The Roche de Soutré
Yesterday during a tour round the Maconnais vineyards we stopped to investigate the Roche de Solutré. The limestone ridges which run south from Burgundy reveal traces of human culture dating back to the Ice Age. In 1866 at the Roche de Solutré a local geologist found the bones of up to 100,000 horses and the flint tools which were used to butcher them. He wrote a popular book about how the horses were driven off the edge of the cliff to plunge to their deaths. Until recently this was believed to be the case but in fact the bones were not found at the foot of the cliff but in a natural corral around the southern side of the slope. It is now believed that the horses would pass by on their migration from the Saône flood plains to the hills and the ridge was used as a barrier to trap the horses and attack them with spears. Numerous stone blades shaped like laurel leaves were found amongst the horse bones, and stone scrapers used to prepare the hides.
There is a new museum at the Roche de Solutré where you can see the remains of the horses and the tools. Solutré’s importance can be seen from the fact that it gives its name to the period which ran from 20,000 to 16,000 years ago, marked by the tools with laurel-leaf points. So there is a lot of detail about these and some quite interesting small models of the hunt. And lots of remains of horses and deer. But beware the English audio guide. Just look at the pictures if you can’t understand French as it is mind numbingly dull and terribly slow. Why on earth can’t these museums get an English person in to record an audio guide in proper English?
From the museum there is a good footpath to the top of the cliff. On the way up look out for the field where there are some Przewalski horses which closely resemble the Ice Age horses. The view from the top is well worth the climb as you can see over the Pouilly-Fuissé vineyards and across the Saône valley to the mountains of the Jura. Take a picnic and plenty of drinks with you as it’s a lovely place to sit and you’ll need something after all that walking.
Marguerite and foal
Just a very quick post to introduce you to our new neighbour born yesterday. He is with his proud mum Marguerite
The broom race
The Loto event is held each year in the Foyer Rural. It is very popular which is not surprising when we saw the prizes that were handed out for a full card. Very soon some of the tables (but not ours unfortunately) were groaning with huge cured hams, saucissons (salamis) and bottles of the local wine and cremant.
After the event we stayed on to help clear up which was even more fun in a way than the Loto. After folding away the tables and stacking the chairs the serious part of clearing up began as everyone sat down to polish off the leftover wine and a big plate of cheese and meat appeared. Then began earnest discussions about art and local politics. This is the part of life in France that really impresses us, that people take the time to sit around the table to enjoy good food and conversation.
After the storms at the weekend, today has dawned calm and sunny. It would be handy if the weather stays fine this week as we are hoping to work in the forest. The trees have to be cut down now before the sap starts rising but we have another few weeks to finish stacking and clearing the plot.
Cluny 2010 - Human Chain
Today we took part in a great day of celebration at Cluny Abbey. The Abbey was founded 1100 years ago and this was the first in a series of events throughout the coming year to mark this important event.
In medieval times Cluny Abbey was the centre of Christendom in Europe. The Abbey was even more powerful than St Peter’s in Rome until it was destroyed in the Revolution of 1789. The idea behind today’s events was to symbolise how the message was spread to all parts of Europe.
The map of Cluny was divided into 12 segments as there are 12 ‘portes’ or gates allowing access through the ramparts. Each segment was given a different colour. Lines were drawn out from Cluny and all the local villages and towns contained within that segment were allocated that porte. For example, Cormatin to the north was contained within the white segment and the Cormatinoise gathered at the Porte de la Chanaise near the Haras. Going outwards, the white segment encompassed Holland.
So this morning thousands of people from all parts of Saône-et-Loire converged on Cluny carrying laden picnic baskets and set up camp by their porte. All were wearing their designated colour. Some of the groups brought food of the countries in their segments. For example the village of Cortambert brought food from the Baltic States. After a warm welcome by the Maire of Cluny and his counterpart from Tournus, the lunch began. All the food was shared and a good time was had by all. The French really know how to have a picnic. Some villagers had dressed up in the ancient costume of their region and kept us entertained with old folk dances and songs passed down the generations.
After lunch we were treated to a exhibition of stunt riding at the Haras. Also we visited the splendid stables, built by order of Napoleon, to see the beautiful stallions at stud. Cluny must be the best place on earth for people that enjoy seeing wonderful horses.
Two cloaked riders were then sent out of Cluny by each porte with a scroll symbolising the message of Christianity they were taking forth to all parts of Europe.
For me the most thrilling part of the day was linking hands to make a human chain that stretched 3km around the old walls of Cluny. A helicopter took photos from above and it was an incredible sight with the different bands of colour.
Time for a rest so we lay in the sun in the Abbey gardens and listened to the speeches given by all the top dignitaries of Department 71. Then came an evening of entertainment and dancing. Altogether a wonderful day out!
 "The chateau at Pierreclos")