L’Ardèche, des Gorges au Haut-Vivarais – Les 100 Lieux qu’il faut voir – Documentaire – MG

L’Ardèche, des Gorges au Haut-Vivarais – Les 100 Lieux qu’il faut voir – Documentaire – MG

Do you like France? Do you like to explore it,
discover it, and meet it? Sometimes you even
feel like you know her well. We all have a small beach,
a small cove, a clearing, a hamlet or a path
that belongs only to us, far from the beaten track and that we
only want to share with those we love. This is the France we want
you to discover through 100 places that you absolutely must see in your lifetime. Today we are going to Ardèche. You will travel to the heart of a
magnificent department, known above all for its landscapes,
its climate and its varied and contrasting tourist attractions. During this getaway,
we will introduce you to the Ardèche Gorges and sail through the heart
of wild, beautiful landscapes. And you, Baptiste, are you from Ardéchoire? No, but I still have a faithful heart. We will also take you to visit
the village of Entreilgues-sur-Volanne, perched high
on volcanic rock. But do you think that this gang
of macho men will accept that I play the role a little?
Certainly. We’ll have to do them a little violence. Finally,
we will set off to discover the green Ardèche, a breath of
fresh air in the heart of these green valleys. The hot air balloon is a really great,
great way to discover the Ardèche. We will of course undertake this journey in the company
of authentic Ardèche residents, proud of their region and its traditions
. Thanks to them, you will dive into a sometimes unexpected Ardèche. It is in Valon Pont d’Arc
that we begin our journey. Ideally located at the gateway to one of the
most beautiful tourist sites in France, this small village,
peaceful in winter, sees its population multiply by 10 in summer. Since the Middle Ages,
it has guarded the entrance to the Ardèche Gorges, one of the most
spectacular landscapes in France. We will introduce them to you with a local personality. A native of Vallon-Pont-d’Arc, Quentin,
27, was crowned world champion in downhill kayaking in 2014. And it is in the very heart of these gorges
that he regularly comes to train. I was born here, so it’s
a bit like my cradle, my cocoon. And as they say, Ardécho has a faithful heart,
so I will never tire of it, I will never leave this
Ardèche that I love so much. Aboard his kayak,
which he wouldn’t leave for anything in the world, Quentin takes us
to meet Baptiste. Cuckoo. Hi Baptiste.
Hi. How are you ?
Yeah, and you? Well, it’s going great. Listen, what a surprise.
Yeah. Well, we have the boats on the opposite side. Yeah, they’re not the same boats.
It’s pretty clear. An educational facilitator,
Baptiste teaches visitors of all ages how to observe and understand
this exceptional natural heritage. Okay, well I’ll give you
a simple paddle, that’ll change things up. Yeah, okay. And then, I don’t know,
you settle down, you want… Okay, no, well I’m going to let you
get on with it and you’re going to show me a little bit of what I don’t know. Yeah. Immediate boarding
in Baptiste’s canoe. Our stroll along the water begins at the foot of the famous Pont d’Arc,
a natural arch overlooking the Ardèche River. That’s a beautiful work of art there. Do
you know a little bit about how it was formed? By the fish, right? Stonecutter fish,
yeah, it could have been, but no. No, no, it’s just the river
. But it didn’t happen in
millions and millions of years. Ultimately, it happened very, very
quickly on the scale of geology. In just 600,000 years. And here, it’s super deep. There is a depth of 6 to 7 meters
under the Arquin bridge. All right.
And it keeps digging deeper. So, when there are big floods,
it digs a few more millimeters. The stone arch is the result of the work
of water which, over thousands of years, has carved out the limestone until it
crossed it and formed a natural bridge. A listed site since 1982, the Pont d’Arc,
with its monumental proportions, is a true spectacle in itself. Do you know the dimension
from the water to the summit? I think, from what I remember,
from what I was told, it’s about 60 meters high and the arch
is 30 meters. That’s it, actually. There is half rock,
half void in the Pont d’Arc. It’s okay, I learned my lesson. So it’s 60 meters,
30 meters of rock, 30 meters of void. It numbers them. For several centuries,
the Pont d’Arc was used as a natural passage from one bank to the other. In the Middle Ages, it was even used as a toll
for the transport of goods. Now let’s move away from this
arch and go down the river a little. The cliffs are overflowing,
it’s a bit of a treasure, because they are the last ecosystems
in Europe, almost, which are primary, where man, in certain areas, has
never set hands or feet. If you love magnificent landscapes,
you can’t help but admire this immense parade of limestone cliffs that
can reach 300 meters high. In the cliffs, there
are 21 species of bats. Do you know what bats are? Chiro is the hand
and earth is the wing. It’s the bats.
All right. So we have a lot of bats here. There is one that is protected.
