﻿THE VALLEYS OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES:
OCCITANIAN MOTHER TONGUES
To learn more about it
di Fredo Valla

Every recent edition of the Olympic games has highlighted the identity of the host territories.
By this initiative the Province of Torino aims at showing the “genius loci” of the mountain areas where the alpine ski events will take place, by starting from one of the most representative and best-rooted characteristics: the mother tongues, Occitan and Francoprovençal.
We are talking about the classical languages of the troubadours, acknowledged even by Dante Alighieri in his “Comedy” for the quality of their expressive and poetical abilities.
Being able to introduce these deep cultural roots, not without pride, on the occasion of the twentieth winter Olympics and of the ninth Paralympic games means not only reaffirming the fact that the Italian Constitution has recognized these languages by law 482/ 99, but is also a way to reaffirm the vitality and the unchanged expressive importance they have, an essential contribution to the composition of the European identity to build on the valorization of the richness offered by cultural diversity.
We welcome all the guests not only in our national language, but also in the language of our valleys:

Bonjorn amís e benvenguts dins las valadas olimpicas occitanas e franc-provençalas
Boundzort amis è bèinvenu dedin le valadeus oulimpiqueus uzitaneus e francprouvensaleus.


Spokesman for the Arts  			The President
Valter Giuliano 					Antonio Saitta


Winter Olympics “Torino 2006” in the Occitanian valleys of Piedmont?

Sure! The capital city of the Olympic games is Torino but several ski contests– crosscountry, downhill, jumping – take place on the snowy slopes of the Chisone, High Susa, Germanasca and Pellice valleys.
The language spoken in these valleys is the langue d’oc, or Occitan. A territory including the Po, Varaita, Maira, Grana, Stura, Gesso, Vermenagna, Bisalta and Quié valleys located between the Cottian and the Maritime Alps, the easternmost part of a country that is not marked on the maps, but nevertheless exists.
These are the Occitanian territories.

Which territories are Occitanian?

This is the area speaking Occitanian, a language originating from Latin, like Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, French, Rumanian, Ladin and the languages spoken in Friuli and Sardinia ... This language is spoken from the Alps to the Pyrenees where the four Occitanian valleys of Italy are located with the four “valleys of the Olympic games”; these territories reach the mountains of the Pyrenees and the Atlantic ocean in the west. A small Occitanian territory - the valley of Aran – is located in Spain, in the autonomous region of Catalonia. In the north the territories reach the Central Massif, while in the south the Mediterranean sea is a natural border. There are cities like Toulouse, Marseille, Nice, Avignon, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Limoges and Clermond-Ferrand. The Occitanian valleys of Italy do not include any large cities, but very many villages and small towns nestling on the tops, with a lot of atmosphere, silence and a prestigious alpine architecture. The Occitanian valleys are rich in works of art. There are still many festive events with ancient rituals. 
Got it now? Thirteen million Occitanians in three nations: Italy, France, Spain – welcome you here: bonjorn amís e benvenguts dins las valadas olimpicas occitanas! (Hi my friend, and welcome to the Occitanian valleys of the Olympic games)

The Olympic games and the Occitanian civilization: have they anything in common?

First of all they share values. The Occitanian civilization spread by the troubadour poets of the Occitanian territories from the twelfth to the eighteenth century at the European Courts got its inspiration from a few key words:

Jovent: i.e. youth and its ideals
Jòi: joy and the capability of living life happily in all its forms
Paratge: loyalty and nobleness of soul
Pretz: the value of valiant men
Larguesa: generosity, the ability of giving without asking for anything in return

Since their origins and even more after they were renovated by Baron Pierre Fredi de Coubertin the Olympic games have been drawing their inspiration from these fundamental principles for the assertion of man, of the individual, of societies and peoples.

Who were the troubadours?

The word troubadour comes from the verb trobar.
The troubadours searched and found the renovation of poetry in Medieval Europe when people aspired to be reborn after centuries of fear and uncertainties.
The troubadours were wandering poets: they went from castle to castle from the Langue d’Oc territories in France, to Italy, to Catalonia and Spain. Protected by noblemen, they wrote love poems, refined verses, inspired by nature or by the value of high-minded and good-hearted men and women. They used to sing their poems by accompanying them with an instrument. The troubadours’ style influenced the European literature after year One thousand. So did their language, Occitanian. Even Dante Alighieri was not sure whether to write his Comedy in Occitanian or Tuscan!

Are the language of the troubadours and the language of the inhabitants of the Occitanian valleys one thing?

They are indeed! This is their original language, even if transformed by time and centuries, according to a processmore or less identical in all languages (i.e. today’s Italian is no longer that of the days of Dante, Petrarca and Boccaccio) - In non-official languages this process has generated uncountable variants.
Every village, every town, every valley, every Occitanian region has its own expressions, accent, words that are found nowhere else but there. However mutual understanding is intact even in this diversity . The Occitans of far-away regions speak the same mother tongue and share most words out of the rich Occitanian vocabulary. For example water is aiga from the high Susa valley as far as the Atlantic ocean and identical are words like paire (father) and maire (mother)...

Do the Occitans of Italy speak only Occitan?

Of course they don’t! They speak Italian and often French, too, because they used to emigrate to France.
In some valleys French has been the language of culture and relations with the authorities for centuries. In the Waldensian valleys people still pray and sing in French. In the lower part of the valleys the inhabitants speak Piedmontese as well, but the distinguishing feature of the valley remains the langue d’Oc. It would be hardly positive to understand the meaning of the names of the Olympic villages without Occitanian! For example Pragelato comes from Prat jalat, that in Occitanian means a cold frosty place, ideal for winter sports. Melezé means larch wood. Larches are also called bletons in the area.ù

I now know who the Occitans are, but where did they come from?

Talking about people speaking a language that is different from the official one, we often wonder where they came from.
Well: the Occitans have always been there!
When the Roman Empire collapsed, late Latin in touch with the local (pre-Roman) languages of the territory between the Alps and the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean sea and the Atlantic Ocean gave birth to Occitan as a language. By the way did you know? The name was given to the language by Dante Alighieri: he made a distinction between the language of SÌ (sic est, Tuscan), the language of OC (hoc est, Occitan or Occitanian) and the language of OIL (of oui, i.e. French). OC comes from the Latin expression hoc est, that means it is so.

Is the Occitanian landscape only formed by mountains and sea?

Not only. Provence, Languedoc, Auvergne, Limousin, Gascony and part of the Delphinate. This territory includes plains, hills, extinct volcanoes, marshes, big rivers, forests and vineyards. Even sandy dunes along the Atlantic Ocean with whales in the Ocean!
An oddity, or better two: in Italy there is a piece of Langue d’Oc in Liguria and another one down south in Calabria, at Guardia Piemontese. In the Middle Ages groups of Waldensians migrated to this village from the Chisone, Pellice and the High Susa valley... the valleys of the Olympic games!
This territory is a kaleidoscope of landscapes. It smells pleasantly of resin, wine, lavender, milk, olive, salt, narcissi and rosemary, of alpine flora and Mediterranean maquis. There are of course a lot of mountains, too. The highest peak in the valleys is Mount Viso, 3841 meter high. A region with very high mountains, ever 4000 meter high, is Delphinate, where we can also find Bardonecchia, Sestrières, Cesana, Oulx and the Chisone valley on the Italian side and Briançon on the French side over the Monginevro pass.

I have heard the term Francoprovençal. Who are they?

They are another historical linguistic minority in the Olympic mountains.
Francoprovençal is spoken in the medium and low Susa valley and in the nearby Cenischia valley up to the
Moncenisio pass. This language also includes the patois of the valley of Aosta, the Savoyard, and is also spoken in other alpine valleys of the Province of Turin.
At Giaglione, in the valley of Susa, there is a centre of study of the oral memory of francoprovençal and occitan: Centro Studi Documentazione Memoria Orale (CE.S.DO.ME.O.) (info: candido@provincia.torino.it - www.provincia.torino. it/cultura/minoranze). In the Cenischia valley we find the Abbey of Novalesa set up in the eighth century. One of its most famous abbots was a son of Charlemagne’s, the emperor of the Franks, and a provençal saint, therefore an Occitanian saint, whose name was Eldrado. The Occitanian and francoprovençal languages of today are recognized by a law promulgated by the Italian Parliament in 1999, that promotes and protects the historical linguistic minorities: Occitans and Francoprovençal, Ladins, Sardinians, Friulians, Slovenians, Albanians etc.

