The common harvest
The valley's only wealth was its high pastures — and a system of rare elegance: the common harvest.
A single herd
Each summer, all the village herds climbed to the high pasture to merge into one: Léon's eight cows, Sylvestre's twenty-two, the widow Coutet's four heifers… nearly 250 animals pooled into a common good. The community elected a manager, responsible for everything, for three months, across 1,500 hectares between 2,000 and 3,000 metres.
« Thus appointed by his fellow citizens, he is entrusted with responsibility for all the village herds during the three months of the alpage. »
— Le Fruit commun, 1958
Camille, known as “le Gaulois”
That manager, elected eight times in sixteen years, was Camille Ruffier-Lanche, Michel's father. With his great moustache and his dog, they called him “le Gaulois” (“the Gaul”). The lane climbing to his house, in Friburge, was named “Rue du Gaulois” in his honour.
It is him the film “Le Fruit commun” follows, shot in 1958. And it is his nickname our chalet Le Gaulois now carries — its former stable, where some scenes were filmed, has become the great vaulted living room.
Beaufort, by the strength of arms
On the pasture, the day began at three in the morning. 250 animals had to be milked twice a day — 3,000 litres of milk daily, turned into cheese on the spot. In a copper cauldron, a thousand litres at a time were heated, and the cheesemaker plunged his arms into the scalding milk to separate the curd: nothing could replace his touch.
Over the season, fifteen tonnes of Beaufort were carried down on men's backs to the village cellars. The Grande Plagne pasture was nicknamed “the queen of the mountains” for its grass with a taste of hazelnut.
The weigh-in
In August, on what was almost a feast day, came the weigh-in: that day, each herd's milk was measured, setting each family's share of the common harvest. A division beyond dispute.
« A fair division, based on the mutual trust that suits the deep honesty of the Savoyard peasant and his sense of mountain solidarity. »
— Le Fruit commun, 1958
The film
« The common harvest »
A documentary filmed in 1958 in the valley, around Camille Ruffier “le Gaulois” and the communal high pasture. It is this pastoral life — the herd brought together, the milk and Beaufort shared — that the title sums up: the “common harvest” of the alpage. Some scenes were shot in the former stable of Le Gaulois, now the great vaulted living room.