Summer in the Alps - a life at the rhythm of the herd
In Europe, it's a rare sight these days. But in the peaceful valley of Les Fonts, on the border between Queyras and Italy, a family of diehards still spends the summer months on the Chalps mountain pasture: the Brunets from the GAEC du Lasseron.
After the village of Cervières, a small road climbs a few hairpin bends before leading into a wide, bucolic valley. This is a valley where time has stood still, as it moves too fast in more populated areas. On the right, the Lasseron massif, a refuge for chamois, towers above the Bourget marsh. On the left, the slopes are dotted with summer hamlets. Before arriving at Les Chalps, the valley narrows a little and the road crosses a strip of the larch forest that covers the northern slopes. By the time I reach the meadows, a small herd of goats is wandering along the banks of the Cerveyrette.
Then Gentiane leaves to make hay at Le Bourget, and I head off with Françoise in search of roaming cows. Françoise has been accompanying her herd of goats and cows to the Fonts valley for 34 years. In the past, her husband François' family used to go up there with the other farmers from Cervières. For the first ten years, Françoise and François would spend the month of June around Le Laus, doing the haymaking there. But Françoise no longer wanted to go. "There was no longer a clean place to rest to look after the animals, and we found little gifts from the campers behind every bush and every ball of hay ".
People used to get together, share their evenings and work. Women took turns looking after the cows. For every 4 cows, they had to do a day's guarding, for every 8 cows 2 days, and so on. When Françoise arrived, she took part in this rotation for a few years. For her, her day on watch was like a day off. Sure, she walked to take the cows to pasture, but it was much quieter than a day down at the sheepfold. The women milked, made cheese and butter and looked after the children while the men mowed. In the mornings, the woman on duty would pick up cows in front of each house. Towards the end of the 90s, only two families were left to take their animals up to the mountain pastures in the Fonts valley. When the elders stopped, the Brunets started to build pens for the cows.
« Quand on veillait, Augustine nous faisait des croquants et Alphonse nous racontait sa jeunesse. Maintenant, il n’y a plus que nous. Ça nous pèse qu’il n’y ait plus personne. Du coup, on couche un peu plus souvent en bas. »
Françoise apprécie beaucoup de descendre au marché de Briançon voir du monde mais quand c’est fini, elle est bien contente de quitter la foule et de remonter dans sa vallée paisible.
Milking keeps them on the mountain pasture. They have fifteen dairy cows, eight suckling cows, heifers and around fifty goats. Each one has its own name, because watching them be born and grow has created a real bond between the animals and the breeders.
Au sein de la famille, ils se partagent le travail. Leurs journées sont rythmées par les chèvres et les vaches ainsi que par les saisons.
At the height of summer, they milk around 6:30 - 7am in the morning and around 5:30 - 6pm in the evening. They keep the goats until 9pm. In autumn, their days become shorter as the sun shines. Morning milking is pushed back to 8am, and evening milking is shifted to dusk, to avoid having to keep the goats overnight.
caretaking, cheese-making and sales, haymaking and park maintenance. Françoise and Lise milk the goats, Myrtille and Gentiane the cows. Lise makes the cheese, Gentiane the hay. François stands guard. They used to let the goats roam free during the day, but for the last three years they've been keeping them there because of the wolf. In spring and autumn, they grow potatoes together and have a large vegetable garden in Cervières. Their son Martin is self-employed and their second son lives abroad. Françoise homeschooled her five children and now her grandchildren. " When the children were small, going up to the mountain pastures was the start of the summer vacations for them. Up there, they ran all over the place and made huts in the forest. "
In winter, the whole family returns to the big farm in the village, where they offer visits and suckle the kids during the vacations. They sell their cheeses in Chalps in summer, at the farm in winter and all year round at the Briançon market.
« La vie en alpage est intense, il faut être partout à la fois, mais c’est vert, on est dehors et ça me plait », conclut Françoise.
We sat on the grass for a while, chatting and listening for the cowbells below. Now we join François at the sheepfold for a quick coffee and then it's off again. The goats are still basking in the sunshine, but the cows have escaped again. Françoise runs off, followed by her two dogs, one young and one afraid of cows.
The cows wait quietly for milking and Françoise takes advantage of the calm to work on the cheeses. The sun peeks over the ridges and the light softens as evening arrives. The air seems velvety soft after the heat of the day. I want to stay here a little longer, letting the quietude envelop me, leaning against a stone wall that's still warm. I watch the goats go by in single file, it's milking time. Behind them, an elderly couple with their shepherd's crooks follow the last alpagistes in the Fonts valley. But for them, succession seems assured.
Ferme du Lasseron à Cervières : Vente de fromages à la ferme l’hiver, à l’alpage des Chalps (vallée des Fonts de Cervières) l’été et au marché de Briançon toute l’année.