They are all protected. All bats
here are protected. And there, we are also lucky to have
the river in which there are many, many aquatic insect larvae
which will be their source of food. And then, we have a large
chemical-free forest nearby. So the insects that
these bats eat are not polluted. More than a thousand plant
and animal species live along the 32 km of Gorges, making this site one of the
most remarkable in France. And you, Baptiste, are you from Ardèche? No, but I still have a faithful heart. I came to Ardèche a little bit out of love
in both senses of the word. I arrived to join
the mother of my children. And I also came because
I love nature. And that here, I found a diversity in
the environments that I really liked. From the peaks of the Ardèche,
at 1700 meters, to the end of the Gorges, at an altitude of 50 meters. We have almost all the rocks that
can be found on the planet in Ardèche. And we have this geological hotspot
which is the Gorges reserve. And I have been lucky enough
to work in this environment for four years. So you fell in love with it
and you don’t want to leave. I can’t see myself going back to the North. I understand. Let’s continue our excursion through
the dizzying Gorges and head a few kilometers away. Not far from the village of Balazuc,
nestled on the side of a cliff, is the Hameau du Vielodon. To get there, you have only two
options: walking or the river. Quentin has made his choice,
it will be in a kayak. Hi, Quentin.
Hi, Yann. Not wet?
No, it’s fine. Former director of the association that manages
the Vieillodon site, Yann will be our guide throughout the visit. Have you ever been to Vieillodon? Yes, I had already come
two or three years ago. All right. But for me, you see, it was 35 years ago. All right. I was a young high school student and I came
on vacation to do a youth volunteer project in a huge
pile of incredible ruins. Yeah. Where there were 80 of us young people from all
over Europe, getting involved in this restoration. A bit crazy, though. Abandoned by its inhabitants at the beginning of
the 19th century, the Ferme du Vieillodon quickly fell into oblivion. At the end of the 1970s,
four young Zytopists had the idea of ​​rehabilitating the site, which was then in ruins. For 40 years, youth work camps have been
organized and the number of volunteers from all over the world is
increasing. So, at first it was for building
and then you started bringing in animals. That is to say, after that,
the construction work continued and the farm developed. Then, we did
social integration with young people in difficulty. Then we set up our two
accommodation structures. Then we started providing training,
to share our expertise on issues such as entertainment,
cooking workshops, gardening workshops and food hygiene. Lots of training that we were asked
to do, which were related to our experience. All right. A true haven of peace, open to all,
this ecovillage is a place that is educational, ecological
and entirely autonomous. Since 1979, this farm has been raising,
among other things, around thirty goats. Here is the goat. This is the goatee. Massif Central goat. And after that, it’s only females.
Chamois-colored Alpilles. Yes, there are only females there
and they are pregnant. They were bred in September. So, they have a kid
there, who will be born in February. And so, lactation will
restart at that time. All right. There are 250 hectares of scrubland
on which they graze and which produce this very rich milk,
the milk of the scrubland. If you like goat’s milk products
, then in one of the corners of the Hamlet, you will find what you are looking for. So, we arrive at the cheese factory and before
going in, we have to get equipped. So, you’re entitled to a little one.
We have the apron and the little charlotte, you’ll see. It will be very beautiful.
Gorgeous. She’s great. Okay, let’s go.
Let’s go make cheese. Suzanne, we’re coming. Suzanne is the farm’s cheesemaker. Every day, she makes around a
hundred artisanal cheeses here. With her, you will be able to learn how
to make picodon, a typical Ardèche goat’s cheese. So, the milk you have there comes from
the goats we saw earlier. Oh yes, yes, everything is produced here. The special feature of this cheese dairy
is that the Picodon cheese is made entirely by hand. Once the whey is removed,
the ladling process can begin. So the idea is to make a ladleful
like this, like when you make egg whites. The curd is fragile. And so, we put
a ladle in each mold. All right.
Do you want to try? Well, come on, why not? It’s like home there. So. There is the habit with the paddle. We feel that there is a kick in the pants. An ancestral technique,
ladling prevents the curd from breaking into small pieces. In a few hours,
Suzanne will be able to unmold her cheeses, salt them and dry them. This, there, it will look exactly like that. Quite. In 24 hours. So, that’s what
I unmolded this morning. So we see that they are really white. And there we start to see
the mold appearing. So, these are the ones I was
unmolding the day before yesterday. They are more ivory. You can buy these little delicacies from Zardéchois in the farm shop,
or better still, enjoy them on site. On the menu today, warm goat cheese toast
on a bed of basil tomatoes. Great. Thank you Claire. They are beautiful.
THANKS. It was planned so big. So there, it’s the bread from here,
the warm goat cheese from here. The cheese you made earlier
will likely end up on this toast in a few days.
All right. A small, friendly bar that promotes
the farm’s produce as well as that of local producers. The culmination of 40 years
of hard work and passion. And what do you see as the future of old Odon
? At the moment,
I’m a bit of a young person. And so, if you like, in 40 years,
we have managed to restructure the ruins. There are always youth work camps,
so there is always an interest for young people to live a
collective adventure in this place and continue to rebuild it. That’s what we wanted to do at the start, to
bring life back to Vieillodon. And so now, it’s life
that decides a little for us. It already seems successful.
