AUBRAC, THE ROOFTOP OF AVEYRON
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| Aubrac cow going on summer holidays |
Since we started on the Camino in Saint Jean Pied de Port, in reverse direction, I keep hearing things about Aubrac. It is an area located in Aveyron, West of the Cévennes. It is a relatively high altitude plateau (above 1000 meters) which is mostly covered by meadows with wet areas and woods. It is also famous for its beef. Aubrac is a race of cow. The bulls are very bulky with fawn-coloured skin darkened around the legs. Cows and calves are fawn-colored with a Cleopatra look (their eyes are surrounded by black as if they had put some kohl eye make-up).
No one is ever indifferent to Aubrac. It is a wild place that can give, to someone passing by, the worst or the best impressions depending on the weather. Up to April, snow is very frequent and can be storming its way through unpredictably which makes the crossing of this hilly plateau a horrible experience. However when the weather is nice, in the spring, it can be an approximation of paradise. One can appreciate the purity of the landscape lines with round hills and raws of trees closely packed together on the slopes to withstand merciless winds. In spring, flowers are sprouting everywhere making colourful dots on the meadows. Narcissus, pansies, buttercups... It could understandably be a place where one feels closest to the existence of God. It is uncluttered, barren and sturdy, yet refined and delicate with the multitude of flowers, the view of cattle and the tinkling sound of their bells in the wind. The sky is omnipresent, there is nothing to stop the clouds that will, very possibly, pour effortlessly and unapologetically the water they contain on your head. The Aubrac cattle appears to be quietly making up with the unpredictable nature of the weather. As we speak, the grass is like a soft carpet that the best golf course would die for having. The rain feeds countless waterstreams that find their way to the nearest valleys.
The raw beauty of Aubrac is in a nutshell its simplicity, its harmony and the uncompromising nature of its weather, it simply is was what it is.
We approached the Aubrac plateau from the south west, walking along the Lot river. First we stopped in the lovely medieval village of Estaing whose castle is owned by the family d'Estaing, out of which Valery Giscard d'Estaing (VGE) was president of France from 1974 to 1981. This explains why the castle museum has several rooms dedicated to his political life. It presents his rule, the electoral campaign and his political vision. There is a short video about the pre-election debate where VGE faced François Mitterand, from the Socialist Party, who was trying to picture himself as the advocate of the poor to which VGE responded that Mitterrand (and the Socialists) did not have the monopoly of doing good. The observation, later confided Mitterrand to Giscard, would have been the turning point for VGE's winning the 1974 presidential election. VGE presented himself as a center right president who wanted to be close to his fellow citizens which was not a straightforward thing to establish since he had an aristocratic background. Once elected he did an act of public relations by televising a dinner he had at the home of a modest french family. The result was not transformative. Politically he wanted to achieve social progress with decent housing for everyone, social welfare, and so on... VGE was also a convinced European with very close ties to Helmut Schmitt. The 70s were tough economic times and Mitterrand won the 1981 presidential election, a sort of revenge perhaps. The Estaing castle is like a strangely crafted jewel crowning the village when looking at it from the lovely stone bridge crossing the Lot river. The castle was extended and modified several times over the past 600 years which makes it look like a patchwork of different styles.
The raw beauty of Aubrac is in a nutshell its simplicity, its harmony and the uncompromising nature of its weather, it simply is was what it is.
We approached the Aubrac plateau from the south west, walking along the Lot river. First we stopped in the lovely medieval village of Estaing whose castle is owned by the family d'Estaing, out of which Valery Giscard d'Estaing (VGE) was president of France from 1974 to 1981. This explains why the castle museum has several rooms dedicated to his political life. It presents his rule, the electoral campaign and his political vision. There is a short video about the pre-election debate where VGE faced François Mitterand, from the Socialist Party, who was trying to picture himself as the advocate of the poor to which VGE responded that Mitterrand (and the Socialists) did not have the monopoly of doing good. The observation, later confided Mitterrand to Giscard, would have been the turning point for VGE's winning the 1974 presidential election. VGE presented himself as a center right president who wanted to be close to his fellow citizens which was not a straightforward thing to establish since he had an aristocratic background. Once elected he did an act of public relations by televising a dinner he had at the home of a modest french family. The result was not transformative. Politically he wanted to achieve social progress with decent housing for everyone, social welfare, and so on... VGE was also a convinced European with very close ties to Helmut Schmitt. The 70s were tough economic times and Mitterrand won the 1981 presidential election, a sort of revenge perhaps. The Estaing castle is like a strangely crafted jewel crowning the village when looking at it from the lovely stone bridge crossing the Lot river. The castle was extended and modified several times over the past 600 years which makes it look like a patchwork of different styles.
