Black Hole
Short Story by Les Furnanz
HighOnAdventure.com October 1, 2009
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| The Inspiration for "Black Hole" - The Story Behind the Story
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My
wife, Rita, and I discovered the Célé Valley via a one-page
article in the French journal, France-Amerique . The monthly magazine
has a regular feature that highlights out-of-the-way locations in
France. Within the month we had managed to find a week-long home rental
there. Our abode was a converted stone barn in the fields
at the base of the cliffs, close to the village of Marcilhac with its
150 residents. We spent the week hiking to the plateau, exploring the
cave of Pech Merle with Europe's oldest evidence of man, cycling
along the river between its six villages, and enjoying "la vie francaise" The entire area still rested in the beautiful laurels of
its medieval history. During the course of that week the story line of
"Black Hole" began to form in my mind. There must be other cave
chambers like Pech Merle's, awaiting discovery in the beautiful Célé
Valley.
We will always remember the spirit of the people
we met in Marcilhac : the valley's only boulanger who baked incredible
bread and pastries, the traveling boucher who visited Marcilhac once a
week in his motorized wagon full of unique cuts of meat, Cahor's
retired policeman who had recently resettled in tiny Saint Sulpice and
rented us bicycles, the guide at Pech Merle who conveyed her incredible
passion for the beloved grotto and its 25,000-year history. Not a soul
spoke English, so it was a great experience for a sometime Francophile
like myself. The only tourists we meant were from close-by towns of
central France. Places like this are meant to be discovered.
Take
a few minutes to peruse the photos below.
You may decide it's worth a visit. The Web links will provide
some assistance in getting you oriented.
To your own discoveries,
Les Furnanz
Wikipedia reference on Pech Merle:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pech_Merle
Pech Merle Web site:
http://www.quercy.net/pechmerle/english/introduction.html
Marcilhac-sur-Cele Google map:
http://www.maplandia.com/france/midi-pyrenees/lot/figeac/marcilhac-sur-cele/
Our converted barn rental near Marcilhac | 
The Cele Valley near St. Sulpice | 
Troglodyte homes of Cabreret, near Pech Merle | 
Espargnac church | 
Lot River where the Cele River joins it | 
St. Cirque Lapopie |
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