Lachamp chapel

4 points of interest

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  Le Vieux-Buis

  This mediaeval hamlet has been in the records since the 11th century, when farming prospered on its slopes. Perched on the hillside, Le Vieux-Buis existed quietly through the centuries with no disruption until the Plague that raged unstoppably in 1348. It was not until the mid-15th century that farming was given a new lease of life in this devastated region, where everything needed to be rebuilt. Up until the 19th century, the arid hills were dedicated to farming: small livestock farms, vineyards, olive trees, etc., whose vestiges you will come across all along the path.

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  Fauna

  Cicadas

  The path meanders across hot dry soil between juniper bushes and scorpion broom. In many places, the shade of the holm or downy oak reduces the intense heat. In summer, male cicadas will accompany you with their song. Of the 16 cicada species living in France, the three most commonly found here are: Lyristes plebejus, on pines (over 3 cm long); Cicada orni (2.5 cm); and the little Tettigettula pygmea, which lives in grassy areas and rarely reaches 2 cm in length! They all have an underground larval stage that lasts several years.

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  Le Fal

  These uplands caused a lot of ink to be scratched into parchment. In 1428, the Lord of Portes bought them from the Lord of Montalet. Over a century later, the new Lord of Montalet nevertheless claimed them as his own and wrote a letter to the Lord of Portes accusing him of wrongly profiting from the use and proceeds of them! The dispute was solved on 12 November 1551, when Le Fal, a site much coveted for its cultivatable plateau, was finally passed down to Portes.

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  View onto the Mas Blanc

  This country house has a long history. Built by Benedictine monks in 1145, it served as a refuge and stopover for crusaders from the Second Crusade onwards. When those wars were over, the monks supposedly had the mission of growing the boxwood (buis) that is indispensable for Catholicism. This gave the monastery its name: Les Buissières. Closed after the French Revolution, it was abandoned. Bought in 1930 and rendered white it became known locally as the Mas Blanc (the White Farmhouse).