Natural Crafts Midi-Pyrénées

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 pond of Pissevaches is located at the mouth of the Aude. It communicates with the sea through a grau which opens and closes according to the sea's movements. It is thus fed by the alternation of salt water and fresh water causing a soil rich in sediment. Landscape diversity also since it is practically dry in summer. This site is a lagoon complex including a zone of sansouire, a heath of salicornes, that the presence of nearly 200 species of birds has transformed into one of the best ornithological sites of the department.

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.

Discovered in 1886 during construction work on the railway, the Devèze cave is nicknamed the "Palais de la fileuse de verre" for the remarkable finesse of its concretions: "Aragonite flowers", a large petrified waterfall, impressive and imposing stalagmite, then an "altar" and its bright white candle, stalactites real mineral sculptures (rings, sickle, butterfly ...) and astonishing draperies tinted white to dark ochre.

An artificial lake of 136 hectares and more than 35 m ³, it will delight fishing enthusiasts, relax and wild escapades. A bathing area was built on an artificial beach, with bar-restaurant corner. The lake can be reached on foot, for a day or a relaxing weekend in the Lozériennes Cevennes.

At the foot of Mount Lozere, the bondons describe especially the Puechs and the Eschino d'Aze. Two limestone nipples were naturally and strangely drawn above the Tarn valley. Composed of marnes and limestone sediments, these two domes that resemble two heaps heaps, Les d'Allègre and Puech de Mariette are astonishing by their suddenness in the landscape. The legendary anecdote says Gargantua, curant his hooves, let the soil down the detritus they contained, and they came to form the Aze d and his two puechs.

A symbol of the tourist attraction of the Lozere, and by extension, the Causses, the gorges of the Tarn are unavoidable in this region. This spectacular site preserved and frequented since the second half of the th century is a fabulous natural site formed by alpine and pyrenean beardmore and limestone decay. Typical villages cross the river Tarn from Ispagnac: Quézac, Montbrun, Castelbouc, La Malène, Les Vignes, Le Rose, Sainte-Enimie, which is a feudal village. In the summer, there was a river on the bottom of the gorge to admire the high cliffs and rocky balls in canoe. Excavations are so deep and narrow, that in some places the cliffs tighten up and rise up to 500 m. 

On the foothills of the south slope between Florac and Saint-Jean-du-Gard, the Cévennes corniche is a route of the peaks which allows you to enjoy a breathtaking view of the heights while travelling by car. Friable soil carving gives a high-mountain impression, but with the special colours of the Mediterranean Cevennes. To do but caution, the roads are narrow.

This beautiful massif offers vast flattened and wild expanses, in the manner of a causse. Here and there, puechs enliven the landscape. The vegetation, mostly dry and arid, unfolds large areas of lawns scented with thyme and juniper. This crossing is also an opportunity to admire what remains of an agrarian era that is now over. The ruins of sheepfolds, dry stone walls, capitelles as well as imposing farmhouses are as many testimonies. At the top, you can enjoy a panoramic view of Sète and the Thau lagoon.