This seems to be one of those French villages which has lost population. Many of the houses in the main street have all the shutters closed all day, or else they are for sale, closed businesses too, two butchers, two bakers, a hotel – all closed. It is not deserted, there are two bars and a restaurant, each one opens intermittently, most closed in the evening. It has this hushed silent atmosphere, there just aren’t many people about. There are people living here, two hundred yards downhill, overlooking the river, there is a collection of newer houses which seem to be populated, but everyone has a car, they must go elsewhere to do their shopping and socialise. There is an open-air market on Thursday mornings, mainly fruit and veg, but people arrive in cars, sparsely. It is the effect of the prevalence of the motor car more than anything I think. A village or town without pedestrians just feels dead.
It’s not even restful really, because it feels weird.
The UK suffers from the same effect of course, there are no shops at all in many Devon villages, people live behind fences, guarded by barking dogs.
Anyway I had two full days here, planning to explore the hills on foot, but the first day was spent recovering from previous rides, the apartment was large and comfortable, so I relaxed nicely there. On day two I walked to the local landmark, a 12c castle on a rock outcrop near the top of the river gorge. Chateau Rochebonne.
Five kilometers steeply uphill on deserted paths, there is the odd cluster of houses even up here, a mixture of older locals and newbie holiday homes I suspect, “Escape to the Country” syndrome.
Chestnuts all over the place, ripe clusters fall from the branches and clatter to the ground – sounds weird in the silence until you get used to it.
And a pleasant wander down through the trees. The footpaths are well-used – I get the idea that hikers are here in the holiday season.