Mountain vines

Mountain vine

I am always fascinated to find vines growing in out of the way places. A recent stay in France allowed me to indulge this fascination once again.

This picture shows vines found in a Pyrenean mountain village, at about 700-800m altitude, vestiges of significant vine plantings all but wiped out in the 19th century by the phylloxera mite.

I am not sure what the grape variety is. A guess would be something related to Pinot Noir, probably Chardonnay, going by the leaves.

I also noticed areas of former terraces which were cultivated right up until the 1960's where vines might still be found. Unfortunately time did not allow me to attempt exploration of these areas, a long way from the village and surrounded by scrub.

View of formerly cultivated terraces above Larcat (former vineyard areas would be on the lower slopes)

Nature never takes very long to claim back what humans once thought of as their own. After only about 50 years, the terraces carved out of the mountainside and cultivated by a particularly hardy and tenacious sort of human (the ariégeois) are now barely visible, and on the lower slopes have been obliterated by the forest. 

Azure

View of Laparat lake

As Autumn dampness encroaches in London, here is a blue sky we were lucky enough to experience during a recent stay in the French Pyrenees.

This is azure is all its glory.