The beginning of this week had to be quiet one to recover
from our Christmas dinner but that didn’t exclude excursions. I didn’t
accompany the rest of the family when they went to visit Figeac but stayed home
and caught up with some correspondence. By the next day things were back to
normal again. Andre and Leigh decided on a mid-week break so went off on
Tuesday morning, returning again on Wednesday afternoon. Meanwhile with the
girls in our care, we tried to do things to entertain them. Our days inevitably
start rather late (can’t think why!!) so we had an early lunch and then went
off to show them the splendid chateau we discovered recently – Loc Dieu. It was
a beautiful day with a brilliant blue sky and no wind, and the afternoon sun
always has a golden glow about it which we love. The girls were suitably
impressed and Cassidy, who is a keen photographer, took masses of rather
beautiful pictures. Next day, we had to outdo ourselves, so we set off to find
a dolmen to show them. This area is supposedly littered with these
4000-year-old burial sites but after following directions for most of the
morning, we came up empty-handed. Instead we took a detour to Promilhanes where
there is an ancient dwelling, dating back several hundreds of years , and built
entirely of flat stones. We had come across it some time ago but could find no
information about it, which is really annoying. The little rectangular house
sits in the middle of the complex with a smaller round building attached to
each end. One of the extensions has a yet smaller bulge on one
side. The roofs of all the buildings are made of flat round stones which are
balanced on each other without internal supports or rafters. We decided that
the central building was where the farmer and his family lived. It is about 7
by 3 metres. The two extensions, we thought, were for animals, perhaps sheep
and/or goats, as the doorways were far
too narrow for cattle or horses. The small bulge on the one side, which could
possibly have been a bread oven, had no internal workings so we came to the
conclusion that it was a lambing area. The whole complex is very neat and clean
and all openings are barred to prevent squatters moving in but strangely,
absolutely no information board or name of any kind. I must remember to try and
find out more about it.
On the way home, as we drove through Monteil, we saw a board
that pointed to ‘Dolmens and Gouffre de Lantouy’! It was close to lunch time
but having driven around all morning searching for the darn things we didn’t
want to pass up a good chance now. I think I explained in a previous blog that
a dolmen is and ancient burial place and consists of two or more flat stones
placed vertically on either side of the grave, with one or two more laid across
the top to form a table-like structure. We came at last to a parking place with
an arrow pointing up the hill (of course) saying ‘Dolmens’. As we scrambled up
the stony path, I consoled myself with the fact that the return would all be
downhill! After about ten minutes we came to the first one and it was a giant!
The side ‘walls’ were at least 2 metres long and about a metre apart. Balanced on
top were two enormous stones, about 30 cms thick and overhanging the sides.
Today one would not consider moving stones of that size without a large piece
of machinery, but somehow the people of 4000 years ago managed to lever them up
into position. It is quite awe-inspiring.
We didn’t go on to the Gouffre of Lantouy but having now
seen pictures of it I am a bit sorry. A gouffre is basically a sink-hole which sometimes
is full of water, sometimes not. If there is water, it is coloured by the
chemicals and minerals in the soil and can often have a mystical appearance.
Lantouy has water that looks like polished lead and could have been quite a
sight, but it was already three o’clock and we were all hungry. Next time
perhaps.
On Friday, Courtney was going off to spend some time with
her penfriend and the two families wre
to meet up in Toulouse, about halfway between the two homes. Andre told us
later, on their return, that the outside temperature registered by the car
dropped to minus 7 degrees at one point. That’s cold!
We managed to finish our jigsaw puzzle after a week of
working on it, and were pleased to discover that there are still no pieces
missing. It was a real devil to do but just the thing for a team effort. It is
amazing how magnetic a half-done jigsaw is – no-one can pass it without trying at
least one piece.
The winter is really beginning to bite hard now. This
morning it was still minus 3 at 10 am and the maximum temperature wasn’t more
than 7 degrees. The insulation under the floor is helping a bit but isn’t yet
complete and no-one is really keen to go and work down there on these cold
days. So we have a fire burning strongly
but are all sitting with blankets around us for warmth. And this may not
be the coldest part of winter yet! At this rate, Cassidy’s wish for snow may
well be realised.
No comments:
Post a Comment