Description of the Lantouy site:
The river called L’Oule flowed into a chasm filled with pale green water. The area was lush with vegetation. It is a beautiful place to visit. The chasm was deep, with rocks… One could make out beautiful, vivid colours: blue, green, grey…
The legend:
There is a stream called Lantouy which bears witness to a terrible tragedy that might well explain the appearance of a mysterious chasm, revealed by a legend passed down by our forebears from Rouergue and Quercy…
It is said that long ago there was a convent with thirty-three nuns on the hillside. An unwed mother would carry out odd jobs there, leaving her newborn baby in the capable care of the devout nuns. She followed an almost unchanging routine: washing the laundry, hanging it out to dry, and returning to the convent where the nuns would set the table for her in return. One day, hungrier than usual after hours of hard labour, she threw herself upon her meagre meal, which tasted of stew. Once she had made a good dent in her plate, she thought she saw a baby’s fingers at the bottom of it. Panicked and distraught, the servant demanded that the nuns bring her little angel to her at once. Feeling awkward, the nuns led her into a room where the cradle stood. The child appeared to be sleeping soundly. Relieved, the young woman ran towards the cradle to pick up the baby. But, still reeling from her shock, she stumbled and kicked the cradle. It was then that the child’s head rolled across the room.
Pale as a sheet, she began to scream so loudly that the sound of her voice echoed throughout the countryside: ‘Cursed be this convent! May it perish, along with its sisters, in the bowels of the earth and be covered by water!’ No sooner had she spoken than the building, perched high on the hill, crumbled and began to slide. The stones rolled down one by one into the valley. Then the chapel bells followed with a terrifying clamour. Where they came to rest, a hole appeared and was instantly filled with water.
It is still said today that when a storm rumbles, when the sky seems to meet the earth, the sound of bells rises from the very depths of the Lantouy chasm. A haunting toll then fills the entire valley with the atmosphere of a requiem…
Text inspired by:
https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2010/01...
https://www.france-pittoresque.com/spip....
Le Saut de la Mounine:
Here, on the edge of the cliff, the passing bird alighting at the border between Rouergue and Quercy first takes stock of its surroundings. It is a magnificent place. One feels that freedom draws something infinite from it—something intangible, too—so peaceful does the River Lot appear as it meanders through this beautiful valley. Behind the visitor lies the Causse de Villeneuve. Facing them stands the Château de Montbrun. Between the two runs the Ambeyrac–Saujac road, from which the view is nothing short of sublime. And beneath their feet lies this legend – at once whimsical, surreal, yet so very true. The legend of the Saut de la Mounine.
On 30 May 1424, a pilgrim was travelling from Conques to Villefranche. For several years he had amused the monks at the abbey, with a female monkey imitating him. On the road to Toulonjac, heading towards the Lot, lost in thought, he suddenly lost his footing at the edge of the precipice, despite the cries of the mounine (the monkey). Fortunately, the rope around his waist caught on a thick boxwood branch, and he found himself at the edge of a small cave from which immediately escaped ‘a whole flock of gourpatasses, cobéca and ratas-ponadas’ (H. MOULY). The mounine immediately leapt into the small cave and Cidoine, our pilgrim, followed her in. The villagers discovered the hermit and brought him milk, cabécous, bread, fruit and nuts. People came to see the hermit to ‘provide for him and to ask him’ ‘to help them ascend to heaven’. Among the locals who took him under their wing was Ghislaine, the daughter of the Lord of Montbrun. Renaud, Lord of Gaifié, whose father was constantly at odds with Ghislaine’s, also came to visit him. As in so many stories, love blossomed from the meeting between the two young people. And the cave nearby became their meeting place. When Ghislaine confessed her love for Renaud to her father, his blood ran cold. He is said to have told her: ‘I’d rather see you leap from the cliff to the monk than see you marry that lad.’ Not knowing which way to turn, Ghislaine sought advice from Cidoine. He then had a stroke of genius: ‘On the day your father goes hunting, you’ll come wearing your finest dress.’ That day, the two of them and the old woman made their way to the top of the cliff. The old, blind woman was dressed in the gown. Cidoine then made her ‘plummet’ from the cliff. From a distance, Ogier saw the red dress plunge into the river; he thought he had just lost his daughter. Cidoine was waiting for him on the banks of the Lot. Seeing his despair, he confessed that his daughter was very much alive and that it was the monkey who had perished. Immediately, he sent for Renaud and Ghislaine to celebrate the engagement. The wedding followed and the two families were reconciled… Ever since, on evenings when the autan wind blows, the legend of the Mounine’s ghost has spread throughout the region…
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