Arts and popular traditions bear witness to the strength of
character of every region, particular those in the mountains. This celebration of "the olden days" is
not out of nostalgia but more a willingness to perpetuate artisanal know-how and
the need to retain the skills that are such a vital and integral part of tourism
here. Preserving the traditional way of life on our high-altitude pastures is of
fundamental importance to our stunning mountain regions.
AFMA - Fédération des Musées d'Agriculture et du Patrimoine
Rural
This association produces a "Rural Heritage Guide"
(Guide du Patrimoine Rural) highlighting over a thousand museums and
agricultural collections throughout France, including a number relating to
mountain regions.
FEMS: Fédération des Ecomusées de France et des Musées de
Société (French only)
This organization has 140 members, representing 200 museums and
visitor sites, including several examples in the country's different mountain
ranges.
In the Alps
Maison des Alpages in Besse-en-Oisans
(Isère)
Situated in a picturesque village surrounded by mountain
pastures (alpages), this museum is devoted to pastoral farming. In summer the
Emparis plateau becomes home to thousands of sheep and several herds of cows.
This type of farming, which is far more complex than it might at first appear,
has found favor with dynamic young graduates as well as older generations of
solitary shepherds, thus ensuring that this tradition will continue to live
on!
Maison des Alpages, in Servoz (Pays
du Mont-Blanc)
Situated right at the entrance to the Chamonix valley, this
secluded village continues to highlight the region's important agricultural and
farming traditions in an area where tourism is now the major economic force.
Musée Alpin, in Chamonix
The Alpine Museum recounts the exploits of mountaineering
pioneers and in particular the transformation of an isolated valley into the
"capital of the mountains". Enlightening!
Cloches
et Sonnettes Devouassoud, (only in french), a shop/workshop in
Chamonix
Now based in a brand-new workshop, the Devouassoud family, a
blacksmith company which specializes in the production of church bells (cloches)
and cowbells (sonnettes), continues this tradition which has remained unchanged
for six generations. This is the last place in the Alps which makes
made-to-measure bells, which are considered musical instruments in their own
right!
Musée Le Soum (only in french) and wooden toys, in
the Queyras
Occupying the oldest house (dating from 1641) in the superbly
preserved village of Saint-Véran, the Le Soum museum recreates peasant life in
bygone days. In addition, numerous woodworking workshops continue to prosper in
the Queyras, where wood furniture, toys and games (all of which are still
decorated with the symbolic rosette of the region) have earned an excellent
reputation. The neighboring village of Arvieux is also home to a small workshop
making wooden toys in a very unique style.
Musée de la Vache et des Alpages, in
Frangy (in the
Haute-Savoie)
This village is situated on the banks of the upper reaches of
the Rhône between Geneva and Lyon, rather than high up in the mountains. This
museum devoted to cows and mountain pastures houses a private collection of
1,200 exhibits illustrating the skills of mountain inhabitants in the past who
turned their hand to artistic pursuits during the long winters, sculpting,
painting and creatively decorating any utensil they could find!
PaysAlp, in the Vallée
Verte (in the Haute-Savoie)
This ecomuseum, located at mid-altitude in the village of
Viuz-en-Sallaz in the foothills of the Chablais, paints a picture of life in the
mountain pastures through excursions with storytellers etc.
Roudoule valley, (in the
Haut-Var)
Is this really still Provence? Here in the hinterland of the
Var, reaching altitudes of up to 1,000m, the landscape is sculpted by
spectacular sights such as the Gorges du Cians and Gorges de Dalouis. The
ecomuseum in Puget-Rostang highlights the different places and activities that
typify this area: Entrevaux (a small fortified cité created by Vauban), the
village of Auvare, the Maison du Miel (Honey Museum), the Sentier des Senteurs
(Path of Perfumes and the Senses), the discovery center in Puget-Théniers
etc.
Prieuré de Salagon, in
Mane (Alpes de Haute-Provence)
This historic monument in the Pays de Forcalquier is now home to
an "ethnopole" highlighting local heritage.
In the Jura
Musées des Techniques,
in the Jura mountains
This network of 11 sites in the mountains of Franche-Comté
highlights the "industrial specialities" of the Jura mountains: woodworking,
clock-making and precision mechanics, metalwork, mining etc.
Maison Michaud, in La
Chapelle-des-Bois (Massif du Jura)
The history of the Jura mountains is brought to life in this
17th-century farmhouse with a "tuyé" (a huge chimney), demonstrating the
complicity between man and his harsh environment.