Clog-dancing in Seix

See yesterday's backblip: we woke up this morning in Esbintz. The plan was to drive up to a nearby pass, and then walk from there to a mountain cabin in the middle of nowhere, where we would spend the night. However, the cloud cover thus morning was as low as it was last night, and there were even reports of snow remaining in places. I'm sure if S had been on his own, he would have carried on regardless. However, I am hardly a serious mountain walker.

After breakfast (fresh home-made bread and jam -- a treat because most mountain refuges serve several-day-old baguettes because of the difficulty of getting supplies), we tried driving to a less ambitious height. But we soon found ourselves in thick cloud, so we turned back.

As we drove down to Seix, we got below the cloud and found a patch of blue sky. The sun cast dappled shade on the wet green leaves and damp rock. By the time we got to Seix, it was positively summery. There was a big vide-grenier going on; we parked in order to buy some picnic supplies and came across these dancers in traditional costume, from nearby Bethmale. I have been unable to find out why their clogs have such pointy toes, other than a rather ridiculous sounding legend about the invasion of the Bethmale valley by the Moors. After a fierce battle, their leader, Boabdil, was captured and in chains; the locals "paraded in front of him in triumph, the hearts of their victims impaled on their clogs".

Bethmale is better known for its excellent cheese; we bought some, along with some good bread and a single huge tomato, and picnicked in a layby with a lovely view over typical Ariège countryside.

On the way back home, we took a short detour to the wonderful église rupestre in Vals. This 11th-century church is literally built into the rock; a door at the bottom leads to a flight of stairs within a rocky spur, which bring you out into a church constructed on three levels. The lowest level has some lovely wall paintings of saints with enormous eyes. Unfortunately, most of our photos were rubbish because the light was so bad. S managed a not-too-bad one, so that's my spare blip today.

And finally, because I'm a sucker for dilapidated maisons de maître, there are a few more photos on Flickr.

Tomorrow: a staycation for us, since it's yet another bank holiday!