Trailing the Troglodytes - Wednesday 6th August

"Friends Romans and Countrymen"

We had eaten supper, enjoyed a glass of wine and pretty much decided that the day was over but there was the nagging feeling that at 8.30 we ought to either go for a walk or a drive. Knowing our ability to set out for a short drive and find ourselves fifty miles north in no time, we settled for the St Jean du Moulin Quarry which is a mile down the road.

The quarry has a fascinating history and as soon as I can get on line, I shall tell you all about it, but for the time being, it makes for a wonderful scramble as long as you are dressed sensibly and have the right footwear. Needless to say, I was dressed in a simple cool floaty dress which caught on every single bramble, and I was wearing my trusty Australian Croc flip flops which are marvellous on the flat, but definitely not designed to stay on while climbing over blocks of stone, many of which had been carved into extraordinary shapes.

Jean recalls living here for a while some twenty five years ago, and at that time, the quarry was off limits to the general public. This of course made no difference to the locals who just climbed over the barrier and proceeded to dump their garden rubbish and picnic in among the trees and rocks. The village elders have given up the fight and have opened the area to both actors, musicians, artists and sculptors who have made fine use of the huge stage and the surrounding blocks of stone.

The stage has been built in the large amphitheatre which was formed from the workers steadily chipping out huge chunks of stone, many of which were then carted away to build such splendid edifices as the Opera House in Montpellier. In addition, a great number of the statues and grand arches which make Montpellier into the gracious city that it is today were built from the famous St Jean du Moulin stone, and I felt for the generations of strong steady horses who must have hauled such heavy loads the 18 kilometres to the city centre.

Modern day artists have been allowed to express themselves and foraging through the heavy bush and following the chalk pathways is often rewarded when coming across a massive carved wheel or a face of a sun God set in the rock. Down in a disused pit, a large stone hippo wallows in the long grass, and a row of coloured Indian totem poles stand out from the thick greenery.

I couldn’t resist walking out onto the large stage and proclaiming a little bit of Shakespeare to the surrounding woodland. A couple of years back, I was fortunate enough to be allowed to walk out onto the stage at the Globe Theatre in London, and on both occasions, I felt that it behoved me to pronounce, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears”. I can imagine that there was a time when the Romans were not too far from here and probably had their eye on the great quality of the St Jean du Moulin stone for their roads and aqueducts which criss-cross the region.

For a while, we lost our way and I wasn’t too happy at the prospect of being lost out there in the fading light with nothing more than a large chunk of rock to act as a pillow for the night. However, common sense and a reasonable geographic bump brought us back to the central area, and we left the quarry behind in the fading light, with the sight of the large carved fireplace and elegant overhanging roof which must have served to keep the quarrymen warm in the depths of winter. It’s hard to imagine being cold during this long heatwave, but I daresay we will find out about it soon enough, and I just hope that like the internet, our boxes containing our winter clothes will have arrived by then.