Espalion is the next town we stopped at, the wind was blowing strongly all sorts of pollens. I soon felt I had to stay indoors for a whole afternoon to avoid having my allergic eyes make me go crazy. It is rather large compared to Estaing but not as charming. It is rather the place where ordinary people live but does have a few good restaurants serving Aubrac meat but also frog legs, snails, trout and other local delicacies. Aveyron is a place with a focus on quality food. A few kilometres away from Espalion stands the interesting Saint Peter Chapel in Bessuejouls. Within the chapel's tower, there is another chapel upstairs dedicated to Saint Michael which has beautiful decorations carved in roman style.
The next day, we were told, was the day of the cattle migration celebrations towards the Aubrac plateau. Every year, end of May, Aubrac cattle is going for summer holidays in the mountain, where the climate is cooler and food from pastures plentiful. We met a couple of herds in ceremonial attire on the bridge leading to Saint Côme d'Olt. We had heard them coming from far. There was a rumble of bells, cow feet hitting the ground and uncoordinated mooings. The herds had left Seveyrac at 5.30 AM in the morning and were planning to reach the village of Aubrac by 6 PM, after having walked thirty two kilometres and climbed up on thousand meters of elevation for the evening party. The cattle was moving steadily, some cows were wearing bunches of cloth flowers, red and yellow, others a french flag. They stopped at the water fountain, on the main square of Saint Côme, to drink and rest for a while before resuming their migration to the plateau. The village had gotten itself ready to party for the occasion. Dancers in traditional clothes were performing on a stage erected for the occasion not far from the fountain. A crowd of onlookers had formed such that cows might have felt very special. But it rather looked like they only cared for drinking water and making sure they were together with their pals waiting to walk further. We parted our ways leaving the cows follow the road to the village of Aubrac where all the herds were expected to meet in the evening and where there would be a big dinner for the people attending the event. The day before the party was in Saint Chely d'Aubrac where we arrived a day too late.
We had dinner at the Café de la Mairie, a bar/restaurant on the city hall square which had a lively terrace with a fair amount of Santiago pilgrims (rather quiet after their walk of the day) and locals having their aperitif. A large group of them was entertained by a mildly inebriated guy who was attempting to be the funny guy by making loud jokes (maybe to draw attention of one of the girls?). At some point, feeling he wasn't getting the edge, he went and rode the bicycle of another customer in a comical way (the saddle was much too low for him so he had to spread his legs very much to avoid elbowing his knees) around the square. People laughed at him and but soon went back to their conversation. Then the party discussed where to go next on this Sunday night. Half of them decided to go to the transhumance party in Aubrac, eight kilometres away. There would be music. They went to their cars and drove past the café soon after in order to convince the rest of the group to join them, including the entertainer who wasn't ready to go, perhaps he was contemplating that Monday morning is no good friend of Sunday night partying.
We had dinner at the Café de la Mairie, a bar/restaurant on the city hall square which had a lively terrace with a fair amount of Santiago pilgrims (rather quiet after their walk of the day) and locals having their aperitif. A large group of them was entertained by a mildly inebriated guy who was attempting to be the funny guy by making loud jokes (maybe to draw attention of one of the girls?). At some point, feeling he wasn't getting the edge, he went and rode the bicycle of another customer in a comical way (the saddle was much too low for him so he had to spread his legs very much to avoid elbowing his knees) around the square. People laughed at him and but soon went back to their conversation. Then the party discussed where to go next on this Sunday night. Half of them decided to go to the transhumance party in Aubrac, eight kilometres away. There would be music. They went to their cars and drove past the café soon after in order to convince the rest of the group to join them, including the entertainer who wasn't ready to go, perhaps he was contemplating that Monday morning is no good friend of Sunday night partying.
