Borie

Capitelles (bories in Occitan) are tiny, often cone-shaped drystone shelters dotted about the hillsides, which were once winter pasture for vast herds of sheep brought down from the Pyrenees. The capitelles provided primitive shelter and storage for the wandering shepherds. Steve found this one on Alaric while he was looking for an abandoned lime kiln. It's in surprisingly good condition, the layered roof still intact and the lintel solid.

Until recently, there hadn't been any sheep on the mountain since the 1970s; raising sheep for meat here had ceased to be economically viable. This is one reason why many hillsides are now covered in forests of Aleppo pines; no sheep to maintain the open grassy spaces. But sheep are not totally absent; in the nearby Val de Dagne, Chantal Donnet keeps a small herd and makes superb cheese.

And two years ago, Magali, the daughter-in-law of the village's last shepherd, started raising sheep on the mountain again, so we can eat truly local, naturally raised lamb.