Day 1, Tuesday: 27.08.24
The first day was a travel day. We flew from Seville to Bilbao. We had a few hours layover there until our bus left for Pau.
When we arrived in Pau, we checked in at the hotel and took the opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Pau and also to contact Nicolas and Florence for the next day.
Day 2, Wednesday: 28.08.24
We took the bus from Pau to Assax and after a short walk around Assax we went to the CLAB (Conservatoire des Légumes Anciens du Béarn), where we were welcomed by Florence. We had breakfast with her and one of the volunteers and they showed us the garden and explained the tasks they had thought of for our collaboration.
That same day we started with some of them. The first one we started with was the revision and renewal of the ropes of the signs identifying the trees in the orchard (mainly apple trees). The signs are made of slate and are attached with plastic string. With the passage of time and as the branches and trunks of the trees grew, many of these ropes were strangling the branches. The task was to cut them off and put up a rope according to the new dimensions.
In addition, many of these signs needed repainting, so we cleaned and renamed many of them.
We had lunch there with Florence and after lunch we organised the space and logistics for the party. We finished the day setting up the tables that would be used for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. We also set up the wooden chairs and benches.
Day 3, Thursday: 29.08.24
At the bus stop from Pau to Assax and at we met up with the rest of the programme companions and took advantage of part of the journey to chat a bit and get to know each other. We arrived together at the CLAB. There we were welcomed by Florence and Nicolas (Piste Solidaire). Before we started we had a coffee together and they asked the companions about the trip, accommodation… When we finished the coffee we went into the training-meeting room and they showed us a video-presentation of the space which Florence then commented on. Nicolás also told us about the project and the programme for the rest of the days. It seemed a little strange to us that Raúl and I had been given a programme that was a little different from the rest of our companions. According to Nicolás, it was because we had arrived earlier and for organisational reasons.
After the presentation in the classroom, we went out to visit the garden. The garden has interactive signs, many with audio in several languages, explaining everything from the history to the properties of the plants. In addition, Florence accompanied us on the tour and explained everything in detail.
We returned to Pau for lunch together and after lunch we visited the Castle of Henry IV.
After visiting the castle we went to the Garden of the Multivert. This garden is in a multicultural neighbourhood on the outskirts of Pau. This garden is in a public space and has been set up by the city council to offer other opportunities in the neighbourhood. It is a small garden, with about 16 plots that have their own hut to store tools, water collection… Each user makes use of his plot as he wants. I was struck by the amount of flowers planted in all the plots. Although it is true that not all of them were well cared for, only 4 or 5 plots were fully cultivated and cared for. At the beginning of the garden there is a space for collective use and even a space for spiritual “retreat”. We were accompanied on the visit by two of the gardeners who answered all our questions and with whom we had a very pleasant conversation.
Day 4, Friday: 30.08.2024
This day we stayed in Pau and visited two orchards. The first one, “Guynemer”, reminds me a bit of the Moorish King’s Orchard. It is a plot of land in a residential neighbourhood that the town council has given to the town and that the neighbours cultivate. We were shown the garden by some very nice local women gardeners. The cultivation areas are communal and it’s like a garden where you can walk around. They have an insect hotel, a central pergola which is the meeting place and a recreation area for children.
The second “Berlioz” orchard is more than just an orchard. It is a complex project that encompasses two spaces. One is an orchard in a kind of artistic residence where you can see different works, from paintings to sculptures and buildings. In this space they organise a variety of events, although I would venture to say that cultural events predominate. There is a tree house with a beautiful wrought iron staircase. This house is where the artists who stay there sleep.
The other space is more like a normal vegetable garden, it does have an area with information about the species and the layout of the crops, it makes drawings on the ground, even playing with colours, but it is an area more dedicated to cultivation. There was a group of elderly men chatting on the benches.
We went for lunch with the group to a market area with Nicolás, who also accompanied us to buy local cheeses, and in the afternoon, Nicolás took Raúl and me to The Clab to continue collaborating in the preparation of the party. In this case we were cutting apples for the next day’s juice and also cleaning the bottles where the juice was going to be kept.
Our companions went to visit other orchards and it wasn’t until the evening that we joined again in a kind of festival in the same market that was related to traditional music.
Day 5, Saturday: 31.08.2024
First day of the party at the CLab. This day was more for members. In the morning one of the members gave a talk about his tree farm and how he managed it from an ecological point of view. Then there was another guided tour of the orchard. During that time I was in the kitchen preparing things for lunch that day and also making preparations for the next day’s lunch. The next day’s preparations were more laborious as many people were expected to attend and several menus had to be prepared.
We all ate together in the garden area of the orchard and while we drank coffee, the process of making apple juice from the apples we had cut the day before began. The juice is made with the press and we were able to taste the first freshly squeezed juice, a unique experience. Without a doubt it is an act of union in the space, because all the people were attentive to the process… it is like a ritual. During the afternoon, I continued in the kitchen and was able to participate in the making of crepes. The women in the kitchen were very kind to explain their cooking tricks to me.
That night the whole group, together with Nicolás and the people from the Clab, went to a very nice restaurant in the centre of Pau for dinner.
Day 6, Sunday: 01.09.2024
The big day arrived, The Clab’s annual party, this party is held in order to raise awareness of the project, but it is also a way to raise some funds for the maintenance of the project, so our help and making sure that everything went well was very important.
As soon as I arrived, I went to the kitchen and got to work with the team to finish all the preparations. There were several menu options, and in addition to preparing the food, I had to prepare the cutlery, plates, cut the bread, cut the fruit… I was in the kitchen all morning until the meals started to be served. I left at lunchtime and took the opportunity to visit the various stalls of small local producers from the area who had their vegetables, fruit, bread, handicrafts and cosmetics.
Although the weather in the morning was very unpleasant due to the rain, it was finally a sunny day with some clouds at times, but it certainly respected the celebration.
In the afternoon I was making crepes until it was time for the presentation by the Italian companions and later by Raúl about the vegetable gardens in Seville.
In the evening we went to dinner with the companions as a farewell and it was a very nice time. Then we walked around Pau up to the point where we had to separate according to our accommodation.
Day 7, Monday: 02.09.2024
Return trip to Seville. We left Pau in the direction of Bilbao by bus, but with such bad luck that our bus broke down less than an hour into the journey. We were on the road for more than 4 hours waiting for a solution from the transport company. Finally another bus came and dropped us off in Bayonne and from there we took a Bolt to Bilbao airport because we missed our flight. We arrived at the airport when the plane was already boarding, but luckily we didn’t miss the flight and were able to arrive in Seville at the scheduled time.
