‘The origin of species’ and local markets (horse-meat optional)

Pick and mix cepes - the king of the mushroom

The whole horse-meat farce has highlighted once again a subject close to my heart – the importance of buying and eating locally sourced, fresh and seasonal produce. In many countries we have become far too far removed from the source of our food and far too disinterested in how this food is produced. Thank goodness this is not the case here in the Ariège (one of the many reasons we are here) where there is a very strong tradition of producing one’s own food (fruit, vegetables, eggs, rabbits and pigs) and of buying from local producers so that you know exactly where your food is coming from and what it contains (or hopefully doesn’t contain).

This is the right part of the world for me because I actually have a pathological hatred of shopping (in shops) which I realize is not very girlie of me but it is just not my thing. Luckily nowadays when I need a new shirt or pair of jeans, I can simply find and buy online and have my friendly postie deliver without having to go near a shop. And I particularly dislike shopping in the supermarket but this is something I find much harder to avoid because we are a family of six on a budget. In France, supermarkets are just beginning to cotton on to the idea of grocery shopping online but it is too big and too rural a country for home delivery to be an option so I do find myself in Intermarché far more often than I would like.

Having said that, however, one of the many reasons I love living here in South West France is that it is still quite possible to do the majority of the weekly shop at the local market which is exactly what I do. So every Monday morning, as soon as I have dropped the children at school, you will find me in the market place at Salies du Salat where I am first name terms with many of the stall holders and where I can find wonderful local, organically grown, in-season produce at a much better price than in the supermarket. Here shopping is brought back to a human level – I can discuss every subject under the sun (the French just love a good debate) while choosing my apples or my ham and generally pass the time of day so that by the time I am finished it just feels that I have spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting having incidentally done my weekly shop. We are spoiled for choice for fantastic local produce here; the cheese is out of this world, the eggs freshly laid, the meat excellent quality (yes there is horse but it is labelled as such!) and locally sourced and the fruit and vegetables are seasonal unless they have come over the border from Spain, in which case it is possible to find the odd red pepper or tomato in the winter months. Then a quick trip to the smiliest bakery in France and I am back at my desk by mid-morning to begin my working week.

By Saturday, if we are running out of fresh produce, we have one of the best markets in France, incredibly colourful and eccentric, just 15 minutes away in Saint Girons which is worth a visit even if you don’t have any shopping to do.

Somehow shopping at the local market is uplifting and life affirming while supermarket shopping destroys the soul. I leave the market feeling happy and energetic and I leave the supermarket feeling depressed and drained. If only I could wean my children off breakfast cereal and pasta and myself off coffee and chocolate, I could pretty much eliminate the supermarket shop altogether which I think is going to be one of my new season resolutions.

And now I shall get off my soap box and I promise my next post will be back on property...!

La Chemin de la Liberté- a tough walk to freedom

Every year a group of hikers from all over the world meet up in the lovely town of Saint Girons, the capital of the Couserans region of the Ariège, in order to hike over the Pyrenees into Spain.  But this is no gentle ramble; it is four days of serious hiking and tough conditions; this year it was the heat that caused problems, with temperatures reaching 37 degrees but fog, rain and snow are not unknown.

The group, most of whom do not know each other, meet at the vieux pont in the centre of Saint Girons, loaded with heavy backpacks. This is a challenge even for the fittest but it is, nevertheless, a walk in the park compared to the experience of the many hundreds of men and women who took this route during the Second World War. And this is why most of the group are here; many had relations who escaped the Nazis by using this route and they have come to commemorate the bravery of these soldiers and resistance fighters and of the local, mountain people who led them safely along the route and provided them with shelter and food. 

There were a number of escape routes through France during World War Two but the Comete Line, the Pat O'Leary Line and the Marie Claire Line were the most famous. One of the O'Leary networks went through central France to Agen & Toulouse then to the central Pyrenees to the starting point of "Le Chemin de la Liberté" in St Girons. The high mountain route into Spain was carefully chosen as it avoided all official checkpoints. Between 1940 & 1944, there were 33,000 successful escapes along the entire length of the Pyrenean chain and 782 escaped over the mountain peaks of the Ariège. During the war several escape trails were established near St Girons and other towns and villages surrounding it like Foix, Tarascon, Aulus-Les-Bains, Massat, Castillon, Seix & Sentein all had invisible mountain routes towards the Spanish frontier.

One of the most famous English escapees was the World War resistance fighter Nancy Wake who worked for the Special Operations Executive and was forced to flee from the Gestapo in 1943 along Le Chemin de la Liberté. Many had no food, completely unsuitable clothing and had to survive terrible weather conditions and heavy snow along the route. Most would never have survived without the help and bravery of the local Ariègeois.

By the beginning of 1943 German surveillance had increased often due to the betrayal by Frenchmen who worked for the feared Vichy-run paramilitary force "La Milice" and there were many ambushes along the trails. Despite this increased surveillance, the St Girons-Esterri escape route via Mont Valier remained operational until the end of the war.

Hence, each year, a guide leads a group along the trail to commemorate those who made it and those who did not. What a great and very appropriate way to remember such brave, determined and enterprising people.

The text on this post along the route says:

“Claustre J-Marc, 1943, 14 ans berger, je montais au Mt Ceint pour surveiller les patrouilles allemandes pour aider les passeurs vers le pic des trois seigneurs.”