If you continue along the path to Sautel, you descend a little hill, and cross the river that runs from Manes. There at the river crossing is an old trough, now silted with earth and playing host to a few clumps of purple toothwort.

This beautiful old spout leads from the side of the trough. Presumably it was under here that the buckets were placed to fill them up for the days supply of water.

A few metres up the bank is a drystone hut which shelters the source from which the trough is filled,

The whole is a little jewel from the past to remind us that folks once had time for things other than work.

The Woodland Walk

Every morning Fleur and me go for a three kilometre walk through the woods on the hillside opposite. The chemin in the photo goes right through the woods from La Sautel to Neylis.

 The little lane has dry stone walls built above and below it to keep it secure on the woody incline. These walls are overgrown now with mosses, lichens and ferns and at the moment, purple and white violets and wood anemones snuggle down in their embrace. The lane has aged graciously and long may it last. 

It was made long ago and carefully. There are walls in the woods on either side and a ancient cabin for the shepherds to stay in.  Perhaps, once more the woods have encroached on fields cleared centuries ago. I do know that eighty years ago the woods grew right down to the road in the centre of the valley and  that now they are being slowly cleared again. They have become overgrown with brambles and saplings. When I asked an old lady in the village why this was, she replied that it is because there are no longer any grand-parents who will keep watch over the sheep while they graze and clean the woods. 

La Fibre va arrivée dans Votre Village!

If you go to www.meteofrance.com you might be lucky and not only discover how the weather is with us but also catch the Orange advertisement that is announcing the arrival of La Fibre in Lieurac.

WE  knew already! As usual we have more than our fair share of things. Best weather,  loudest bells,  most fibre!

In the Ariège it is almost a tradition to be late for appointments, but nowadays you don't even have to try that hard. No matter which way you turn the road is blocked by la Fibre laying processions.

They are creeping slowly over our roads and indeed through all the villages, all over France, in one great coup. They have laid their cables through Raissac, laying dust on the flourishing potager of the 80 year plus  lady in the blue stripped pinafore, on through the new immaculately repaired subsidence at Saut de la Mule. Through Tanière, narrowly avoiding the three sheep dogs that inhabit the middle of the road and on to Rapi. Where they have momentarily paused before the ancient bridge. When they have finished all of France's main electricity cables will be underground! Voila.

The Church Bells- update

That's it, you guessed right, the bells are working again. The morning after I returned from my marathon teaching stint in England, the trapdoor on the church roof was flung back and this minute figure swathed in overall blue climbed out on to the roof and started tinkering with our dear bells. By 3 p.m. there was a definite clang of cloche and news quickly spread that something was in the air. By 7 a.m. the next morning all was clear as the entire village of Lieurac was awakened by a familiar tolling, warning us that the bells were about to strike 7 fold and we should all be springing out of bed and preparing our petit déjeuner.

The big question now is whether or not the bells toll at night? However to date I can only verify that they strike at 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., the rest is lost in oblivion!

The church bells

We had hoped that they would be ringing for Noel, but  it looks as though we are going to have yet another silent night. Normally the bells sound the hour and half hour twice during the day. Giving an extra jolly peal at 7 am and 7 pm just to make sure that everyone is awake or à table,  as though anyone apart from les anglaises would miss either!

In the summer the villagers collected over

 € 1000, no mean feat for such a small village. Some of the old ladies gladly giving an equivalent of a weeks house-keeping in order to hear their beloved bells sound out again.

But the matter and the € 1000 is now in the hands of the church owners, The Church. and still the bells remain silent. Hopefully 2008 is not too old before the villagers of Lieurac experience once more what some have named the soul of the village.

Transhumance

The local Transhumance fête took place last week-end on Sunday 23rd. September. It has grown a bit in the last few years, there are more sheep, more people walking and more people stopping at Le Sautel at lunch time to enjoy the communal repas. There were also a lot of people at the vide grenier, antique stalls very early in the morning. I managed to find some lovely old linen tea towels for use in the gite, then I had a quick breakfast of croissants and coffee ( it was after all Sunday) and then walked to meet the sheep , shepherds and really intense sheepdogs to escort them back to Lieurac,  where we left them to walk the last kilometre to Le Sautel without the help of me and Fleur. ( She might , and the emphasis is on might, be a Border Colley, but she isn't focussed enough to become a sheepdog.) It will be interesting to see how this event continues into the future, as it has become very popular, although there are many more people enjoying the attractions put on by this amazingly sociable yet tiny village than there are herding the sheep.