At Le Vigan (Gard): Camping le Val de l'Arre
Thursday 6 August 2009
The drive from Millau to Le Vigan was straightforward and short - only 48 miles using the free section of the A75 between junctions 47 and 48, then the twisting, hilly D999 across the Col de la Barriere to Le Vigan, leaving the Aveyron and entering the Gard. The road surface of the D999 is generally poor and in places appalling for a major through-route. The weather remained hot and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
We found Camping Le Val de l'Arre easily as it was well-signposted from the main road as it by-passes Le Vigan. It is a lovely site by the River Arre about 2 miles from Le Vigan itself. We arrived at lunchtime (or perhaps during lunchtime would be more appropriate - it was about 2.30) so naturally Reception was shut, but we unearthed the nice couple who run the site (she is Dutch, he is French) at the bar, and were soon settled on a large, shaded pitch quite close to the river:
It was as hot as ever so we set off to explore the River Arre by the site and found a curving section which formed a large, natural pool, easy to get into and excellent for swimming with deep water towards the opposite bank where large rocks formed a cliff. Although this was a favourite place for bathing it was not too busy and the cool water was wonderfully refreshing in the fierce heat of the afternoon:
We followed this swim with a very late lunch (at about 4.30!) and then set up our awning - there is plenty of room for it, it greatly enhances the natural shade from the trees, especially in the afternoon and we are here for a whole week. We even put up the front sun-blind on the awning, a white translucent panel that diffuses the sunlight and reduces its heat. By the time we had finished, everything looked very settled. This was hot work in a temperature of nearly 40C so we both went for showers and felt really good after them - the facilities here are excellent with plenty of loos and showers, all kept very clean; also everything that's needed for washing-up and washing clothes etc. We think we are going to like this site very much. The small shop on-site is also useful and we bought lots of fruit; with some cheese and bread this was all we needed - we couldn't face another barbecue today!
Friday 7 August 2009
The sound of light rain on the roof woke us in the early hours, forcing us to shut the roof vents in spite of the inside temperature remaining in the upper 20s. We woke again at about 8am to a more cloudy day. The site shop sells fresh bread and croissants, also the local paper, from about 8.30am. After breakfast under the awning we spent the morning updating our holiday blog and otherwise using the Internet; the online access situation here is as good as the one at Camping Les Rivages, Millau was hopeless. Here wi-fi works all over the site and works well in spite of the signal strength being marked as "Low" at our pitch; it seems fairly fast and very reliable. Unfortunately it isn't free but at 24 euros for a whole week round the clock, we didn't think that too bad (you can also buy shorter periods but if you're here for a week the 24 euros is probably the best deal). Compared to 6 euros for one hour at Camping du Chateau de Gandspette, it's a bargain, and a lot better than having to use McDonald's!
A quick dip in the campsite swimming pool preceded the usual snack lunch. The pool is nice and we enjoyed it, but the river is better for swimming as the pool was noisy and again dominated by kids - the little ones were noisy but basically fine; the problem was the teenage boys who were even noisier and spent most of the time either trying to duck girls under the water or trying the same, more aggressively, on each other in a kind of water-duelling. In between these combats they would climb out and place themselves as far as possible from the edge, like a fast bowler positioning behind a cricket wicket, then execute a running jump to create the largest possible splash. They also liked beating the surface with their hands to create even more splashes until the turbulence resembled a mid-Atlantic swell. We stayed in about five minutes and survived without anyone actually landing on top of us.
We took the Smart to the Super-U (about 1.5 miles away on the campsite side of the town) to stock up on provisions, and back to pack them away in the fridge; we then drove into the centre of Le Vigan, a medium size town and a pleasant place with some nice features, but also having more generally a slightly run-down feel to it, like many of the towns and villages in this area. It was busy and we parked with some difficulty in a back street in order to walk around. The very centre of the town is its best feature with islands of outside eateries, crowded with tables, most of them occupied in late afternoon by drinkers rather than eaters. It woud be difficult to do, but a great improvement, if this area could be fully pedestrianised. We found an excellent butcher (Martin) with a sense of humour (he accused R of being Spanish) and bought some very nice boneless pork steaks and sirloin beef steaks - they looked far more attractive than the meat in the Super-U. This will be barbecue (grill) fodder for the next two days.
Le Vigan (centre):
Back at the campsite we grilled duck breasts before they went out-of-date and ate them with salad and a bargain bottle of Haut-Medoc (2006, won a Gold Medal at Bordeaux, cost 3.85 euros in Intermarche).
