We love to sightsee, do the tourist bit and visit places of interest. This helps our knowledge of the area, of course, and benefits our gite business as we can offer genuine, first hand advice & ideas for our guests. It is also great fun!
As I have said, Autumn is particularly colourful, and a trip into the Cevennes is a delight at this time of year. So I planned a more or less circular route that takes in breathtaking views and journeys through Pine forest and among the ever present Chestnut and native Green Oak. Thus the scenery is as varied as it is huge. This is the place for wild open spaces and dramatic, steep sided valleys cloaked in forest. A place of wonder. Of sparkling rivers and streams. Trails & foopaths abound. There are countless well marked tracks and the topography lends itself to the adventurist walker should they so choose. I have hiked & scrambled up & down heartbreaking slopes and arrived hot & ready for a couple of cold beers at the many Gite D'Etapes or walkers' hostels along the way. But that was then! Today we content ourselves with a couple of hours up to a vantage point where we enjoyed truly awesome views of Mont Lozere and seemingly endless folds of hills fading into the distance. Spectacular!
Our route passed through Saint Laurent Les Bains, a pretty village nestling in the folds of the hills and host to a thermal spring. A not-too-pretty spa resort building now dominates the stone cottages & winding streets & lanes. We stopped and just had to dip our hands into the too-hot-to-hold-them-in-for-long stone fountain in the village centre. While we were there, a tall thin man shuffled up to the fountain, fag in mouth & crumpled plastic bag in one hand. As we watched, he removed some scruffy smalls from the bag and vigourously rinsed them in the hot water! One way to clean your socks & undies!
We pulled up some time later at Les Vans, another ancient market town that acts as gateway to the Cevennes & enjoyed a cold beer on the sunny terrasse of a bar overlooking the market place. Here we sat quietly & watched the world go by for a while. A great pastime! And a great end to a great day out.
