Archaeology handicrafts and science and technology sites to visit Lozère

Two traditions coexist to explain the origin of the name of French Valley, which would refer to a time when the valley, located in the territory of the Wisigoths, was a possession of the Franks. The legend also wants the construction of Notre-Dame-de-Valfrancesque in Moissac to commemorate a victory of the Francs on the Sarrasins. We would have named the valley in their honor. Another version reported that during the Hundred Years War the valley was the only haven of peace, because it was not occupied by the English.

Bordered by the Lot and the Allier to the north and the Tarn to the south, the Mont Lozère massif dominates the department to which it gave its name; the Tarn has its source there, while the other two rivers find their source a little further north. This granite mass, with its gentle shapes, culminates at the summit of Finiels, at an altitude of 1,699 m. The massif, located in the heart of the Cévennes National Park, is home to a particularly rich fauna and flora. Cattle are an integral part of the pasture landscape, as are the wild boars, deer and roe deer that live in the forests. Frogs and insectivorous plants live in the peat bogs. The territory is indeed a wet and green ecosystem, with many small streams.

Mount Lozère has particularly harsh winters. Thus, if it opens its paths to hiking and discovery in all seasons, it is a privileged destination for ski lovers. A ski resort is located in the village of Le Bleymard, at an altitude of 1,700 metres, and offers downhill, cross-country, hiking, snowshoeing and sledging on a preserved area of human scale. The medieval town of La Garde-Guérin, the lake of Villefort and its many water activities (fishing, swimming, sailing), the Pic de Finiels, the granite gorges of the Chassezac, the Cham des Bondons which gathers 154 menhirs... are also among the must-see places to discover on the exceptional lands of the Mont Lozère.

Coming from the Atlantic coast, the practice of erecting megaliths reached the south of France around 3,600 BC. The territory of Lozere, and the Causses region, was then covered with menhirs and dolmens, funerary constructions buried under mounds. The Cham-des-Bondons (north-east of Florac) has a number of menhirs which has nothing to envy to the site of Carnac. Under the aegis of the Cévennes National Park, several discovery circuits have been established.

The site is part of the Cévenne Ecomuseum: explanatory panels help visitors to discover this natural area located on a rocky base overlooking the Tarnon valley. The big beast is called grallator minusculus, the prints are those of its toes (50 cm). As for the animal itself, it would have been of a total length of 7 to 8 m. A small dinosaur, therefore, which left its tracks in the calcareous clay, 200 million years ago.