“The cover is very eloquent”, introduced Francis Martel, with the work Incidences in his hands and a slight smile on his lips.
Indeed, the photo chosen by the Pays et gens du Verdon association and which runs partly on the back cover shows a crack created by vegetation on ground which appears to be tarmac. Human action is over-represented but nature always ends up regaining its rights. Roots by roots. Leaves after leaves.
This cliché, where finally the green “chlorophyll” splashes the observer, we owe it to Claudine Manier. The photo was taken on the road to the Châteaudouble gorges, after the flood of 2010. 15 years ago.
Around thirty chapters and some 160 pages form the latest addition to the editorial committee, headed by Francis Martel. We promise you a notebook revealing the existence of a sublime site, worthy of the Garden of Eden and little-known among hikers’ sites but shush, we won’t say more: we’ll let you discover it.
Focus on a few salient elements.
Did you know that between Comps and its hamlet of Jabron located towards Trigance, the remains of a royal road are still visible? Below the current road, sections of walls that have barely collapsed, sometimes 4 meters high, crisscross the hill. This route, known since Antiquity, follows the stream which flows into the Jabron and has been improved to have a straighter and more regular slope. Masonry works now neglected but spectacular.
Claudine Manier returns to the experiments carried out by EDF engineers before the construction of Lake Sainte-Croix. The latter wondered what consequences the weight of the water would have on the resurgence of Fontaine l’évêque – which attracted people with its freshness and its mystery – today at the bottom of the basin. With a flow of 6,000 liters per second, this resurgence is the second karst source in France and is sometimes reminded of the observer on the very surface of the lake! Answer, therefore in images, in the book.
A comparison of IGN maps of the crest road between 1951 and 1975 shows the evolution of the construction site until its completion, marking the beginning of road tourism. The landscape is permanently modified. However, the open village of La Palud-sur-Verdon can accommodate climbing guides and tourists in bars, restaurants, hotels and rentals. Site visit between pages 58 to 64.
Do you know L’Outarde canepetière? The Scops Owl? Or the Echelette Tichodrome? It’s normal. Well, not quite. Because if their photos do not appear regularly in our articles, it is because they are disappearing. Faced with changes in agricultural practices, it is becoming more and more difficult to admire certain birds. Jean Abbès exchanged, supporting photos, with the animal photographer David Allemand to discuss “their descent into probable oblivion” with other species.
Know+
Incidences, published by Verdons, number 71.
Prices: 22 or 30 euros.
Directions: Place de l’Aire in Comps-sur-Artuby.
Tel.: 06.82.26.77.61.