Saturday 8 August 2009
The cloud had dispersed and sunshine reigned supreme again this morning in spite of a forecast of thunderstorms. After breakfast we walked the two miles from the campsite into Le Vigan - there was very little shade at any point on this walk and we found it extremely hot. We passed these two interesting bridges across the Arre, this one near the campsite:
and this one in the town:
We strolled around the town's interesting Saturday market:
and M bought two summer dresses from one of the clothes stalls - they were priced at 10 euros each and she got the pair for 15 euros after bargaining. It seemed even hotter on the walk back to the campsite, and as soon as we arrived we took to the river again for another cooling dip before lunch. After a short siesta we drove in the Smart across the Col du Minier and Col de la Sereyrede to the summit of Mont Aigoual (1567m) with its observatory; this brought back more memories of the 2004 rally in the Midget (it was here, exactly, where we had first encountered the clutch / gears problem that was to plague us throughout the event). Indeed this drive bought back more distant memories of trips in the 80s and 90s in a variety of vehicles. The views were as stunning as ever but here in the higher mountains the weather was building into threatening storms with enormous cumulus and, in the distance, even more impressive cumulo-nimbus with jet-black centres. As we descended the more easterly route from l'Esperou through Valleraugue to Pont-Herault, the first rain fell in large heavy droplets; eventually we had to close the Smart's roof!
Ascending the Col du Minier from Le Vigan:
At the top of the Col de la Sereyrede:
At the summit of Mont Aigoual:
We recognised Valleraugue as one of the places we stayed in 2001 after our walk of the "Robert Louis Stevenson" trail between Monastier and St.Jean-du-Gard. This was after the last day of that walk which was 11th September 2001.
We had retrieved our car from Le Puy en Velay on 12 September after a night at St.Jean-du-Gard, travelling back to Le Puy by train. We had been entirely out-of-touch with news services until R had received a text on his mobile telling us of the 9/11 atrocity and the collapse of the twin towers. Scarcely able to believe this news we drove to Valleraugue where we had pre-booked two nights. The next morning (13Sep 2001) we breakfasted with an American family just starting a holiday who had flown from Boston to Paris on the morning of 11th. Our conversation was not the usual "small talk". Later that morning R managed to buy a copy of the Washington Post from the Valleraugue "tabac" and the full horror of what had occurred was revealed to us. Yes, we remember Valleraugue. It hasn't changed much. The Auberge de Bruyeres (where we stayed) and the tabac are still there. Would that one could say the same for the thousands of innocent dead and the families ruined on 11 September 2001.
These were sombre thoughts for a holiday as we drove through Valleraugue, and it didn't seem wrong that by now it was raining steadily.
Happier memories returned as we passed a hotel and restaurant at Le Rey, between Pont d'Herault and Le Vigan, that had been a particularly splendid lunch stop on the 2004 car rally; the sort of lunch stop, indeed, that would be inconceivable for a motor-sport event anywhere other than in France. The weather had been superb then and we harboured very fond memories of this place, and of us eating rather well, while two young men did their best to keep our afflicted MG going in spite of its part-time clutch. But we had forgotten its name and location. It is the Chateau du Rey; as for its location we had discussed this throughout the drive as all we could remember was that the lunch stop followed the long stages forming the descent from Mont Aigoual on the Southern side, again using roads avoided this time! We rounded a corner on the D999 and, suddenly, there it was! A meal here suggests itself during
our stay at Le Vigan. As we approached the campsite the storm finally broke with nature's usual firework display and torrential rain. Undaunted we set up our barbecue under the awning - useful for more than keeping the sun off - and ate outside surrounded by a waterfall on three sides.
Sunday 9 August 2009
Yesterday evening's storm had persisted into today's early hours, the thunder and the drumming rain keeping us awake for quite a while, so we woke late to a cloudy overcast though the temperature was still warm, rising to 28C by midday. The rain had ceased though everywhere was wet, the ground sodden and the trees dripping. After a particularly late breakfast we drove the Smart to the Super-U for a re-fuel, only to find a crowd of angry French motorists at the pumps because the automatic credit card pumps had stopped working. One fortunate driver had just managed to pay at the "caisse" but he was the last for today - it was 12.20pm, Super-U closes at 12.30pm on Sundays and "Madame" at the "caisse" was going home; she was not serving anyone after 12.20. M approached her with a smile in the hope that she would relent for the remaining ten minutes as the "automates" were out-of-order, but all she
got was a sharp "Ferme!" and a scowl. Neither of us consider the French ruder than the English in general (we think both are pretty rude cultures) but when the French do rudeness they certainly do it well!
So we shot off to Intermarche which was shut of course but the "automate" worked just fine.
We skipped lunch and drove to the Grotte des Demoiselles just South of Ganges. The weather was improving with occasional appearances of the sun. We arrived at the Cave entrance at about 1.15pm and found only a short queue for tickets and for the funicular railway taking you into the mountain. We think the queues were probably short because it was lunchtime; when we came out about two hours later the queues were much longer. The caves are spectacular, especially the enormous cavern known as "The Cathedral" with its many fascinating rock features including the famous "Virgin and Child". The tour, a labyrinthine walk of about a kilometre, was well organised although our French-speaking guide was quite difficult for us to understand; however we were given an explanatory leaflet in English which compensated a bit for this. The tour took about 2 hours and we thought it good value at 8.50 euros each.
