Monday, October 2nd., Villa des Nefliers.
Recently I have taken to long walks in the forest. On Wednesday I discovered the Malmontagne, with wide views of the forest. In nature it is large spaces, with simple outlines and little noticeable detail, that appeal to me most strongly. I am more 'sympathetic' to Dartmoor than to any other spot on earth. Next to that, the sea. For example at Llanddwyn Island off the coast of Anglesey. To stand next to the old lighthouse looking out towards the Lleyn peninsula is to feel uplifted from the normal cares of the world. Here what chiefly appeals to me is the forest seen in the mass from a height, and the long smooth stretches of the Seine between St. Mammes and Monterau. With such things I class in my memory the panorama of the Apennines, spotted with hill-towns as seen from the first range behind San Remo.
On Thursday it rained nearly all day and I walked two hours in the rain. The horse chestnuts in the road are dropping their fruit like heavy ammunition, and people are gathering it for cattle food. Of course it is the time of year to harvest apples and pears and we attended a local apple pressing yesterday. Inevitably when people have collected all the fruit they want to eat or store there are still masses on the trees or on the ground. So the idea is to have a communal collection and to press the result for juice which is then distributed to all participants. The procedure is simple - fruit is collected, washed, cut up, crushed and then pressed. The press is a small wooden construction which operates by turning a screw and the juice flows from beneath into waiting jugs. It tastes wonderful! Good turnout of local growers and gardeners marshalled by a couple of women more knowledgable than the rest. People of all ages and both sexes. Quite a festive sort of atmosphere. Felt like participating in a timeless seasonal ritual. Everybody went away happy.
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