Where have all the trees gone?

June 5, 2012

France Probably. Fritz told me that we’re on the edge of the largest oak forest in France; some 32000 hectares and I guess this is also what Britain must have looked like some 5,000 years ago.

Once out of the Paris periphery, heading south, past  Orleans, Tours  then Bordeaux, the rolling countryside slowly but steadily  becomes greener until the forests take over.

Did French farmers require less wood for their houses, boats and cooking than their Saxon neighbours  or were they more frugal? Perhaps one of our archaeological friends can comment.

For the moment though, the sun is shining, the wine is good and I’ll leave these deliberations till another time. Obelix too would have been happy here: the wild boars are only a few hundred metres away. Guess what we shall have for dinner!

Vincent van Walt

Southwest France