J.Verne diary

«a midi 1/2  arrive à Tiness – un ferme tres grande»
– Jules verne, 26. July 1861 
[12:30, arriving at Tinnes – a very big farm]
.
This weekend 50 000 music lovers gather for 4 days, at the shore of lake Heddal in Telemark, to listen to their favourite artists at «Notodden Blues Festival», in Norway.

As the population the rest of the year is only 13000, it is obvious that getting accomodation enough these festival days, strains all possibilities. Myself, I decided to contact the ‘Su-Tinnes’ farm, situated on a hilltop overlooking the town, within walking distance to all the music venues. Here, visitors can book a ‘stabbur’ to stay the night – a converted log-cabin, initially built back in the 1800s, for food storage.

I spent the night here, at this «ferme tres grande», on the Hitterdal road. Most likely, at the very same spot, where Jules Verne, then age 33, stopped to admire the view and make a quick sketch in his diary.

This incredible location high up on the headland, exactly where the landscape opens up towards the lake and the valley, offers visitors a magnificent view, after descending from the forests surrounding the silver mines at Kongsberg (King’s mountain).

«maison a Tiness»

In a quite similar way it probably impressed  [also music lovers] Jules Verne and composer Aristide Hignard, together with their friend Émile Lorois, arriving here in 1861. Foreign travellers have, since the 1800’s, visited these parts of Telemark to see the waterfalls – and, just like these three French voyageurs – to admire the famous 13th century Heddal (Hitterdal) Church.

Along the way, the most natural thing to do is (as any one would) :  ‘take snap shots’ of the surroundings.
Verne describes briefly his Scandinavia days in July and August, in his diary: «Carnet de voyage 1861»  (Bibliothèques d’Amiens Metròpole)
On every page of the diary, Verne’s impressions of nature and scenery are expressed verbally. But his many observations of architecture along the way, are registered by means of drawings. [see all Verne’s drawings here]

As was the case on Verne’s arrival in 1861, passing this very first and biggest farm any traveller would encounter, following Hitterdalsvegen (The Hitter-valley-road) on the west bank of the Tinn river : The main/ southern Tinnes -farm.

Verne, during his stop, draws a quick sketch with few details (probably later to be elaborated further) of such a logcabin he saw, typical of the area.
(Several, almost identical examples exist – some are displayed at the nearby  outdoor museum, as these type of buildings can be dismantled and relocated)

Verne’s indication of light direction, evident in drawing, means it might easily be the exact same which is depicted in my above foto, which has an identical orientation, N/S.

So, did Verne and friends spend time here at Notodden?
According to diary, after an early start [06:30) from Madame Hansen’s hotel at Kongsberg, the party arrived the Tinnes farm around mid day, after eating lunch at a ‘very nice guesthouse’.
«a 9 heures, nous nous arrêtons pour dejeuner dans un auberge fort propre »
[Probably ‘Kobbervollane’ relay station – see map]
– and then again, according to diary, dining around 2 o’clock at relay station «Listhus», close to the Heddal stave-church, some 5 km further along the Hitterdal road. [see scan: «Listhus station arivee a 1:15» ]. Therefore, they probably just had a brief stop to admire the spectacular view of the valley and lake Heddal. There is no indication in Verne’s diary, that they made a stop to eat at the Tinnes farm.

[see jules-verne.no / julesgverne.com  for more details on Verne & Norway]
………..
[This was written during the «Notodden Bluesfestival 2025» by PJMoe,
who also attended the festival hosted symposium:
«UNESCO,  Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage – 10 years»
–
Note:  among their website featured stories , is the Verne -related, :
«Visiter le Télémark? Med billett til jordas indre, Heddal og Tinn»
which is a description of Verne’s journey through Telemark.
– borrowing extensively from the afterword (PJMoe), for the latest Norw. translation of Verne’s: «Voyage au centre de la terre /1864» (Vidarforlaget 2018)
This aft.w. highlights many elements from the above mentioned 1861 Verne diary]