Of Rocks and Rivers: of Such is France Made

a rock bridge on the Ardeche river

There was a folk song in the sixties, perhaps by Pete Seeger, about the phenomenon of post war suburbia, with a chorus that went something like

“Little boxes, little boxes and they’re all made out of ticky tacky

Yes they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

There’s a green one and a yellow one and a red one and a blue one

And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same”

Argentat on the Dordogne

Cirq-Lapopie

No ticky tacky in French villages and they certainly do not all look the same. Village houses are made out of stone and many of them have been standing and lived in since medieval times. Because the rock of France comes in all different colours from beige and cream through all the many shades of brown and grey to volcanic black, each village has its own look. The colour of the stone changes both the appearance and the atmosphere of the different villages. 

Rocamadour

The pale colours of the stone buildings of Rocamadour and Cirq-Lapopie give them a cheerful appearance as you wander through the tiny streets of the first, set into a gorge, and the second, sitting brightly at the top of one. 

Minas at the lower gate of Cirq-Lapopie

Rocamadour from across the gorge

Each area has a different roof design from pointy to rounded to slanted. There are turrets and gables and overhangs and ells. They use different materials from clay to schist to slate and all of these have different colours. The effect is both picturesque and distinguishing. 

One of my favourite villages is Coulonges La Rouge where the houses are all built of red stone and the effect is truly worthy of a fairy tale movie set.
 

the auberge in Coulonges La Rouge

 Even the road up to the village is asphalted in red.

a street in Coulonges La Rouge

The grey stones of the Knights of Malta crusader village of Salers give a somber and serious feel to the town. It is one of the few villages not built around the church.

just off the upper square in Salers

The crusaders must have felt their own buildings were more important and should be inside the walls and the church outside the fortifications.

old door of Salers

 






 

Some of the original nail-studded doors still exist and this adds a particular charm to this village which is set high in the hills with commanding views over the surrounding valleys.

the view of the valley just before reaching Salers

the cobbles of Albi

I love the villages that still have the original cobble stone streets, although these are few in number but some of the old towns have kept the oldest medieval sections as shopping areas with no cars allowed which is particularly enjoyable and they have often restored the streets to their original look. 

pebble mosaic floor in St. Julien basilica, Brioude

The 15^th century basilica, St Julien, in Brioude has a very attractive floor made of grey and beige pebbles in various mosaic patterns. It must have been a work of love for many people so long ago. 

an entry gate at Conques

Wherever you go there are stone ruins being renovated into holiday homes or bed and breakfast places. We have stayed in several of these and the message is always the same: “It takes a lot more money than you would ever think.”

renovated house in Salers

We met a Belgian couple whose son was a “detailleur de pierres” , a stone mason, and he had more work in the south of France than he could handle. Sometime after the war, it became fashionable to stucco these old stone houses but now, new owners, chip off the stucco to reveal the original stones. “Plus ca change, plus ca reste la mễme” 

But wouldn’t you just love to restore this ruin to its former glory?

For Sale - near Brioude

This rocky central area of France has a plethora of caves that have been used since prehistoric times. When we were staying overnight in Cabrerets, where the houses are built right into the rock falaise, we were only 3 kilometres from Pech Merle, a cave famous for its prehistoric paintings.

cave paintings of Pech Merle

Although Minas dislikes caves and really hates guided visits, the other two couples with whom we had dinner at our chambres d’hotes, prevailed upon him and we all went first thing in the morning: two couples on bikes and one couple hiking the shorter, steeper trail. Amazingly we all arrived at the same time for the first tour. I had especially wanted to make this visit because when I taught grade five, there was a story in the reader about the discovery of Pech Merle by two teen-age boys in 1925 when they fell into a hole while running away from the village priest. It was a story all the boys loved and provided great inspiration for art and writing.

the famous horses of Pech Merle

The underground system of caves is enormous with many chambers full of stalactites, stalagmites, columns, petrified human footprints and beautiful paintings in their original forms. This is no replica cave as they have done in Lascaux. 

Because you are not allowed to take pictures, I bought a few postcards so that I could share some of the cave paintings.

From Pech Merle we coasted back down to the river Cếnế for another lovely river ride into Figeac. There is no question that I love the river rides as there is always something to see, life to look at, farms to ride past. We have seen a lot of rivers: the Rhone, the Ardeche, the Allier, the Lot, the Cếnế, the Dordogne, and the Hereault. 

a village on the Lot

Some of them we rode along side the water; some we rode high up on the corniche road and some were only evident when we crossed and re-crossed them. It is not surprising that many of the old towns were built along a river.

Castres

 In colourful Castres, the houses were indeed all the colours of Pete Seeger’s song and had little openings on the water level for boats to enter the house.  I don’t suppose they are used much anymore but they are still very evident and I wonder if they make the house a bit damp and musty smelling.

time to leave the river

But no matter how much I enjoy the river valleys, I eventually have to get out of them by cycling uphill and into the next valley or further up and into the mountains once more.



We have done some challenging mountain roads in recent days. From Salers at 934 metres, we rode uphill, constantly battling a fierce headwind, to first the Col de Neronne at 1242 metres

and then further up until the road became between 10% and 15% grade and I could no longer cycle.

my walking road

so I pushed my bike for the last two kilometres 


past the patches of snow,

snow at the edge of the road

even though I was dripping with sweat, 


to the Col du Pas de Peyrol at 1589 metres. 


 The ride down, battling the wind, was every bit as challenging and there was yet another col  - Col d’Entremont at 1210 metres.  

 
That was quite the day! 
 

view back up when we had come down out of the severe wind

We are travelling, my dear., and see it is going down now.

And dear Minas has coined a new phrase to thwart any complaints I might have. He says we are not biking; we are travelling by bike.

 

And the meal of the week comes from Allee desVignes in Cajarc where we had a lovely lunch after a short and early ride.  We had time for a shower and a change into decent clothes before our “bistronomique”  (their term) lunch. When the chef/owner comes out and proposes his menu du jour and a wonderful Cahors wine to go with it and the storm is raging outside, well…. You just go with it and settle into a wonderful few hours of tastes and flavours.

a different lunch in Rocamadour

The wine was Domaine de Berangeraie, 2009, a malbec wine from the Cahors region. It was fruity with hints of floral violet and complimented the meal very well. We had carpaccio of foie gras and salad as an entrée. This was followed by dos de merlu (fish) with escabeche (red pepper and onion mixture) and roasted fennel as our main course. An elegant tarte au citron with coffee and a local digestif finished us off (quite literally – we went back to our room for a nap).
 It was a great way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon.

Cheers until next time!

bikes rest while we have lunch in Cirq-Lapopie