A Hole Inside a Mountain?

Thu 11 May.

More about the hole later.

I have just finished reading a book by Peter Mayle (of 'A Year in Provence' fame) called 'Chasing Cezanne'. His experiences in France have spawned a number of novels and he certainly has an eye for the sometimes curious behaviour and foibles of the French. A gem that amused me related to what we see as the state of constant animation of many French people."" Lucy was looking puzzled as she tried to pick out a familiar sound from the torrent of noise. " Do they always talk so fast?" " Always. The Frenchman, until advanced senility sets in, is normally excited." " What happens when advanced senility sets in?" " Oh, they go on chasing girls. But slowly, so they don't spill their drinks." ""

Donna feels that her eye is still improving however, the black spot in her vision persists.

We decide to drive up and around the Montagne Noir and circle back to C-M, a trip of around 60kms.The road is very narrow and initially winds its way along the Argent-Double River. This river (more like a stream) is clear as crystal and tumbles along its bed of white rocks, seemingly never getting deeper than 50cms. We notice the vegetation is scrubby on the mountainside at this point. After about 6km we reach Citou where there doesn't appear to be a wine vine in sight. Well defined vegetable gardens and orchards take up any of the available arable ground and you notice that the air is slightly chillier. Citou is known for its garden produce and particularly for its sought after onions which are stored in the fields rather than freezers.

The road becomes steep and winding at this point and it is wonderful to see the village of Lespinassiere, pictured above, tucked into the folds of the ridgeline of an isolated peak with its 15th century church's square tower emerging from the more verdant foliage than that just a few kilometres before.

The road becomes even steeper and Donna has become a 'white-knuckle' passenger as she fears a 'head-on' from any approaching traffic. You would think that anyone who lived here would never be in a rush. I agree with Mayle that a Frenchman behind the wheel has a competitive urgency that overwhelms all their other instincts!The bush has taken on a lush appearance with a variety of tall trees and ferns. Not nearly as colourful though as the brightly dressed pushbike riders who dot the road in some sought of masochistic ritual of riding up incredibly steep mountains. We are 900 metres above sea level.

We pass the village of Castans which hangs like a limpet on the side of the mountain and which must be able to boast the narrowest roads around.

Downhill now to Cabrespine which seems to enlarge as we drop onto it in its valley. A drawcard here is the 'Gouffre de Cabrespine'. This is the hole in the mountain. Some call it an abyss whilst others a chasm. In any event, you enter onto a balconied walkway which skirts an enormous hole 250 metres deep and 70 metres wide. To put it in context, the Eiffel Tower would fit inside it! This massive cave has been cut by a river running through the mountain whose bed was originally at the level we view from. The surrounding walls are covered in concretions which have been formed by calcite flows (?) coloured by various oxides. Stalactites and stalagmites can be seen close-up and the lighting is marvelous. The hole was discovered late last century and was explored from the bottom up. You have just got to admire the people who climbed the massive, vertical wall with only the lamp on their helmet for vision...hard to believe.

As we left the cave I noticed a girl of about 25 wearing a Wallabies jumper and a leather 'Crocodile Dundee' hat. What a surprise to find that she was in fact French and had spent 7 months living on the Gold Coast!

As we head back to C-M I notice that our fuel is down to about 1/8 full. We find a garage at Villegly that sells diesel and fill up realising that we have covered just on 900kms on 7/8 of a tank. Our Citroen Picasso is very economical to run. The tank took 52 litres at 1.21 Euro (2.017 AUD) per litre.

Donna had noticed a Chateau in a park in Villegly so we drove in as we found it was a public facility. The building with its pointy turrets was 3 storeys high and in excellent condition. The setting in a beautiful park bordered by a stream and a centrepiece of a Roman bridge was stunning. We went into the building which I think is used for meetings and conferences. We were stopped by an official and had a wonderful conversation in French over about 6 or 7 minutes. He went away happy. We wish we had known what we were talking about... C'est la vie!