Mountain tour. Pisces, Saint Anna and a magic dog.
Parking and camping in the mountain village of Ceillac. I discover a cozy tea house where free Wifi is served and so I can check my email. I'll have a nice cappuccino and eat ice cream. You can also see a whole library on the Queyras. So I'll just sit here for a while.
At sunset another hour strolled through the flat fields of Ceillac. A slipper walk but with atmosphere. Fields with Red Clover, Lucerne and some fields with unharvested wheat and oats. White straw and blue mountain centauria blooms and smells again in the previously mown grasslands. When I think of the 3000 meter high mountains, I seem to be back in my native village of Hoegaarden about 50 years ago. Grain, clover, smell and spirit. Along the mountain stream Mélezet, le torrent, a nice tormented word, I also find some knight's spur plants in blue bloom. Magic plants not only for growth site, but also for toxic substances. This Delphinium dubium, Dauphinelle or Pied d'alouette douteuse in French, the questionable probably refers to the poisonous effect of the plant. The official name is derived from the Greek 'delphis' dolphin, because the flower resembles a jumping dolphin. Here these dolphins also seem eager to dive into the wild flowing river.
Monday 3 September: Lac Ste Anne and Lac Miroir.
I drive my motorhome all the way to the end of the valley. Past the modest ski station of Ceillac, past the beautiful gite-refuge de la Cime until the end car park Chaurionde. From there, on foot to Lac Sainte Anne, another lake with a chapel. The chapels haunt me or do I chase the chapels? Only in the world with Saint Anna and some fish. I'm squatting by the lake. Little fish swim against my shoes. Especially a long, narrow fish, with 4 transparent fins keeps spinning in circles with me. What's that fish doing here in that lake at 2,000 feet, and what am I doing here? Can I understand this fish or does he understand me? I... stay here for a while, but that fish will be here his whole life.
I'm walking again. On to another lake. In the distance I see the first human walkers coming up.
Lac Miroir and the Beast
To Lac Miroir. A mirror for myself? Just before I get to the lake, I feel “something “pushing my left leg. I turn around, and I see a sturdy dog who seems to be kindly pushing himself against me. Strangely enough, I'm not even afraid, but he looks pretty with his collar all around studded with pins. Is this the kind wild wolf I'd love to meet? I continue walking with mixed feelings, the beast not only keeps following me but pushes its head with those pins even kindly against my leg. The lake is bucolic, I stop and 'enjoy', my wolf also stops and is happy at my feet.
