Edmond Life and Leisue - April 3, 2025

From the Publisher

Correspondent from France coming

At the time of our press deadline, we will not know who won the race for Edmond Mayor but by the time you read this paper you will know. Now that the campaign is over and we get a break, I have a request for the winning candidate.

Can you lead us to a kinder, gentler Edmond? We used to be such a friendly town, but it has not continued. We treat visitors from out of town great but when it comes to how we treat those of a different opinion, we are not so kind any longer folks. We started this newspaper twentyfive years ago and we certainly had differences of opinion but at the end of the day, we all went to fund raisers, charity events, kids sports and broke bread together in harmony.

Social media has not been our friend when it comes to being kind to one another. This is true not only in Edmond but all over the world. I just do not understand some of the horrible comments and insults that get posted on those neighborhood apps.

Travel is a good teacher of tolerance and understanding different viewpoints. This summer we will have an Edmond student who is currently living in France come intern with us as a writer. Until she gets here this talented teenage writer, Julia Smith (Moulin) is going to send us some travel columns about her experience in France. Many will ask why France, but the truth is, it is a wonderful country. Yes, the French can make Americans angry from time to time, but it is a beautiful place. I would recommend the book “Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong: Why We Love France but Not the French” to help you get over any issues you may have with France.

My son had the same journey as Julia but in engineering. It is a wonderful way for your student to spend some time in a different country. Her writing is mentored by our very own Richard Crum who wrote for many years at National Geographic (so you can bet he knows a little about writing) and retired to Edmond. I like this piece she submitted and for just this once am running in my column space in hopes it will put us back on a road to tranquility my friends. Her descriptions are outstanding.

My France for You

Exploring the Massif Central

By Julia Moulin

Come up the hill and sit with me on my favorite bench. It looks out over a place less travelled—the largest volcanic landscape in France. You will be the first American visitor to sit here with me.

Peaceful, sitting here, isn't it? Quiet, like an open air monastery. The clean mountain air is refreshing, an after-rain smell. You can feel your stress drifting away. I have been to Paris and admired the whole city from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Yes, the city of lights is charming. But even older and just as charming (in a pastoral way) is this place, three hours by train southeast of Paris.

Traveling in this region is like taking a roller-coaster ride. The high hills and deep gorges define a wide area called the Massif Central. Rising between the Rhone River valley in the west and the highest French Alps in the east.; the massif takes up 37,000 square miles—15 percent of France’s surface, an area about the size of Oregon.

For travelers bold enough to go where few go, this area pays out scenic rewards: stone-walled castles and chateaus, medieval cathedrals, astonishing landscapes. Those tile rooftops you see down there at the bottom of the hill make up my hometown. It is one of the many small typical villages that carpet the French countryside. Its name Parent comes from the family name of a medieval lord. The village’s Romanesque church and many of the older stone houses date back to the Middle Ages.

That is my house, the one with wooden shutters and the walnut tree in the backyard.

In the evenings, villagers like to come up on this hill and walk their pets, or simply sit and watch the sun set and enjoy the solitude. Indeed, this region used to be called “the empty diagonal” because of the low population density and scattered cities.

Once the sun disappears, a bright yellow aura outlines the lava dome you see in the distance. It is called Puy de Sancy. It tops out at 6,184 feet. It is the highest peak of the massif’s 450 dormant volcanoes. They form the longest volcanic chain in Europe.

Four distinct seasons unfold throughout the year defining a continental climate. Mild to hot summers are dry and long. Cool to cold winters are wet and short. In between, vivid spring colors flourish and dull orange leaves rain down during Fall.

The climate nourishes diverse vegetation. Beyond the vineyards, the wheat fields and other cereal crops, the land gradually tilts upward, crumpling into furrowed hills, and higher up into mountains. Thick forests of black pine and oak shade the hills. Around a mile high beech trees dominate the forest.

In the mile-high zone, there is a change of scenery as the tree line is broken by moors and sedge meadows.

As you climb higher, limestone plateaus of grass and shrubs spread out for more than three million square miles, France’s largest pasture. Granite outcrops discourage farming. And the soil is too acidic for growing most crops. But the plateau’s lush grasses are just right for grazing sheep and cattle. Here centuries ago, was born today’s famous Limousine cattle breed.

Spring and summer bring out flowering plants. The air carries perfume scents of lavender, narcissus, clover. In damp shady crags, the rare Welsh poppy shows off its sunshine yellow.

Down the hill from my village runs a shimmering river called the Allier. You can go fishing for salmon or trout that hide under the polished rocks of the riverbed.

Dusk is always a festival of color around Parent. For me, fall is the most astounding season. A golden light seems to pour out of the clouds, setting the village’s brick-red roof tiles aglow. It is the only time of year when the leaves match the color of twilight. Indeed, as the yellow-orange sun gradually sinks behind Sancy, it brings out shades ranging from deep winered beech leaves to the light cherry-color of photinia shrubs.

The next time we sit up here for a while, let us go down the hill and into Parent. I want to show you around. Together we will explore this quaint corner of French culture few have experienced. Afterward, we will go out into the surrounding administrative department of Auvergne-Rhone-Alps. When we are done, you will be well armed to counter your traveler friends who test you with match-me-if-you-can questions, such as: Did you go up the Eiffel Tower? Did you go to the Louvre? Did you see the Mona Lisa? Did you take the Maxim's Dinner Cruise on the Seine? Did you visit Versailles? You can simply answer, “Yes, I have done all that. But have you seen what I’ve seen—the Massif Central, the soul of France."

(Ray Hibbard, publisher of Edmond Life & Leisure, may be reached at ray@edmondpaper.com)