Tuesday 9th October 2012 - Vasle

The weather has been very unsettled over the past few days, warm, especially at night, with a mixture of light rain, sharp showers and bright, hot sunshine. Last night was especially warm with the outside temperature at 07:00 this morning, just before dawn, being 17°C.

We arrived at the Tumulus of Bourgon at 10:00 when it opened and started our visit by walking to the collection of five tumuli. On the way we passed excellent installations showing the latest ideas as to how the tumuli were constructed. Four stages had been reconstructed showing the placing of the initial stones for the wall of the burial chamber; placing the large capstone on the chamber; the completed tumulus prior to it being covered by the mound; the dolmen of today – the tumulus after the effects of erosion and human activity over the millennia.

We then passed a reconstruction of an enormous 3^rd millennium BC communal thatched building before we arrived at the cemetery. The tumuli were intriguing – different shapes and sizes, reused in different periods and then there was an enigmatic low bank (a tumulus without burials?) that separated the cemetery into two parts. It was possible to enter the burial chambers of most of the tumuli – some had more than one. The tumuli date from approx. 4700 to 3500 BC, a period of nearly 2,000 years. This makes it one of the most ancient and important example of funerary architecture in the world.

Many tumuli in England were plundered in Victorian times when it became fashionable for land owners to take their family and friends to these ancient cemeteries and, while the family enjoyed a picnic, the workers dug down through the centre of the tumuli to find the burial at the centre. This was generally done in a very unscientific manner, so no records were kept and the finds lost. At Bourgon however it was different. Initially investigated by interested amateurs in 1840, it was purchased by the local authority in 1873 to ensure that it was protected for the future. They have done a very good job!

On the way back to the museum we passed an installation showing ideas of how megaliths were moved by the ancients. Experimental archaeology was performed using a 32 tonne block and logs. It took 200 people to pull the bock over the logs but when levers were used to turn the logs under the block (there is no evidence that the ancients used this technique), they were able to move the block with just 15 people.

We had been provided with an English language audio guide that was extremely useful as we went around the external exhibits and it also covered the museum exhibits. There were extensive exhibits on general prehistoric archaeology, specific sites in France and world-wide, films (our audio guide gave us real-time translations to the commentary), and finds from the Bourgon site. It was very good, the only niggle being that there was very little audio commentary about the Bourgon finds.

We had spent nearly three hours at Bourgon and were very glad that we had decided to come back today.

We drove on to the ravine that we intended to visit yesterday, Puits d'Enfer (The Well of Hell). When we arrived at this popular beauty spot it started to pour with rain – we decided that we weren't that keen to see a small waterfall in a gorge!

Next on the list was the Gallo-Roman remains near Sanxay (Ruines Gallo-Roman d'Herbord). An umbrella was required as it was drizzling at times but we went to inspect the theatre, baths and temple. We have seen a few Roman theatres and this one was fairly run-of-the-mill but the baths and temple were impressive. We found out later from the curator that this is one of the best preserved Roman bathhouses in France. Walls stood to a great height and it was easy to see the construction of the different pools – Roman concrete supported remnants of the flooring that clearly showed the imprint of the tiles that lined the pools. In the hot pools, this floor was suspended 1.5 metres above the ground surface. This is where columns would have supported the pool allowing the hot air from the furnaces to circulate and heat the water above.

The temple complex consists of a large open area surrounded by a colonnaded terrace and with a 1^st Century BC temple at its centre. This is of Celtic design and is thought to have been built over an earlier Gaulish shrine. Four arms protrude from the octagonal centre below which there is a sacred spring. The Romans adopted the site (they liked to convert existing religious sites) and dedicated the temple to Apollo and Mercury. It appears to have become an important site for the Romans who came to be cured by its therapeutic waters.

Jane had spotted an aire in the 'All the Aires of France' book that said Vasles was a “sheep village; lots of items celebrating sheep”. We were both intrigued by this and many miles away we saw road signs directing the way to 'Vasles – Mouton Village'. We decided to make that our overnight stop.

I must say that it was disappointing. The aire was good but the town is uninteresting unless you want to visit the Mouton Village that has sheep from all around the world, including Scotland but, strangely, not Wales.

Photos: Bourgon - Building a tumulus, here showing how the walls of the burial chamber were constructed; Tumulus F at Bourgon that has three separate burial chambers; Inside the burial chamber of Tumulus A; The Roman Temple at Sanxay.