Something For Everyone . . .

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Somewhere in the south of France
Is a land that time forgot
I went there to forget
The madness of this world of ours
For a little while
And as I rushed back up the highway
At close to seventy miles an hour
Away from that place today
I wondered at all we have forgotten
All we have allowed to fade away
Wisdom in the earth and plants and beasts
How the village gathered for the ritual feasts
Now ancient stone buildings fall
Into ruins that call, that call
For some caring hand
To come rebuild those walls...
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These first two images may give you a little bit of an idea as to why I'm in love with the Causse Méjean, and have been since I first went there over twenty years ago. There is something there for everyone.
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Back in 1878 Robert Louis Stevenson travelled through the Cévennes, stopping in Florac, accompanied by his beloved donkey Modestine. I think some of her descendants are still living in the area. This is another one dedicated to Stickup Artist ; she may just have to take a little trip to southern France to go see some of these handsome creatures for herself.
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As some of you apparently appreciated the butterfly on lavender image in the last post, here is another photo from that same lavender bush, which was the largest lavender plant I've ever seen, in the cemetery in Saint Enimie, Gorges du Tarn.
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Finally, over the past few years, there has been a lot of very fine blogging going on at "Life Is Beautiful". Many exchanges with Jeff, the creator of Life Is Beautiful, have led me to the conclusion that he is a fine connaisseur of certain kinds of beverages, for which the French name is "tisane". Tisanes are drinks made from various sorts of herbs which are steeped in hot water in order to extract the active ingredients and flavors in the herbs, along the lines of herbal tea. I've sometimes wondered though if Jeff may on occasion be referring to other forms of liquid refreshments when speaking of tisanes, as he has indicated that he enjoys some tisanes which travel in barrels. I mentioned to Jeff just the other day that I had seen some tisane barrels near Florac recently, and that visual proof would soon be forthcoming... here it is. ( Jeff, désolé encore pour l'anglais, mais la traduction prend du temps, et voilà, bien que j'aime la langage de Molière, ma langage adoptée, l'anglais vient plus facilement et plus vite, et puis, pour ceux qui sont en dehors de l'hexagone, certains ont un peu du mal à comprendre autre chose que l'anglais, voilà tout. Sur ce, je te laisse imaginer ce qu'il y avait comme contenu dans ces jolis fûts anciens. Les deux premiers se trouvaient dans la rue à Florac, mais le troisième j'ai déniché dans la cave d'une très ancienne maison en ruine sur le Causse Méjean... Je me demandais si c'était peut-être la maison de ta grand-mère ? Est-ce qu'elle aussi aimait les tisanes ? ) 
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