The following day took us uphill towards Nasbinal. After a quick ascend, a light rain started but soon increased to the level where we decided that it made sense to put on our rain gear, so that we soon resembled two military green dromedaries that had lost their way on the Aubrac plateau. It was cold. We came across a large cross erected at the intersection of two paths with a sudden brightening of the horizon, a very ephemeral one. I thought it was a nice allegory for the notion of choice that we have in our lives which is often made in light of very short-lived externalities.
We reached the village of Aubrac with its dark stone constructions, not very cheerful under the rain, but it also felt that Aubrac inhabitants were prepared for harsh weather conditions and had made sure to have cosy interiors. The cattle in the fields did not appear to be rattled by the weather. They took it calmly but would not mind the shelter of a tree if it was available when the rain came down too heavily. We walked on soft green grass full of colourful flowers but we also had to cope with rivelets and wet areas. The walk was exhilarating, despite the cold rain and our frozen hands. The temperature was probably not more than 7 degrees Celsius. The landscape was gentle and full of roundness neatly manicured. Things got a bit more unpleasant as we came closer to Nasbinals. A storm broke out, turning our shoes into water buckets. The sun appeared for 15 minutes, lifting up our moral a bit, but by the time we had reached the village hostel, the rain had resumed, with heavy on and off downpours. We had a brief lunch and went to take shower after which l was good for siesta in the warmth of my winter-grade sleeping bag for there was no heating in the room yet. Of course looking at the rain falling straight down outside was no invitation to go outside again. Food was the necessity that forced us out. First getting some goods for the next day's lunch and also finding a table for dinner. There was one open restaurant that seemed more inviting than the rest, called la Route d'Argent ( the silver road). The large number of customers was telling. Aligot was served with nearly all dishes. It is a speciality from Aveyron made of 2/3 potatoes mash mixed with 1/3 of local cow cheese, a bit of cream and a fair share of garlic. It is designed to provide a rapid feeling of satiation, which is not hard to reach. The cheese provides elasticity to the puree so that is can be elongated without braking. In Aumont-Aubrac the owner of the Ferme du Barry where we stayed enjoyed himself to show us just how long it could be without breaking. He managed at least two meters. Sausage is a favourite with aligot.
We reached the village of Aubrac with its dark stone constructions, not very cheerful under the rain, but it also felt that Aubrac inhabitants were prepared for harsh weather conditions and had made sure to have cosy interiors. The cattle in the fields did not appear to be rattled by the weather. They took it calmly but would not mind the shelter of a tree if it was available when the rain came down too heavily. We walked on soft green grass full of colourful flowers but we also had to cope with rivelets and wet areas. The walk was exhilarating, despite the cold rain and our frozen hands. The temperature was probably not more than 7 degrees Celsius. The landscape was gentle and full of roundness neatly manicured. Things got a bit more unpleasant as we came closer to Nasbinals. A storm broke out, turning our shoes into water buckets. The sun appeared for 15 minutes, lifting up our moral a bit, but by the time we had reached the village hostel, the rain had resumed, with heavy on and off downpours. We had a brief lunch and went to take shower after which l was good for siesta in the warmth of my winter-grade sleeping bag for there was no heating in the room yet. Of course looking at the rain falling straight down outside was no invitation to go outside again. Food was the necessity that forced us out. First getting some goods for the next day's lunch and also finding a table for dinner. There was one open restaurant that seemed more inviting than the rest, called la Route d'Argent ( the silver road). The large number of customers was telling. Aligot was served with nearly all dishes. It is a speciality from Aveyron made of 2/3 potatoes mash mixed with 1/3 of local cow cheese, a bit of cream and a fair share of garlic. It is designed to provide a rapid feeling of satiation, which is not hard to reach. The cheese provides elasticity to the puree so that is can be elongated without braking. In Aumont-Aubrac the owner of the Ferme du Barry where we stayed enjoyed himself to show us just how long it could be without breaking. He managed at least two meters. Sausage is a favourite with aligot.
Images:
1/Aubrac cow going on summer holidays
2/ Estaing
3/ Espalion
4/ A wild Aubrac landscape
5/ Aubrac after the rain
6/ Aligot at the Ferme du Barry
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| Estaing |
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| Espalion |
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| a wild Aubrac landscape |
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| Aubrac after the rain |
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| aligot at the Ferme du Barry |
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