What does it mean to be a linguistic minority?

A linguistic minority is a small community speaking a language different from the official one. Italy is very rich in linguistic minorities. In South Tyrol Alto Adige people speak German. In the valley of Aosta people speak a francoprovençal patois and French, Friulian and Slovenian are spoken in Friuli Venezia
Giulia, Sardinian is spoken in Sardinia, Ladin is spoken in the Dolomites. There are many linguistic islands: communities come from faraway which formed further to the migration of the inhabitants of full towns and villages off their countries. They were able to keep their mother tongue alive. “Linguistic islands” are the Catalans of Alghero (Sardinia), the Griki and the Albanians of Puglia, Calabria and Sicily,
the Croatians of Molise and of course the Occitans of Guardia Piemontese in Calabria.

Is a minority language always little widespread?

No. German, spoken in South Tyrol/Alto Adige, it is the official language of Switzerland, Austria and Germany. French is the historical language of the French republic. Catalan is the official language of Catalonia and Slovenian is the official language of the Slovenian Republic. Occitan is acknowledged as the official language hundred percent only in Catalonia, in the Pyrenees and in the little valley of Aran. Barcelona, respectful of its minorities, acknowledges the inhabitants of the valley of Aran the use of the two languages Occitan/Catalan in all the forms of public life.
On the matter we would like to mention Joan Bodon, a writer of the twentieth century who lived in Aveyron,
North of Toulouse. Bodon wrote that a language is only alive if it can express every single concept (una lenga n’es viva que se pòt donar vida a totas causas).

How do linguistic minorities live?

The destiny of the linguistic minorities is generally having fragile identities. Those whe are aware of that, feel the risk and as everything transforms itself constantly, also the identities of the peoples in meeting other peoples would become a “group of identities” that can no longer be distinguished. Furthermore a single person, a community may easily abandon their minority language. It is often easier and no effort would be necessary to explain who they are. In a world where communication is important, it is hard to let someone understand why on some occasions one should speak a language either than the official one and that not everyone can speak.
On the other hand Majorities sometimes consider diversity as a danger for unity and brotherhood of people or as something that it is more worth ignoring. On the contrary it would be nice if the linguistic minorities could be such without complexes, by communicating through their diversity a particular vision of the world, and that all of them – majorities and minorities - could consider the wealth of languages not only in Africa, Asia, America and Oceania, but also in Europe, a wealth to be protected and developed like a vegetal and animal biological diversity.
An Italian philosopher, Giambattista Vico, who lived in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century wrote: languages are the greatest monument of peoples.

When did people begin to write in Occitan?

The first texts date back to the eighth century and were found in Agen in Gascoigne. Then came the
golden times of the troubadours’ poetry. Dante Alighieri in his Comedy meets the troubadour Arnaud
Daniel who addresses him in Occitan. 

“...Io mi feci al mostrato innanzi un poco,
e dissi ch’al suo nome il mio disire
apparecchiava grazioso loco.
El cominciò liberamente a dire:
Tan m’abellis vostre cortes deman,
qu’ieu no me puesc ni voill a vos cobrire.
Ieu sui Arnaut, que plor e vau cantan;
consiros vei la passada folor,
e vei jausen lo jorn qu’esper, denan.
Ara vos prec, per aquella valor
que vos condus al som de l’escalina,
sovenha vos a temps de ma dolor!
Poi s’ascose nel foco che li affina...”

(Purgatory canto XXVI, verses 136÷148)

In the Occitanian valleys of Italy the first documents in langue d’oc were the Waldensian religious texts of the thirteenth century today kept in important libraries. In the sixteenth century the notary publics of the Chisone valley used to write in Occitan. In the nineteenth century there was a great literary renaissance expressed by Frédéric Mistral, a Provencal poet, who was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature for his works in Occitan in 1904.
Today Occitan is well spread, with newspapers, magazines, music, films, theatre and most important of all with language courses. 
In the Langue d’Oc countries on the other side of the Alps Occitan is taught in primary schools (las Calandretas) and in Universities. In Piedmont, Liguria and Calabria courses of culture of the territory are held supported by the Regions and the Provinces. Law 482/99 of the Italian republic, that recognizes Occitan and Francoprovencal includes quite a few hours for these languages even in the radio and television programs, therefore we will soon find these languages on TV, too.

Would you like to attend a course of Occitan?
Write to chambradoc@chambradoc.it for further information. www.chambradoc.it

Waldensian religious texts: who are the Waldensians?

You might know that the history of the Occitanian territory was characterized by several religious movements: Catars, Waldensians, Ugonotti, Antitrinitari... (someone says that was because of the passion the Occitans have for discussion, going deeply into detail, so much as to split hair in four).
Anyway the Waldensians were one of the first heretic movements of the Middle Ages. They drew their inspiration from the precept of Christ of “giving one’s property to the poor”. Since the very beginning they were persecuted by the Church. Despite that the Waldensian faith spread from Provence to Languedoc and as far as the Italian Alps. It developed here more than anywhere else and in 1532 the Waldensian Church adhered to the Protestant Reform of Calvin and Luther.
Today the main centre of the Waldensian church is Torre Pellice, La Tor in Occitan. Here, by checking the telephone directory, you will find Occitanian, French, German family names, a proof of their ancient relations with Protestant Europe.

Can we often hear people speak Occitan?

You will very often hear people speak Occitan if you are a curious visitor, if you are not too much in a hurry and will look for more familiar contacts. Occitan is spoken in family, bars, inns, even on ski slopes, because several ski monitors are Occitan. Stefania Belmondo Olympic cross-country ski champion speaks Occitan . Pierino Gros is Occitan, and comes from the valley of Susa, an unforgettable Olympic ski champion. 
In order to hear the sound of the Occitanian language approach everyday life, visit markets, small villages, then ask people to talk. The Occitans of the valleys are “alpine people” a little introverted, like anyone from the mountains. Sometimes, being shy or wanting to be friendly with their guests from faraway, they tend to hide their own language and use Italian or French. But if you are patient enough and try to find a more personal contact you will certainly hear the language, as sweet as it was on the troubadours’ lips in the Middle Ages. Then check the parties where people dance and sing Occitanian songs!

Where can we listen to some Occitanian music?

No problem. Music is one of the most widely spread arts.
A music trip to the Occitanian lands, from the Mediterranean sea to the Pyrenees, from the Alps to the Atlantic sea, this is a mythic itinerary: from the castle of Montsegur the last stronghold of the Catars, to Mistral’s Camargue, to Brassens’s Sète, to Gardel’s Toulouse. Then the Cevennes of Camisards, Joan Bodon’s landscapes, Barba Tòni’s witches and elves, Antonio Bodrero, the most famous poet of the Occitanian poetry of the twentieth century in these valleys. Today you can hear bands like Lo Dalfin (the Dauphine) with their many fans from Italy and Europe. Sergio Berardo, leader of the group, has reinvented tradition by creating a music genre where troubadours and rock: hurdy-gurdy, fifre(fife), galobet (flute), pumpkins and drums, bagpipes and jew’s harp, violin and concertina with the electronic instruments of modern music.
The music bands of the Occitanian valleys of Piedmont are really many today. Gai Saber, Li Barmenk, Lo Seriòl, Lhi Jarris, Aire d’òc, Senhal, Rossinhòl... just to mention a few. Their repertories range from traditional songs to newly created texts and music.

Are there any special times of the year when this music is being played?

