Exploring the Cevennes Mountains in Southeastern France

by Helmut, La Vieille Maison, Durfort, France

Email Helmut | Visit the La Vieille Maison Website

Visit the Purple Roofs Southeastern France Page

Want to Get Married in France?

The Cevennes: large protected mountain areas, unforgettable landscapes, abundant nature, and an original and intriguing history: an ensemble of unique, protected tourism resources.

Mount Cévenole is a series of crests, stretching from Aigoual (1 567 meters) to Mont Lozère (1,702 meters), its slopes covered in a vast carpet of oak, chestnut trees and shrubs.

The Cévenol hamlets and villages nestled therein are one of the region's hidden treasures. The southern flank of the mountain is dotted with Mediterranean streams, natural vestiges of nature from another time, such as the Cirque de Navacelles.

To the west, the desertscape of Causse Méjan plays host to living species that thrive in a continental climate, such as bisons or Przewalski horses. The gorges of the Tarn snake beneath its feet.

This land of traditional values and hospitality is opening up to the idea of a tourism that respects both man and his environment. A large part of this region is classified as a National Park or a global biosphere reserve. Locals born here or elsewhere have the know-how of true artisans, and still raise goats, sheep and cattle here. Visitors can enjoy products fresh from the land, artistic creations, a personalised welcome. basically, may share this region with its inhabitants for the duration of their stay.

"...a land of freedom and independence, where man has often found refuge. Shepherds, pilgrims, persecuted Protestants, rebels, '70s hippies, and minorities of all kinds have come to the Cevennes to escape the law and the hard ways of the world. This reputation endures still, but now that a return to nature is in style, this area has also been revealed to be one of the best for tourist destinations and landscape." --Guide du Routard Languedoc Roussillon 2006

The Cevennes has never been a single united geographic or administrative area. It is currently divided into 5 departements and 3 regions, whose boundaries have changed greatly over the years. This mountainous chain, starting at the Narouze sill and reaching the level of the Canal du Centre, has often been described as the division between the waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.

However, history and culture have fashioned a little country emerge from this vast area that is keenly aware of its own identity, and which the Scottish writer Stevenson named, in 1878, as "pure bred Cevennes" or the "Cevennes from Cevennes", which has been memorialised in literature, especially by Jean-Pierre Chabrol, as "La Cévenne".

The Cevennes is, simultaneously, a region, a culture, a memory, identities and a claim of belonging. This Cevennes only exists through the people who have made it and who perpetuate it. It is identifiable by the vectors of its character: Protestantism, anthropisation of the landscape, chestnut trees, and silk.

The Cevennes landscape is not very high, but it has steep slopes and a succession of crests and narrow valleys that are completely enclosed.

To survive here, man had to completely adjust to the land. It's area that has been built upon, humanised, and its landscapes tamed. Geographers, historians and visitors recognize its two principal traits: the terraces and the water systems.

The Cevennes feature a gigantic amphitheatre of terraces: the natural slopes have been replaced by the continuous piles of terraces, bancels or faissas, running from the valley floor right up to the hill crest. This gigantic work often required that stone and, especially, earth was transported on men's backs using large baskets called terrairaus, which were also used for carrying manure and bringing in the harvest.

The region's water supply also creates a paradox: a shortage in one moment, and too much the next. The Cevennes Mediterranean climate is typified by dry summer periods which are followed by diluvial rainfalls that causes deep and highly destructive erosions and flooding that are as sudden as they are violent.

Man has, through his water system, structured the whole of the territory with a very tight network to both protect himself from this destructive water and to capture it, store it and transport it to satisfy his needs.

Paragliding, mongolfieres, and kayaking are just some of the activities that allow you to come into contact with the beauty of nature in this part of France. The region is close to the Mediteranean Sea - you can enjoy the beauty of the French Coastline and its culture.

At the border of this national park, you'll find a 500 year-old, typical cevennol stonehouse and silk factory - La Vieille Maison-Halte Gourmande. Our home is located in the calm countryside on the borders of the Cevennes Mountains, in a small dale, encircled by woods and vinyards. From this old stonehouse, you'll enjoy a wonderful view into the valley and onto the Cevennes mountains. Across a long arch in stones where, every year, the swallows come to build their nests of loam, its entrance leads up to the inner covered courtyard - a great place to sit in the shade during the warm afternoon hours, or to enjoy gourmet diners from our halte gourmande.

From the courtyard, you have also access to the balcony, covered with the Wisteria, and to the ancient part of our guesthouse, with its rooms and dining facilities for the winter, as well as the spacious living room with its chimney. The terrace on the roof is encircled with thundred-year-old ancient Wisteria - the perfect place to rest or dine in the spring or fall.