Eau de source

A counterpoint to chaiselongue's forbidden fountain. This one (also seen on Tuesday) is fed from a spring somewhere on the mountain behind the village.In the 16 years we've lived here, it has never run dry, even in the hottest summers. It has dwindled to a thin trickle at times, but never stopped flowing completely. Currently it is positively gushing because of the amount of rain we have had this winter.

The fountain used to be a focal point for the village, with everyone coming to collect water, especially around mealtimes. People would even come from 20 km away to collect a week's supply in jerrycans. A few years ago, the water suddenly developed a taste of -- not to put too fine a point on it -- shit. The spring had somehow become polluted. We were gutted -- the fountain was an institution. We pleaded with the Mairie to somehow find out what had gone wrong and fix it, but it was just not practical. Happily, a couple of years ago the problem resolved itself, and the pure taste of spring water returned. But people had got out of the habit of coming to collect water, and it is no longer quite the social centre that it was before. I don't think the Mairie do their six-monthly analyses of water quality any more either. We still drink the water though -- no ill effects so far :)