Henri Lecoq’s Haunting Encounter with the Brocken Spectre
The mountain hunters of past centuries have seen unaccountable and terrible forms in the mountain mists, and legends have carried the phenomena from the plainly natural to the weirdly superhuman. – J. Gordon McPherson The world is full of haunted places — each with its own bone-chilling claim to infamy. That said, few places can […]
Wolves in Auvergne: A Thrilling Tale from the 19th Century
Auvergne was once home to man-eating wolves. This 19th-century tale describes a thrilling encounter with these creatures of the night.
A Wellness Paradise: Mont-Dore and the Fountain of Youth
Mont Dore is a charming resort for the tourist, the holiday-maker, the rest-seeker who wishes for lovely scenery, mountain air, and all the light-mindedness and amusement of an exclusively French watering-place. The antiquarian can combine business with pleasure; for while he sits in the shade at one of the little white-topped tables outside the Café […]
A Visit to the Puy de Dôme…in 1879
What was visiting the puy de Dôme like in the 19th century? Here’s an account from writer and feminist Matilda Betham-Edwards.
Superstitions of Auvergne: Part 1
“All nations have their omens drear, Their legends wild of woe and fear…” -Sir Walter Scott (1808) An interesting list of Auvergnat folk traditions was collected in the nineteenth century by the French folklorist and writer Antoinette Bon. The English version, translated by Mary Osborn, first appeared in 1890. I have abridged the list slightly, […]
