Gestes de Loire : haler

One exhibition, one day each month, thirty minutes, one gesture from the Loire!
This year, the museum's activities will give a voice to the "gestures of the Loire" and put people back at the heart of the river. Month after month, we'll be shining a spotlight on a singular verb, an action, its actor and its tools... This month, HALER in front of this bronze by Victor Demanet, dated 1925.
From here, you can hear them panting, blowing, even swearing to set the pace..., you can see them tramping along the riverbank, their bodies tense and their muscles bulging... what hard labour, what a nightmare! It has to be said that the Loire is not so easily tamed, and without the help of the wind, the heavy boats have to make their way upstream at tricky crossings, and the only recourse is human strength.
Once again, a tool with an enigmatic name - the "bricole" - was used. Is it an analogy with the medieval catapult and its pendulum movement, or is it similar to the halter, the rope looped around the neck? We'll have to wait and see if linguists and etymologists can agree! And then, do we need to decide? Once again, the people of the Loire have the art of naming their tools with elegance, mischief and mystery. What we can take for granted, however, is that this harness, originally made from woven hemp and bone, is perfectly suited to its purpose, as it allows the man to use all the strength in his legs, with his back straight and the tool wedged across his chest. What's even more astonishing is that it's the best we can do in certain circumstances these days! Where there's no engine, this age-old manoeuvre is still preferred.
The Musée de la Loire invites you to take a little cultural and historical lunchtime break, before or after your sandwich, your lunch bowl, to digest or whet your appetite... plunge with us into the heart of the indefectible links that united and still unite Man and the river!