Day 12 of Travel in France was the start of two weeks further south in France. The Garrigue and the Millevaches Plateau are different worlds and it is hard to believe they are only c.200 miles apart. The sun baked down in the high 20sC as we set off from Ferriere les Verreries for a walk through the countryside.
Tall, green trees in cool forests are now replaced by stunted bushes and low oaks, and instead of moss there is stony ground, and aromatic thyme and rosemary. Streams and waterfalls and the sound of running water are gone, instead there are dry river beds and the insistent singing of cicadas.
Ferrière les Verreries is a small hamlet whose name describes the two activities in the area in the Middle Ages – mining and glass-making. Couloubrines was a 16C glass ‘factory’, and part of a route of glass foundries in the area. The art of glassmaking was restricted to the nobility and so brought to an end by the Revolution.
And that was enough for one day – back to the gîte!
You may be interested in
A longer walk which includes the above
Mining at St Laurent le Minier
Le sentier les asphodeles
Glassmaking
I would love to hear from you!