Laruns and the Vallee d'Ossau

We have been very fortunate to have landed in Laruns or we have followed powerful, accurate instincts which have lead us to a valley of spectacular natural beauty with a very strong regional culture and an intact local community. Our observations need to be tempered naturally by the fact that we are outsiders, from outside the village, outside the valley and even outside France. Our ability to understand and observe is therefore limited.

Laruns (popn 1700 ) seems however, to be a strong functioning community and the inhabitants of the valley lead lives that are less complicated by material desires and wants than many others we have encountered in Australia and other places. We have encountered many acts of generosity in our time here - the boys at the Auberge left us with the keys and said we could stay while they went away for a holiday, Gi Gi and Jean Luc from the Hardware shop have lent Ashur a bike and add little gifts when we buy things, Emily from the Real Estate Office has lent Sue and I a very good bicycle, Jean Pierrie regularly won't let us pay for saucisson or cakes we buy from his shop and introduces us to everybody, Anna, the shepherd sells us beautiful cheese and under charges massively, Marco offers walking shoes to Ashur and snowshoes to us, Bernard managed to fit twelve rowdy Australians into his tiny kitchen for a wonderful Pot au Feu. People don't appear to be materially needy or greedy and are happy to give generously when they can and what they can. There are hardly any big flash cars in the village and we have seen no widescreen TVs in French houses, the goods in the shops are basic and the food is simple. Perhaps other more important needs are being met and there is no great gaping hole clamouring to be filled with material goods or wealth.

The community is strong and supportive, families stay in the valley so family networks are intact. The whole community is very proud of the schools and a number of the teachers including the Directrix are local people. Hadley, Ashur and I helped at the market one Saturday morning cooking chestnuts to raise money for a school expedition to the beach. The interaction was wonderful - everyone was having a good time and we ate fresh roasted chestnuts.

The valley abounds with spectacular natural beauty, clean and fresh. The incredible power and majesty of the mountains are a constant reminder of scale and of the place of human beings on this planet. The closeness and the very real significance of the elements - snowstorms, avalanche, sudden changes in conditions ensures everyone is aware of the power of forces non-human.

The closeness and everyday encounters with animals are also a powerful influence. There are sheep walking through the streets every day, so there is manure everywhere and the whole place smells of livestock. One shepherd waters his sheep in the village fountain every afternoon on their way back to their warm shed, probably below his house. It is lambing time now and there is a small window low down in the street past the church that we can peer through and see new born lambs and their mothers in the warm straw. There are little paddocks throughout the town and the valley with cattle in them and from our terrace we can generally see at least five mobs of sheep grazing in terraced fields in the valley and the mountainside. We know when the shepherd decides it is time to head for the warmth of the grange because we can hear the bells ringing as the sheep trot along behind. We can hear sheep bleating to their lambs and the lambs replying, dogs barking and horses whinnying. At any time in the village you can hear, smell or see livestock - there is no way the people of the village are going to grow out of touch with their roots, where their food and fibre comes from of with the very soil itself.

All this, we believe leads to the maintenance of a strong community where other things are more important than material goods - a community we are very fortunate to be able to join for a brief moment.