Every village and country event is an occasion for live music and dancing. There are some special events during the year with really big occasions such as for ex. the Baïa of Sampeyre in the Varaita valley, every five years (the next one will take place in 2007) during the Carnival days to remember an episode of ten centuries ago: freedom found after chasing the Saracens away. All the characters, even the female ones, are men in a riot of silk ribbons, flower and interwoven embroideries applied to the costumes as cockades or rosettes or pendants on their hats to even cover them completely. People dance and sing in the squares and dancing and singing go on at night in warmer inns.
The Baïa has the role of a ritual of the end of winter, propitiatory of spring, like the Carnival feast held in Champlaz du Col in the high Susa valley (municipality of Cesana) or the sword dances of Venaus and Giaglione, in the Francoprovencal community.
Rich are also the popular song repertories of the Pellice and Germanasca valleys. The style of the songs and the search for  the highest tones remind us of the Bearn (Gascoigne) songs, at the other far end of the Occitanian territories.

Is there a nice event I can take part in during the Olympic games?

The “Waldensian fires” in the night of February, 16, in the Pellice and Germanasca valleys and in the lower Chisone valley. They celebrate the emancipation of the Waldensians in 1848, when they were granted to practice their faith freely. These are fires of joy. The bonfire is prepared several days before. The inhabitants make small and big bonfires, with branches and whatever can be burnt.
On the evening of the 16th the bonfires are lit. The feast is accompanied by sermons and religious songs until only members remains, preached in French, hymns in Italian and popular Occitanian songs. The creed is confirmed by the “Giuro” (I swear) pronounced in 1689 by the Waldensians who came back to the valleys after their period of exile in Switzerland. The day after they celebrate cults, accompanied by processions dressed in costumes.

Have the Occitan territories a symbol, a flag like all other countries?

Of course. A flag with a red background and a yellow cross with four equally long arms wider at the ends. They end in three circles Documented since the twelfth century, the Occitanian cross was in the coat of arms of the counts of Forcalquier in Provence, it was then  adopted by the counts of Toulouse (Languedoc).  The Occitans have also a hymn, a love song called Se Chanta, sung at the four corners of the territories from the Alps to faraway Gascoigne. Perhaps they are the only people who share a love song as a hymn. This is the version of Se Chanta sung in these valleys.

Denant de ma fenestra
lhi a un aucelon
Tota la nuech chanta,
chanta sa chançon
Rit: Se chanta, que chante
Chanta pas per iu
Chanta per m’amia
Qu’es de luenh de iu
Aquelas montanhas
que tant autas son
M’empachon de veire
miei amors ont son
Autas, ben son autas,
mas s’abaissarèn
E mas amoretas
vers iu tornarèn
Baissatz-vos montanhas,
planas levatz-vos
Perqué pòsque veire
miei amors ont son

There is a small bird in
front of my window.
It sings all night.
Chorus: if it sings,
well, let it sing
it does not sing for me,
it sings for my friend
who is far away.
The mountains
that are so high
prevent me from seeing
my love.
These mountains
are very high,
but they will come down
and my love
will return to me.
Come down mountains
and you plains raise up
so that I can see
where my love is.

What words identify winter in the Occitanian language?

Winter is l’uvèrn or l’ivèrn. Snow is neu, nea, nevera.
It snows is translated chei neu, tomba neu, or chei nea (litt.: snow falls) or ven neu (snow is coming) or charamalha, la neva.
There are different types of snowfalls: pluquea when it is a fine snow, pelons are snow flakes, gresons are smaller flakes, talabàs are the biggest flakes when they are heavy on the roofs, pataràs when the snow flakes are heavy and mixed with water (generally in March).
Ice is lo glaç, and una lisera is a frosty road, more suitable for bobs than for cars or for walking.
Snowshoes are las chastras. A trace in the snow is una chaleaa but also una traça and skis are esquís, while the sledge is called la lieia, a small sledge is la lieieta and a snow plough is lo leson.
A song written by Masino Anghilante from Sampeyre, is called La charamalha mai: this means it is snowing again”. It talks about the days when snow builds up on the roofs, on the fields, on the meadows and on the paths. Slowly, but incessantly.

LA CHARAMALHA MAI
La cala ju (aval) plan, plan, plan, plan la blancha neu
e la se sent de luenh, de luenh
ente la nuech un chan a japar,
l’uvèrn es long aicí amont si montanhas
la freid ilh es secha
la jala lhi pès, lo morre, lhi mans
La charamalha mai, charamalha mai
si cubèrts, per lo viòl, sus la bealiera,
lhi chats nhaulien d’amor vesamont s’la liera;
La charamalha mai, charamalha mai
per lhi champs, per lhi prats, sus lo leamier,
‘sta sera fasem la velhaa bèlas mendias
La fai bebé l’anhèl e lo veèl
brula se la palha,
la vacha jalha sal siu jaç
la fai soflant siu rumiar,
na vielha danda dindanea na cuna,
lhi mainats duermen, l’estable es chaud
e la neu vien ju (aval).
La charamalha mai, charamalha mai...

IT IS SNOWING
The white snow is falling
And you can hear far away
In the night a dog bark,
winter is long here in the mountains
cold is biting
it makes your feet, your face and your hands freeze.
It is snowing, still snowing
On the roofs, on the path, on the stream,
Cats are meowing their love up in the barn;
It is snowing, still snowing
On the fields, on the meadows, on the heap of
manure.
Tonight we will stay awake dear girls.
The lamb and the calf are crying
On the straw,
The spotty cow on its bedding
Ruminates and blows
An old aunt is cradling a baby
The children sleep, the cowshed is warm
And it keeps snowing.
It is snowing, still snowing ...


And as it happens in all popular traditions we also have proverbs referring to winter. 

Provèrbis

• An da guèspas e an
d’aulanhas, an de neu
a las montanhas.
• Mieg Òut, l’ivèr
s’esmòu.
• Quora l’auton l’aucèl
cala, la neu es aquí
que davala.
• Lhi lops an pas jamai
minjat l’uvèrn.
• L’uvèrn l’es pas
busiard, se lo fai pas
vite al o fai tard.
• Se la charamalha s’la
fuelha, l’uvèrn da ren
nueia.
• Sant Andrea, l’uvèrn
monta en carea.
• Nadal sensa luna, qui
a doas feas ne vende
una.
• Sant Antòni jala l’òme,
Sant Bastian jala lo
chan.
• Jorns creissents, freid
coient.
• Se Sant Ors solelha la
palha, quaranta jorns
la charamalha.

• A year of wasps and
hazelnuts means a
year of snow in the
mountains.
• Winter starts in Mid
August.
• When the bird comes
down in the Autumn,
snow is coming.
• Wolves have never
eaten winter (winter
will certainly come).
• Winter does not tell
lies, sooner or later
cold will come.
• If it snows on leaves,
winter will not be too
cold.
• On St. Andrews’
day (November,
30), winter takes
command.
• Christmass without a
moon, if you have two
sheep sell one (winter
will be long).
• On St. Antony’s
day (January, 17),
man freezes, on St.
Sebastian’s day (January,
20), dogs freeze, too (it
would be colder).
• When the days get
longer, cold increases.
• If on St. Ours’s day
(February, 1), the sun
warms up the straw, it
should be snowing for
40 days.

Can you say the words of the winter Olympic sports of «Torino 2006» in the Occitanian language?

Of course you can!

Let’s begin by discovering a few of them.

Paraulas de neu e de glaç
• uvèrn / ivèrn
• neu / nea / nevera
• neu maca
• neu polvra
• la chae neu / la tomba neu / la ven
neu / la charamalha / la neva
• pluquea
• pelonear
• selha
• pelons
• gresons
• talabàs
• lisera
• glaç
• chaleaa / traça
• chastras
• esquí
• lieia
• lieieta
• leson

Words of snow and ice
• winter
• snow
• heavy snow
• powdery snow
• it snows
• there is sleet
• it snows a little
• snowstorm
• snowflakes
• small snowflakes
• big snowflakes
• a sheet of ice
• ice
• trace in the snow
• snow shoes
• skis
• sleigh
• sledge
• snowplough

Ah! I would really like to have a short conversation in Occitan. How can I?

