On the surface, Montolieu doesn’t make any sense. How is it that a small, albeit historic and pretty, hill village far from anywhere has become famous for being the home of secondhand books? Only slightly more than 800 people live in the village, yet it sustains fifteen independent secondhand book shops. Not only that, there are sculpture and art galleries, as well as bookmaking workshops.
This literary and artistic feast is served up amongst stone-built houses that date back to the medieval period. The village sits atop a cliff face overlooking a ravine in the wooded countryside of the Montagne Noire. It also sits between the Rivers Dure and Alzeau. It is this stroke of fortune that made it a centre for textile manufacture in the 19th century and, more importantly, at one time the Dure supported six paper mills.
The paper mills have a long association with bookmaking. It was a bookbinder, Michel Braibant, who had a vision of turning Montolieu into a centre for preserving the art of bookmaking. It became an official Village du Livre, or Book Village, in 1990. Surprisingly, that made it France’s second Book Village after Bécherel in Brittany. There’s even one in Belgium. Montolieu has a museum dedicated to the art and craft of bookmaking.
The attraction of books seems to work, and Montolieu gets enough visitors year round to support half a dozen restaurants, a couple of cafes and bars, and a bakery. That is a wealth of riches you cannot find in most villages in this part of the world, or anywhere really. It gives the village a sense of the surreal. The fact that it has a range of nationalities living here as well, adds to its unusual vibe.
For a village tucked away in the hills close to the Pyrenees, Montolieu’s outward-looking perspective is not surprising. At the height of production in the early 19th century, the textile mill exported cloth to China. It was early so we parked just outside the village and walked back over the 12th century Pont d’Alzeau. The views over the ravine to the village were beautiful.
We walked to the top of the village and then back down through narrow cobbled streets until we found the Place de l’Esperou. This tiny square sits on top of part of the village’s former medieval defensive walls and offers great views over the River Dure. The two main squares are either side of the 14th century Church of Saint Andrew. We found a lovely bakery, Chez Pain Prenelle et Nicolas, and grabbed some pastries.
It wasn’t long before we found ourselves at the other end of the village. We stopped for coffee and to watch the world go by very slowly. It was hard to believe that this tiny place had still been producing cloth well into the 20th century. Like so much about Montolieu, that too didn’t make much sense. It’s as if the village had defied globalisation until the last, just as it single-handedly created a reason for tourists to visit.
It was mid-morning and by this point most of the bookshops had opened and there was a steady steam of visitors arriving in the village. We finished our coffees and decided to visit a few book shops in the pleasantly car free lanes. We also came across a series of art and street art pieces, fittingly all related to books. It is a relaxed place with a lot of charm. I imagine it would make a pleasant base for exploring the region.
Extraordinary, and so cheering
It really is, a lovely spot