The Occitan Path
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Occitan path “A spass per lou viol”, in the Cottian Alps by Maurizio Barbagallo*, photography by Mario Lano The Maira Valley develops from Dronero, in Cuneo province, towards France. Isolated from the touristic flows, it invested in the past years in sustainable tourism offering to hikers a quality and quantity of service clearly higher than the medium value. Without having a highway entrance towards France and no skiing structures, it remained practically intact. One of its strength points is the linga d’oc spoken in a wide region from the Spanish Catalonia in the south of France until here. During our trip we’ll discover the history of old professions (as for example the Anchovy) and of events and art of the valley, with some jewels like the Elva’s church where Hans Clemer’s fresco paintings are shown. You will find antique villages made of stone, churches and sanctuaries and the natural beauty of the Gardetta’s plateau that is 2500mts high with marmot and edelweiss. The meeting is on Saturday at dinnertime, in Macra in the middle of the valley, so the participants can arrive easily with public transport from all Italy. We find ourselves in a classic Posto Tappa (shelter from the zone) structure born in Piedmont in the 80s as the French Gites d’Etape: the place is managed by the volcanic Bruna that some years ago left a comfortable job at Turin to go back living in the valley. Sunday our walking trip starts going on the mule tracks and easy paths: we’ll meet the old Lazzaretto di Caudano and the San Peyre’s church. Dinner and night at the Posto Tappa in the cultural center of San Martino Inferiore, of Maria Sneider, a very important character for this places as it helped to make popular the valley among the hiking German world. The whole village was renovated with style and good taste, and for several travelers it will be the place where they’ll sleep when we go back to the valley. Monday we get to Elva through a comfortable path between the larches and the panoramic foreshortening over the Orrido, just in time to meet with calm the Occitan village: Donatella, our guide with plenty of passion and knowledge, will take us to meet the Parrocchiale and the Pels Museum. Dinner at the grumpy and brilliant chef Edo, that teaches Occitan food around Italy. The dinner is something impossible to describe in terms of food and wine journey. I come every year and yet it still surprises me. Movie Surroundings Tuesday we go through several villages of Elva. Then, further from the ridges (which allows to have a greater panoramic view until Monviso), we’ll get down to Ussolo, country where the main character from the Giorgio Diritti’s film Il vento fa il suo giro lives. We’ll have supper and spend the night at the Posto Tappa. Wednesday we climb slowly over the hills that lead to the Alta Valle-High Valley- until reaching the 2000mt with view over the mountains exceeds the 3000mt as the Chambeyron Mountain does. Then a long hike until the posto tappa that wait for us for supper and the night. We have dinner with Ines Cavalcanti, president of Chambra d’Oc, the association that promotes a lot of proposals about language and Occitan cuisine and the one that organized the path of 1300 km, Occitania a Pè. /http://www.traterraecielo.it/viaggi/occitani-noi-siamo-sempre-qui). On Thursday, we’ll do yet a little climbing through the white firs and the larches in the morning. After lunch we go down the hills into the deep valley of Unerzio in Chialvetta along with the whistle of the marmots and the water from the stream where we can bath. Dinner and music Dinner and the night into a historical Occitan Inn managed by another great chef, Rolando. This night we’ll have the fortune to meet Sergio Berardo (Lou Dalfin), leader of the Occitan music group, surely well known in Italy, winner of a Tenco award (http://www.loudalfin.it/). Friday, first the wonderful landscape of the Gardetta plateau with marmots and edelweiss, then dinner with local products and night in a real agritourism (here one of the best butter of the country is produced). We’ll make then a stop in High Mountain but taking easy paths and tracks. Saturday we admire the Meja Rock in all its beauty. By night we go back to the agritourism. It will be a stop with light backpack. Sunday, after breakfast we go back to Macra with the Sherpa-Bus (taxi bus of the Val Maira that works whenever it’s necessary, to transport luggage) around 8.30. Then while heading Cuneo it’s worthy to stop at Dronero to taste the delicious Dronero’s sweets. From 2005 I come along with groups in summer and winter. The Occitan Path for a lot of people has been the first scheduled trekking with backpack, but it however requires some training. In the few past years, I’ve selected the best lodging structures, facilitating the meeting with groups of people that are courageous and authentic and that have taken this zone and life style even before the valley becomes a fashion trend. The itinerary described to you with the guide Maurizio Barbagallo is proposed for the week of Saturday, august 11th to Sunday, August 19th by the Association Le vie dei canti. www.viedeicanti.it http://www.thetisdesign.it/viedeicanti/viaggio.asp?id=384 .