Black Heart of France by Daphne Beames
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Like a luxury edition of an exquisite coffee-table book - the colourful pages of France wait to be explored. A shining cover reflects both the postcard beauty of her western coastline and the stunning Champagne vineyards, glacial lakes and Alpine peaks of her eastern fringe. The first chapter stars the elegant north: Paris and the Ile de France while the final scene-stealer belongs to the perfumed south: the fragrant, flower-filled hills of Provençe. But what of her ancient heart?
Deep within the French heartland lies a magnetic, black core: a chain of massive, volcanic cones (puys) grandstanding on a remote plateau: the strange and mysterious Massif Central (an area one sixth of the land mass of France).
A well-travelled route sweeps the tourist south – down the A7 from Paris to Provençe but - to uncover hidden France - branch westwards at Lyon, towards Clermont-Ferrand and thence to the haunting, black landscape and dark earth of Le Puy-en-Velay.
A mood-setting castle offering accommodation in this lesser-known neck of the Auvergne is the 15th-century Chateau de Codignat - an incredible, stone structure nestling in woods belonging to the middle-mists of time.
We were lodged next to a turret - in a grand room fully 12m long and of proportional width. Not one, but two bathrooms were off-set in alcoves; and the entire suite - from walls, to velvet drapes and fitted carpets - was decorated in royal purple defined with slashes of rich red. A huge, stone fireplace – more than 3m long – reposed under a fine tapestry while large mirrors, medieval murals and marble furniture, inlaid with gold, and completed the ornate décor.
A room to be born in: or to die in!
The view from our high windows - over a vista of extinct volcanoes and ploughed fields - was a page from yester-year: a rural scene where elderly farm workers still carry primitive, wooden implements and where valleys of yellow gentian, saffron crocus, wild mushroom and lush chestnut - stretch into infinity.
Dinner that night was served in the sumptuous, castle dining-hall, amidst scarlet brocade and antique furniture – a suit of ancient, Codignat armour dominating the whole. Three hours later, we wandered out to walk off the seven course meal – into a wonderful, wild garden lit by a thousand fire-flies shimmering in the hedgerows, and the glow from the sparkling, flood-lit swimming pool.
The next morning, our journey into the black heart of France carried us south through what is undeniably the most extraordinary terrain in the country. Two hundred and fifty million years ago a string of spectacular, pre-historic pillars and domes was formed when liquid lava, thrust upwards from the centre of the earth, crystallised into basalt rock.
To enter the Haute-Loire is to travel back in time: deep ravines (snow-bound in winter), thick forests, lakes, rivers and cliff-top castles, characterise the approach to the oldest geographic region and what has remained one of the best-kept secrets of France. This lofty, keystone plateau is the source of both the River Loire and the Dordogne.
The intriguing, first millennium settlement of Le Puy (today a UNESCO World Heritage site and an industrial city) is set in a volcanic bowl and clings precariously to the edge of a series of rocky outcrops clothed by the centuries in dense, green foliage. The initial, awesome sighting of the town is one of the most dramatic scenes in France and is marked by three definitive, black peaks silhouetted against the horizon – each topped by a church or a statue.
The miniature, 10th-century chapel of St-Michel d’Aiguilhe crowns the tallest peak: a giant, black finger pointing purposefully heavenward and thought to have been the site of an early Roman temple to Mercury.
A steep climb of 268 steps leads to the miniscule church – a wager between God and gravity, teetering triumphantly on the 82m high summit – its floor undulating to accommodate the contours of the rock. During excavations in 1955, a small, wooden statue of Christ was found under the altar.
Legend decrees that it once contained a relic from the Crucifixion, possibly a tooth, hidden for safe-keeping during the Revolution - along with other Christian treasures. A Romanesque choir, 12th-century murals and an awesome view make this a rewarding pilgrimage.
Across the valley another definitive, Catholic landmark: the colossal, rust-red statue of Notre-Dame-de-France, lays triumphant claim to the heights of the Corneille Rocher. Erected in 1860, this metal Madonna (standing on a dying serpent to represent victory over evil) was cast from 213 cannons captured from Russia at Sebastopol during the Crimean War. A steep path and an iron ladder lead up to a necklace of viewing windows.
