I spent March 7th to May 19th 2022 and May 20th to July 8th 2023 based at Luzenac in the Ariège Mountains. This then is the first monthly review; a chance to take a another look at this great, mountain wilderness that is so rich in biodiversity. March in 2022 is surprisingly warm and often…
Tag: Unac
Les Ariégeois
The people of the Ariège inhabit a wild and inaccessible corner of France; there is no escape from the narrow valleys and high mountains. But yet this is a landscape that for centuries has been subject to intensive human use. The discovery and dating of numerous charcoal pits and forges tell of a significant iron…
March and April in the Ariège
The bare forests of early March that carpet the valley sides were only lifted by early blossoming wild cherries and catkin-covered willows. The towns and villages were full of bright Forsythia and orchard blossom. At the end of March into early April, a few days of snow and frost laid waste to the blossom and…
Out like a lion…
On the last day of March the temperature drops 10 degrees and the next day the snow arrives on a cold north wind. March goes out like a lion. At the start of March, the weather is not lambish at all. The skies are a constant stone grey and the sun entirely absent. The trees…