There was a total of 16 hardy volunteers who signed up for La Sabranenque this week. Fourteen of us were from the U.S. and two from France. We were:
myself - Mike from CO., Heather from MA., Jingyu from Ct., Mary and Caitlin from Vt., Cathy and Jennifer from CA., Jeff, Nancy and Jody from IL., Liz from CA., Diny from N.J., Tonie and Salli from AL., Yoann and Geraldine from France.
The great staff included: Ginou and Simone, Marc, Gael and Estelle, Marcel, Yamina, Sara, and of course Pascal.

On our first full day we went to a worksite called Gicon, located about 15 minutes away near Chusclan. We parked at the bottom of the hill, near the La Sabranenque restored chapel that was dedicated to St. Madeleine, and proceeded to walk up to our worksite.

They took it easy on us today. Pascal gave us a terrific tour and narrative of Gicon. Gicon was first inhabited in prehistoric times by the Celtics, using the site as a fire tower. Then the Romans built a fortified settlement on the elevated site, known as an oppidum. As for our task, we formed an assembly line and moved rocks up from the bottom of a hill and put them into 3 piles, sorted by size, for later use in restoration. A job well done.

We returned to St. Victor for a deliciously prepared lunch before heading out on our day trip to the medieval town of Uzes. We had a short tour then were set free to do a little site seeing. It wasn't long before Cathy discovered the gourmet candy shop.

Afterward we set out to see the Pont du Gard, a magnificent Roman aquaduct. After a little hiking around we returned to St. Victor for a traditional Provencal dinner.

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