Ok, there is a church closer to us than this one, only a few hundred metres away if you use Mick’s shortcut, in La Villasse, but the one we visited today is the most famous church in this area.

This is Notre Dame de Laval, built in the 15th Century, and located halfway down the hill from our house towards the village of Caudiès.

This morning was such an amazing day weatherise, we decided to go for a walk to visit the Church.

 

But, no one was there.

We actually knew that was going to be the case beforehand, but we wanted to go all the same. We wanted to walk down through the gorge that runs through the mountains nearby.

There was definitely evidence that someone had been here though.

There is a well tended grotto containing  a statue of Our Lady, protected behind some strong steel bars. Beneath the gates were some flowers and a candle with a personal message underneath it, to a dear (recently departed) friend. Saying how sad they were to hear of his death.

We’d never seen anything like that before, and although some might say we should not have read it, why else would it be left there?

The Gorges St Jaume is a very popular walk in this part of France, but more so in the summer time, and not so much on Christmas Eve.

Last time we were staying here in 2016/2017, we walked it twice, but back then, we walked all the way down to the village, which actually doubles the walk. This time we chose to stop for morning tea in the picnic spot near Notre  Dame de Laval.

Yes, and Mick is drinking out off a jar! Apparently that is very trendy in some places.

Mick was a bit confused by this sign we spotted right at the start of our walk, as he thought it said to watch out for lots of Peters (PIERRES). He couldn’t understand why that would be a problem.

In actual fact “chute de pierres” translates to Falling Rocks, and lucky for us we did not experience any.

The most worrying thing for me was all the fresh digging on the track, obviously by wild pigs / boars. At first I was not worried, as Mick had told me they would be digging for worms and grubs, and sometimes roots.

I commented that they would need a lot of worms and grubs, as they are pretty big. Surely they must eat something else.

Then he confessed that he would be more scared to come across a wild pig than a snake on this track. I too agreed with this because venomous snakes are extremely rare in France.  Mick kept going on about how they could kill you, pierce you with their husks and then eat you.

It certainly made the walk home a lot quicker.

But before he spoiled it for me, we were both taken by the beauty, and challenges of the track.

 

You have to be watching every step as well as what is above you.

We were surprised that the difference in height from our house to the church was only 60m. We seemed to climb more than that, and if you drive it, it certainly feels much more than that.

The gorge walk follows the Le Noir river and the noise in spots is deafening.

 

But my favourite water shot is just near the start of the walk, near our place. Last time we were here there were people swimming in it.

I can imagine in summer time it would be beautiful, but not at the moment.

Wishing you all a Very Happy Christmas.