We've been so busy, so today is a gentle day - coffee on the square at Mirepoix, lunch at home, and a hike around Lac de Montbel.
Mirepoix was very quiet at mid-morning today, unlike the hustle and bustle of Market Mondays.
There is, however, a very small market with just a few vendors all under the covered market.
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| There are only a handful of stalls at the covered market this morning and they are all food vendors as you can see behind Mad. |
Chris has had her eye on some posters in the tourist office that would make good souvenirs. The woman who helped us in the tourist office is from England, not far from where Ron and Chris live. There was lots to chat about as to how she ended up in Mirepoix. We meandered under the arcaded buildings, doing some window shopping.
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| This chess set was in the window of an artisanal workshop. |
Mad wanted to visit one of the cafes on the square for a coffee which appealed to us all. It is common for folks to gather for coffee at their favorite cafe around mid-morning. It's a time to catch up on local gossip, talk politics, and enjoy each other's company. We were happy to join in this ritual.
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| Dave experimented with a panorama selfie and this was the result. Pretty good, although the arcade behind us is not curved at all. |
On the way back to our car, we noticed workers painting one of the old buildings on the square, so we stopped to watch them for a few minutes. The owner of the art store where we were standing came out to talk to us - his English was pretty understandable and we could fill in with French on occasion - about the process of renovating these old buildings. Cliff Notes version: very expensive and takes a lot of time and very specialized workers.
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| Two men were applying color with a sponge in what seemed to be a painstaking process - going over and over the same part of the wall. I can imagine that the plaster is very rough and pitted and so needs a lot of strokes to fill in all the pits and rough texture. I think the wooden timbers in the face of the house are covered with some kind of tape that can be removed and thus keeps the plaster color off the timbers. |
The art dealer also pointed out an old stone above a doorway that was dated 1560. From what I read online (in French) it is likely a printer's sign or shield showing his Catholic faith. (This is the time of the wars of religion between Catholics and Huguenots.) (More info than you'd ever want to know here: https://www.bldt.net/Om/spip.php?article547 )
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After lunch, there's time for a hike around Lake Montbel near Chalabre.
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This reservoir was created in the 1980s as a result of a long period of drought. It is fed by the Hers-Vif River which flows out of the Pyrenees and historically prone to flooding - Mirepoix was completely destroyed in 1289, but more recently there have been floods in 1977, 1981, 2000, and 2004. It is 15 km (10ish miles) in circumference and a popular sailing and swimming recreation area. Obviously, it's also a good place (that is, flat, not mountainous) to hike. And it's a beautiful day for a hike.
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| Mad, Chris, & Ron enjoying the view (and the rest!) |
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