Pérouges - A Medieval Village

Pérouges - A Medieval Village

a travel memoir by Gregory E. Larson

          I discovered one of France’s best kept secrets through a suggestion by my French son-in-law, Michel. He recommended a visit to Pérouges, a well-preserved, medieval hilltop village in the Ain River Valley just northeast of the city of Lyon. There have been numerous films made in Pérouges that have taken advantage of the historical setting.

The village was built from the 12th century through the 14th century.

          The history I was able to dredge up on the Internet says the stone village was established in the early 12^th century by settlers that came from Perugia, in the current Umbrian region of Italy. My curiosity was piqued and I wondered if they left as outcasts or on peaceful terms, just wanting to find a better life. Their village was on a trade route between Lyon and Geneva, and flourished due to the skilled craftsmen, linen-weavers, farmers and wine-makers. The original builders erected the stone walls of the buildings without any significant foundations, but all appear to remain quite sturdy and strong. Stone, tile, and brick are everywhere. Even the thick and bumpy cobblestones telegraph a message to the feet with every step that everything is made of stone. The only wood in the construction appears to be the roof timbers, the doors and the windows.

Stone was everywhere

          The tourists fill the streets during the summertime and on weekends in the fall, visiting the museum, shops and restaurants, or just wandering the small streets and alleyways. A favorite bakery delicacy are the Galettes des Pérouges, giant pizza-sized cookies. I saw a man carrying a half-dozen large boxes as he left the village on a Sunday evening, and assumed he wanted to enjoy the galettes long after his visit.

The Liberty Tree, a linden, was planted in the 1790s

          There was a small square in the middle of the village, with a linden tree that was planted in the 1790s, after the French Revolution. The Tree of Liberty is still alive, although its long branches are propped up with timbers. The restaurant/hotel had an outdoor dining area where people enjoyed their coffee, wine and local cuisine. It was the weekend, and there were groups of people in medieval costumes, including a small band playing songs with their flutes, stringed instruments and drums.

Medieval peasants dancing on the cobbles.

          I doubt that many Americans have visited there. None of the townspeople I met spoke English, so all of them had to endure my broken French. When I checked into the hotel, I was given a large skeleton key and a map to the room, which was in one of the stone buildings about a block away from the square. After a careful walk on the cobbles, I inserted the key into a lock on a thick wooden door to the room, which had an eerie, musty ambiance that screamed “old Europe.” There was an outdoor patio on the rear, overlooking the valley and the countryside.

Early sunlight filters through a window

          Early the next morning, I arose at the crack of dawn to walk the cobblestones and take pictures of the streets – a travel habit of mine, mainly to take advantage of the silence and the beautiful colors of light created by the rising sun and shadows. It’s a type of meditation to walk through a historical village in the silence, broken only by the birds singing in the morning. I looked out across the valley where patches of early morning fog clung to the trees on the hillsides.

A weathered lintel at an old doorway

          As I walked the narrow street that circled the interior of the village, I could smell the bakeries making their fresh creations of galettes and pastries. The light filtered through colored-glass windows and reflected off the patches of stucco, bricks and stones of the walls surrounding me. Weathered wood-beam lintels showed their age through the coarse-grained and sun-bleached surfaces. The green plants and vines gave a sense of life to the hard surfaces. A weathered and abandoned well was overgrown with flowers and vines.

Vines and plants at the old well

          I traversed the oval route around the village, and came to the Fortress Church at the far west end. The narrow street was almost dark, with deep shadows created by the doors, windows and large roof overhangs. The church tower appeared in all its splendor, with sunlight reflecting from the roof and cross. The image became my inspiration to do a watercolor, and I added two monks walking toward the church to give the painting some scale and sense of timelessness. It was another travel moment for safekeeping. Painting the scene with watercolor helps me do that.  

Perouges - A Medieval Village
2021 original watercolor by
Gregory E. Larson