In Lozère, nature in a pure state

Let's start discovering the Lozère, a wild and secret setting, with its varied and fascinating landscapes.

La Lozère is a rural land, which rises at the head of the most populous departments of France. But don’t be fooled about it: far from being content with being a beautiful sleepy, it’s hatching and captivating those who venture on its paths by the beauty of its landscapes, both superb and mysterious.

Through this article, we take you to discover the Lozère, its must-sees and its paths. During this walk, we will cross the steppe landscapes and mountainous panoramas that are hung by rocks or covered by a green carpet. We will meet a multitude of lakes, streams and rivers, in this corner nicknamed “the source department” because all the rivers circulating there take their source. In places, the decor will make us travel to Ireland , Scotland, Canada or Iceland ; at other times, it will blow us Mediterranean perfumes.

We will take place in the four geological regions of the Lozère: the Margeride, the Aubrac, the Cevennes and the Mount Lozère, and finally the causses and the Gorges du Tarn and Jonte. Each in their own way and with their own identity, they are small green tourism paradise!

Margeride, secret land

Margeride occupies the north of Lozère and extends towards the Haute-Loire and Cantal neighbors. The most discreet of the Lozerian lands is a quiet region and a haven of peace ideal for a resurgent getaway.

Its large granite and green plateaus, punctuated with lakes and rocks, explore on foot, by bike or by horse. In the middle of the moorings and pastures, you take a large breath of fresh air and enjoy the pleasure of a horizon of all directions.

But the Margeride also offers mysterious forests, where we sink into the traces of the beast of the Gevaudan . This mysterious creature that terrorized local populations in the 18th century deeply marked the history of the places and the imagination associated with it.

Today, the cohabitation of the inhabitants of Margeride with wild animals is much more peaceful. In fact, the territory is illustrated in the protection of wildlife and the reintroduction of threatened species. So, the Parc des loups du Gévaudan and Saint-Eulalie European bison reserve are dedicated to the observation and protection of these species. The visit is a privileged opportunity to approach wildlife, and a fascinating experience that will delight young and old.

Yes! Margeride is also an excellent family destination, ideal for lovers of nature and large spaces, but also of heritage. Indeed, it also brings great care to the preservation and enhancement of the history of rural life. The reconstructions of the ethnographic museum of Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole, the ecomusée de la Margeride or the filature of the Calquières revitalize life at times. We also travel in time admiring the fortified gates of Marvejols, former royal and capital city of Gévaudan.

Before we get back to our road, let's enjoy the pretty name of the highest point of Margeride, the Fortunio thing . This amazing toponym is far from being incongru, since the word “truc” named in occitan a burrow or a big rock , and is commonly used to describe the reliefs of Lozère and elsewhere.

Authentic Aubrac

Cap à maintenant vers l’Ouest pour découvrir l’Aubrac ! This great volcanic plateau stretching towards Aveyron and the Cantal would hold its name of the gallo-Roman “braco”, which meant “wet place”.

It must be said that between rivers and lakes, water is not missing. This is a sign of the beautiful “ Lakes route” (D52), which leads to the impressive Déroc waterfall. At sunset, peaceful water stretches dyed with magic.

The soft reliefs of the Aubrac, rugged with a mellow grass where narciss sometimes live at the rhythm of the seasons and transhumances. The aubrac cows with their beautiful fave dress seem mistresses of the place and convent their immensity of the gaze.

Rare traces of human presence, the burons mark the landscape of Aubrac. These constructions of dry stone with a low silhouette, covered with a roof of lauze, once housed the men responsible for milking cows during the estives period, or were also used to store cheese. The unique landscapes of Aubrac are ideal for hiking, strolling and dreaming. The plateau is also crossed by one of the most famous hiking routes, the path of Compostela . By borrowing it, we discover at the turn of the villages a multitude of small heritage treasures, waterfalls to mills and crosses to fountains, passing through the Romanesque church of Nasbinals.

They are all testimonies of the life of the communities of the plateau of Aubrac over the centuries.

Around the proud Cevennes

The name Cévennes refers to the Lozerian massifs between Mount Lozère and Mount Aigoual, in the strict sense at least. Indeed, the valleys that surround them are often included in the name; as for the National Park of the Cevennes, it occupies a much wider and diverse territory, which covers the south-east of the Lozère and extends towards the Gard and Ardèche .

