Sundial near St Julien de Beauchere, France
Posted by: 
arby101ca
N 44° 38.161 E 005° 45.065
31T E 718197 N 4946199
On the south west wall of an old forestry hut at the old abby "Chartreuse du Durbon" is a sundial restored by Atalier Tournesol in 1988.
Waymark Code: WM8VB6
Location: France
Date Posted: 05/15/2010
Views: 9
About 5 km up a logging road east of St julien de Beauchere is a sundial on an old forestry hut "maison de forestiere" among the ruins of an ancient abbey, "Chartrueuse du Durbon" in the wilderness "desert de Durbon". The sundial was restored by Atelier Tournesol in 1988. The original was cracked and patchy with one third of the dial effaced. They restored the dial, recovering what existed. They did not repaint and recreate the sundial It is now stablized against decay but it looks faded and remains partially effaced. For example the motto is only "Nos jours s'ecoulent comme..." or Our days run by like ....The rest is obvious but intentionally not repainted.
There is a summer camp (colony) operated by the Club Alpine de France (CAF) currently using the site, among the ruins of the old abbey and the forestry hut. Forestry remains active in this remote forested area.
A west facing dial is described by Atelier Tounesol but I did not see it on the forestry hut. We did find another old sundial on a nother forestry hut. At the junction with the information on the old abbey, we turned left onto a private road instead of right to the CAF colony. This other dial was quite old and in poor condition. Some forestry workers returned to the hut for lunch and politely ejected us from the property.
This is one of the most remote places I have visited searching for sundials in France. The dial is identified on the 'Carte Touristique" from the tourist information offices in Hautes Provence.
Sundial Type: Vertical - Wall mounted dial plate
Related Web Site: Not listed
|
Visit Instructions:
Only one log per location per person. You should log your own waymarked sundials as well.
GPS in photo optional.