Grottes des Demoiselles:
We returned to the campsite by a round-about route exploring some of the Herault valley, its gorges and villages, including St.Martin-de-Londres and, via the picturesque medieval bridge near St.Etienne d'Issenac,
Brissac and then Laroque, taking time to park and walk around the latter, with its interesting, quite-recently restored chapel. As we drove through Le Rey we stopped at the Chateau and made a reservation for dinner next Wednesday evening.
The sky remained cloudy for our evening barbecue but at least it was dry again now!
Monday 10 August 2009
After another leisurely morning at the campsite starting with breakfast and terminating with lunch, we set off in the Smart in a similar direction to yesterday, driving to Brissac and then on small roads to the tiny hamlet of St.Andre-de-Bueges and along a no-through-road to its end in the Bueges valley. The map shows a footpath running from here alongside the river to the larger village of St.Jean-de-Bueges and this was easy to find and follow. We parked by the medieval bridge at the start of the path and walked to St.Jean (about 3 miles), the path climbing steeply at first into the gorge and then descending again to the river; we had brought swimming things hoping for a dip in the Bueges but it was completely dry!
The walk was lovely and St.Jean is another pretty village with a hilltop ruined chateau:
We strolled around the narrow streets and alleys and ended up at the bar / restaurant for drinks (didn't note its name, but there's only one):
The cold drinks were welcome as it was as hot as ever, the sun and blue skies having reappeared today, with enough fluffy cumulus to improve photos and provide occasional relief as they passed over the sun. Walking into St.Jean we encountered a group of young people dressed in smart red uniforms with an adult leader - a tall black guy similarly clad - obviously an organised party out for a walk. Where we had parked there was a white van and white minibus with German plates and the name of a youth organisation on the sides of the vehicles so we think they were theirs; we met them again at the bar. St.Jean-de-Bueges is well worth visiting - it is clean and tidy without having been artificially prettified; there are flowers everywhere and some impressive cacti:
Best of all, unlike the better-known St.Guilhem-le-Desert (say), it's off the beaten track and therefore not so crowded in season. The bar is also a restaurant and does food at lunchtimes and in the evenings, sometimes with live music accompanying dinner. We liked St.Jean-de-Bueges:
We walked the 3 miles back to the car, retracing our steps, although a circular walk is also possible here using a path on the other side of the river:
We are sure that the river is dry only at this time of year - there's plenty of evidence that the water hammers along here in other seasons.
Having reached the car we drove through St.Jean on the D1 and then along the short stretch of the D122 to Causse-de-la-Selle. We remembered that it was here that we bought some excellent Languedoc wine in 2001 that we had drunk with a meal at the Auberge in Valleraugue; the proprietor there had recommended it and told us it was sold at the vineyard at Causse, so we had located the vineyard, with some difficulty as we recalled, and bought 2 cases (24 bottles - we were driving a Renault Scenic at the time with plenty of carrying capacity). We managed to find this vineyard again - it is called the Mas de Brunet and is down a long, narrow track just on the outskirts of Causse-de-la-Selle, on the road in, the D122, from St.Jean-de-Bueges in fact, and there is a large sign on the D122 so it would have been hard to miss. We both remembered it well; they have smartened it up a little, that's all. The wine
is not the cheapest Languedoc you can buy but the Cuvee Prestige red (9.45 euros) and the AOC white (8.80 euros) are both excellent and while, at these prices, they are not bargains, we think they are still good value. We tasted several of the red and white wines on offer (they also do roses which we didn't try) and decided these, the two most expensive, are the ones to go for as they are much better than the Cuvee Tradition Red or any of the Vins de Pays (a lot cheaper). We told them about our previous visit in 2001. We bought six bottles of each of the more expensive red and white and they gave us a bottle of red VDP as a present! We said we'd try to come back again in a bit less than 8 years next time!
From Causse we drove further South on the D4 to St.Guilhem-le-Desert with its hilltop chateau. From about 4Km North of St.Guilhem the D4 follows first a twisting, narrow gorge and then the Herault river (again); it is a much-used road but rather narrow in places and in the holiday season especially, when it is stuffed with traffic, you must expect to encounter some appalling and scary driving, many drivers simply not knowing the width of their vehicles and yet behaving as if on a rally. These people are prats - beware of them! St.Guilhem is well-known and a magnet for tourists; also this part of the Herault valley, like the Gorges du Tarn, has been heavily and over-developed by the canoe-rental industry. All of this contributes to the traffic on the D4 at the height of the season. These are places that would be nice to visit just out of season (June, say, or early September - but the "season" is perilously short here, as in much of France; lots of things open surprisingly late and close amazingly early because of the French tradition of everyone holidaying in the same four weeks). In our view, sadly a lot of this more Southerly area, nearing the coast, is best avoided between mid-July and mid-August, but that's just our taste. When we reached St.Guilhem there were cars and people everywhere (it was about 6pm) so we didn't stop. The famous Pont de Diable, a couple of kilometres further South, was even worse - it was heaving, the "lake" was full of literally hundreds of swimmers and there was nowhere to park; many cars had been more abandoned than parked, boxing others in. So we didn't stop here either but took the D27, D32 and D986 back Northwards to Ganges, stopping at the Laroque Intermarche to buy steaks for supper, then back to the campsite on the by-now very familiar stretch of the D999.
