Saga cerceilor Taratata

Nu am mai scris de o eternitate in limba romana, iar daca sunteti fanatici, nici acest post nu e chiar in romana, e un amestec si nici nu are diacritice. Sper totusi ca il veti putea citi. A fost initial o postare pe Facebook pe care fetele m-au sfatuit sa o pun pe blog.

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In una din ultimele zile ale vacantei, ne-am trezit tarziu, nu aveam chef de nimic, vremea era de plaja si nu prea era, asa ca am decis sa mergem la Carcassonne, un orasel fortificat, la o ora de noi. Oraselul avea si un castel pe care Alin si Ilinca l-au bifat, eu am ramas sa ma plimb cu Luna ca nu sunt foarte "dog friendly".

Si cum ne plimbam noi printr-un orasel aproape mort in timpul siestei, vad eu o strada a artistilor, cu magazine inchise, da au astia un obicei de trag si obloanele de nici "window shopping" nu poti face. Termina ai mei vizita, mancam ceva si o luam iar pe stradute. De data asta magazinele incepeau sa se deschida.

Si vad eu un magazin cu bijuterii colorate si intru si imi aleg ceva si cand sa platesc ii vad. Evident ii iau, vanzatoarea imi zice ca sunt colectia 2020, ca nu se mai gasesc... da, da, dau cu cardul si plec.

Acasa ii arat Ilincai ce am luat, ca doar la ea vor ajunge toate, si o vad prea interesata asa ca decid sa ii pun bine. Nu sa ii ascund de ea, ci doar sa ii pun undeva unde sa nu ii rataceasca ea, ca are totusi doar 2-3 ani.

Si aici incepe saga:

Impachetam, plecam, ne oprim pe drum o noapte in alta locatie, ajungem acasa si incep sa despachetez. Intai comorile, evident. Si ii caut si ii caut si nimic. I-am pierdut si asta e, dar unde? Scriu la proprietarul pensiunii, nu i-a gasit. Caut online, nu se mai gasesc. Caut pe vinted, nici second hand nu ii gasesc. Ii gasesc pe fb.ul firmei de bijuterii, da sunt din 2020 cand toti stateam acasa si ne ocupam cu mesteritul (craft-uri). I-am pierdut.

Ma plang la prietene, implic familia, aia e. Nici macar o poza cu ei nu aveam pt. ca voiam sa ii port fix azi (miercuri 14.09) cand ma intalneam cu fetele.

Si ca de obicei, dimineata imi fac sacosa cu lucrul sa arat fetelor si zic sa pun si bucatile de camasa terminate. Si ce cade dintre panze? Fix cerceii mei.

I-am pus bine.

Asta e o poveste fericita, pt. ca sunt chestii pe care chiar le pierd, inclusiv acte, chei, spatele unei camasi in lucru, chestii importante, pe care nu le mai gasesc ever

Da pe bune acum, nu sunt fix eu cerceii astia? Ziceti si voi.

Sper ca v-a placut postarea mea. Ca orice social media specialist, paginile mele de pe retelele sociale sunt varza, dar sunt nitel mai activa pe Instagram, @mademoiselle.ralu

P.S. Daca va deranjeaza ca amestec limbile, sa ma vedeti cand bag si franceza si luxemburgheza. Se poate si mai rau, pe cuvant.

P.P.S. Ilinca e mai degraba spre 3 ani deja decat e spre 2, are 2 ani si 8 luni sau 32 de luni. Asta ca poate v-ati panicat ca nu stiu nici cati ani are Ilinca

France - Silk Museum

 I promise I'm not spending all my time in textile related museums, I'm on holiday and as I usually do, I went to the closest tourist information centre and picked up some leaflets that might be in our interest. Without any planning I've stumbled upon the French Silk Museum, an hour away from our house. Tell me that in a similar situation you would have done it differently!

It's our third year holidaying in this region, started in 2020 at the cause of the pandemic, and discovered it is not that awful. Yes there are some things that bug me, and this year a new one is traffic, but overall this region (South of France) still has a lot to offer. To clarify, we are not on Cote D'Azur, which to me is a bit overrated, we are closer to the border region with Spain.

Now, on to the museum. On its name Musée de la Soie de Saint Hippolyte du Fort, it is a small one in comparison to other museums I've visited, but it is very interesting and abundant with information. You see, in Romania, silk, particularly one made out of silk worms is very sought after, but the craft is almost lost. There is still one family who makes objects out of silk, but that's it. The situation is not that different in France, there are some manufactures and some local artists who still use silk, but not to the scale it once had. 

Apparently, at one point (1853) the silk produced in this region (Cévennes) was 85% of the whole silk produced in France (26,000 tons of cocoons). After that it slowly declined until 1938 when the artificial silk (nylon) was invented. There were so many micro silk mills in that region because of the proper climate, because there were planted a lot of mulberry trees, what the worms eat, and because the attics of most houses were aery. Even to this day when you see on a house round windows at the attic, that was possibly a silk mill at one point.

In 1978 the Association for the development of the silk industry in Cévennes decided to not let this craft go extinct and created this museum and started teaching courses on how to take care of the worms and create silk.

The museum has three sections which follow the process of production of silk from silkworm feeding room to the finished product and a particular interest for me, the silk fibres and silk embroidery. Unfortunately it is machine embroidery, but interesting none the less. 

Spoiler (in case you thought otherwise) the silkworms are killed in order to extract the silk, what you see in pictures are worms selected for the breeding process. Yes they were alive, I've recorded them, but posted the movie only on Instagram, as this platform is a bit fussy when you want to mix mediums, photo and video. 

I've liked that, where possible, the explanations were in French, but also in English. Here is how the cocoons rest on branches. 

I was impressed by the history of silk production in the area and you can clearly see that children also worked in those micro factories.

Also women with small children

I've tried to take as many pictures as possible, but will not post them all because you have to see for yourself the whole process and appreciate more when you encounter natural silk.

Silk threads, the whole process from cocoon to thread

And then from thread to fabric.

Silk embroidery

Natural dyes on different types of threads

A raw silk that looks very similar to the one we are using on embroidery. 

A corner where you could touch

Would I come from Luxembourg to visit this particular museum? Clearly NO. Would I visit it once in the region? Definitely YES. It is interesting not only for textile enthusiasts, it costs, I think, 6 euros, to visit and you can spend two hours at least reading everything they exhibit. Also if you like machines, as my husband, you will not be disappointed. I didn't even took pictures of the machines. Sorry.

I hope you liked reading my little post as much as I loved putting it together. I am more active on Instagram @mademoiselle.ralu