Country of Water

"Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink" is a famous quote by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This quote is anything but true about Ambialet!  The village boasts many deep springs in its hills, which were once a valuable source of water for the inhabitants!  Springs were found along the rocky cliffs, and one can still see cisterns that were built to capture this water.  These springs were an important resource for the people who lived high up, in rocky huts and caves, because they would not have to fetch water from the Tarn River and carry it all the way back up the hill! While these springs are no longer in use today, they are nevertheless regarded as an important artifact of local history.

Font du Drac

The ancients called one of these springs, "Font du Drac." It was located in a high rocky cliff, a most improbable place in which to find a spring... so improbable that people thought that it was made by diabolical means.  Legend holds that a demonic being called "Drac" angered the Dragon of the Apocalypse of Saint John, which resulted in a third of the stars cast down upon the earth.  One of these stars landed and formed the "Font du Drac." It seems that this legend was used in creative ways by the locals.  For instance, grandmothers used to threaten disobedient children that they would hand them over to 'Drac,' hence they would drown, if they did not shape up!  This myth is still told to this day, and thus children are taught to fear the power of Drac!

“Ambialet, country of water, again and always a place of life.”

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["Les Fontaines" (pp. 29-30) and "La Font du Drac" (pp. 5-6)  in Ambialet prestígíeux et secret]