Tuesday 11 August 2009
After our usual breakfast we drove to the Cirque de Navacelles. This is an essential visit to make in the Languedoc.
A "Cirque" is an amphitheatre-like valley formed at the head of a glacier by erosion; the one at Navacelles is a fine example with steep cliffs forming a deep canyon on the course of the River Vis. It is isolated with only a few small village communities living in the surrounding areas, on the high limestone plateaus (Causses) of Larzac and Blandas, and a small community at Navacelles itself, in the depths of the canyon, beside impressive waterfalls on the Vis. It is an ecological and geological wonder and has been designated by the French government as a "Grand Site", one of 33 such designations in France. In terms of getting there, we can do no better than quote "Wikipedia":
"Roads in the area are very poorly maintained and are only wide enough for one vehicle. In order to pass the landform, a dangerous, but exhilarating, road which weaves down into the valley and clings to the sheer cliff face on the way back up must be braved. This journey is one of the draws for tourism in the area."
We have made this journey three times before, two of those in the MG Midget used for the 2004 rally. The road has been improved since our first visit in the 80s and is not dangerous in good weather and if approached with care. As usual on such roads anywhere, not only in France, the main hazard is other motorists, almost always male, whose own view of their competence is as generous as the reality is disappointing, and who drive too fast and badly, in the middle of whatever road width is available (regardless of corners) with no concept of "line" and no idea of the width of whatever they are driving. We're sorry if this sounds harsh but some of this driving is appalling and roads like this are not dangerous if approached with a bit of imagination and plenty of thought for other users. Oh, and in a suitable vehicle - there were "camping-cars" parked at Navacelles. For some reason they are not banned on either of the two descents into the Cirque; neither are towed caravans - the mind boggles! And although we took it steadily, it was huge fun in the Smart!
The French writer Max Chaleil, in his description of the Cirque de Navacelles says that:
"Navacelles simply takes your breath away: this rift, rupturing the silent and infinite causse..."
We approached from the North through the hamlet of Blandas leading to the easier of the two road routes, the D713. The sky was pure blue and the sun hot. There are few opportunities to stop, just one at the very top of this descent, by a decent restaurant (the Relais du Cirque), and a second on a corner part-way down. At the bottom we turned towards the village of Navacelles:
We parked with difficulty - it was pretty crowded down there, a big contrast with our last visit 14 years ago in 1995. We discovered that the Auberge des Cascades (where we remembered getting a decent meal in the past) doesn't serve weekday lunches but we found a small creperie further into the village and ate a simple lunch of a delicious mushroom omelette with green salad, followed by a selection of cheese and sweet crepes for dessert; with 500cl of drinkable red wine this cost 30 euros for two and we added a tip for the waitress, who was friendly and quite delightful.
There was an interesting incident here - two French couples arrived at more-or-less the same time as us and went immediately up some steps to a higher level terrace where a largish table appeared to be free - in fact it had been reserved. They returned towards the lower terrace of the creperie but there was no table for four available so they did not enter the restaurant but stood in the street discussing what they should do. We noticed that there were in fact two tables with four seats and only two seats occupied at each, so we asked the couple at one of these if they minded us joining them. They said they were about to leave anyway and we were welcome to sit there. Seeing this, one of the Frenchmen in the group of four still in the street, still apparently discussing what to do, clearly took great exception to what we had done. He came over and with obvious anger said somenthing to us in French, speaking fast; genuinely neither of us understood a word! R replied politely in French to the effect that we were English and we hadn't understood. We understood the Frenchman's reply, however, as it was delivered in slow, deliberate and clear French and was to the effect that we had chosen not to understand and we had, in fact, understood perfectly well (totally untrue in fact). R simply repeated that he had not understood. Only then did we work out that this was to do with our taking the two places at the table which he clearly felt should be occupied by his party, as the other two seated there were now getting their bill! He stalked off towards his three companions in a huff, muttering something which again we didn't understand at all. The whole scene was witnessed by our waitress who had brought the bill for the other two sitting with us and was about to take our order. She was mystified by the guy's behaviour and said so. Two men occupying the two seats at the adjacent 4-place table tried to help by offering their spare seats; we would have been absolutely happy to move as required so that the four waiting could sit together. If only they had approached reasonably and asked! But all to no avail - the man was determined to have his little spat with "les Anglais". In no more than a few minutes they got seated anyway, the four of them together at another table entirely.
