The original revealed

The fountain in the main place of the village is surrounded by scaffolding and as I was passing the workmen were just going off to lunch, so I sneaked inside the barriers to get some photos of what they've done. They have chipped away the limestone deposits that have built up over many years to reveal the shape of the original fountain and its spouts beneath. I hope we'll get used to its nakedness once the water starts to flow again.

While I was taking photos an elderly man who was born in the village came up to me and started to talk about the shame (he used the French word honte which somehow seems stronger than the English word, to me) of no longer having drinking water in the fountain here. It has always been known as somewhere where cyclists and other travellers could stop for water, but now in a cost-saving move the mairie has decided to install a pump to circulate the water between the three fountains. As the man said this morning, drinking water falls freely from the spring on the hill, but the pump will use electricity - what kind of economy will this be?

I blipped the fountain in its mossy state - in the summer - and half way through the renovation work - here