Just a stone's throw from Provence, to the west of the Rhône river, the Cévennes mountains offer gentle rolling hills, beautifully green chestnut forests, and villages built of majestic granite blocks. Here you are a traveller and not a tourist, venturing to a place off the beaten tourist path, where authentic people live in authentic villages.
In July the walking is more tolerable here than in Provence. In the photo below I'm up on the plateaus laden with broom, at this time of year their pods snapping like popcorn and dispersing their seeds.
On the banks of the Luech River, studying my map
The hills are laced with trails and tracks under the thick canopy of beech and chestnut trees, while the previous year's vintage of leaves offer a padding underfoot, unlike the jagged limestone trails that cover most of Provence.
Our hotel in Génolhac: a 12th century farmhouse, completely renovated and modern yet letting the old shine through: massive granite blocks and wooden beams highlighted in the rooms, hand-carved marble sinks imported from India, all understated luxury.
Bathtubs cut into massive granite boulders:
A small peek inside the room:
While outside the lounge chairs bathe in the sun and worship the Cévennes mountains in the background:
The trails above Génolhac, with the famed red and white stripe of the GR walking path, making for easy orienteering (the markings and signs seem to be much better in the Cévennes than in Provence)
Following a track through the chestnut forest and down to the town of Villefort:
After a long walk we arrive in the medieval village of La Garde Guérin, timeless and empty, a few dozen centuries-old granite houses separated by cobbled streets. If this village were in Provence it would have at least five candy shops and ten gift shops, and a restaurant or make that five; but here the streets are open and devoid of tourist trinkets, with vegetable gardens behind the houses.
It stormed heavily all night and the menacing clouds remained in the skies all morning, though hovering on the opposite side of the gorge, with rays of sun shining only on our village. It's all that you need for great photos!!:
In July the walking is more tolerable here than in Provence. In the photo below I'm up on the plateaus laden with broom, at this time of year their pods snapping like popcorn and dispersing their seeds.
On the banks of the Luech River, studying my map
The hills are laced with trails and tracks under the thick canopy of beech and chestnut trees, while the previous year's vintage of leaves offer a padding underfoot, unlike the jagged limestone trails that cover most of Provence.
Our hotel in Génolhac: a 12th century farmhouse, completely renovated and modern yet letting the old shine through: massive granite blocks and wooden beams highlighted in the rooms, hand-carved marble sinks imported from India, all understated luxury.
Bathtubs cut into massive granite boulders:
A small peek inside the room:
While outside the lounge chairs bathe in the sun and worship the Cévennes mountains in the background:
The trails above Génolhac, with the famed red and white stripe of the GR walking path, making for easy orienteering (the markings and signs seem to be much better in the Cévennes than in Provence)
Following a track through the chestnut forest and down to the town of Villefort:
After a long walk we arrive in the medieval village of La Garde Guérin, timeless and empty, a few dozen centuries-old granite houses separated by cobbled streets. If this village were in Provence it would have at least five candy shops and ten gift shops, and a restaurant or make that five; but here the streets are open and devoid of tourist trinkets, with vegetable gardens behind the houses.
It stormed heavily all night and the menacing clouds remained in the skies all morning, though hovering on the opposite side of the gorge, with rays of sun shining only on our village. It's all that you need for great photos!!:
From La Garde Guérin I walked to the base of the Chassezac gorge, through the greenest of chestnut forests on paths lined with mossy boulders. This walk was definitely the highlight of Cévennes for me:
And above the Chassezac, later that evening:
And above the Chassezac, later that evening:
Up on the plateaus the folloing day we passed pastures and walked through a veritable alpine setting, just below Mont Lozère. Here we passed the hamlet of Bellecoste, just a handful of old stone homes in various states of repair and disrepair:
The farm of Le Merlet, an organic farm/honey producer/B&B. This was our last stop in the Cévennes
The farm of Le Merlet, an organic farm/honey producer/B&B. This was our last stop in the Cévennes
