The climb up to the high vineyards is along a hunting road with plenty of pig turds and lots of muddy little pig side-paths running up.
A partly ruined mas near the huge almond orchard
The ânes' owner lives here
The ânes themselves live in back...
Just a taste of the work of Monsieur Prunier. He gives us prunings from his plum trees which flower beautifully indoors in a pot of water. He tells us stories like the time when an old lady drove through his meticulously tended gardens and orchards, over a 6' drop, and smashed into a wall. She broke her thigh in the crash but sat their all night until M. P found her the next morning. "Do you think I can back out?" were her first words. She came from a family renowned for their stoicism.
A glorified cazal. The cazal is usually a small hut in a vineyard which appear to have two purposes: first, they use up the amazing volume of stones in the soil; second they provide some shelter and storage, handy for vineyards which are way uphill from town. This is almost a house, with chimney, an attic, etc.
This is a new vineyard. Chardonnay in a world of the black-red Cahors wine. The cazal is new too.
The lauze roof from the inside...
The view from the cazal...
The cut end of a oak tree blown over in the recent tempest, surrounded by vines...
