Back in the late 1800s, the Pearl Girls of Eymet in the Dordogne made funeral wreaths out of tiny glass pearls. Infact, it wasn’t just the girls who did the work, all generations got involved and even the children helped after school. This small industry helped local families earn some extra income.

The work involved threading tiny glass pearls onto a long silver or gold twisted wire that was then applied to a design. The wire could be up to 15 metres long so the women had to sit up high to accommodate the length of the wire.

When I spoke to a local Eymetois, who is passionate about Eymet in the olden days, he told me that there were very few examples of these special funeral wreaths still in existence. However, he had heard that there maybe one or two in the graveyard of the tiny village surrounding Château de Biron. So off I went in search of them and I wasn’t disappointed.

Just behind the tiny chapel that sits below the imposing Château de Biron is a small graveyard with beautiful views over the valley. It was a warm, sunny day with a magnificently blue sky and after letting myself into what was a cocoon of peace, it didn’t take me long to find the only grave that had the wreaths. It was a large family grave and as I studied the wreaths a little closer (there were three of them), I could see for myself just how much work had gone into creating them by the Pearl Girls of Eymet. It must have taken hours and hours of work and I bet they all had a good old chat while they were working. Quite unexpectedly, I suddenly became emotional and felt a closeness to this family that I hadn’t known and that had passed through history before me and left such an extraordinary story behind them.

If you would like to read more about the Dordogne, check out my book, My Dordogne Life, available on Amazon.