Lot and Aveyron - The Pyrenees - Tarn and Cevennes
Lot & Aveyron
This relatively unknown region, which roughly forms a triangle linking the Lot and Tarn river valleys with the spectacular Aveyron Gorges, is firmly part of the South and has a true Mediterranean feel. Our 2006 bicycle tours take you into the heart of the Lot region and allow you to experience the charm and beauty of the Lot in a way you never would by car.
It is a proud and ancient part of the country, a sun-soaked region of contrasts, where the ancient villages - capping stony hilltops, guarding awesome gorges or nestling in the meanders of quiet river valleys - are as remarkable for their historic interest as for their stunning natural settings.
Historically this area has been inhabited by man since earliest times and you’ll come across evidence everywhere: dolmens on the causses, the celebrated caves at Pech’Merle, crumbling little cazelles (dry stone huts) which have served as homes and hiding places over the ages. Along your walking and cycling paths, you’ll see France’s finest turreted farmhouses, a wide variety of pigeonniers (dovecotes) and ancient old mills.
The mediaeval villages, châteaux and churches have a timelessness few other places offer too, as do the perfectly preserved bastide towns. Perched villages like St Cirq Lapopie and cliff-hanging Sauliac-sur-Célé are more spectacular than anything we have in Britain - the entrance to the Château des Anglais (fortified caves) is buried deep in the rock face. Najac is one of the prettiest towns in Europe. The main city, Albi, gave its name to the Cathars’ 'Albigensian Heresy', which was wiped out in C15 in one of the bloodiest crusades ever. Today it is famous for the works of artist Toulouse-Lautrec (he was born here) and for the formidable Sainte Cecile Cathedral, built to frighten the defeated “heretics” into accepting the power of the Catholic faith.
- Dramatic gorges, beautiful lakes, lush meadows, fertile valleys
- Eye-catching peaks, rugged spurs, rocky pinnacles
- Unique flora and fauna: Pyrenean lillies, blue gentian, columbine flowers
- Fortified villages, half-timbered houses, Roman spas
- An ornithologist's dream: eagles, vultures, tetras
Whatis the Pyrenees’ special magic? Maybe it’s the peace and solitude ofthe high mountains and valleys. Perhaps it’s the feeling you get on ahiking tour in the French Pyrenees of a place cut off from the realworld, where people, livestock and nature just live together in harmonyand no-one’s found a way to spoil it yet.
It’s a specialplace. The people, distrustful from long experience of governments andpoliticians on both sides of the mountains, hold out a warm welcome toall who want to understand how they live. The mountains themselvesencompass some of the country’s most savage and most spectacularlandscapes. The towns and castles bear witness to a turbulent historyfrom Roman through mediaeval times and, in many of them, you feel timehas stood still for the last five hundred years. There is a richheritage of neolithic art, and natural wonders from the snow-cappedpeaks of the Pyrenees to prodigious underground cave systems.
Someof the rarest species of birds and animals flourish here, undisturbed.Marmots, wild boar, foxes, roe deer can often be seen in the foothillsor by a mountain lake. Pyrenean ibex, isard and mouflons graze themountain passes, while bearded vultures and golden eagles circle thehighest peaks. You may even see a desman, a timid webbed footedmole-like creature who lives along the quieter banks of the Ariègeriver. Pyrenean wild flowers are no less remarkable - in spring, thehills are covered with crocuses, blue gentian, Pyrenean lilies, commonrockroses, yellow monkshood and columbine flowers.
Tarn & Cevennes
Thisdramatic region, hardly known even by the French, really is La FranceProfonde in every way. It is an area of spectacular scenery and offersa multitude of 5-star beauty spots and places of interest. Above all,it is a place of personal discoveries, an unspoilt paradise for loversof nature and France walking tours.
During your stay, you willtraverse the vast limestone plateaux of the Causses, where the lovesickRobert Louis Stevenson and his donkey, Modestine, travelled in 1878.You can picnic beneath vast plunging gorges, cool your feet in freshmountain streams and visit the ancient rock city of Montpellier-le-Vieux nestled in the shelter of sheer cliffs.
In the CévennesNational Park, there are over 4,000 species of wild flowers, including80 different orchids, and countless species of colourful butterflies.Graceful vultures soar high above the dramatic gorges of the Tarn,where beavers have recently been reintroduced into the rivers. Thereare fabulous caverns here too – plus fantastically eroded rockformations with names like 'Anvil' and the 'Vase of Sèvres'.
Walking
Gastronomic Walk in the TarnTrekking
Kayaking and Activity
Aveyron Activities