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Saturday 19 April, Chambery
Finally finding time to blog! What a wonderful welcome we received at Jacqueline’s and we were all thoroughly spoiled - being fed like kings for 5 days and spending our time pottering about the local villages. The vicinity is known for its volcanic plugs or “sucs” which make it very picturesque – many hills and hidden valleys, little streams, green farmland and remote hamlets. Just 10 minutes away up the hill is the little village of Queyrieres with its octagonal basalt plugs sticking out of the centre of the village for all the world looking like the chateau that was once on this prominent point. Not any more – it was sacked by mercenaries in the 100year war and all the stones since used to build the houses and church.
Our best day out was to a little village called Moudeyres which is full of thatched cottages and old farm houses; there we visited a museum housed in an old farm complex, which was sold intact to the mairie with all the household goods and farm implements in place. The guide was immensely interesting, explaining the way of life of the people of many centuries ago as well as the method of thatching which nowadays is an almost unknown art and very expensive, whereas it used to be the poor man’s roofing material. Inside under the vaulted ceiling we saw the beds built into a cupboard for warmth – very small beds because, not only were the people shorter but they sat up in bed to sleep. This was to aid respiration but also because they were superstitious about lying down which is too death-like. A second similar village, Bigorre, was even higher up the mountain and even more picturesque if that were possible, with the most amazing views over the countryside.
Other favourite spots we revisited were firstly the network of little mills at Nazac which follow the route of a little stream down the steep hillside. You can still see the walls they built to channel the water beneath the mills to work the mechanism for grinding the flour. Secondly, we all went to visit the Pont du Diable, a 12th century bridge leading to an ancient town on a little promontory. It is a very steep climb but worth the effort; I kept trying to imagine the horse & carts making their way up the steep ramp.
In the afternoons, the children had fun playing with the neighbour boys and also Jacqueline’s grandson, Clement, - again, there did not seem to be any language barrier. Last night, we had a special dinner for Jacqueline’s birthday with all her family – 18 in all. We were able to help with the catering too – Carmen made her speciality – Lasagne – and I was her offsider. It was well received by all.
We have now moved on to Chambery and tomorrow we tackle the Alps!
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