It is not only in the Vaucluse that the legend of the Coulobre is still told, in the Dordogne too...
In ancient times, in Lalinde a strange animal, "lo coulobre" was hiding in a druidic cave, a cave with difficult access on the steep slopes of the valley.
Brrrr...
According to the legend, this monster would be a colossal snake with a huge mouth on a head decorated with horns and ears...
It is also said that the reptile would be provided with legs equipped with claws as well as wings.
The beast is so gigantic that when its tail is on top of the cliff, its head is at the level of the river allowing it to drink. The size and the strength of the animal make that when it drinks, besides the water, it sucks so strongly that it moves each time enormous blocks of stones... it is thus that would have been formed the dangerous passage of the jump of the Gratusse.
Lo coulobre is evil and attacks the animals, men, women and boatmen of the Dordogne, kidnapping them to devour them in his lair.
It is also said that "all the neighbors of these places went to Saint Front and begged him to drive it out of their region... Having crossed the Dordogne on dry land, the latter went to the snake's lair, made the sign of the cross and ordered the beast not to go to any place where there were men and women. The monster sank into the water and immediately went back to the ocean from where it had come.
The question today is "Did the bishop defeat the representative of evil with the sword? Or did he do it by sheer force of will?
Even today, along the banks of the Dordogne, one can see a cluzeau called "the hole of Coulobre".
https://www.pays-bergerac-tourisme.com/fr/decouvrir/cote-pierres/bastides/lalinde
