For a long time, the only way for farmers to assess the passage of time while working in the fields was to observe nature. Everyone had to pay attention to the changing light during the day by taking reference points in the landscape.
From generation to generation, certain mountains functioned as gigantic stone "clocks". The rock of Sainte-Madeleine is one of them.
 
In summer, in the morning, the shadow stretches across its slopes and then shrinks. At noon, the sun fully illuminates the rock and gives the signal for lunch.
At the end of the afternoon, its last rays illuminate the rock and announce the end of a long working day.

We don't know why this rock, which seems to watch over the valley, bears the name of the Patron Saint of Provence. The chapel that was dedicated to her has been restored and has become an Andy Goldsworthy Land-Art installation, (a refuge, a sancturary of peace, constructed with, and repsecting the natural surroundings), under the patronage of the CAIRN Art Centre.