At the end of this winter, I went to visit my brother who lives in the Ardèche in the south of France. We went on many excursions in the area and he and his girlfriend showed me some incredible places.
As soon as I arrived, they told me about this abandoned factory and they were sure I would like it! It was indeed the case!
Along the road and the river it runs alongside, there is a long two-storey building. You can see from the outside that in some parts the roof has collapsed. The entrance is barely sealed, so it is quite easy to get inside.
This is perhaps my biggest shock on arrival in this HUGE engine room ! This was where the silk was spun and the resulting threads were wound onto reels.
The place was clearly derelict but you could still feel that noisy frenzy atmosphere. If you listened carefully, you could almost hear the echo of the machines as everything was still in place !
We find strange objects whose use at the time is always interesting to try to imagine.
Everywhere there were old wooden crates, many from Brazil in particular...
Here are the famous reels, all made of wood and so well worked that you would think you were looking at art objects of today, so low is the quality of the current products - *in my opinion at least ^^ *
We push open a door and this whole room with a collapsed roof appears before our eyes. At the same time, the sound of the nearby river can be heard.
We continue our exploration towards a second engine room with turbines that were driven by belts and therefore had to transmit energy to the whole factory.
A real atmosphere that reminds me a lot of Miyazaki's films, with subjects so mechanical and natural at the same time...
Here's the river...
Here we find the monstrous metal belly of a boiler outside. The rivets are also beautiful I think and so well machined.
Back in a collapsed part, we are now on the first floor which is also visually interesting but less so from the point of view of understanding the workings and functioning of the factory.
The floors are also in a very bad state which prevents us from going much further than the threshold...
We see that we are clearly not the first to visit this mysterious place. It was not the first time I visited an abandoned factory but this one really made an impression on me!
As we are leaving, we come across this strange sign (just below) that looks like Morse code and I still wonder what it means... (A quick search on the internet will probably bring me some answers :)
But maybe one of you already knows ?
It was a very intense experience as you can imagine and we spent a whole afternoon there ! Then we walked around until dark before heading home.
To regain my strength, I remember making English muffins, a recipe I'm getting better and better at, each time a little better !
I hope you enjoyed this article so please let me know in the comments :)
I have many more of these adventures to share with you and many more ideas in the pipeline, maturing 🌱
Be well and I wish you a nice weekend !