Maybe that’s a good thing, yes. Whether you are a simple visitor or
looking for training in Rueil-Malmaison, the Hameau and its
inhabitants welcome you all year round. And who knows, maybe one day
you will contribute your stone to the building. Our journey continues a few
kilometers away, in the far south of Ardèche. Quentin invites us to stop at the Bastide de Virac
, a village he knows well. He has lived there for several years. Here, the pride of the inhabitants
is a building listed as a historical monument: the Château des Rourres. Built on a rocky peak,
it has watched over its fortified town for more than six centuries. For us To introduce ourselves,
Quentin takes us to meet the owner and resident of the place.
Hi Jean-Louis. Hello Quentin, how are you? Good good? Jean-Louis and his site manager are
just beginning the restoration of one of the castle’s two towers. A delicate job several
dozen meters above the ground. I’ll pass you the tiles,
please, to put them on the edge because we’ll be there soon.
All right. There, what we are going to do is to
bring it up to the upper floor and above it, we are going to redo the pointed roof as it
was in the Middle Ages, in its lowest part, that is to say in the 15th century. And actually,
why was this tower razed? Because in 1629
it was a Protestant stronghold and Protestants were no longer
allowed to have a stronghold. And there, it’s called the roof of infamy. All right.
It is a sign of protest. It is a sign of protest. So. Okay, OK. The scene of the Wars of Religion,
this former bastion was partly razed at the beginning of the 17th century by order of King
Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu. Thus, the entire defensive system
of the castle was destroyed. For years, Jean-Louis has been
restoring this imposing building. Its goal: to restore it to
its former splendor. And
you, you’ve been there, in fact, since when at the castle? My ancestors
came in 1758 as metalworkers. They bought it in 1825. 1825, all right. And ever since, it’s stayed in the family. Okay, and so,
from father to son and daughter, well there you go, you continued to keep…
? I have been working here year-round since 1986. I will be involved in the bulk
of the restoration. It’s a passion and it’s true that
it’s a huge amount of work. You don’t have to calculate anything
and have only that as your objective. 30 years of work and passion. Now head to the
castle’s inner courtyard, as you will see that its restoration is not
yet completely finished. Right now, we are
restoring the ironwork. You see, we had this model that was
kept when they razed the castle. And we went around the whole castle again. We redid about fifteen grids.
About fifteen grids. But besides, there’s the blacksmith
working. We can go see if you want. Yorgue has been a blacksmith for ten years. It was he who partly restored
the castle’s ironwork. Watching him work
is like immersing yourself in the know-how of yesteryear. There he waits for the iron to heat up. There you go, it shouldn’t burn, it
should just be a little thick. How long does it take
to make a grid? The grid, we manage to do it once we
have the model and we have the templates and everything, we manage
to do it in a day, a day and a half. In a day, a day and a half,
to make a big grid like that? So. All right. Hammering iron with arm strength is
not as easy as you might think, even for a top athlete. A
profession that requires great skill, especially in the context
of a restoration. Here, hold it.
All right. And there? And there, I type all the way? There you go, you have to turn it over. And you straighten up on the other side. It must be returned. Not too bad, yes.
Alright. And so, for you, Jean-Louis, did
it seem important to you to remake them like they were in the Middle Ages? Yes, because it
must not be… You will look at the window grilles. If I don’t tell you, you wo
n’t know which one we redid. We did it again, yes.
You can’t see the difference. Besides, look.
Is this okay? It’s beautiful.
It’s beautiful ? Oh la la, for the first time,
it’s not fantastic. Listen, anyway,
you will have participated in the restoration of the castle. This winter,
we’ll hire you, I think. Well, great, but on the other hand, wow, I’m
a little lacking in practice. You need to have a little more. Jean-Louis and his team have succeeded in bringing
this little gem of medieval art back to life without ever altering its
original architecture. A must-see castle that we
highly recommend you visit. Less than 10 km from the Bastide de Virac,
between the Gorges de l’Ardèche and the Seize valley, is the Aven d’Orgnac. With its 5 km of underground galleries,
this cave is one of the most touristic sites in southern Ardèche. Stéphane has been a caving guide and guardian
of the Aven d’Orgnac for 10 years. But it was not at the official entrance to the
site that he arranged to meet Quentin. Hi Stéphane.
Hi Quentin. Are you doing well ?
Very good and you? Yeah, it’s fine. Do
you know Aven or not? I’ve seen it before, but never this way. So, that’s the natural entrance. So, we can’t imagine
what’s underneath when we see it here. And so, I suggest you see
the vein, but differently. Well…
In a way you don’t know yet. Great. Stéphane wants to show
Quentin the Orgnac vein from a completely unusual angle. And then you look like a spedo. An extraordinary experience that may
make sensitive souls dizzy. So if you want to get closer,
you have to walk along there. Here, look.
Oh yeah. Oh yeah, anyway. So this is the one and only
natural entrance that we know of over the entire four kilometers of the network. So, this is where
Robert de Joli first came down 80 years ago.
How many meters is that? Exactly 40 meters,
from the platform to the ground below. And what I propose
is to redo what De Joli did the first time 80 years ago. You’ll see, it’s another
view of the room. All right. A great French speleologist, Robert
de Joli discovered the cave in 1935. Using a simple rope ladder,
he was the first man to descend into this natural shaft.
