Relaxing days, restful nights

 

Vogelschutzgebiet in Le Teich / Flohmarkt in Port Goulée / Blumenwiese bei Vertheuil / Nachtigall in Saint-Vivien
© Vidéos du Nord-Médoc

Nowadays hardly any professional lives are stress-free and work/life balance needs to be addressed. But how do we go about this when living in a large city or in an environment heavily influenced by the following :

Light pollution: artificial lighting has upset natural body rhythms, resulting in reduced perception of natural phenomena which can only be seen in complete darkness. These include the Milky Way, and the close observation of shooting stars and glow worms or fireflies.

Sound pollution: very noisy events such as those caused by aircraft can affect health by upsetting the balance of stress hormones. This is evident during the different phases of sleep. Noise can cause an increase in blood pressure leading to cardio-vascular disease, and to a decrease in gastric juices which may cause gastric ulcer.

Atmospheric pollution : Pollutants can lead to infections of the respiratory tract and the circulatory system, leading at worst to death. In addition they increase the risks of cancer (on the 17th October 2013 the WHO declared that atmospheric pollution is carcinogenic).

What better reason then to choose an environment which guarantees relaxation and rest in the face of stress. Only regions well away from the source of such pollutants can offer such a choice, as for example the Médoc.

So it’s hardly surprising that so many Europeans have chosen to retire to this region.

2018 Christian Büttner/Elke Schwichtenberg (Saint Vivien), translation: Richard Beasley