Day One at Lucie's Troglodyte House (Cotignac, France)
I was very tired and disoriented but had fun anyway exploring the troglodyte house we rented for a week from Lucie, an artist, in Cotignac, France (Provence Verte). The dramatic cliffs and caves dotted with ancient troglodyte (carved into the stone) human dwelling vestiges made the rental property barely accessible but absolutely unique and charming. This is not a full troglodyte house, but is more the rideau troglodyte type. I found it rather disconcerting the first few days.
This is one of two troglodyte houses Lucie rents out via the famous old Gîtes de France network. The other one here is fancier but since I'm disabled, it would have been too challenging for me -- and it's also really too large for two people. We booked the smaller house in May, 2014.
The village has not only prehistoric roots but many Medieval vestiges, and is very quiet and charming. We really like Provence, and the Var département has plenty to please. As you can imagine if you haven't been there, the French Riviera is quite heavenly. If you love the Mediterranean sea, there it is, and inland quite a bit are many mountain ranges, such as the Maritime Alps and the Lubéron. Whether your idea of a great vacation is lounging on a gorgeous beach or enjoying the stunning vistas from a mountain peak, you can consider all this surrounded by olive and fig trees, cacti and succulent plants, flowers and boundless skies.
I'll be posting quite a few videos and slide shows, I hope, of Cotignac, and also Hyères-Les-Palmiers on the sea where we stayed in a majestic old house we rented for the second week. I love living in Paris, but really, down South is just spectacular. We usually enjoy our vacations in May and September, to avoid the high season heat, high prices and crowds. This was really an excellent time out.
copyright 2014 Lisa B. Falour, B.S., M.B.A.
Dailymotion: LisaFalour
YouTube: CUTECATFAITH, SLOBOMOTION
cutecatfaith.com
Lucie Mikelian
+33(0)683969023 (she speaks French only)
The houses can be found on GITES DE FRANCE.
lucie.mikelian@orange.fr
Towels and sheets were not provided -- the gîte system varies and you have to ask. The fee was less than 400 euros for the week but we opted to pay to have the place cleaned and not do it ourselves when we left. The rates vary depending on the time of the year.
The house sleeps two people and I don't feel it's suited for people with mobility issues. I found it difficult, but this is really a unique dwelling, and the view from the bedroom window was million dollar. The other house she rents here is much bigger and fancier, but this one was just fine for a middle-aged couple. My spouse was thrilled with the mountain biking in these parts -- a place dropped off a bike for him and picked it up when he was done with it next day. The market here on Tuesday mornings is large and really excellent, and the dining superb. The vibe in this ancient village is really mellow.
Matmata, Troglodyte Houses in Tunisia
Matmata, Troglodyte Houses in Tunisia
Matmata cave town - a town of caves located along small Berber speaking town in southern Tunisia. Some of the local Berber residents live in traditional underground troglodyte structures. Originally Matmata - the name of one of the tribes of the Berbers, who inhabited this area. Later the name of the village was also the name of the people who built their own houses in the form of in-depth excavation of caves in diameter from 8 to 13 meters. In some of them you can only go down the rope or the rope ladder. The structures typical for the village are created by digging a large pit in the ground. Around the perimeter of this pit artificial caves are then dug to be used as rooms, with some homes comprising multiple pits, connected by trench-like passageways.
The origin of this extraordinary place is not known, except from tales carried from generation to generation. The most improbable account says that underground homes were first built in ancient times, when the Roman empire sent two Egyptian tribes to make their own homes in the Matmata region, after one of the Punic wars, with permission to kill every human being in their way. The dwellers of the region had to leave their homes and to dig caves in the ground to hide from those invaders, but they left their underground shelters in the night to attack invaders, which appeared to be very effective in sending the killer groups away from Matmâta. A myth was made those days, that monsters emerge from beneath the ground and kill land usurpers. In any case, the underground settlements remained hidden in very hostile area for centuries, and no one had any knowledge of their existence until 1967.
The way of survival in those severe conditions was difficult — since Tunisia is famous for prolific olive oil production, the men went searching for work north of the villages every spring, when the olive season began, getting back home in autumn, when the season was over. They were usually paid in olive oil, which they traded for other goods (in present days for money), and thus provided enough food, clothes and other things for normal life of their families.
It was not generally known until 1967 that there were regular settlements in this area besides wandering nomadic tribes. That year, intensive rains that lasted for 22 days inundated the troglodyte homes and caused many of them to collapse. In order to get help from the authorities, a delegation was sent to the community center of the region in the town of Gabès. The visit came as a surprise, but help was provided, and the above-ground settlement of Matmâta was built. However, most of the people continued their lives in re-built underground homes, and only a few of the families moved to the new surface dwellings. Today, Matmata is a popular tourist attraction, and most of the population lives on tourism and folklore exhibitions in their homes.
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