In the year of our Lord 1338, in a Gascon village called LA ROMIEU, renowned for its beautiful collegiate built 20 years previously, Vincent and Mariette lived contentedly. He was a woodman and his wife often accompanied him into the forest to make up bundles of faggots. They worked hard, and with their poultry and pig, their fruit and vegetable garden, their table was always laid full with food. They had been married for 3 years when Mariette gave birth to alittle girl, whom they called Angeline. Alas, one day Vincent was crushed by a tree he was felling. Inconsolable, Mariette sank into a depressionand 2 months later was found dead, holding little Angeline in her arms. The little girl was taken in by a neigbour and was brought up with their children like one of their own. Angeline showed a great affection for cats and theire was always one or two around her which at night even slept in her bed. She also often shared her bowl with them. With the passing of time, Angeline became a healthy young girl who helped her adoptive parents in fields, always accompanied by her cats. In 1342 and 2 years that followed, the winters were harsh and the spring and summer so wet that it was impossible to sow their crops. There followed a great famine and inspite of the distribution of the collegiate reserves by the lord Arnaud d'Aux, the inhabitants soon had nothing to eat. They thought of the numerous cats in the village and set about catching them. Angeline's parents, knowing how much she loved hers, allowed her to keep a male and female cat on the condition she hid them well, as the neighbours would gladly kill them. Angeline, therefore, shut her two cats in the attic by day and at nignt she let them out to hunt. But the famine grew worse and many villagers died. Angeline and her parents berely subsisted by collecting roots in the woods and sometimes they found mushrooms but it was hardly sufficient. Weakened by hunger, they managed somehow to survive this terrible period and more clement times finally arrived, allowing them to harvest what they needed to live. But in LA ROMIEU where the cats had disappeared, the rats proliferated to a point where the crops were once again threatened. Angeline, with infinite caution, had been able to hide her cats in the attic and they had produced severalprogeny. There were now about 20 of these cats. The villagers wrung their hands over the damage caused by the rats. Angeline announced that she was going to release some 20 cats which the inhabitants would be able to adopt. The rats rapidly disappeared and it is thus that Angeline ressembled more and more, with the passing of time, that of one of the cats and that her ears transformed into the ears of a cat.
It was from listening to a grandmother telling this story of Angeline's cats to her grandchildren that a scluptor from ORLÉANS, Maurice SERREAU, had the idea of reviving the legend by placing sculptures of cats all around the square in LA ROMIEU.
(legend of the cats, propriété de l'office de tourisme de La Romieu)
Annualy, on the Sunday nearest to the 15th.August, the Tourist Office, in conjunction with the Feline Circle of Languedoc arranges a fete of the cats.
This year on SUNDAY the 10th AUGUST 2008
This is a fete with the theme of the CAT. There is an international cat show with judges and prizes. In 2005 more than 150 cats of all breeds were judged.
The day is enlivened by processions of children dressed up as cats, the presence of artists making cats in glass, in fabric, in wool, in ceramics, in stone...
You may also adlire or buy drawings or paintings with the cat theme by regional artists.
