, too. It's a great place for young people, with an amazing culture, food, and music scene. There are a lot of events, and I definitely made some really great friends there. In May 2024, the startup company I was working for started making layoffs. By then, I had already started thinking about leaving Austin. I had been in the city for five years and was itching for a change. Everything in my life was perfect on paper, but I still missed adventure. I've always been very curious about the world, and I really do think I'm the best version of myself when traveling. At the time, I was 29 and single. I had no husband, job, children, or pets. My parents were healthy, so I didn't really have anything tying me down. I decided, "Why don't I move abroad?" A student visa was my ticket to Spain I had been working in sales, so I had built up quite a bit in savings. But once I decided to move, I sold everything — furniture, clothes, anything that I could get money from. In Austin, I lived alone in a 1,100-square-foot apartment on the East Side, downtown, and paid $1,800 monthly on rent. To save money, I moved back to my hometown and started picking up some shifts at a local boutique. I considered a lot of different places to move abroad. I had already lived in Australia, so I checked that off the list. I'd also been to Asia, which I enjoyed, but I felt that living there might have been too much of a culture shock. So, I began researching visa options for Europe. One option was a student visa, which I discovered could be obtained by enrolling in a language school. The visa was available in Portugal, Spain, and Italy. As a Texan, I didn't feel a strong need to learn Portuguese or Italian. I had also visited Spain when I was 22, during a backpacking trip with friends to Barcelona, and had a great time. I figured that if I moved there, I could learn Spanish and be close to the other European countries I wanted to visit. It took about four weeks to organize all of my paperwork for the visa. I had to obtain an FBI background check, get a medical clearance from a doctor, show proof of health insurance, and submit my bank statements to show that I had sufficient funds in my account. In the end, everything came together, and my visa was approved just three days before my flight to Spain in February. I got lucky finding housing I attend a Spanish language school called Expanish in Spain. I have classes five days a week, four hours a day. The course lasts 40 weeks, with eight weeks of holiday included. I paid $6,800 in total. I live in a neighborhood pretty close to the Church of La Sagrada Família , which is not only the most famous building in Barcelona, but possibly in all of Spain. Since I'm in such a central area, there are a lot of tourists and markets around, but the area itself is still fairly quiet. My building is between three major metro stations. Figuring out the metro was initially a challenge for me as an American, but it turned out to be super easy. I feel safe walking there day or night because the area has low crime. I got really lucky finding an apartment through a rental website called Idealista. They matched me with a couple, and I'm paying €600 ($686) for my room. I pay €10 ($11) a month for WiFi, plus water and electricity, which adds another €40 ($46) a month. The apartment is around 753 square feet and came fully furnished, which was great. We have air conditioning, but unfortunately, it doesn't reach my room, which is rough in the summer. It's easy to make friends in Barcelona Meeting people in Barcelona is easy, and the people are very warm and welcoming. The city is filled with people from all over the world. Most are away from their families, here for a year or two, so eventually, you end up creating your own little family. Often, making friends is as simple as going out and striking up a conversation — if you hear someone speaking English, you just start talking. I've met plenty of people through my language school, though it tends to be a revolving door since it's a temporary program, and most students are only around for three or four months. Outside of school, I've built friendships through Bumble BFF. I also joined a volleyball league when I first got here, and I play regularly. I haven't ventured onto the dating apps just yet. I'm 30, and I do want to build toward a relationship, but I feel like I need to get my life a bit more together first. That said, I'm definitely having fun meeting people. I've met guys from Brazil, the Netherlands, and Colombia — it's been a really fun mix. Honestly, it feels a bit like being a kid in a candy store. Moving here was the right choice for my future Most of my time here has been really positive. I spend a lot of time at the beach, and I'm walking up to 20,000 steps a day. You can really see the difference in my face. I've also been traveling. In July, I visited Menorca, one of the Balearic Islands off the coast of Spain. My round-trip flight was only €40 ($45.72). I just packed a backpack with bikinis and went. This month, I'm also heading to Mallorca because I scored free tickets to the Love Island UK finale. Right now, I earn money tutoring both kids and adults in English during after-school hours. I'm also helping my cousin, a lawyer in Texas, with some administrative work. My current visa is valid for one year and will expire in early February 2026. I'd love to stay longer, so I'm exploring the option of applying for a digital nomad visa. It's available in several European countries and essentially allows you to live and work remotely, as long as you meet certain income requirements and have health insurance. As for moving back to the US, I don't plan on it, at least not if I don't have to. Of course, there are cultural challenges that come with living abroad, especially in a place where you don't know the language or the people. I also miss my family, and get a little sad when I miss family events or big moments in their lives and can't be there in person. But I've come to realize that life keeps moving — both for them and for me. My motto is: you choose your hard. For me, marriage and raising a child right now would be difficult. For someone else, it might be moving overseas alone without knowing the language. But that's the kind of hard I'd gladly choose any day.
