ABSTRACT
Wind-raked! Soaked in the fall and winter by rains carried inland by the sea wind (marin) that gathers its strength in the Mediterranean, burnt dry in the summer by the sun and fierce north wind, the Larzac is a region of climatic extremes. It is the southernmost of five great limestone plateaus, or causses, and is located in the department of the Aveyron, less than seventy kilometers from the sea. Like its siblings, it is composed of the sedimented remains of uncountable microscopic animals deposited in an ocean that once overflowed the land between the two most southern mountain chains of the massif central. Ranging from 560 to 950 meters above sea level and 1,000 square kilometers in area, the Larzac brings the cold winters of the massif central within sight of the clement south, the Midi. The natives of the Larzac see themselves as the stubborn inhabitants of a harsh and stingy land on which thin soils and unpredictable weather make pastoralism the only possible way of life. They are fully aware, and sometimes proud, of the contrast between “their” plateau and the valley floors on which a long and stable growing season favors the cultivation of peach, apricot, almond and olive orchards, as well as wine and table grapes. It is not uncommon to hear Larzac farmers refer to this other world, which in reality is only a few kilometers away, as if the distance were multiplied by hundreds. They are also proud of their ability to live and work in such an ungrateful environment. As Pierre Burguière, one of the protagonists in this book and a typical inhabitant of the plateau, has said of the Larzac: “As for me, the Larzac—I love it as if it were a handicapped child. The more it makes you suffer, the more you become attached to it.” Auguste Guiraud, whose roots are deep in the Larzac, expressed the same sentiment in different words: “The peasant is married to the land. Of course, here the bride is pretty skinny and her dowry’s not big either. But then, we are here to fatten her up.”
