Ardehia (Villevalaix)

We arrived in Ardehia, near Villevalaix, on a fresh evening, while M. and L. already started cooking pasta for the rest of the bikers. The people living in the place welcomed us and let us use the kitchen and the main table in the yurt from the very first day, even if they did not know at first that we were coming in such numbers. The yurt is the communal space at the center of the woody land of Ardehia. The place has more than 10 years of history of communal living and is nowadays experiencing a change of inhabitants. E. still lives there permanently and some other friends live in the place at different moments throughout the year. It is a magic place, with surprising shelters scattered around the forest: a nest for love and a fairy-house. The shelters and the yurt were built with recuperated materials, hay and wood, by the first inhabitants, which cared to build something that would serve to others once they would have gone on to the next life adventure. So for those who live there nowadays and inherited the constructions and the land, Ardehia is a place to be shared. We spent there three days. During the day E. and the others current inhabitants were out for work, and at evenings we spent time together around the fire in the field in front of the yurt, playing with a baby-cat for hours.