No problem at all. I am going to help you.

Pechita conversacion de basa

Bon vespre
Bonjorn
A reveir-se
Mi siu …..
Per plaser
Escusatz-me. Coma?
Gràcias / Mercés! A vos grandmerceo
Aube plaser!
Bò! Volentier!
Lo temps vai chambiar
Encuei, la fai marrit temps!
Quala es la temperatura?
Qualas son las previsions meteorologicas per
deman?
Qual es vòstre nom? / Coma vos sonatz?
Qué ora ei-la?
Ont se tròba la farmacia mai dapè?
Ont al es l’uisset (guichet) de la lenga?
Ont puei trobar un metge?

Conversation

Good evening!
Good morning!
Goodbye, see you!
My name is ........
Please!
Sorry?
Thank you very much
With pleasure!
Yes, please / You’re welcome
The weather is going to change
We’ve not been blessed with good weather
today
What is the temperature?
What is the weather forecast for tomorrow?
What is your name?
What time is it?
Where is the nearest chemist’s shop?
Where is the language bureau?
Where can I find a doctor, please?
Bank, post office, telecommunications
I would like to cash this traveller’s cheque
I would like to register this letter
I’d like to make a long distance (international) call
Is there a bank nearby?
Is there any public payphone nearby?
Could you break this down into small change?
Where is the nearest post office?

Banca, pòsta, telecomunicacions

A volriu encaissar aqueste chèque de viatge
A volriu envïar aquesta letra racomandaa
A volriu una comunicacion interurbana (internacionala)
La lhi a una banca aicí da pè?
La lhi a una cabina telefonica, aicí da pè?
Poetz me chambiar de la monea?
Ont al es lo burèl postal mai da pè?

Bank, post office, telecommunications

I would like to cash this traveller’s cheque
I would like to register this letter
I’d like to make a long distance (international) call
Is there a bank nearby?
Is there any public payphone nearby?
Could you break this down into small change?
Where is the nearest post office?

Transpòrts

Un bilhet per ......, per plaser!
Sonatz-me un taxí, per plaser!
Per plaser, portatz-me a ........!
Anaa e retorn
Anaa simpla
A qué ora al part lo tren? / A qué ora ilh part la corrièra?
A qué ora al arriba lo tren? / A qué ora ilh arriba la corrièra?
Onte me chal descendre?
Qual tren / quala corrièra chal préner per anar a .....?
A quala ora al passa lo darrier tren?
A quala ora ilh passa la darrièra corrièra?

Transport

I’d like a ticket to…
Please call a taxi!
Please take me to…
Return ticket (round trip ticket, US)
Single ticket (one-way ticket US)
What time will the train (the bus) leave?
When will the train (bus) arrive?
Where do I have to get off?
Which train (bus) do I need to get to…?
When is the last train (bus)?

Los achats

Per plaser, poeríetz me far un paquet?
Aceptatz los chèques de viatge (las cartas de
credit)?
Avetz pas qualquaren de mens char?
Avetz una talha plus pechita (granda)?
N’avetz d’una autra color?
Gaire al costa? / Gaire ilh costa?

Shopping

Could you giftwrap it please?
Do you accept traveller’s cheques (credit
cards)?
Do you have anything a bit cheaper?
Do you have it in a smaller (lager) size?
Do you have it in any other colour?
How much is…

Auberjament

Avetz de chambras libras?
Sortia de secors
Premier plan
Plan-terren
Ai prenotaa / reservaa una chambra per una
persona (doas personas)
A volriu …../ Ai besonh de….
Una chambra abo banh (docha), per plaser!
Una chambra simpla (dobla), per plaser!
Volriu restar una nuèit (doas nuèits)
Lo desjuen al es comprés?
La clau (numre) ..., per plaser
Que tant costa per una nueit?
La lhi a un bar / restaurant aicí da pè?


Hotel accomodation

Do you have any vacancies?
Emergency exit
First floor (second floor US)
Ground floor (first floor US)
I booked a single room (double room)
I would like.../I need....
I’d like a room with a bath (a shower)
I’d like a single (double) room
I’d like to stay for one night (two nights)
Is breakfast included?
The key (number)…please
What is the tariff for a night?
Is there a bar / restaurant near here?

Restauracion

Un aperitiu per plaser
Avetz de platz da me racomandar? / Qué me conselhatz?
Poeríetz me portar un cotèl e una forcheta (un culhier)?
Poeríetz me portar d’aiga, per plaser?
Avetz una carta (un menut) en anglés / francés?
Conoissetz un restaurant qu’al iste ubèrt fins a tard?
Lo còmpte, per plaser!
Chambrier! Chambriera!
Volriu desjuenar

Food, drink

Could you bring me an aperitif?
Can you recommend anything?
Could I have a knife, and a fork (a spoon)?
Could I have some water?
Do you have an English menu?
Do you know a restaurant that is open till late?
The bill, please
Waiter! Waitress!
I’d like breakfast

I now know a lot about the Occitans, so I would like to send a card from the Occitanian valleys of the Olympic game sto my friends and write my greetings in Occitan. How can I do it?
Well it is nice to hear that you want to learn some more about this language. Proceed as follows: choose a nice card, the nicest one you can find, maybe with the mountains of our Parks in the background or with a village with wooden or slab roofs, or a lady in her traditional costume, an alpine lake, a church with a pointed bell tower, a Medieval fresco, a stone house, a painted meridian, the fort of Exilles or that of Fenestrelle, the Roman arch of Susa, the abbey of Novalesa… or a card with the Occitanian flag, the song “Se chanta” and write: Mons chars amís, ai coneissut un país fier de sa lenga: la lenga d’òc. A reveire da las valadas occitanas!
(Dear friends, I have just learned about a country proud of its language: the langue d’oc. Greetings from the Occitanian
valleys!)
And now good-bye, a reveire. It’s been a pleasure to have you here as a guest in the valleys and tell you a little about the langue d’Oc we cherish so much and about the Occitanian territories.



1. ALTA VALLE DI SUSA


Cotium, Donno’s son, was a prefect of the Cotian Alps, a province on both sides of the Alps.
His successor, Cotium the young, was again king, like his ancestors. In Susa, Roman and Medieval monuments remind us of the flourishing past of a valley that thanks to the Monginevro pass (towards Briançon) and the Moncenisio pass (towards Savoy) has always been central to the passages through the Alps. The Escartons The Alpine cavalry confederation, the Escartons a wide area of the Occitanian valleys: the upper Susa valley (or Oulx valley), the Pragelato, Queyras and Briancon valleys and the upper Varaita valley. Together, they formed an entity with special rights which the Dauphin Umberto II conformed in the Brianzonesi Liberty Document in 1343, prior t ceding his land to France. The inhabitants had their own justice system and were free men. Each year, or several times each year, the Escarton representatives met at Briancon to discuss  common matters. 
The strong bonds favoured the development of mule tracks connecting the valleys, promoting cultural and economic exchanges with strong bonds and family ties. The boundary between the Escartons of Oulx and Piedmont ran between the towns of Chiomonte and Gravere. It corresponded to the linguistic border, since even today, the uphill dialects are Occitanian while those downhill are French–Provencal. 
The Utrecht treaty of 1713 broke up the ancient confederation, establishing that France would hand over the transalpine Delphinate to Piedmont, i.e. the Escartons over the mountains (Oulx, Pragelato and Casteldelfino). The onsequence was the progressive loss of contacts between the two sides of the Occitanian alps. 

Zizim and the other prisoners of Exilles.

