This morning, a steady stream of boats set sail from Port de Nergout, seeking either favourable winds or delicious fish. Jetties reach out into the water to welcome them home, and it’s almost time for us to join them across the sparkling waters.
A boat rests motionless on the water, and an angler’s deft flick sends a lure flying far off into the lake, where it will imitate the movements of a tiny fish. A pike lurking the darkest depths may find itself tempted to take a bite.
A boat rests motionless on the water, and an angler’s deft flick sends a lure flying far off into the lake, where it will imitate the movements of a tiny fish. A pike lurking the darkest depths may find itself tempted to take a bite.
A sounder reveals the landscape of the lakebed. On the shores of the Ile de Vassivière, a sculpture by Andy Goldsworthy takes the form of a sturdy stone wall that forms a double spiral, unfurling around a few towering fir trees. The wall then disappears beneath the water, and appears as if by magic on the screen.
Back on dry land, we stop for a rest on a little beach of quartz sand called Châteaucourt. When the dam causes the water level to fall, a strange stone enclosure seizes its chance to gaze at the sky. Does it even predate the lake?
Back on dry land, we stop for a rest on a little beach of quartz sand called Châteaucourt. When the dam causes the water level to fall, a strange stone enclosure seizes its chance to gaze at the sky. Does it even predate the lake?
At the end of Masgrangeas Bay, there’s a strange sculpture carved into a giant granite boulder: a woman, a witch or a fairy, seems to be chased by a rabble of men. This land of fairy tales recounts its story along its footpaths, in the intimacy of a landscape filled with mysterious hideaways.
The path leaves the lakeside and climbs by a small stream, known as Jeansanetas, which flows into the lake. When the light shines low across a bridge built from great slabs of stone, it reveals another carving: a fairy bathing in the river’s amber waters.
The path leaves the lakeside and climbs by a small stream, known as Jeansanetas, which flows into the lake. When the light shines low across a bridge built from great slabs of stone, it reveals another carving: a fairy bathing in the river’s amber waters.
As we leave a forest of enigmatic juniper trees, the Lilliputian lodge of the Lande du Puy de la Croix recalls the little shepherds’ huts of the plateau. Its size, as well as the medallion engraved above the doorway, hint at the romantic encounter the fairy of legend found here.
Just opposite, on the other side of the lake, the Puy de la Roche has recently been unearthed. Built atop the hill several thousand years ago now, the remains of two burial grounds remind us just how much the landscape meant to prehistoric communities, too.
Born in Creuse, where he has returned to call home, Alain Freytet is commissioned for landscaping projects all over France. He always carries two or three sketchbooks in his knapsack, so that he never misses an opportunity to sketch a landscape, a tree, or life in motion. He is co-author of Dialogues avec des arbres remarquables en Limousin, and Chroniques de Creuse from Ardents Éditeurs.