When we had finished our lunch and were leaving, they were still sitting there and as our waitress wished us a friendly goodbye and a nice day, the same guy couldn't resist adding "et bon retour" - we assume he meant "en Angleterre" and took the phrase to be a French equivalent of "Good riddance". From this experience he came across as a disagreeable character. We couldn't help but note that he chain smoked his way through six fags while eating his lunch. Unlikely in the extreme though it is, we would love him to read this (though if he understands any English he wasn't letting on). It was one of several incidents of minor rage so far encountered in which we were innocent parties save for the sin of not being fluent in French. There's nothing French about the phenomenon of course - people like this are the same the world over - little imagination and even less consideration for the situation of others who are doing their best to communicate in a foreign tongue. And in this guy's case, we suspect, not exactly a fan of "les etrangers", especially perhaps "les Anglais". Given his smoking habit, we were glad not to have shared a table with him!
The Creperie in the village is recommended - it's called the Mas Gilhou.
The Auberge des Cascades is so named because it is right beside spectacular falls on the Vis. The surrounding rocks were densely populated by sunbathers, swimmers and jumpers, the latter plunging into the deep, turbulent pool at the base of the main fall from tall surrounding cliffs:
This was entertaining to watch for a while. We also walked up the gorge on a little path in an Easterly direction (downstream) but it was very hot and there was no indication that the path, getting narrower by the minute, led anywhere interesting. We strolled across the pretty medieval bridge:
and then tried to buy ice creams from a kiosk by the Auberge but they had run out of anything we liked.
So we drove back up to where the exit road South to St.Maurice-Navacelles leaves the route from the North - there is a small parking area here. Leaving the Smart we took a path opposite signposted to the Moulins de Foux and the "Resurgence de la Vis":
This is a delightful gorge walk along a generally good path, but with one or two steep and rocky passages, giving access to the extraordinary spot where the Vis emerges from an underground course and becomes a surface river:
The ancient mills are built above the forceful torrent that hammers out of a fissure in the side of the hill. In spite of the remoteness of the site, the mills operated until 1907, became completely derelict and were then partially restored as a tourist attraction in the late 90s:
There are signboards in the three mill towers giving the historical and environmental details. This route to the mills and the "Resurgence", from Navacelles, is better than the path on the North side of the river from halfway up the road towards Blandas - it is longer but gives excellent views of the crystal-clear, cold waters of the Vis and access to the river at several remote spots:
This walk is about 1.5 hours each way and we highly recommend it. The Resurgence de la Vis is a very special place:
Walking back to the car was thankfully cooler than walking in had been, as the sun was now shaded by the hill for much of the way.
We drove out by the Southerly route to St.Maurice, a red and white road on the Michelin map and deservedly so, though again not dangerous if driven with care. Our return to the campsite was via Ganges and used the spectacular section of the D25 between St.Maurice-Navacelles and Madieres - this is yet another superb drive, especially for the passenger who can concentrate fully on the incredible landscape as the road plunges once again into the Vis Gorges.
We were too tired to eat much and finished a wonderful day with some fresh nectarines and peaches accompanied by chilled Muscat.
Wednesday 12 August 2009
We spent the whole day at the campsite today with the exception of this evening's dinner at the Chateau du Rey. It was very relaxing, with the awning and our white sun blind protecting us from the worst of the heat - the afternoon temperature reached the upper 30s again and the sky was cloudless for the second day running.
We wrote up this blog, downloaded photos, had lunch and went for a very refreshing swim in the river. We showered and dressed-up to go out for dinner.
The restaurant at the Chateau du Rey is called the Restaurant L'Abeuradou and we had an excellent dinner there. We ate outside as the sun was going down. The situation and ambience are lovely. The food was superb and very good value. We asked them to recommend a local wine and they suggested a Pic Saint Loup red (Languedoc) at 22 euros - it was the best wine we have had so far on our holiday and very good value. The service was friendly and professional. We had a wonderful evening here that will stay in our memories for a long time:
Thursday 6 August 2009
The drive from Millau to Le Vigan was straightforward and short - only 48 miles using the free section of the A75 between junctions 47 and 48, then the twisting, hilly D999 across the Col de la Barriere to Le Vigan, leaving the Aveyron and entering the Gard. The road surface of the D999 is generally poor and in places appalling for a major through-route. The weather remained hot and sunny with a cloudless blue sky.
We found Camping Le Val de l'Arre easily as it was well-signposted from the main road as it by-passes Le Vigan. It is a lovely site by the River Arre about 2 miles from Le Vigan itself. We arrived at lunchtime (or perhaps during lunchtime would be more appropriate - it was about 2.30) so naturally Reception was shut, but we unearthed the nice couple who run the site (she is Dutch, he is French) at the bar, and were soon settled on a large, shaded pitch quite close to the river:
It was as hot as ever so we set off to explore the River Arre by the site and found a curving section which formed a large, natural pool, easy to get into and excellent for swimming with deep water towards the opposite bank where large rocks formed a cliff. Although this was a favourite place for bathing it was not too busy and the cool water was wonderfully refreshing in the fierce heat of the afternoon:
We followed this swim with a very late lunch (at about 4.30!) and then set up our awning - there is plenty of room for it, it greatly enhances the natural shade from the trees, especially in the afternoon and we are here for a whole week. We even put up the front sun-blind on the awning, a white translucent panel that diffuses the sunlight and reduces its heat. By the time we had finished, everything looked very settled. This was hot work in a temperature of nearly 40C so we both went for showers and felt really good after them - the facilities here are excellent with plenty of loos and showers, all kept very clean; also everything that's needed for washing-up and washing clothes etc. We think we are going to like this site very much. The small shop on-site is also useful and we bought lots of fruit; with some cheese and bread this was all we needed - we couldn't face another barbecue today!