The castle of Exilles was built on a dominant cliff top (873 m above sea level), along the Monginevro road, to protect the high valleys from the Savoys who already held the lower parts, Susa included. It is mentioned for the first time in documents dating from the 12th and 13th centuries. In the 14th century, the castle was the scene of the rebellion by Francois di Bardonneche, who, out of hatred, betrayed the Dauphin Guigo VIII to the Savoyards.  
In 1482, the fortress housed an exceptional prisoner: Zizim, exiled brother of the Turk Sultan Bajazet. Legend has it that the Ottoman Prince, complete with turban, silk and Damask robes turned the heads of a number of aristocratic ladies in the Delphinate.
Some centuries later, it held the man in the “iron mask”, a mysterious character linked by obscure plots to Louis 14th of France.
In the 18th century, the passage of the high valleys to Piedmont overturned the defensive front. The present construction in cut stone is the result of developing military arts and the use of firearms. It includes, corridors, basements, chambers, stairs, courtyards and moats. In 1915, the castle was disarmed and the cannons taken to the Austrian front, but its military role ceased definitively with the end of the Second world war.

Prunus brigantiaca

On the sunlit slopes of the Puy di Beaulard, in the dry Nevache and Val des Près soils, near val Clarée,  accessible from Bardonecchia by the Colle della Scala, grows Prunus brigantiaca or brigantine – marmottier and afatoulier in French, afoat in Occitanian, typical of the Brianzonese region. It has the appearance of a 2-3 m high shrub, with few branches and irregular foliage with oval leaves and abundant yellow fruits. The fruit ripens between September and October and drops with the slightest agitation, like large golden pearls into the dry grass, food for the rodents and birds. They cloud the mouth with a somewhat sour flavour. In times past they were harvested: the pulp was left to rot and the stones were crushed to extract the kernels, which were then milled to give oil. 
One hundred kilos of apricots were required to make one litre of oil: fine, light and ideal for dressing salads and light foods. Apricot jam has a very special, some say “English” flavour, which goes well with crèpes and can be used a sweet sauce to go with boiled and roast beef. The recipe is: 1.2 kg of sugar for each kilo of stones apricots (it is recommended to separate the pulp from the acid skin); boil and stop when the colour of the cooking jam turns brown.

Emilie Carles

In 1994 French TV shot some scenes of a film dedicated to Emilie Carles in the town of Beaulard (including its beautiful cemetery). 
Emilie, played by the actress Annie Girardot, lived in Val des Prés, on the high slopes of the Brianzonese, that until the end of the 18th century, knew no limits. 
Born in 1900, a peasant and then later a school teacher for several decades, at the end of the seventies Emilie Carles began writing her life story “Une soupe aux herbes sauvages”, translated into several languages and published in Italy by Rusconi. 
It tells how she became a teacher through her desire to educate the mountain children “Dans un pays arriéré comme ici, avec le vie que j’avais eue, ce qui me paraissait essential c’était de leur ouvrir l’esprit à la vie …. que chaque individu a le droit – et la devoir – de penser et de décider par lui-meme”
She spent forty years among the school desks, and it was a full life, without boredom, in which she matured a profound sense of rebellion against violence, injustice and conformity.
While still a young teacher, she married her husband, Jean Carles. Jean’s ideas would influence her: “La guerre est une ignominie et prendre les armes pour tuer son prochain une bien pire encore”, she writes in the book.

With passing years, her rebellion becomes more conscious, perhaps even more political. In 1975 she leads the Clarée inhabitants protest against the planned construction of the Fos-Turin, which would have wiped out meadows, fields and woods and ruined the valley for ever. A line of tractors descended on Briancon to protest: 13 farmers tractors from Val des Prés with the family heads on board. And the aged Emilie with them… Then in 1978, the publication of her book, making the teacher from Clarée a mountain heroine. “La tendresse d’Emilie”, “Emilie Carles ou l’intelligence du coeur” wrote the newspapers.

Jean Carles rests in the cemetery of Val des Prés..—.. “Jean Carles, pacifist” is his epitaph, dictated by Emilie. Instead if you look for her grave, people will tell you it’s not there. “Emilie Carles donated her body to science”. 

Like Francois Bardonecchia, Emilie is a rebel of honour, like Joshua Janavel, a Waldensian freedom  fighter, just like those in valleys who oppose destructive speculation, disfiguring concrete, fast trains … she was one who resisted, not unusual in the Occitanian Alps.

Clelia Baccon

Cliela Baccon from Salbertrand has a face, smile and manners from another age. Peasant, teacher, writer and researcher, a passion for the Occitanian dialects from her valleys and for its cultural heritage, with the will to communicate it to others.
“A l’umbra du cluchi” from 1987 for the editions of Valados Usitanos, is her fundamental work. Eight thousand entries in Salbertrand Occitanian, an act of love for the land of her birth. In 1992 she published “El tintinponi” (the spinning-top), a collection of poetry. Why do I write in OC? She explains “I have always had a great desire to do that, both because I speak it every day, and because it is part of the Oc language that spreads from here to the Pyrenees, thanks to which an essential life element such as water is known as “aiga” in Bearn on the Atlantic coast and also here in Alta val Dora”.

The house of stones’ sculptor

He lived in the 18th century and was the creator of the sculpted stone visitation, fixed to the wall of the cemetery of the church in Bousson. He also carved the large wooden panels depicting Mary Magdalene and Our Lady of Hermits inside the church. A rusticart, filling every space, saturated and archaic, with
frequently only the faces emerging. The remainder – garments, drapery, hangings – is an arabesque of curls, stylised floral motifs and flourishes. 
In the hamlet near to the building - completely in ruins – may be found the “house of stones”, with dozens of inscriptions on stone tablets, framed by decorations. It could have been his studio (some say a hermitage), the exhibition of his know-how, the studio-house of the mad genius artist. 
“Donnes moi seigneur la grace di rare du mépris de la vie” wrote the sculptor on one of the  tablets.  Echoes of Greek philosophy on the Occitanian Alps! 

The great wood atmosphere of Salbertrand 

The vibrant red and faded pink of the rhododendrons, the green of the larch, the thin elegance of the alpine cedar, the barbed pine, the stature of the unmoving stone pine in the whistling wind of the exposed forest, the Great Wood forest of deer and wolves, wild boar, the deep fir-wood in the twilight, the red firs, Christmas trees, the silent white firs where the wood is darker, more secret and immobile, more silent, scratched only by the scampering of the squirrels, the climbers, the rustlings of voles and swollen rodents, the tree alcoves of owls with large yellow eyes like those of sparrow-hawks and the goshawks, splitting
the brushwood using their tails as rudders as they pursue their prey in the depths of the gorge, where the giant royal owl hides and sleeps by day, sheltered from the noise of bullfinches and tits, from the yellow-green bands of crossbills, the buccaneers of the suspended pines, heads down like feathered acrobats. Hares pass over the white fields, in the mountain pass glades, herds of winter deer migrate, with their young from the previous year, and roes towards the slopes, and in the sky a pair of eagles beat heights in search of marmots, during the thaw and silence the mountain, there are only smells, wind and  un, resinand peace. 

Giorgio Cattaneo

Lo parlar de Salbertrand

Clelia Baccon

(grafia dell’autore)
Mun paî
Duâ chéina d’mountännha
ünä a l’adréi
ünä a l’envêr;
‘n bê sê blö
encüchun d’ suré
k’la sî d’ità k’la sî d’iver.
Lu chamû sla simma
e l’ichirô icundü
sü el pinhî du sêr;
sun nik acrustà
a ‘nä rocchä d’ Següré,
l’áiglä i s’ pêr din l’êr.
(…)
(versione normalizzata)
Mon país
Doas chaenas d’ montanhas
una a l’adreit
una a l’envèrs;
‘n bèl cel blòi
un cuchon d’ solelh
qu’ la sie d’istat qu’ la sie d’iver.
Lo chamós s’la cima
e l’eichiròl eicondut
sal “pinhî do (dal) sèrre;
son nis acrostat
a na ròcha d’ Seguré,
l’aigla lhi se perd dins l’aire.
(…)

2. VAL CHISONE

Roure, Mentoulles, Usseaux, Pourrieres, Fraisse, Soucheres hautes, Grand Puy ….. names of towns with Occitanian and French sounds. Dolphins and fleur di lis on the fountains: memories of Escartons and the high valleys belonging to the Dauphinate and the Kingdom of France. The inverse of the valley, up to San Germano and Pramollo is Waldensian in religion. With a referendum in 1972 Roreto Chisone was the first town to restore its original place name: Roure in Occitanian. 