In Lozère, an accidental mountain chain lined with a soft southern plain, which was shaped through the ages by the multiple streams of water but also by human activity. It is also the imprint of agro-pastoralism that has enabled the Cevennes to be registered, with the Causses neighbors, Unesco World Heritage.

Rest assured: these cultural traces have not damaged the natural riches, and the Cevennes are still a wild and preserved refuge. They were also labeled “International Star Sky Reserve” by the International Dark Sky Association, the night is pure.

At the turn of its winding roads and numerous hiking trails, it is also admired by its rugged terrain and majestic sites. And the panorama suddenly opens on valleys with amazing reflections...

In the footsteps of Stevenson

The writer Robert Louis Stevenson was not mistaken. In the autumn of 1878, he undertook a crossing of the Cevennes by following from Monastier-sur-Gazeille a route that corresponds to the current GR70, linking the Puy-en-Velay Alès. Experience as long as he published, in 1879, Travel with a donkey in the Cevennes . With this story, he is permanently part of the history of the place, to the point of transmitting his name to the GR70, often called “ Stevenson's way “.

Today, he inspires many travellers who take him on foot or on a donkey’s back, to actress Laure Calamy in the recent film Antoinette in the Cevennes Caroline Vignal.

Mount Lozère

On the footsteps of Stevenson, we climb the uncontournable Mount Lozère, the highest massif of Lozère. Its slopes sometimes naked, sometimes covered with callune or wood, and holed by granite blocks and water points, dyed with ochre or mauve over the seasons. They are home to nuggets such as the gorges of Chassezac, taken by climbing or canyoning enthusiasts.

At the foot of the south slope, we discover a more intriguing treasure: the Cham des Bondons, sprinkled with menhirs. It is said that his puechs, astonishing reliefs in the form of nipples, would be the imprint of Gargantua’s heavy pass, which once trampled these lands.

In the skin of Stevenson or Rabelais giant, you climb to the top of Mount Lozère, the peak of Finiels, to discover an incredible view of the Cevennes valleys.

Cévenole valleys

“ At the top, at the pass, an admirable panorama of the Southern Cevennes, whose peaks extend far, blunt and rosy in an unbridled vallation, seem as many giant waves. ”

Promise, the one who wrote these lines – Emmanuel de las Cases, circa 1880 – was not known to us under the influence of any illicit substance! On both sides of the Cévennes cornice, there are valleys that marvel at their blue peaks.

Cévenole valleys are a territory with unique identity and unique terroir. If you find the stone houses with the roofs of lauze typical of the Lozère, you also plunge into a more Mediterranean landscape, where goats pass between mature trees and chestnut trees. The places are still traced to the terraced cultures and ancestral artisanal traditions, but also to their Protestant past.

Cevenole rebellions

The Reformation coming from Geneva settled very early in the region, making the Cevennes a Protestant epicentre. Following the revocation of the Nantes Edit in 1685, the local peasants and artisans rose against the persecutions imposed on Protestants , giving rise to a war called “the revolt of the camisards”, for these humble villagers fought in a simple shirt.

A few centuries later, the Cevennes were once again a high place of resistance when the maquisards found refuge on Mount Aigoual during the Second World War. Still today, the traces of these rebel presences continue to feed the proud imaginary linked to the Cevenole lands.

In the country of cocks and throats

Alongside the nearby Cevennes, the Causses of Lozère are part of UNESCO World Heritage . The three great ozerian causses – the Causse Méjean , Causse de Sauveterre and Black – are part of a set of medium mountain limestone plateaus that occupies the south of the Central Massif, riding on several departments. Each is delimited by deep gorges dug by rivers, the most famous being the more Gorges du Tarn And the Jonte Gorges.

Often arid, sometimes oaky, causses are related in places of Mediterranean vegetation. The thyme of the mountains and the sage come to tickle the ankles and the nostrils of the walkers, who marvel at the panoramas that open to them. Perched on the causses, it is not uncommon to believe in the end of the world!

The dry stone huts and traces of the fermière tradition remind us of the discreet and millennium human presence. On the causses, sheep are raised, cheeses are starved and bees are grown, while slimming the wild herbs of the trays produce a tasteful honey. The villages blend harmoniously into the landscape; on the slopes of the Causse de Sauveterre, the troglodyte hamlet of Eglazines melts even in the cliff.