Friday 7 August 2009
The sound of light rain on the roof woke us in the early hours, forcing us to shut the roof vents in spite of the inside temperature remaining in the upper 20s. We woke again at about 8am to a more cloudy day. The site shop sells fresh bread and croissants, also the local paper, from about 8.30am. After breakfast under the awning we spent the morning updating our holiday blog and otherwise using the Internet; the online access situation here is as good as the one at Camping Les Rivages, Millau was hopeless. Here wi-fi works all over the site and works well in spite of the signal strength being marked as "Low" at our pitch; it seems fairly fast and very reliable. Unfortunately it isn't free but at 24 euros for a whole week round the clock, we didn't think that too bad (you can also buy shorter periods but if you're here for a week the 24 euros is probably the best deal). Compared to 6 euros for one hour at Camping du Chateau de Gandspette, it's a bargain, and a lot better than having to use McDonald's!
A quick dip in the campsite swimming pool preceded the usual snack lunch. The pool is nice and we enjoyed it, but the river is better for swimming as the pool was noisy and again dominated by kids - the little ones were noisy but basically fine; the problem was the teenage boys who were even noisier and spent most of the time either trying to duck girls under the water or trying the same, more aggressively, on each other in a kind of water-duelling. In between these combats they would climb out and place themselves as far as possible from the edge, like a fast bowler positioning behind a cricket wicket, then execute a running jump to create the largest possible splash. They also liked beating the surface with their hands to create even more splashes until the turbulence resembled a mid-Atlantic swell. We stayed in about five minutes and survived without anyone actually landing on top of us.
We took the Smart to the Super-U (about 1.5 miles away on the campsite side of the town) to stock up on provisions, and back to pack them away in the fridge; we then drove into the centre of Le Vigan, a medium size town and a pleasant place with some nice features, but also having more generally a slightly run-down feel to it, like many of the towns and villages in this area. It was busy and we parked with some difficulty in a back street in order to walk around. The very centre of the town is its best feature with islands of outside eateries, crowded with tables, most of them occupied in late afternoon by drinkers rather than eaters. It woud be difficult to do, but a great improvement, if this area could be fully pedestrianised. We found an excellent butcher (Martin) with a sense of humour (he accused R of being Spanish) and bought some very nice boneless pork steaks and sirloin beef steaks - they looked far more attractive than the meat in the Super-U. This will be barbecue (grill) fodder for the next two days.
Le Vigan (centre):
Back at the campsite we grilled duck breasts before they went out-of-date and ate them with salad and a bargain bottle of Haut-Medoc (2006, won a Gold Medal at Bordeaux, cost 3.85 euros in Intermarche).
Saturday 8 August 2009
The cloud had dispersed and sunshine reigned supreme again this morning in spite of a forecast of thunderstorms. After breakfast we walked the two miles from the campsite into Le Vigan - there was very little shade at any point on this walk and we found it extremely hot. We passed these two interesting bridges across the Arre, this one near the campsite:
and this one in the town:
We strolled around the town's interesting Saturday market:
and M bought two summer dresses from one of the clothes stalls - they were priced at 10 euros each and she got the pair for 15 euros after bargaining. It seemed even hotter on the walk back to the campsite, and as soon as we arrived we took to the river again for another cooling dip before lunch. After a short siesta we drove in the Smart across the Col du Minier and Col de la Sereyrede to the summit of Mont Aigoual (1567m) with its observatory; this brought back more memories of the 2004 rally in the Midget (it was here, exactly, where we had first encountered the clutch / gears problem that was to plague us throughout the event). Indeed this drive bought back more distant memories of trips in the 80s and 90s in a variety of vehicles. The views were as stunning as ever but here in the higher mountains the weather was building into threatening storms with enormous cumulus and, in the distance, even more impressive cumulo-nimbus with jet-black centres. As we descended the more easterly route from l'Esperou through Valleraugue to Pont-Herault, the first rain fell in large heavy droplets; eventually we had to close the Smart's roof!
Ascending the Col du Minier from Le Vigan:
At the top of the Col de la Sereyrede:
At the summit of Mont Aigoual:
We recognised Valleraugue as one of the places we stayed in 2001 after our walk of the "Robert Louis Stevenson" trail between Monastier and St.Jean-du-Gard. This was after the last day of that walk which was 11th September 2001.
