Garrigue villages
Saint-Paul et Valmalle
This village, originally named Saint-Paul des Monts Camels, had the name of the hamlet of Valmalle attached to it and thus became Saint-Paul de Valmalle in 1711. It seems that the name Valmalle has to do with the fact that this valley was difficult to reach until a modern road was built and has nothing to do with the idea of it being cursed (Occitan: “val mal” – bad valley) as some try to claim.
For centuries this village was a staging post on the road from Montpellier to Lodève, just a stopping-off point. Until the mid-19th century the economy that supported the people of the village was one that was turned inwards upon itself because of the lack of means of transport. The dominant activity was sheep-rearing, which explains the presence on the commune’s land of a large number of “capitelles” (dry-stone shelters built by shepherds). The forest was used to produce charcoal, which was then transported by mule to Montpellier and Sète.
Oak-tree bark was removed just as it was in Puéchabon and for the same reasons: to meet the needs of the tanneries in Aniane. In addition, it would appear that the heavy concentration of mulberry trees on the commune’s land made possible the raising of silkworms throughout the 19th century.
Olives and almonds were produced for local consumption and vines were planted on the hillsides. The scarce flat land was kept for production of cereals, cultivated with the aid of a primitive swing-plough. The grain was then taken to be milled to the mill at Montarnaud. In those days, everyone kneaded their own dough and took it to be baked in the local oven in exchange for payment in kind.
From 1850 the development of the railway brought the beginnings of wine-growing, a change in which Saint-Paul-et-Valmalle was also involved. Despite this, it was able to preserve the traditional activities of a true garrigue village. It is said of the villagers of Saint-Paul that they are a warm-hearted people who are very fond of their food and drink. They welcome the foreigner like one of their own, and Pierre Lassalvy, the author of the “Chronique de la vie à Saint-Paul” (A Chronicle of Life in Saint-Paul), concludes his chronicle by citing Terence: “I am a man and think nothing that is human to be foreign to me.”
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For centuries this village was a staging post on the road from Montpellier to Lodève, just a stopping-off point. Until the mid-19th century the economy that supported the people of the village was one that was turned inwards upon itself because of the lack of means of transport. The dominant activity was sheep-rearing, which explains the presence on the commune’s land of a large number of “capitelles” (dry-stone shelters built by shepherds). The forest was used to produce charcoal, which was then transported by mule to Montpellier and Sète.
Oak-tree bark was removed just as it was in Puéchabon and for the same reasons: to meet the needs of the tanneries in Aniane. In addition, it would appear that the heavy concentration of mulberry trees on the commune’s land made possible the raising of silkworms throughout the 19th century. Olives and almonds were produced for local consumption and vines were planted on the hillsides. The scarce flat land was kept for production of cereals, cultivated with the aid of a primitive swing-plough. The grain was then taken to be milled to the mill at Montarnaud. In those days, everyone kneaded their own dough and took it to be baked in the local oven in exchange for payment in kind.
From 1850 the development of the railway brought the beginnings of wine-growing, a change in which Saint-Paul-et-Valmalle was also involved. Despite this, it was able to preserve the traditional activities of a true garrigue village. It is said of the villagers of Saint-Paul that they are a warm-hearted people who are very fond of their food and drink. They welcome the foreigner like one of their own, and Pierre Lassalvy, the author of the “Chronique de la vie à Saint-Paul” (A Chronicle of Life in Saint-Paul), concludes his chronicle by citing Terence: “I am a man and think nothing that is human to be foreign to me.”
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