In Rol’s country

San Secondo stands on modest heights where the valley begins. The name seems to be derived from the Theban saint or from a Roman milestone which in ancient times indicated the “second mile”. Until the 19th century, the potmakers were very important. The best land – at l’adreit and at l’envèrs – were used for cultivating vines. The peasants sowed rye, wheat, rye and hemp. Walnut, chestnut and oak were  widespread. The acorns, used to feed the pigs and cattle, replaced bread in times of famine.
Gustavo Rol (1903-1994) is buried at San Secondo, a medium and clairvoyant who spent his childhood and the second world war years in the town of his ancestors. Rol was described as “a capable medium of far from normal deeds, impossible to interpret”.Admired by statesmen, scientists and celebrities from every field, he was also a painter, and the San Secondo countryside inspired many of his paintings.

The cradles of Albergian

Albergian: the mountain of the Arbercs, meaning shelter, chalet. In Blins in Val Varaita, one says Arberc, while in Val Vermenagna there is the cradle of the hotels, and a place known as Albergh, likewise in Elva.
From Albergian in Val Chiosone, there are tales of a tragedy which occurred in medieval times. It was 1440: during the summer, the Waldensians of Val Pragelato were attacked by militias from Susa and survived by fleeing to the mountains. Some months later, in winter, the same militias returned to attack once more, believing that the cold and heavy snow would prevent their escape. Instead the Waldensians  escaped onto Albergian with the women and children: the mothers with their cradles under their arms, dragging the larger children through the deep snow. Surprised at night, without being able to light any fires for heat, many died from cold and exhaustion: the following morning eighty children were found dead, frozen in their cradles.

Ancient codes

It happened in Val Chisone in the first half of the 16th century. Some notaries began replacing Latin with Oc, perhaps because the number of people capable of understanding had dropped, or perhaps influenced by the reformation which denounced theLatin of the Priests. In 1984, in the Turin State Archive, the writer Franc Bronzat found a manuscript, the work record of notary J. Orcel of Val Pragelato, dated between 1530 and 1531. The first document in Occitanian is a “mandament”: “text in dialect”. More or less contemporary, is the “Gouthier Code” dated 1532 and written in Occitanian by the notary J. Blanc. The use of Oc language in notarised documents lasted briefly: it disappeared when the Geneva backed reformation imposed the use of French in place of Latin. 
The two notarised documents from Val Chisone (others might still lie in the archives) however show that Occitan, besides being used to write about  mules may be used with eloquence and style for official documents, too. 

The fortified valley

The most imposing defensive construction in the valley is the Fenstrelle fortress, built in the 18th century, which for over three kilometres, raises the monte Orsiera ridge by 700 metres. For Edmondo De Amicis “it is the most extraordinary building a fantasy landscape painter could ever imagine: a sort
of titanic stairway”. 
Further below, near Jartousière di Meano, the broken-down ruins of Bec Dauphin (12th-14th centuries) dominates the road looking down from its rocky walls, from where, at the time of the Escartons, it overlooked the border between the low Perosa valley and the overlying Pragelato valley. Much larger was the fortress constructed at Perosa in the 16th century, destroyed in 1592 by the Huguenots and rebuilt by the Savoyards on the Fort mound. Between 1630 and 1696, under the French, it became a great military works, but a century later it was demolished by Napoleon, the victor over the Piedmonts. 

Edouard Rostan (1826-1895) botanist

Born in San Germano Chisone, he worked as a physician. In 1882 he founded the Society of Valdesi Srtudies (then the “Societé d’Histoire Vaudoise”), which according to Rostan should be a nonconfessional organisation dedicated to historical, sociological and natural studies for the intellectual and economic  dvancement of the valleys. 
Living in close contact wit the rural worlds, he was concerned with improving agricultural techniques, fighting crop parasites and pharmaceutical botany, using mountain herbs as remedies. A botanist by passion, he catalogued the cottian alpine plants and flowers. 
At Vinadio, valley Stura, he discovered a gentian which bears his name Gentiana rostani. In the Albergian alps he found Saxifraga hirculus L. the only Italian example. He collaborated with the botanic gardens of Turin, Geneva, Berlin, London, Manchester and Paris. One of his herbariums (the last surviving one) is kept in the science lecture room at Waldensian Academy, Torre Pellice. 

Ugo Flavio Piton manteneire de la lenga

With Ezio Martin, Remigio Bermond and Franc Bronzat at the end of the sixties he formed part of a coterie of writers, poets and folklorists for the publication “La Valaddo”. A medium ad researcher, Piton promoted the Occitanian rebirth in the Chisone, Germanasca and high Susa valleys. Founder of the “La Tèto aut” dance troup, teacher of Occitanian, he was dedicated to preserving valley culture for the young. A refined and charming man, Ugo Flavio Piton is a recognised Oc writer and poet of popular inspiration. 


Music and hurdy-gurdies

The success of contemporary Occitanian music is based not only on the restoration of traditional melodies, dances and songs, but also on the production of new music. Among the performers and fans of correntas e borreas there are those in search of more philologically perfect music, slow as  played by traditional musicians, those with a rock beat since this is the rhythm of today, those fused with other rhythms and traditional music types, and those who seek something more half and half. 
Various schools and sub-schools are formed, typical of the Occitanians and filled with passion and in search of the essence in order to split it into four. But the important point is that the music and the dance have a purpose: that they are not only sweat, a few leaps and some gymnastics; that those involved for passion and for fun also have an objective, that must be something more than just having fun and passing the time. 
In forty years, the valley inhabitants have discovered their Occitanian heritage. It has been something great they never realised before. Now, if this discovery is to have a meaning - and it certainly does - it is time for the Occitanians to contemplate that a people is not a true people, if they don’t have for example a common language, a University, writers, poets, theatre, Nobel Prize winners, who
knows …… And that the music may evolve by valuing past experiences and experimenting with new paths.
Another important aspect of the musical flourishing is that, thanks to its very existence, some forgotten instruments have returned to use. For example the concertina, the diatonic accordion, the pinfre, the arbeba (Jew’s harp), the bagpipes and the violin. Above all the hurdy-gurdy, in Occitanian viola, once well known throughout Scotland, Galicia, Spain, Italy, Germany and Great Occitanian territories.
In Lesser Occitany, across the Alps, the viola is rarer, but appears in the frescoes of the chapels of San Stefano in Busca, near the entrance to Val Maira, and San Fiorenzo in Bastia, near Mondovì. Nowadays, many Occitanian bands, both traditional and rock, use the mournful and rhythmical sound of this instrument in their concerts. In Pragelato, there is a lute-maker who has been making hurdy-gurdies since Occitanian times. Guido Ronchail, shy and reserved like all craftsmen who spend the days alone with their tools. An essential aspect of his work is selecting wood: rosewood for the casing, olive, boxwood or ebony for the keys, the pine soundbox all the way from the forests in Trentino…

The language of the valley

Typical of young linguistic minorities (young in terms of self-discovery) they express themselves through poetry, short stories or through folklore.
Novels, essays and translations require a broader language, and that updated vocabulary that infinite dialectic varieties that the Occitanian from the valleys, rich in rural expressions but devoid of contemporary jargon, frequently lack. Hence, credit to the unique authors fro the Occitanian valleys who have learned to test themselves through novels: Giovanni Bernard from Blins, Val Varaita, author of the fiction “Steve” published in 1989; and Franc Bronzat, from his adopted val Chisone who wrote “Lo darrier jarrac” in 2002. 

3. VAL GERMANASCA

Popular translations such as the carnival and the dance (correnta, borrea, esposina) have nonetheless preserved the strict Waldensian morality. The finest talc in the word is extracted from the valley mines: it has a very pure white colour, so that it is known as “Alpine white”. A guided tour through the tunnels of the Paola mine explains the various stages of the extraction process.