It’s good ? Yeah, perfect.
Come on, let’s go. Here we go. Feet in the void,
suspended at the end of a rope, it only takes a few seconds of
rappelling to see the first lights of the cave. So? It’s awesome. No, but no, but yeah, it’s… It’s huge.
It’s a completely different view. It’s beautiful. A masterpiece of nature,
the cave offers pharaonic volumes, with ceilings, depending on the room,
reaching 55 meters in height, the equivalent of Niagara Falls. SO ? Spectacular, huh?
It’s beautiful, isn’t it? It’s great. So, the room that is there, it is
more than 6,300 square meters in area. The highest ceilings
are 35 meters high. And there, Quentin, we’re just getting started. Now I’m going to take you up to the
ceilings of the room over there. Here we go ?
All right. Well, here we go.
Be careful, it’s slippery. Okay. Our two athletes are not going to take
the traditional tourist route. They will overlook it. You see, it’s the revenge of the little ones,
I’m going to have an advantage over you. There, you don’t have to be fat.
I feel like it’s going to be so strong. This is going to be funny. Roped up several meters high
and via a designated route, they will be able to observe
unsuspected facets of the Avène. Unique in France,
this course called underground vertigo is open to all
thrill-seekers. You come and take the knot with your left hand there,
and there, it goes through all by itself. And you, Stéphane,
are you the one who equipped all that? Yes. On the entire 250,250 meters of rope
that we have installed, there is not a single piece of scrap metal, not a single chemical sand, nothing. Just natural mooring,
chocks, rope rings. That is to say, the day we stop
the activity, we remove the rope and there is no trace left.
And then you don’t see anything anymore. It’s up the back.
It’s no longer visible. 250 meters of rope for about three
hours of high-flying in the cave ceilings. Stalactites,
draperies and other astonishing limestone concretions make this cave
one of the most beautiful in Europe, and a unique space for the conservation of
the underground environment. And you will see that the big thrill
is reserved for the end of the activity. So if I send rope
into my descender, you go down. If I send the rope fast,
you come down fast. And if I send the rope gently,
you descend gently. 40 meters of dizzying descent
close the course. A plunge into the void, far
from reassuring our high-level athlete. We’re going a little faster, though. Come on, a little faster.
Yeah. Wow ! Wow ! And there? Oh !
Hey, Quentin? Yeah ? My rope is too short,
you have to go back up. That’s cool, isn’t it? This is This is great. Yes! Whether you want to discover it from the ground
or from several meters above, the Orgnac vein is a treasure that you
absolutely must not miss during your next visit to the region. But although spectacular,
these caves are not the only treasures of these departments. Once you’re there,
we recommend heading about forty kilometers further
north, to the heart of the Mont d’Ardèche parks. Perched on a basalt peak,
Antreip-sur-Volane is a jewel nestled in the wild setting of the Ardèche mountains. Overlooking the Volane Valley,
this small village of character will charm you with its picturesque architecture
and southern atmosphere. This is where Lisa has lived for 25 years. Having fallen in love with Ardèche,
she never left. I still like it here. I’ve been to loads of places and
I think this is truly the most beautiful region in France. Lisa knows her village very well,
but to enrich her knowledge about it , she can always count
on Bernard, the former mayor of Entre de l’Afrique in Volanne. This bridge is beautiful, isn’t it? Yes, it’s the Tourrasse bridge,
in reference to the large tower there, at the Church Cloucher. And it’s not a very old bridge. It is perhaps only two centuries old. And above all, in the past,
it was the main access to the village. At the time, of course, it
could only be reached on foot, on horseback and especially with mules. A picturesque bridge that offers one of the
most beautiful views of the village. To reach the heart of the city,
you will have to take these sloping cobbled streets, which here are called calades. Do you know what this calade is called? Oh yes, that, I know,
that’s the way to see her. Well, not at all. That’s not what we should
call it, because normally, that’s the path of the indebted. But why was it called the debtors’ path in the first place
? Well, there were people who had
some debts, especially with the baker and the grocer. So when they went
to mass on Sunday, they didn’t want to go through the village. And so, it was a bypass that
allowed them to reach the square without having
to pass in front of the shops. Who were on the other side down then. There they were, along the
heart of the village. All right. It’s still more elegant,
the way to see her, isn’t it? It’s more neutral, let’s say. Here in Antraigues, each calade is full
of anecdotes about the history of the village and its inhabitants. Stories that remain
etched in our memories for a long time. Do you remember Lisa? These are all good memories. The whole village got involved,
I remember the girls who were sitting around the square with their
chisels, their stones on the ground. In 1995, the famous artist and former
mayor of the village, Jean Sossac, invited all the inhabitants to sculpt
heads by carving them directly into the walls of their houses
or onto lava stones brought back from the surrounding volcanoes. To carry out this project,
he was inspired by two sculpted faces, the date and origin of which are unknown. Today, no fewer than 70 heads adorn
the facades of the houses in this alleyway. And this face, is that you who sculpted it? I didn’t sculpt it,
but I did implant it. That is, I put a ladder against
the wall, removed a stone and then, with mortar, I implanted the head
that had been sculpted by I don’t know who. Yes, what you did wasn’t necessarily the most
interesting thing. It was helpful. A useful,
even essential, activity in Antraigues. It’s the long game. Every Sunday,
weather permitting, the players meet here, in the village square. That’s the village tradition. Boules in Antraigues,
in this square, is really the number one activity. And if we want to be part of the village, we
have to play boules, right? It is preferable.
