After having such a difficult time getting photos of our new discovery that were complete and not blurry, I put my camera in my overalls pocket and started off to get some more shots...hopefully better. I didn't get very far. As soon as I rounded the corner of the barn, I saw a man standing on the road and heard lots of gas motored lawn tools. I decided it was best to wait till later and returned to the Chatette. There was a huge white utility truck in the middle of the road that I could see from the terrace, as it peaked out from just behind the barn. I wondered if it was the village workmen. I wondered if the owners of the Château had hired someone to come and clear the area. I just plain wondered. At lunch two men drove off, but there must have been a third because the noise was still going strong. I realized that they were village workers when one of them came over and began clearing all around the lavoir too. By the end of the day, all was quiet. I took my path up the hill between the barn and the road, and look what I found!
Imagine the bottom half of this photo totally covered in ivy starting at the top of that stone wall and trees growing up from the bottom that were higher than the stone wall-reaching way above the road.That's what we had there, till our workmen arrived. I'm still pinching myself...so much beauty, romance, magic and history hidden under all those ivies, vines, brambles, trees and just plain junk. I took a few more shots to try to capture something that is uncapturable in places like these. So much of this newly cleared place was so not what you would have imagined it to be. So much is hidden here in our magic place; whether it's under centuries of deep soil, grass, rock and gravel, or trees, vines, nettles, weeds and inconsiderate peoples junk. My sense of our "we" in this place is remarkable. I pondered our sweet barn for years, and when it came to us...it was about so much more than just the barn. I was hoping that the lavoir would be cleaned over time, et voila...not only is the lavoir being cleaned, but there was so much more there than was even possilbe to know. Wouldn't it be wonderful if...and then you get the if and MORE! What a life in this place of our hearts.
Hooked, huh Stephane? Wish I could tell you more than I already have. You could be right about an underground tunnel to the Château-everyone tells me that there are suppose to be tunnels between here and Saujac on the other side of the river, and between here and Montbrun...me, I just keep digging! Hope all is well-Love, Laury
Posted by: Laury Bourgeois | September 28, 2010 at 09:57 AM
Laury, you got me hooked up: there is more suspense in this than in a Dan Brown novel! What's next ? A secret underground passage to an alchemist lab in the castle ?!
Posted by: Stephane Eloit | September 28, 2010 at 05:45 AM
You're right Niels...I'm happy to just park it right here and keep exploring. Believe me, there's lots more digging of my own to be done!
Posted by: Laury Bourgeois | September 23, 2010 at 05:05 AM
sounds really fascinating all things and ideas, exploring your close surroundings, no need to go Himalaya etc. !
Posted by: Niels Windfeld Lund | September 22, 2010 at 10:59 PM
Mon Dieu Laurie-all wonderful and amazing ideas-I especially like the time travel baloon camera one. I think the best I can do for now is see if I can come up with some kind of drawing. There is a source up in the hills that empties in front of the Château and down into this area...to the point where the Château can be semi-moated after snow melts and heavy rains...the rushing water sounds are incredible! I'll be back with more explanation as I put pieces together! Or-should I wait for dream answers-I like that idea too?
Posted by: Laury Bourgeois | September 22, 2010 at 07:09 PM
PS If you could get a TIME TRAVELING balloon/camera to use for the above assignment, to capture this whole thing in its heyday, that would be awesome. Can you try that? I might be up nights pondering this whole situation ;) Maybe I could program myself to dream the answers???
Posted by: Laurie | September 22, 2010 at 06:07 PM
Wowww okayyyy so even with your detailed efforts to transmit this wonderland out behind the lavoir, I am still challenged to put it all together in a coherent setup in my mind! Gah! It looks like an ancient in-ground POOL in some shots... but it has that door, which maybe used to be a well-crafted portal that could be sealed closed to hold water and opened to drain it. But this is probably far too simplistic a grok as all that other stuff is going on there... how very curious! Is it a spring, with all associated 'water works' around it? Water comes up from the spring is stored in a covered area to keep it clean...
Laury, here's your next assignment: rent a hot air balloon and dangle over that whole mysterious constellation with a video camera w/a good zoom and post THAT for us to gawk at.
Oy I'm exhausted with all this architectural mystery taunting me.
Posted by: Laurie | September 22, 2010 at 06:04 PM