20 Years of La Crueize - Rochessadoule

Since exactly 20 Years we come to La Crueize, and each time we walked the beautiful path along the Ronc Rouge with the magnificent view into the valley of Rochessadoule. This year might have been the last time, since the gîte is needed for other purposes.

In Rochessadoule not much changed in those 20 years, even the population is constant at some more than 800 inhabitants. This was not always the case. At the beginning of the 19th century about 700 people lived there, but near the end of that century the population rose to almost 5000, mostly workers in the coal mines of the surrounding mountains and in a factory for mining lamps. If you look closely, you can still see some old factory buildings and remains from the railway.

Rochessadoule means "waterlogged rocks" in ancient french, so it can be assumed, that it was a pretty humid and hence fertile place. That changed after coal mining began. The water was drained and wells and fountains on the hills went dry, forcing inhabitants to leave. This also happened to the hamlet of La Crueize, which the last of the original 8 families left in the 1950s. Even the hills themselves have sunk due to coal mining. See Sunset on a set mountain.

On the Ronc Rouge, holm oaks and boxwood dominate the forest, although the boxwood has been eaten almost completely by the box tree moth a few years ago. Some leafless bushes can be seen in the panorama.

Of course, I shot many more panoramas there during the past 20 years.

Around the Houses:

• La Crueize (by Moritz Schmidt)
  
• Living In (and On) the Forest
• Proudly Doing Adults Work
• Peacocks in the Afternoon
• Gîte: The living room
• Gîte: The Kitchen

On the same hill:

• The broken chapel
• The bell (of the broken chapel)
• The bell at sunset
• Forest on the Border
  
• La Vallete
  

In the region:

• Moulin du Roure
• Best of Holidays
• Evolution has a way
• Broom blossom and granite on Mont Lozere
• Confusing diversity
• Pont du Gard
• Bamboo Forest
  
• Grotte Des Camisards
  

Europe / France

Lat: 44° 17' 3.551" N
Long: 4° 5' 49.883" E

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Sony a7R4, Samyang 12mm fisheye, tripod, PTGui pro, Photoshop