On all men. Especially men, yes. Maybe we’re a little macho. It’s not impossible. But do you think that this bunch
of machos will accept that I play a little bit at the end?
Certainly. We’ll have to do them a little violence. That’s good, that’s good.
Come on, let’s go. If, like Lisa, you feel like playing
, then don’t hesitate to join the regulars there. They will introduce you in the long run. Despite appearances, this game is
very different from pétanque. Well done.
Well done. The
village square keeps alive memories of the long games dear
to Jean-Ferrat’s heart. The singer, who moved here in 1964,
lived here until the end of his life. It is to him that we owe in large part
the fame of entrails on Volane. Let’s leave the shade of the chestnut trees
on the NGO’s land to find it again a
few kilometers away. It is here, in the heart of this chestnut grove,
that Lisa has a meeting with Gabin. Hi Lisa.
Hi. How are you? How are you ?
Welcome to our home. With the whole family there. Gabin is a chestnut grower, like his father,
Joël, and his brother Émilien. A family business specializing
in the production and sale of chestnut groves. And there, it’s all yours, all that? It’s all ours. So the farm has about
15 and a half hectares of chestnut grove. And the trees, how old are they? It varies. There are some that are quite young,
there are even some that are certainly more than 300 years old. And you,
how long have you and your family been here? It used to belong
to my father’s grandfather. And even before him, there were
uncles who owned this orchard. It’s been a long, long time
since you were here. It’s been a long time.
It’s been several generations. Gabin is part of the fourth
generation to make a living from harvesting chestnuts. Here in Ardèche, this fruit has existed in its
natural state since time immemorial, although its production really
began in the 13th century. Historically, it is the breadfruit tree. It is the tree that has fed generations
of Ardèche residents, that made flour, that produced a very productive fruit. So from there
it fed a lot, a lot of people. Fond of acidic soils,
chestnut trees thrive mainly in mountainous areas
like here in Ardèche. Sloping terrain made
harvesting difficult for a long time. We let
the chestnuts fall to the bottom of the net. Today, thanks to mechanical collection,
Gabin and his family can collect two-thirds of their annual production
using this suction machine. But you will see that this technique
is not easy either. Quite simply, I’ll
hold the net for you. I’m going to keep you a little tense,
because you’ll see, there’s still quite a bit of suction.
Mamma mia. Are you ready?
You have to put on your helmet, right? It’s necessary, yeah. Emilien? Lisa,
our novice chestnut farmer, has the goal of collecting
all the chestnuts that fall into the net. I can’t do that every day, though.
I imagine. Once vacuumed, the fruits are peeled
and sent directly into these bags. It goes without saying that this noisy
harvester offers considerable time savings to our producers. But mechanical prowess has
its limits here in the chestnut grove. After being sorted for the first time
in this grading machine, the final selection takes place. This is an opportunity for us to learn
a little more about the two varieties of chestnuts produced here:
the red mouth and the combale. And what is it again?
Mouths or attics? Now that’s the attic. And I never
managed to tell them apart. How do you do that? Already, the combale, in principle,
is still of a duller appearance than the mouth.
There, it is clearly visible. It has a much darker appearance.
It’s clearly visible there. The mouth is much redder. And then, you also have this aspect of the
lower part, which we call the tail, it is much
smaller on the comb. You see? Look how she’s
lying on her mouth. But it’s true that the mouth
only has one fine. That is to say, it is the one, in particular, that
you will use to make candied chestnuts. And this is the queen. She is the queen of chestnuts,
she is the red mouth. The queen of chestnuts
is the red mouth. Exactly that.
It’s true that she is beautiful. Whether roasted,
glazed or in flour form, chestnuts will seduce you with their
subtle taste and nutritional benefits. So, grab your basket
and take a stroll along the paths, because here, the chestnuts are just waiting for one
thing: to be picked and, above all, to be tasted. Lisa now takes us a little
further, to the town of Vals-les-Bains. It is in this brasserie,
located on the banks of the Volane, that Christian, the director of the place, awaits him. With him, you will discover how
craft beer is made from chestnuts. Hello Christian.
Hello Lisa. How are you ?
Well and you ? GOOD. In the middle of your beers.
Well yes, as usual. So there’s nothing here. It all happens in the basement.
All right. Here we go ?