We had retrieved our car from Le Puy en Velay on 12 September after a night at St.Jean-du-Gard, travelling back to Le Puy by train. We had been entirely out-of-touch with news services until R had received a text on his mobile telling us of the 9/11 atrocity and the collapse of the twin towers. Scarcely able to believe this news we drove to Valleraugue where we had pre-booked two nights. The next morning (13Sep 2001) we breakfasted with an American family just starting a holiday who had flown from Boston to Paris on the morning of 11th. Our conversation was not the usual "small talk". Later that morning R managed to buy a copy of the Washington Post from the Valleraugue "tabac" and the full horror of what had occurred was revealed to us. Yes, we remember Valleraugue. It hasn't changed much. The Auberge de Bruyeres (where we stayed) and the tabac are still there. Would that one could say the same for the thousands of innocent dead and the families ruined on 11 September 2001.
These were sombre thoughts for a holiday as we drove through Valleraugue, and it didn't seem wrong that by now it was raining steadily.
Happier memories returned as we passed a hotel and restaurant at Le Rey, between Pont d'Herault and Le Vigan, that had been a particularly splendid lunch stop on the 2004 car rally; the sort of lunch stop, indeed, that would be inconceivable for a motor-sport event anywhere other than in France. The weather had been superb then and we harboured very fond memories of this place, and of us eating rather well, while two young men did their best to keep our afflicted MG going in spite of its part-time clutch. But we had forgotten its name and location. It is the Chateau du Rey; as for its location we had discussed this throughout the drive as all we could remember was that the lunch stop followed the long stages forming the descent from Mont Aigoual on the Southern side, again using roads avoided this time! We rounded a corner on the D999 and, suddenly, there it was! A meal here suggests itself during
our stay at Le Vigan. As we approached the campsite the storm finally broke with nature's usual firework display and torrential rain. Undaunted we set up our barbecue under the awning - useful for more than keeping the sun off - and ate outside surrounded by a waterfall on three sides.
Sunday 9 August 2009
Yesterday evening's storm had persisted into today's early hours, the thunder and the drumming rain keeping us awake for quite a while, so we woke late to a cloudy overcast though the temperature was still warm, rising to 28C by midday. The rain had ceased though everywhere was wet, the ground sodden and the trees dripping. After a particularly late breakfast we drove the Smart to the Super-U for a re-fuel, only to find a crowd of angry French motorists at the pumps because the automatic credit card pumps had stopped working. One fortunate driver had just managed to pay at the "caisse" but he was the last for today - it was 12.20pm, Super-U closes at 12.30pm on Sundays and "Madame" at the "caisse" was going home; she was not serving anyone after 12.20. M approached her with a smile in the hope that she would relent for the remaining ten minutes as the "automates" were out-of-order, but all she
got was a sharp "Ferme!" and a scowl. Neither of us consider the French ruder than the English in general (we think both are pretty rude cultures) but when the French do rudeness they certainly do it well!
So we shot off to Intermarche which was shut of course but the "automate" worked just fine.
We skipped lunch and drove to the Grotte des Demoiselles just South of Ganges. The weather was improving with occasional appearances of the sun. We arrived at the Cave entrance at about 1.15pm and found only a short queue for tickets and for the funicular railway taking you into the mountain. We think the queues were probably short because it was lunchtime; when we came out about two hours later the queues were much longer. The caves are spectacular, especially the enormous cavern known as "The Cathedral" with its many fascinating rock features including the famous "Virgin and Child". The tour, a labyrinthine walk of about a kilometre, was well organised although our French-speaking guide was quite difficult for us to understand; however we were given an explanatory leaflet in English which compensated a bit for this. The tour took about 2 hours and we thought it good value at 8.50 euros each.
Grottes des Demoiselles:
We returned to the campsite by a round-about route exploring some of the Herault valley, its gorges and villages, including St.Martin-de-Londres and, via the picturesque medieval bridge near St.Etienne d'Issenac,
Brissac and then Laroque, taking time to park and walk around the latter, with its interesting, quite-recently restored chapel. As we drove through Le Rey we stopped at the Chateau and made a reservation for dinner next Wednesday evening.
The sky remained cloudy for our evening barbecue but at least it was dry again now!
Monday 10 August 2009
After another leisurely morning at the campsite starting with breakfast and terminating with lunch, we set off in the Smart in a similar direction to yesterday, driving to Brissac and then on small roads to the tiny hamlet of St.Andre-de-Bueges and along a no-through-road to its end in the Bueges valley. The map shows a footpath running from here alongside the river to the larger village of St.Jean-de-Bueges and this was easy to find and follow. We parked by the medieval bridge at the start of the path and walked to St.Jean (about 3 miles), the path climbing steeply at first into the gorge and then descending again to the river; we had brought swimming things hoping for a dip in the Bueges but it was completely dry!