Boxwood people

During the time of the seasonal immigration to the south of France, or more permanently to America, for the valley farmers, working in the mines offered the possibility of survival. It was a hard dangerous job: the men died of silicosis (plens de porsiera) but the earnings supplemented the meagre income from subsistence farming. 

Talc (in Occitanian, la piera doca) and graphite (la tèrra niera) are excavated using rudimentary techniques. From underground, iron and copper are also extracted from the mines at Beth, in the upper Massello valley, closed in 1904 after the tragedy of 81 miners becoming buried in a landslide. 

In the 1980s, Carlo Ferrero, 1910, wished to represent the ancient trades of his native valleys; for each activity, he builds boxwood models, with legends in Occitan. He assembles scenes with the valley people in their various daily activities; it represents an era without speculation, where everyone knew how to a little of something, they were farmers, stockmen, woodsmen, wine growers, they worked wood, slaughtered pigs and mined miners from the ground. These models (nowadays on display in Pomaretto) gave rise to  he book “Li velh travalh en val San Martin” (Ed. Cantarana,1984).

The mine 			la tuna, la mina
The miner			lo minaire, lo “mineur”
The mine front 		lo minatge
Carbide (lime) lamp 	l’achetilena
Hutments 			las baracas
Watchman 			lo caporal

The History of Ramier

It never competed with the wines from Rodano, nor the wonderful Bordeaux and Sauternes wines, but once, wine was made (sometimes still is) in the lower Occitanian valleys; at Dronero, Venasca, Bagnolo, San Secondo, Bricherasio …. Vines are also grown in some higher altitude locations, at Chiomonte, Aisone, Macra, and in val Germanasca where is meets val Chisone. But it is precisely
from val Germanasca, from vines grown by a few enthusiasts, that we get Romier, a faithfully reproduced ancient wine. 
In his book describing the crafts from val San Martin, Carlo Ferrero recounts how the vineyards once occupied the steep sunny slopes from Podio diPomaretto to Perrero and to the town of Pomiefré. A stone building between the rows (lo chabot) was used as both the wine cellar and for storing the various tools, and as a dwelling for the vine-dresser, who would spend many days working there during the season.
The white and black grapes still grown today are of French origin, brought back by immigrants returning to the valley. 
The white grapes are blanchet and perveriral.  The black varieties are lambrusca, neiret, berla de chabra, beuna, roieta, avenai, avarenc, “bonjole”, tenturia and moissanc. The name Ramier, writes Ferrero, “seems to derive from the fact that, during the deforestation of the mountain, great bundles of branches were collected” which the vine-dresser buried in layering 

Vine  		la vis
Vineyard 		la vinha
Terracings 		lhi baris
Layering 		trenches las provanas
Pruning 		l’armonda
Harvesting 		vendemar
Grape marc 		la rapa
Tapping the		vat tirar lo vin

Arturo Genre (1937 – 1997) linguist 

Born in Marseille but of Massello origin. Lecturer in Experimental Phonetics at the University of Turin, editor of the “Linguistic Atlas”, scientific director of the Piedmont Mountain Toponymy Atlas, Genre was
among those who, in the 70s worked on the “Escolo dòu Po” for the valley Occitanian dialects.
He encouraged traditions but also believed in the need to adapt dialects to contemporary expressions.
He translated the Gospel According to Mark into Occitan “La Bono Nouvello” – Ed. LouSoulestrelh. 
Genre’s latest work was the reissue of the “Dictionary of val Germanasca Occitan” by Teofilo G. Pons (1895), among the most important from the valleys: a forerunner, in the years before the Occitanian renaissance Pons dedicated various works to local folklore and dialect. 

Stanley Pons - scientist

Along with Martin Fleshmann, he was the discoverer of cold fusion. Stanley Pons came from a Massello family who emigrated to America at the end of the 19th century. “Cold fusion” means the possibility of producing nuclear energy from a nonexplosive reaction. In 1989 the discovery brought reactions which cast doubt on his methods, but the two scientists were to show that cold fusion was a reality to be developed.

Lo parlar del la valada

In 1979, the magazine Novel Temp published “La vendémo en val Germanasco” by Osvaldo Peyran, an inhabitant of Prié/Perrero.
As with the majority of those who began writing in Oc in the sixties out of affection for the language and to pass on local memories, Peyran was self-taught.

4. VAL PELLICE

Torre Pellice is the Waldensian capital. It’s central museum of culture tells its history: From their origins, attributed to the Lyonnaise merchant Pietro Valdo, their persecution culminating in exile in Switzerland, to their emancipation in the mid 19th century guaranteeing the Waldensian civil rights and freedom of worship, to the events of the 20th century.

The guide, the diplomat, the soldier

Henry Arnaud, guide of the Glorious Repatriation (1689) from exile in Switzerland, Jean Léger, diplomat and man of letters, Josué Janavel, military commander nicknamed “the Lion of Rorà”: were the leaders of the Waldensian resistance against persecution in the 17th century. Jean Léger was born in 1615 in Villasecca, in val Germanasca. A student in Geneva, he made friends with the future King of Sweden, Carl Gustav. On his return to the valleys he was consecrated as a pastor and nominated as moderator at the age of only 35. 
At the time of the terrible Piedmont Easters (1655) he sought support from the other protestant European states, wit whom he had intense diplomatic activity. He even managed to interest Cromwell. Later, he led the negotiations for the agreement with the Savoys. He paid for his work for Waldensian freedom with exile firstly in Switzerland, then in Heidelberg in Germany, hen in Holland. While nominated pastor at Leyda, Léger wrote a monumental history of the Waldensian church.
The Torre Pellice central museum of culture hold  the long-barrelled musket owned by Josué Janavel,born in 1617 at La Vinha de Lusérna. Exhibited in the same room are also some beidanas, sabres rather like machetes with only one cutting edge. These evoke the battles fought on the mountains by the
militias of the “Captain of the Valleys”, as Janavel was called. 
At the time of the Piedmont Easters, Janavel and his men, despite being less armed, were able to fight off the Savoy troops. There was a reward of
300 ducats placed in the head of “te Lion of Rorà”. To force him to give up, they abducted wives and daughters, threatening to burn them alive; Janavel, having retreated to Queyras, returned to val Pellice to organise the guerrilla war. He joined forces with captain Barthélemi Jahier, whose band operated in
val Germanasca; together they formed an army of several hundred men, attacking the troops in the lower valley, as far as Garzigliana and Osasco.
During a battle in valAngrogna, Janavel was wounded; two days later, captain Jahier was ambushed and killed along with 83 men. There then followed a few years of relative peace; in 1663, the Duke of Savoy took up the fight against the Waldensian, and janavel was once again the captain of the resistance. 
Later, in attempt to broker peace, the courageous captain would abandon the valleys for Geneva, where, with his coreligionists, he would write the military manual for mountain warfare. A true guerrilla manual: “form small squads, twenty men per company, one sergeant, two corporals, one captain …when pursuing the enemy, always advance in two columns, one in line and the other to the flank, so as to avoid being ambushed …. Strong, stout men such as you do not spare the effort to erect barricades whenever necessary, cutting trees and lifting roads so that the enemy cannot advance”. 

A troubadour in the Occitanian Valleys?

Few poetic compositions by the troubadour Peire Guilhen of Lusérna are known and it is still a matter of debate whether or not he was of the line of the Lords of Luserna, the line of Gosvino Merlo, founder of the lineage, mentioned in the documents of the Marquesa Adelaide de Susa.
Today, the town of Luserna San Giovanni has a street named after him.
In a song, Peire Guilhem writes “(copiare la frase in occitano dalla versione in del manuale pag. 125)”
Translated as “Those going to Luserna are placed in great danger, because there, there are those who will take your heart from your body. But since I nolonger have a heart, I’m going there”.
One cannot say why the troubadour says without heart, but by visiting the old quarter of Luserna one might imagine how the town was in the middle ages. Monuments dating from that period include the church of San Giacomo with feudal sepulchres, the remaining residences reconstructed over the centuries, the tower and the ancient high street. 