Here we go. A great lover of the Ardèche,
Christian chose to highlight it through his beer. Here, every day, he makes them from
products such as chestnuts, but also blueberries,
nougat and even verbena. A job that Christian does in close
collaboration with Eric, the master brewer. So today we are going to
brew a chestnut beer. So we use different types
of malt that will give a taste and a color to the beer. You see, for example,
here it is Pilsen malt. And then this is a chocolate malt. Smell the different types of malt. It is the mixture of these several types
of malt that makes the recipe unique. 400 kilos of malt are needed
to make 3,000 liters of beer. First,
Eric pours it into the hopper, a mill designed to grind this
sprouted cereal produced by roasting barley. So here we are, now Lisa,
we come to the mashing phase. So whatever was in the mill is
thrown into this vat and mixed with hot water. I close it because
it has to stay warm. So. And so, for our famous
Ardèche chestnut beer, we put chestnut breeze
in it. And is it Ardèche chestnut? It is an
Ardèche chestnut that comes from Bises. Oh well, that’s good. And you can taste it because
you know, ultimately… It’s local. Everything we put in our beer
is like in the bag. Everything is good. And for the beer to obtain these
delicious chestnut aromas, it must ferment for several days in its vats. But luckily for Lisa,
there’s no need to wait until then to get a taste.
Ah yours. And
how long did it take you to develop a beer like this, at Le Marron? To develop this beer,
it was our first time and it took us almost two years.
Oh yes, indeed. Before you’re really ready,
before you do it. So. And so, because there was the recipe, there was
the search for the local producer. And the water, is it Vals water?
It’s Vals water. So, everything is local.
Everything is local. So, it’s a good product. It’s a product… Thank you, it’s a good product. Building on its success in France, Christian’s
flavored and artisanal beer is exported as far as
Brazil and even the United States. Irrefutable proof that the marriage
between beer and Ardèche works very well, even beyond our borders. We now leave Vals-les-Bains
for the third stage of our journey. Heading north of the department. We will show you
the Haut-Vivaret, more commonly known as the green Ardèche. A territory that benefits from an
exceptional natural environment. Much less well-known than Vallon Pont d’Arc or the trek to Volanne, Tournant-sur-Aune will surprise you with its
unique atmosphere, its heritage and its breathtaking view of the Rhône. Philippe is a photojournalist. For years, this Art of Choices has been
passionately crisscrossing its department. Its goal: to showcase it
and its inhabitants. The green Ardèche
is a special region that you absolutely must discover. It’s another Ardèche. To start our stay
in green Ardèche in style, Philippe chose to show us the Doubs valley. And it is here,
at the Tournon-Saint-Jean station, aboard this steam locomotive, that
the adventure will soon begin. At the controls of this train are
Thibault and Kevin, drivers and mechanics respectively. Whistles, plumes of smoke and the smell of coal immediately transport us
to another century. Let’s go for an unforgettable 30-minute ride in this century-old machine. Tell me Thibault, why do
you drive trains? Because…
Is it a childhood dream of yours? Yeah, it’s a bit of a childhood dream. Today it’s a job,
but before it was a childhood dream. Yeah. And so your role
is to heat the boiler. It’s heating up, that’s it.
I put the coal in, I put the water in. Contrary to popular belief,
the locomotive driver is not its conductor. It is the mechanic who drives,
juggling the cruise control and the brake in order to maintain the imposed speed. Every day during the summer, this locomotive pulls up to nine cars, or around 50 tonnes. And to maintain the speed between 20 and
25 km/h, there is only one solution: coal. Come on, it’s good for me.
Here we go. So, basically.
In the background, further away. At the bottom.
Go on, further. Left now.
Left. Great. Good ?
Great. After stepping into the shoes of a
driver from the early 20th century… Hello. Philippe will be able to take a breather
inside one of the authentic wooden-lined wagons. Comfortably seated,
passengers have plenty of time to watch the
spectacular landscapes of the green Ardèche pass by. We entered the narrows area,
protected for its flora and fauna. So, the waves in the rocks
appeared at the birth of the Alps which raised the central basin. Angelika is 22 years old.
He is the conductor of the train. Its role: to accompany and inform
travelers throughout the journey. Hello Philippe.
Hello Angelika. Did you have a good trip? Well, listen, it’s a
magnificent landscape, I think. Yes, that’s typical,
knowing that the landscape can only be seen from the railway. It’s a beautiful journey. A unique journey on this railway line
which once connected Ardèche to Haute-Loire. It took three years of work
to bring this locomotive back to life. A return to service that will delight all steam train lovers. If this train ride has whetted your
appetite, then it’s high time for Philippe to take you to one of the
best establishments in Tournon-sur-Rône. With him, you will discover It is
a traditional dish art of choices, cooked with good local products. It was in this restaurant that he met
Cyril, chef and owner of the place for 17 years. That’s why I came to see you. For the caillettes, I imagine?
Your little secret. Come on, let’s follow you to the kitchen. Caillette is a specialty that
can be enjoyed in Ardèche, but also in Drôme. It can be eaten cold or hot and can
be used in many recipes. For years,
Cyril has been offering this dish based on pork,
salad and chard on his menu, following a unique recipe, that of his grandmother. Your grandmother’s abomasum?
Yes. Did you give me the recipe? I don’t know. You were telling me what recipes are. Yes I know.
