Prunet

Also called “the bread tree”, the sweet chestnut has deep roots in Cevenol history. It is difficult to say whether it already grew in the Cevennes before the area was settled by humans, but it greatly helped to nourish them and thus enable the area's demographic booms of the 12th, 16th and 19th centuries. Chestnuts were then planted in groves in much of the Cevennes. The trees were grafted to create varieties with chestnuts that ripened more or less early, in line with different uses: jam-making, drying, fodder for livestock. Over a hundred varieties have been identified - a veritable heritage, shaped by centuries of selection.

Oak and chestnut trees grow at the same altitude (between 500 and 800 m), so that the expansion of chestnut groves occurred at the expense of oak. Here, the grove mostly consists of bouscas, ungrafted chestnut trees that grow as suckers out of tree stumps. The decline of chestnut groves, under whose canopy white oak regenerates well, has enabled it to resettle certain areas, especially on the adrets (south-facing slopes) and in areas of rock outcrops. White oaks are better at making do with stony and dry soils than sweet-chestnut trees.

The hamlet used to be located not far from the two clèdes. It gave its name to the parish of Prunet-Montvaillant, which became La Salle Prunet at the French Revolution (Montvaillant being the name of the manor house that overlooks the road downstream from the village). A notarised agreement from 1206 refers to the “mas de Prunet vieux” (the Old Prunet estate or farmstead), Prunet church and the land of the inhabitants of Prunet. The dwellings and church were demolished. Few traces are left, the stones having since been reused to construct other buildings. It is not known for sure whether the hamlet's destruction dates back to old religious conflicts, prior to the Camisard War (1702-1704), or to a settling of scores with the village of Bédouès over grazing rights.

Two small buildings stand on the edge of the path at its highest point. These are clèdes, or chestnut-drying buildings. The nuts were spread out on racks on the upper floor, and a small fire was maintained on the lower floor for 5 to 6 weeks. These two buildings were probably each used for a specific type of drying: one for supplying chestnuts to be peeled and eaten by the family; the other for producing chestnuts for livestock. The latter are dried less thoroughly and not peeled.

La Valette lies at the limit between schist bedrock and the limestone of the small Chaumette plateau just above. Its houses are built from limestone, which is easier to carve than schist. As you look at the Mimente valley, you can see the hamlet of Aubuisson , perched on the rock, where a couple of German intellectuals, the Foekes, sought refuge during World War Two.