Jean Pierre Goante (1734 – 1804) naturalist

Between 1788 and 1800 he painted 131 watercolours of birds, both resident to the area of Pellice and migratory, from the alps and planes down to the Po. This work, entitled “Oiseaux du Piemont des sines et colories” is today housed in the library of the Turn Academy of Sciences. He was an officer in the local militias, and during the brief Giacobin period (1798 - 1799) was president of the first republican unicipality of Torre Pellice.

Jacques Brez (1771 – 1798) pastor and scientist

The son of a Waldensian notary from San Giovanni, Jacques Brez moved to Geneva to study natural sciences, then moving to Utrecht in Holland as a tutor. He kept up with European protestant culture. In 1791 he published “Flore des insectophiles” the first scientifically valid example of entomatic ecology in Europe; he later published “Voyages intéressants”, imaginary didactic journeys. He collaborated with “Magasin Encyclopedique”. In Paris, he published the first two parts of “Histoire des Vaudois” and established relations with revolutionaries, who he asked to intervene on behalf of the Waldensian in Piedmont. A member of the scientific communities of Paris, Turin and Utrecht, he was appointed curator of collections of the Lausanne Physical Sciences Society. He was appointed as pastor in Middelburg (NL) where he remained until his death. 

Luserna stone

Savoy Turin owes part of its austerity to the greygreenish Luserna stone, a tough layered gneiss that can be split to be worked and used for pavements and palaces. It is quarried near the town of Luserna San Giovanni, Rorà, Bagnolo Piemonte, and has been since medieval times. 
Annual production is 300,000 tons in the districts of Luserna San Giovanni and Rorà alone; some of which is exported to France, Germany, America and Australia for pavements and stone cladding work; the remainder, in the form of “lose”, is used for traditional roof coverings.
Lose production has several stages. The stone mason makes a horizontal split, following the strata of the rock, to separate the desired block from the quarry mass. Then, with a vertical cut, the mass is reduced to the size of blocks (50 x 100 cm). It is then separated into layers 4 – 5 cm thick. Blocks are subsequently squared off and the edges hammered to make them water resistant. This is achieved by hammering adjacent sides with a certain inclination and opposite sides with the opposite inclination.
The Rorà stone museum, in the ancient Hotel du Chamois, has displays of the tools. documents and photographs of the stone extraction processes, while the nearby abandoned quarry of Tupinet isequipped to handle visitors.

Villar felts

The Crumière mill in Villar Pellice preserves the memory of felt production, established in the valleys since the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the numerous streams and the many available female workers. Restored for cultural reasons and to establish a felt museum, it houses old tools and equipment such as fulling mills, looms and teasing machinery. The building is a prized example of industrial archaeology.

Angrogna baskets

At Serre d’Angrogna, Ada Pontet (1940) makes panniers and baskets (and miniatures) and models of menons, barrels used to transport manure from the fields. The raw materials of this are willow branches, which nowadays replace the obsolete strips of wild chestnut. The branches are debarked and bundled and left to soak in the fountain to soften: thus they become flexible and easily woven. Some branches, with bark, are used to make some of the barrel cross
pieces, with decorative effect due to their dark colour. The baskets are finished with the finishing of the edge and the application of a woven rope strap.

Waldensian bonnets

Bonnets and shawls are typically worn by Valdesan women on the religious festivals of Confirmation and on the 17th February. The floral embroidery, which would have once decorated the shawls has now been replaced by biblical scenes painted on cloth with the inscription “Lux lucet in tenebris”. The bonnets still have their traditional appearance; its manufacture is made complicated due to the pleating of the brim. For the pleating, each bonnet requires three lengths of lace, each 7 metres long. The pleating is done on a wooden board, which serves a work surface. Pleating uses short braiding irons which have replaced the crude 2 -3 mm thick plant spindles. Once finished, the three pleated bands, sewn together, are applied to the brim of the bonnet, made from Sangallo material. Old bonnets show how at one time, the part covering the bun was also embroidered: bonnets worn on holidays were more decorated while those for other occasions were more sober.

Lo parlar de la valada

For many decades, Waldensian emigrants in America were the custodians of Occitanian speech.  The following poem is a celebrative text for lunch on 17th February 1932 in New York, published in the Waldensian Presbyterian Church Gazette, Waldensian, NC – 20th February 1966. The strange writing doesn’t help reading, but the document is precious.


Giaglione and the Cenischia valley

The village of Giaglione was set up on a ridge dividing the valley of Susa into the high valley and the Cenischia valley. The Cenischia valley is a secluded valley away from the traffic and the noise of the main valley, but once an important path to the Moncenisio pass. In the peace of Novalesa the ancient stones of the abbey tell us the story of man and nature and give us a feeling of serenity.

THE FRANCOPROVENCAL SPEAKING
REGION
Francoprovençal.

Francoprovençal is a collection of gallo-romance dialects from the area of Lyons, Savoy, French  Switzerland, Valley of Aosta and a little portion of Piedmont: an area that has never experienced a long-lasting political unity. 

For what the mountains of the Olympic games are concerned, Francoprovençal is used in the medium valley of Susa up to Giaglione , Gravere and in the Cenischia valley. 
Gaul Lugdunensis had too short a period of cultural freedom to be able to develop an actual francoprovençal literature. It was handed downthrough mostly oral communication.
The Francoprovençal dialects are still used daily in the area of the important Alpine passes and in the relevant valleys such as the Little and Great Saint Bernard passes, the Moncenisio pass and the little known passes of the valleys of Lanzo, Orco and Soana.
The great importance of the Moncenisio pass during the Carolingian times strengthened the reality of the language between Savoy and Piedmont.
The history of our ancestors is alive in our hearts and is part of us if we speak our own language, is a way of living, of expressing emotions and feelings, a way of thinking, of acquainting oneself with something.
It is the pride of one’s own cultural identity. It means keeping living
The job of the visiting and research centres, widespread in the territory, is extremely important not to consider the oral memory and the past with nostalgia but rather to make a treasure of it and look at the future. 

GIAGLIONE: SWORDS AND FLOWERS

The prioresses are six women in the Giaglionese  dress, called the Savoyard. They are in charge of managing all the important events of the  community. They trace back to ancient rituals. The prioress dress is the most beautiful dress, the shawl, the apron, the bows of her bonnet are the most beautiful ones. It is the Sunday best dress, but is very similar to the one worn every day. 
The youngest prioresses are called the prioresses of Saint Catherine, the intermediate two are the prioresses of the Sacred Heart and the elderly two prioresses are the prioresses of Saint Vincent. They are assigned a feast each. They have to vest the Church and prepare refreshments for the band and the Spadonari. 
It would be suitable to compare them with the cycles of nature and connect them with all the authors of tradition. 
In honor of the prioresses a girl of marriageable age carries on her head the Bran, a point covered in flowers, fruit and ribbons, over two meter tall, aphallic symbol reminding of fertility and harvesting rituals.
The Spadonari, four men wearing a multicolor hat composed of fruit, flowers with long ribbons down to their back dance in honor of the prioresses. They wear a multicolor embroidered jacket and an apron completes their uniform. They have been dancing with a medieval tournament sword, forming the same figures and repeating the same movements with precision for centuries. They remind us of the ancestors dancing with the excitement of a battle,fertility and harvest propitiating rituals.
They dance on the church yard in a procession escorting the prioresses.
All the Giaglionese feasts are partly religious and partly so ancient that their memory has been lost through the centuries but they have always been together and are well rooted in the community. 
The song tells the story of the hard life in the mountains, where one is forced by morphology to constantly walk “ up and down “ steep slopes.
The heavy basket full of manure on the man’s shoulders and the meager meal with the beans gurgling in his belly, a sudden need, but someone is watching.
A question - where are you going? - I can no longer go on, - I wanted to reach Malhuve, but I am going to empty my basket here and now.. –