I know. But I think you
‘ll make a good clerk. You will I will help you. I’ll turn on the chopper for you. You’re going to pass me the pieces of meat. There’s a sense there for… We can have a little bit of… So, what I like to do,
it’s already a pre-mix, is to put a little bit of grass
and a little bit of meat after. Made in the fall,
during the pig slaughter, caillettes have been prepared
on farms in Ardèche and Drôme since the 16th century. Today, they are eaten all
year round to the delight of Ardèche residents and tourists. And you, Philippe, what did you
put in the caillettes? At home, we only use chard. Just chard?
Yeah. Because there are some who make it with
potatoes, there are some who make it with cabbage. Every family has its own recipe. Every grandmother has her own recipe. And yes, every grandmother. And to make beautiful caillettes,
the use of caul fat is essential. It is a membrane
that surrounds the port clamp. So you see, look how beautiful it is. It looks like lace.
You see? More daring, they say it looks like
a Barrézy, but hey, I don’t know if there are women
who would want to bring that, anyway. Not only will this strainer provide
support to the caillettes, but it will also give them
a slightly crispy texture. Is there a technique, in particular
, to make your caillette a success? Is there a little something there? Do
you see what we just did? It’s still quite simple. I don’t have a technique to give to people. I just have one piece of advice: use
good raw materials. So. Come on, let’s go, see? We’re going to put this in the oven.
Put this in the oven? Yeah, look.
Look at. There, look at this. How much do we believe? And bam, 180 degrees. Here we go for 20 minutes.
Come on. And to accompany these caillettes,
what could be better than the Crique? A pancake made with egg,
crème fraîche, chives, and Ardèche potatoes and onions. The idea behind my cuisine
is to work with fresh produce and produce that comes
from not too far away, and to work with as many
local farmers and producers as possible. So. Those who suffer and
always have their feet on the ground. Because in Tournon,
you don’t have to look far to find lots of beautiful products. We have the Tournon onions,
we still have one producer left. I can find potatoes,
I find turnips, I find black radishes, I find red meat radishes. The recipe is almost finished. The Criques are skillfully turned over
by Philippe, our assistant. While the caillettes,
fresh from the oven, crackle with impatience at the idea of ​​being eaten. There, I think the meal is missing. Anyway, Cyril,
for now, it smells really good. The problem with Cyril’s caillettes
is that once you’ve tasted them, you can’t live without them. So, you know what you have to
do during your next stop in Tournon-sur-Rône. In any case, Cyril and Philippe don’t
need to be asked twice. These are really the caillettes
I like. Tell me your grandmother,
what was her first name? Jeannette.
Jeannette? Well listen, my friend.
China Jeannette. China Jeannette. These wines are good. Let’s leave Cyril’s restaurant
and Jeannette’s famous caillette to go a few kilometers away. Still in Haut-Vivaret,
is Anonay. Built in the hollow of this hill,
this town still retains traces of a past steeped in history. Because in Anonay, the tradition of parchment has
existed since the Middle Ages. And although this leather industry was
the first in the city, today only one parchment factory remains. Frédéric has been at the helm of this
family business since 1986. He is the one who will teach us everything
about parchment making. Parchment is paper,
is it leather? Oh no, parchment isn’t paper. It is a material that is animal. Paper is plant-based. Parchment is animal. The difference between
parchment and leather? Parchment is
untanned skin, whereas leather is tanned skin. But to make it clearer in your
mind, I suggest you go to the River Workshop and you will
see me making parchment. Head to the Workshop, where every day,
Frédéric makes his parchments using his machines. It takes between one and one
and a half months of work to achieve the desired result. And the first step in manufacturing
is tempering. This is the first machine in which
the quenching operation is carried out. It’s called a washer. This is where we start washing
the pots to clean them. This machine doesn’t look very
new. Oh no, it dates from my grandfather,
who installed it in 1926. Okay. Third generation, therefore,
of parchment maker to a man. So. When Frédéric took over
the family business in 1996, parchment
and leather production was in decline. He then decided to focus
on quality manufacturing intended for the artistic profession. And the last skin is a deer skin. A know-how that is rare today
and which is undertaken with passion. So there I put a mixture of lime,
sulfur and water. And then I’m going to apply this to the flesh side and it’s going to destabilize the hair.
Destabilize? What does that mean?
This will allow you to wax it. To wax it?
All right. And with the sponge,
I apply this on the expensive side. This will allow
the hair to be removed two hours later. Two hours of…
Okay. This is how you make the best
preparation of parchment. The best way to remove
hair is like this. Luxury houses work like this. After this step, which is called
shoeing, we move on to waxing. And this time,
it’s Philippe’s turn to step into his role as apprentice parchment maker. With the pole. I position myself here. There you go, you block the skin. Am
I stuck there, like that? So. And I’m going like this? So. All right. I’m trying.
You go as high as possible. As high as possible. So. Ah, but it’s going away.
By forcing. So. Yes, indeed, yes. Is that a gesture you
saw your father make? Exactly, yes.
