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Photo collection from a hike to Mont Pelat (3050m) taken in summer 2000, near Lac d'Allos and Col de la Cayolle, Ubaye, Alpes de Haute Provence, Southern France.

Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.
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People of the valley Ubaye at the end of the 20th century: Napoleon of Villard-Ubaye - a picture page

www.otolo.com/villardubaye/?lang=en :: [ english | deutsch | français ]

(Insectingale :-)

People of the valley Ubaye at the end of the 20th century.

A homage to Napoleon, the last inhabitant of the village Villard-Ubaye

All texts below should be regarded as personal opinion to be read as pure fiction playing in a fantasy world called "civilization" which maybe standing at the edge of collapse. Concerning both texts and photos, any similarity with existing persons or organizations or nation-states or geographical locations is purely accidentally.

In 2003, Napoleon of Ubaye raises goats since 31 years in an otherwise abandoned hammeau called Villard (1250m) near the big artificial lake Serre-Poncon (800m), Ubaye Valley, France. The lake was flooded about 40 years ago. The hike to Napoleon's farm house takes 70 minutes if you are fast. Don't miss to visit the nearby Dolmen. Most pictures were taken just before sunset in 16-Mar-2003. Departure: From cemetary of the previous village called Ubaye.

This is the second picture page about the people of the valley Ubaye at the end of the 20th century. The first is an Homage to the Dramonasc village.

Click on any photo to enlarge.

1: Before the village Ubaye disappeared in the flood, it's cemetery was moved to the border of the lake. The hiking trail to Villard starts at the parking of the cemetery.	2: The view of the Dormillouse mountain and
3: the lake Serre-Poncon dominate while climbing up a steep, unstable road	4: a stone puzzle - some pieces have been stolen
5: the magic lake taken against the sun	6: Napoleon's gras plateau and the farm house he occupies can not be seen before arriving at the pasture plateau of the hameau Villard. All but one house collapsed.
7: a two week old goat baby, weights about 2 kg - less than an adult cat	8: Napoleon and one of his dogs
9: Napoleon with his chevreau (french for goat baby) and the Dormillouse mountain in the background	10: the pasture, not quite waterproof farm house, and the crête du Morgon mountain
11: long due for retirement, he urged me to take his succession. Well, I'll think about.	12: he rusty roof has the same color as his goats
13:	14:
15: some timbers keep the walls of the farm house from falling down	16:
17: the farm house would urgently need some repair	18: the cock at sunset
19:	20: the cock again. The chickens are all gone - either fox or Napoleon, that's the question :-)
21:	22: Napolean was not in, when Santa Claus brought gingerbread at Christmas 2002. A week later he thanked me for the gingerbread which I deposited at his door. He told me that someone is supplying him with bread once every two weeks. This person was in holidays over Christmas and that he was currently eating the card box of the gingerbread.
23: Insulation of buildings saves heating energy	24: The famous Dolmen at the south-western end of Napolean's pasture plateau
25: The Dolmen with Napoleon's farm hous and Pic de Morgon mountain	26: a beautiful day ends with the last sun-rays illuminating the dry gras
27: A second visit in summer 2003 slide film	28:
29:	30: This photo was taken at sunset; due to the very hot and dry summer 2003 his skin seemed surnburned.
31: The dolmen at sunset	32:
33:	34:

If you know the missing name of any flower or geographical spot, or if you want to correct any other annotations, please send an email specifying the image number. Thank you!

The URL of this page is www.otolo.com/villardubaye/?lang=en, created: 16-Mar-2003, revised: 16-Mar-2007.

Feedback Reponse

From a visitor of this page received in 25-Mar-2003:
"Je n'ai pas trop apprecié tes dernières photos que tu as prises au dolmen - trop de misérabilisme ! Nous y sommes allés l'année dernière, les chiens ont mangé nos casse-croutes et le berger a bu notre café... Il nous a raconté aussi qu'il n'avait pas réclamé sa pension de retraite et plein de ragots sur [le roi de la vallée Ubaye - nom censé]"

...waiting for more comments... ...

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