Faux de Verzy – wonky trees

twisted beech tree - Faux de Verzy
Between guzzling glasses of bubbly last weekend in the Champagne region, I visited the lovely Faux de Verzy – a forest of twisted beech trees that have a really magical quality about them. We visited the forest late in the day, making photography difficult (as if my skills aren’t already hampered enough!). Slow-growing and twisted due to a genetic problem, these trees slowly propagate a bit like strawberry plants, with branches touching the ground, rooting, and eventually producing a new twisted trunk. Apparently, some of the trees are more than 1,000 years old, but I have no way of knowing if this is true. The word ‘faux‘ in this case refers to the Latin word for ‘beech’, but faux has many meanings, and another of them is a scythe for cutting grass. Our local friend acting as our tour guide mentioned this as the low light dimmed further and we found ourselves lost in a spooky forest. Blair Witch Project quotes started from various members of our party. It’s not typically what you want to hear when you’re thinking about using your mobile phone as a flash light since the sun has already set. We found the car thanks to our tour guide’s mobile phone with GPS, much to everyone’s relief. Go during the day.

About

I'm a technical author, journalist and writer from Australia who has been living in Europe since 2000 and exploring the world from there. My passions are writing, snow sports and travel.

1 Comment on “Faux de Verzy – wonky trees

  1. Pop pop! Wow – it’s funny you talk about these strange little trees – I’ve just been talking about them as part of a Paris photo quiz I’ve created for one of the beautiful Paris parks, but I didn’t know there was a whole wood of them out there somewhere! Great info, thanks 🙂