Day out in the Cevennes

phil north — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:17:00 +0100

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.

www.le-mas-source.com

Autumn is here!

phil north — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:33:00 +0100

To the English perception Summer lasts a long time here! We brits wander round in shorts & T shirts until the weather tells us to cover up, about now actually, so we have the idea that Summer has just finished. The locals are wise & are in their heavy clothes already. A glance at the trees & other vegetation and the russet reds & gorgeous golds & yellows of the vines paints another picture...it really is Autumn!

And just to teach us a lesson the rains have arrived, with a vengeance! As I type this with music in my headphones I had a big surprise in a gigantic thunderclap...nearly fell off my chair!

Until today we have been out there walking in the hills around our village in the Ardeche and hiking up in the Cevennes where we enjoyed picnics out among the rugged scenery under big bright skies.

Rain is very important here, if we don't have enough in Spring & Autumn there is drought. The vines could suffer!

Now that would be serious!

ardeche gite blog - Le Mas de la Source

Day out in the Cevennes

Autumn is here!