The landscape is shaped in the rock that often forms impressive natural sculptures and concretions, both on the surface and on the ground. Because the causses have a second face, that of a country of caves and caves, which deserves to be explored as well.

The Mejean causse, between Arcs and Chaos

Lined almost everywhere with huge cliffs and canyons, the highest of the Lozerian causses has deserted island airs. The grass jaunie licked by the sun extends to a loss of sight, composing a steppe landscape, caressed in places by sweet grasses that are surnamed “an angel hair”, and barely chahetized by the affliction of the rocks.

In the southeast of the plateau, the rock becomes more bold and forms of incredible ruinous reliefs. So, the Chaos de Nîmes-le-Vieux It seems to have been carved by the human hand and its erect rocks may even remind the imaginative traveler of the mythical statues of the island of Easter.

A few kilometres west, the trail of the Arcs de Saint-Pierre is also spectacular . Through the walk you will discover intriguing cabins, but also and especially incredible arches of stone carved by water.

Aven Armand and the cave of Dargilan

If the plateau of the Méjean Causse fascinates, its bowels may be more captivating. They are one of the most spectacular caves in France, Aven Armand , and its finely stalagmite forest. His neighbor, cave of Dargilan , which was the very first French cave open to the public, is also worth a visit.

With only a handful of kilometers, these two caves are separated by the gorges of the Jonte.

Jonte Gorges and Tarn Gorges

At the foot of the plateaus, the rapid stream of the rivers has dug into impressive canyons and gorges that will delight athletes as well as lovers of beautiful landscapes.

In the gorges of the Jonte, the boldest practice climbing or slackline, and all marvel in front of the stone “vases” of the path of the cornices. From House of vultures and its viewpoint, we admire the flight of the majestic raptors.

The Gorges du Tarn, on the other hand, explode in a boat, canoe or paddle. Along the way, we also discover beautiful villages with cliffs, from Sainte-Enimie, medieval city, to Castelbouc and its castle. Here too, an underground world offers itself to explorers. It is even possible, for adventurers, to bivouaquer under ground, in the depths of a cave...

The Lozère, mysterious and luminous

The Lozère is a land of contrast, where you pass from the shadow to the light, from the naked steppes to the dark caves.

Many times, the places do not seem to be mystery and relate to a strange imaginary, sometimes shady, fed by the legends of the Gévaudan beast or the giant Gargantua , by the menhirs and cairns whose silhouette is confused with the natural rock formations, and by the tormented history of which the Lozère was in certain times the theatre.

But the Lozère also offers bright face of a rural region moving with strong identity and peaceful atmosphere. With a mild climate, its towns and villages are gradually reinventing themselves, rythmated by the peasant markets and a host of rural festivals, distant heirs of the first great French circus that emerged in Lozère in the 19th and 20th centuries.

From Langogne to Florac, to the Garde-Guérin, the Canourgue, the Pont-de-Montvert and so many others, we admire the beautiful stones and the small local heritage, while also discovering a rich terroir. Over the centuries, the Lozerians have built a privileged relationship with the nature around them, and we enjoy the tommes and pelardons from the farm, honeys and the products of the harvest.

To discover these delicacies, nothing better than to sit in one of the (very) many family restaurants that celebrate the local terroir, in a warm atmosphere and generally at a sweet price.

The locals carefully preserve heritage and local history and take it away to reinvent new cultural forms. Thus, the Malzieu-Ville celebrates each year the legend of the Gévaudan during the “Days of the beast”, while 2021 will see a tour of the film-concert Pastoral Kino , built around images of regional archives, in the vicinity.

Elsewhere, a new generation of electrifying actors and renews local cultural life, such as the association The New Dimension of Florac , which puts cinema in the spotlight at the festival “48 second images” and throughout the year with a programme of screenings and workshops.

If the Lozère is already a paradise of green tourism, we would not be surprised that it attracts in the coming years more and more neo-rural, tempted by its natural treasures, but also by a unique and vibrant culture.

One thing is certain: Whether you're a dreamer or adventurer, a lonesome or a good living, the Lozère deserves you to sit there.