The commanding, triple-arched façade of the Cathédrale de Notre-Dame dominates the Holy City or ‘Secteur Historique’. Walk up the narrow, stone Rue des Tables and the final 134 steps that lead to the impressive, cedar-wood door: the Portes de Cedre. Built on the foundations of an earlier pagan site, the inlaid, mosaic-style decoration and large cupola hint at Moorish and Byzantine influence. Masses for the devout are celebrated throughout the day.
The 11th-century church is steeped in mystery and superstition: archives record that holy relics include part of a finger of St James the Less; a Druid ceremonial or ‘fever stone’ embedded in the rock, is said to possess healing powers; and the most famous, archetypal, Black Madonna in France - rests within a its walls.
The strange cult of Black Madonna worship has origins that have been lost in antiquity. During the Middle Ages King Louis IX of France returned from the Crusades having captured a small, black statue of the Virgin - in a seated position with black Jesus looking out from under her gown. A fire destroyed the original figure but a 19th-century replica reposes in a sacred, side chapel of Le Puy’s venerated Cathedral.
Over 180 copy-cat statues carved in dark walnut or cedar - now blackened with age - can be found throughout south-western France and continue to attract streams of pilgrims seeking a glimpse of the soul, or answers to their prayers from these dark figures. In early Christian times they were often found in sacred sites and have links to ancient goddess worship, to Isis and Horus and to Mary Magdalene.
Stroll out to survey the town from the heights, pause for coffee in the Place du Martouret (Square of the Martyrs) where a guillotine once stood - and then wander down the picturesque Rue Pannessac, past quaint houses that date from the 18th or even the 15th century. Here once-upon-a-time, bobbin-lace ladies sit tatting outside their tiny shops on the steep, cobbled streets – nonchalantly knotting thread and flipping bobbins to create intricate designs. Today lace-making has become an important money-spinner for the tourist industry.
Hotels in central Le Puy tend to lack charm. For a delightful stay choose the nearby country hotel and restaurant: Les Deux Abbesses – a member of the Relais & Chateaux chain. Closed mid-November to mid-March.
Seeking the crown jewel of the black trail, we followed the Santiago de Compostela pilgrimage route - via the pretty hamlet of Aurillac (where we stopped for lunch at ‘a la Reine Margot’) - to that cliff-hanging village of dark secrets and unexplained mysteries: Rocamadour.
To savour the very best of the local hospitality and cuisine, reserve accommodation at the Chateau de Roumégouse.
Here a profusion of flowers, arranged in great bowls, brings the fragrance of the outdoor gardens inside - and the style-conscious owners have decorated the elegant reception rooms with antiques, rare paintings and an enormous, crystal chandelier.
After an excellent dinner we strolled down a gravel farm-road, breathing in the fresh, country air and revelling in the stillness. A rabbit hopped across our path, the new moon rose just over the horizon and the flood-lit shrine-city of Rocamadour shone in the distance.
Defying the laws of nature on a breathtaking perch high above the Alzou Canyon, Rocamadour is renowned as a centre of miracles. Since 1166, when the undecayed body of an early Christian hermit called ‘roc amator’ (lover of rock), was discovered in an ancient grave, pilgrims have flocked to this site – tapping into an ancient energy .
From the car-park far below, we boarded a fair-ground, blue and white ‘toy-train’ bound for the impossibly situated Cité Médiévale on the heights. To follow the route of the curious and the pious, walk through the arched Porte du Figuier, along the charming Rue Roland le Preux – now lined with attractive restaurants and souvenir shops - and up the 216 steps of the Via Sancta (once climbed by pilgrims on their knees) to the cobbled courtyard of the seven chapels and the sacred tomb of St Amadour.
Here, miracles are supposedly heralded by the spontaneous ringing of a bell above the gilded statue of a hallowed, centuries old Black Madonna (in carved walnut with silver plate) on the altar of the dimly-lit Chapelle Miraculeuse.
On the outskirts of the village, another pilgrimage revered by the faithful winds up past ‘Twelve Stations of the Cross’ towards the ancient ‘Grotto of the Nativity’, the ‘Cross of Jerusalem’ and the imposing fortress and Church of the Ramparts on the summit.
The seeker after truth may remain perplexed; the long-hidden secrets of the Black Madonnas - and of the past - may remain secrets; but the pious leave in peace and there is little doubt that some strange, mystical force is at work in this supernatural corner of old France where Neanderthal Man first walked more than 150,000years ago.