In one of the more friendly tourist offices it was recommended to us to do a trip in the Herault region of Languedoc and to visit Saint Guilhem du Desert. So we did. I even managed to get Nunu to plot an itinerary that did not involve the auto route. It was a really pleasant journey and just before we arrived at St. Guilhem we came upon Le pont du Diable (the Devil’s Bridge) a bridge over les Gorges de l’Herault. Those of you who know us will remember that we think gorges are gorgeous and we have been to many.This bridge is one of France’s oldest bridges.
The Herault gorge.
A bridge over the Herault river.
The Devil’s bridge.
No one in their right mind would think of jumping here! But I suppose that's the sad truth!
I was delighted to be able to read the legend behind the Devil’s Bridge. The bridge was a result of a pact between 2 monasteries of monks, St. Guilhem and the Devil! Two monasteries of monks were trying to build a bridge over the Herault river but were having little success because every morning they would discover that their efforts of the previous day had been destroyed. They called on their patron saint, St. Guilhem to help them. One night he went along to the bridge and hid. Then he saw the Devil destroy the building that had been completed. He confronted the devil asking why he was destroying the bridge. The Devil replied that he had no difficulty in destroying the work of the currish followers of St. Guilhem (chiens de serviteurs). St. Guilhem suggested that they could sort the problem intelligently and the Devil agreed to build a bridge that was so strong it could not be destroyed. In return he asked for the soul of the first of St. Guilhem’s chiens de serviteurs (meaning the monks) to cross the bridge. St. Guilhem agreed. 3 days and 3 nights later, the monks, St.Guilhem (accompanied by his dog), the villagers and the Devil met near the bridge and the Devil, proud of his work, showed that the bridge could not be destroyed even by him. Then St. Guilhem, a man of his word, reminded the Devil that he had promised to him the soul of the first of his faithful followers (chiens de serviteurs) to cross the bridge. Taking a bone from his pocket, St. Guilhem threw it across the bridge and his dog crossed the bridge to retrieve it. The Devil had been duped! In his anger he attempted to destroy the bridge but failed. If the devil is in the detail, the devil too can be trapped by his own words!
More views of the bridge.
St. Guilhem le Desert is a medieval village in a green setting along the meandering Verdus stream. Mountains tower above it. At the upper end of the village is Place de la Liberte and the Abbey de Gelione, a great example of Romanesque art in Languedoc. It has a historical organ built in 1782 by J. P. Cavaille. In the square is a huge plane tree that was planted in 1855.
Place de la Liberte and the plane tree.
L'Abbaye de Gelione.
The little streets were cute and well looked after.
This is a cardabelle (a local name), a thistle that warns of rain by closing its heart. At one time the heart was eaten (like an artichoke I think) but now this good luch charm from the limestone uplands is endangered and so protected.
The home of a santonnier - a santon maker (figurines of traditional people from the South of France).
Really unusual roses that hang downwards and have lots of very close petals.
High above the village is the Giant’s Castle. Like the Devil’s Bridge, it too has a legend. It is said that, at St. Guilhem le Desert, a terrible giant, accompanied by a magpie, lived in the castle which dominates the village. Terrorised, the villagers called on St. Guilhem to help. Disguising himself as a maid and secretly armed with his legendary sword - “Joyful” - Guilhem approached the fortress. However, the magpie recognised him despite his disguise and flew away to warn the giant that Guilhem was coming to kill him. The giant was so sure of himself and his superiority that he ignored his magpie and opened the door to the “girl”. After a long hard fight, Guilhem was victorious and killed the giant. The magpie, bereft of his protector, flew away to hide. Since then the inhabitants of the village have lived in complete peace and, though the valley of Gellone has numerous species of birds, no magpies are seen.
The eating places in St. Guilhem were on the expensive side, even for a single dish - due, I suppose, to the large numbers of tourists who flock there so we took to the road again and ended up in Clermont l’Herault. It was really windy but unfortunately we had chosen an outdoor venue for food and it was quite cold. However, nice lunch!
On then to Lac de Salagou , a strange lake with what looked like a huge island in the middle but which turned out to be a type of headland. Is it a reservoir? The brochure I have refers to “the vestiges of a drowned village” which “peek from beneath the surface”. Didn't see any!
We continued on our drive in the Salagou Valley and in the area of the Cirque de Moureze. All about is red sedimentary rock known as “la ruffe”.
The roads in this area accommodated, just about and with care, twoway traffic. To Jim’s right was quite a drop. We slowed down significantly when there was oncoming traffic but … on this occasion the oncoming car was going faster than I liked and it was much closer than I was comfortable with and I found myself making myself as small as possible (it never works!) and closing my eyes for the prayer that started “Jesus” but was followed swiftly by “Christ!” as our wing mirrors clunked and ours had folded in. Jim drove on, I adjusted the wing mirror and then I said, “Do you think he will be after us?”, joking of course. He was! Not long afterwards a car came up quickly behind us flashing lights and … we knew it had happened again. Male driver came to my window and female passenger to Jim’s window and there followed an onslaught of French to the effect that "bang!" our wing mirrors had collided and theirs had broken and what were we going to do etc. etc. My French had deserted me again in a time of crisis! I hurriedly whispered to Jim, “How much does a wing mirror cost?” But Jim was having none of it because it had not been possible to serrer a droite any farther than he had serried without our car and its precious cargo landing in the Salagou Valley. Our French friends excused themselves pour deux minutes and then returned to say it was ok but that Jim would need to really serrer a droite!
I think we need the aid of Saint Guilhem for the rest of our stay in France. No doubt the word has spread about the mad Irish who are causing havoc on the roads!
I allowed Nunu to bring us on any road, even an auto route, on our way home!
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