Le Beage. Mezenc.
[Le Beage], pop. 850. Inns: La Maison Brun; H. des Voyageurs. A dirty cattle and swine breeding village, 4122 ft. above the sea, beautifully
situated on an eminence rising from the Veyradère, which rushes past in a dark ravine below. Pasture being the principal crop cultivated, the mountain sides have no terraces. Four great fairs are held annually here. The winter is long and severe, but from June to October the weather is pleasant. The staple occupation of the females is lace-making on a pillow with bobbins. The design is on paper fixed to a short cylinder, and is further indicated by pins with coloured glass heads. The linen thread is given them by the merchants, who pay them at the rate of from 2d. to 4½d. the yard, according to the breadth of the lace, from 2 to 4 inches. A most industrious lace-maker can earn 1 fr. per day. 3¼ m. S.W. from Le Beage in an extinct crater is the lake Issarlès, occupying a surface of 222 acres.
From Le Beage the trachytic mountain of [Mezenc] (pronounce Mezing) is visited. But the best plan is to go on to Les Etables, 4410 ft. above the sea, 7½ m. N. from Le Beage by the wheel road, but only half that distance by the direct path. Inns: Testud; Chalamel, where pass the night. The hamlet is situated at the foot of Mont Mezenc, 5755 ft. above the sea, or 1345 ft. above Les Etables, and 866 ft. above the hamlet of Mezenc. The ascent takes about an hour.
[ LE BEAGE TO LE PUY.]
Le Beage is 12 m. S.E. from Monastier, passing through Chabanis. On the opposite side of the river are seen Freycenet, 3905 ft. above the sea, and Crouziols, 4½ m. S. from Monastier. Char-à-banc between Le Beage and Monastier, 10 frs.
Le Monastier.
[LE MONASTIER], pop. 4000, on an eminence rising from the Colanse. Inns: Commerce; Voyageurs. Coach daily to Le Puy, 11 m. N.W. 10¼ m. S. is Salettes, and 22 m. S. St. Paul de Tartas, 3393 ft. above the sea, at the foot of Mont Tartas, 4424 ft. St. Paul is near Pradelles, connected by diligence with Le Puy and Langogne. The parish church, St. Théofrède, of Le Monastier, was, along with the abbey, founded in 680, and rebuilt in 961 by Ufald, 10th abbot of Monastier, and repaired and enlarged in 1493 by Estaing, the 45th abbot. The edifice exhibits throughout the Auvergne style of architecture. The portal consists of a semicircular arch with 6 mouldings resting on four short columns with sculptured capitals. Above the tympanum and also over the large rectangular window are rude mosaics. Under the eaves of the roof runs a string moulding of grotesque sculpture, representing men and animals. In the interior the capitals of the columns and the corbels on the vaulting shafts are similarly adorned. In the apse is the chapel of Saint Théofrède; with sculptured stone roof. He is the “protecteur du Monastier”— “le bon pasteur, qui s’expose a la mort pour son troupeau”— the “conservateur des fruits de la terre.” (See his litany.)
11¼ m. N. from Le Monastier by diligence along a beautiful mountain-road is Le Puy. The bureau at Le Puy of both the diligence and the courier is at No. 1 Rue du Pont-St. Barthélémy near the large “Place” and the hotels. About half-way from Le Monastier is the
village of Arsac, Inn: H. des Voyageurs, and about 1 m. more, on an eminence, the village and the still imposing remains of the fortress of Bouzols, 10th cent. Shortly after having crossed the Loire at the town of Brives, the diligence enters Le Puy, 2 m. from Brives.