Is he the one who taught you? Yes, exactly. It was my father who
taught me how to do this. So, I went to leather school, but they do
n’t teach that kind of hair removal. There, I do this gesture by hand,
but are there machines to do it? Yes, of course, but it’s a little less precise with machines than by hand. Listed in the inventory of rare trades,
Frédéric’s parchment making has been rewarded for the excellence
of its know-how. So. So, we did the waxing. For 15 days after depilation,
the skins stayed in a bath containing only lime. And 15 days later, we have skin
that we call tripe skin. The pH is neutral, there
is no more hair, there is no more epidermis, there
is no more fat, there is no more subcutaneous tissue. Now that the skin is clean,
it must be dried. To dry it, you have to frame it. And to frame it, in the Middle Ages,
we had harrows like this which allowed it to be stretched. Still used occasionally,
harrow framing requires much longer working time. But whatever method is used,
this step is important. It allows the skin to obtain a
smooth appearance and erases any traces of deformation before drying. This is Philippe. After
a day of drying in the frame, well the pots are finished
and we sell the pots like that. I understand why people
confuse paper and parchment. Yes, especially since the skin in
front of your eyes is what we call vellum.
And vellum is not paper. Vellum is parchment from Vaud. It’s like this skin,
it’s kid that is worked in a transducid way,
and that’s what was like the first windows in fortified castles. Sheathing, illumination, fan,
musical accessory, parchment is still used in
many and varied fields. There are three parchment factories left in France
and Frédéric’s is one of them. So, hurry up and go improve
your knowledge of the profession. Its museum, dedicated to parchment and
leather, is open all year round. Anonay is a town with an
industrial tradition, but also one of innovation. In the 18th century,
it was the homeland of the Montgolfier brothers, the inventors
of the famous balloon of the same name. It was on the Place des Cordeliers
that Philippe arranged to meet a well-known local figure. Hey, how are you?
Good morning. Prepared in flight? Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, you see, we are
preparing our business there. President of the
Anonay Hot Air Balloon Association, Roland is a descendant of inventors
Étienne and Joseph de Montgolfier. A pilot for 40 years,
he is the one who will share his passion and his know-how with us. We’re going to explain to you a little bit about
what happened in 1783, what the hot air balloonists had been thinking about. Because it’s there, next to us,
we’re going to go see it. And you absolutely have to soak
all of this up before flying in a hot air balloon. Let’s follow Philippe and Roland to the center
of Place des Cordeliers, a historic hotbed of aeronautics. It was right here that
the first flight took place in 1783, on June 4. They brought a paper balloon. They made a fire underneath
and the balloon inflated. And they let him go.
Here we go. Here, there was
a whole honnez arrived there. There was the Estates General,
of course, but the drums kept going and everyone came to
see this incredible event. Today, a commemorative plaque
commemorates this event, often confused with the flight carried out
three months later at Versailles, in front of King Louis XVI. Roland takes us a few
kilometers from the city center. With him and Philippe,
we will have the exceptional chance to discover the green Ardèche from the sky. We are going to experience a phenomenal moment. Once the canvas is unfolded
and the burners are activated… Watch out, here we go. The immense hot air balloon straightens up
and takes on its generous shape. Now it’s time to join
the pilot aboard the basket. You’re going to stand in front.
In front ? Yes, on the side, mind you.
Flawless. There, it will be fine. A
smooth and light takeoff. Here we go.
Here we go. Just like his ancestors 233 years ago,
Roland will take you on an unforgettable flight. With it, you will be able to admire
a breathtaking 360-degree panorama. Look at me, how beautiful we are here. So, do you see the Place des Cordeliers
there? We’ll get over it there.
Below, there. You see there, below,
the Place des Cordeliers, there. Oh yes. That’s it, we’re out of Anonet.
Yeah. And so, this is the countryside. You see, Roland, the hot air balloon
is really great, a great way to discover the Ardèche, all the same. You go slowly, you have height,
you hear the noises. It’s a balcony,
I tell you, you overlook everything. Our journey is coming to an end. You now know that the Ardèche is
not limited to its sumptuous gorges. It is also a collection of
historical, architectural, culinary and wild treasures. So many places that you
absolutely must see in your lifetime.

L’Ardèche, département, sauvage, est surtout connu des touristes pour ses gorges, merveilles de la nature sculptées au fil du temps.

Pour découvrir les merveilles des plus belles régions de France, c’est ici – Abonnez-vous 👉 http://bit.ly/3zjR2Vj 🙏

Mais ce département sauvage a bien d’autres atouts à dévoiler. Comme ses villages authentiques, qui ont séduit les artistes. Antraigues-sur-Volane est ainsi devenu le refuge de Jean Ferrat. Aux grottes majestueuses succèdent des châteaux restaurés par des passionnés. Quant aux amateurs de bonne chère, ils peuvent se laisser tenter par des spécialités locales, la caillette ou la châtaigne. Du côté d’Annonay, la caméra prend de la hauteur à bord d’une montgolfière, à l’endroit même où les frères du même nom réussirent le tout premier vol de l’histoire.

Réalisé par Isabelle LE GUEN.
© MORGANE PRODUCTION