The walk was lovely and St.Jean is another pretty village with a hilltop ruined chateau:
We strolled around the narrow streets and alleys and ended up at the bar / restaurant for drinks (didn't note its name, but there's only one):
The cold drinks were welcome as it was as hot as ever, the sun and blue skies having reappeared today, with enough fluffy cumulus to improve photos and provide occasional relief as they passed over the sun. Walking into St.Jean we encountered a group of young people dressed in smart red uniforms with an adult leader - a tall black guy similarly clad - obviously an organised party out for a walk. Where we had parked there was a white van and white minibus with German plates and the name of a youth organisation on the sides of the vehicles so we think they were theirs; we met them again at the bar. St.Jean-de-Bueges is well worth visiting - it is clean and tidy without having been artificially prettified; there are flowers everywhere and some impressive cacti:
Best of all, unlike the better-known St.Guilhem-le-Desert (say), it's off the beaten track and therefore not so crowded in season. The bar is also a restaurant and does food at lunchtimes and in the evenings, sometimes with live music accompanying dinner. We liked St.Jean-de-Bueges:
We walked the 3 miles back to the car, retracing our steps, although a circular walk is also possible here using a path on the other side of the river:
We are sure that the river is dry only at this time of year - there's plenty of evidence that the water hammers along here in other seasons.
Having reached the car we drove through St.Jean on the D1 and then along the short stretch of the D122 to Causse-de-la-Selle. We remembered that it was here that we bought some excellent Languedoc wine in 2001 that we had drunk with a meal at the Auberge in Valleraugue; the proprietor there had recommended it and told us it was sold at the vineyard at Causse, so we had located the vineyard, with some difficulty as we recalled, and bought 2 cases (24 bottles - we were driving a Renault Scenic at the time with plenty of carrying capacity). We managed to find this vineyard again - it is called the Mas de Brunet and is down a long, narrow track just on the outskirts of Causse-de-la-Selle, on the road in, the D122, from St.Jean-de-Bueges in fact, and there is a large sign on the D122 so it would have been hard to miss. We both remembered it well; they have smartened it up a little, that's all. The wine
is not the cheapest Languedoc you can buy but the Cuvee Prestige red (9.45 euros) and the AOC white (8.80 euros) are both excellent and while, at these prices, they are not bargains, we think they are still good value. We tasted several of the red and white wines on offer (they also do roses which we didn't try) and decided these, the two most expensive, are the ones to go for as they are much better than the Cuvee Tradition Red or any of the Vins de Pays (a lot cheaper). We told them about our previous visit in 2001. We bought six bottles of each of the more expensive red and white and they gave us a bottle of red VDP as a present! We said we'd try to come back again in a bit less than 8 years next time!
From Causse we drove further South on the D4 to St.Guilhem-le-Desert with its hilltop chateau. From about 4Km North of St.Guilhem the D4 follows first a twisting, narrow gorge and then the Herault river (again); it is a much-used road but rather narrow in places and in the holiday season especially, when it is stuffed with traffic, you must expect to encounter some appalling and scary driving, many drivers simply not knowing the width of their vehicles and yet behaving as if on a rally. These people are prats - beware of them! St.Guilhem is well-known and a magnet for tourists; also this part of the Herault valley, like the Gorges du Tarn, has been heavily and over-developed by the canoe-rental industry. All of this contributes to the traffic on the D4 at the height of the season. These are places that would be nice to visit just out of season (June, say, or early September - but the "season" is perilously short here, as in much of France; lots of things open surprisingly late and close amazingly early because of the French tradition of everyone holidaying in the same four weeks). In our view, sadly a lot of this more Southerly area, nearing the coast, is best avoided between mid-July and mid-August, but that's just our taste. When we reached St.Guilhem there were cars and people everywhere (it was about 6pm) so we didn't stop. The famous Pont de Diable, a couple of kilometres further South, was even worse - it was heaving, the "lake" was full of literally hundreds of swimmers and there was nowhere to park; many cars had been more abandoned than parked, boxing others in. So we didn't stop here either but took the D27, D32 and D986 back Northwards to Ganges, stopping at the Laroque Intermarche to buy steaks for supper, then back to the campsite on the by-now very familiar stretch of the D999.
Tuesday 11 August 2009
After our usual breakfast we drove to the Cirque de Navacelles. This is an essential visit to make in the Languedoc.
A "Cirque" is an amphitheatre-like valley formed at the head of a glacier by erosion; the one at Navacelles is a fine example with steep cliffs forming a deep canyon on the course of the River Vis. It is isolated with only a few small village communities living in the surrounding areas, on the high limestone plateaus (Causses) of Larzac and Blandas, and a small community at Navacelles itself, in the depths of the canyon, beside impressive waterfalls on the Vis. It is an ecological and geological wonder and has been designated by the French government as a "Grand Site", one of 33 such designations in France. In terms of getting there, we can do no better than quote "Wikipedia":
"Roads in the area are very poorly maintained and are only wide enough for one vehicle. In order to pass the landform, a dangerous, but exhilarating, road which weaves down into the valley and clings to the sheer cliff face on the way back up must be braved. This journey is one of the draws for tourism in the area."
We have made this journey three times before, two of those in the MG Midget used for the 2004 rally. The road has been improved since our first visit in the 80s and is not dangerous in good weather and if approached with care. As usual on such roads anywhere, not only in France, the main hazard is other motorists, almost always male, whose own view of their competence is as generous as the reality is disappointing, and who drive too fast and badly, in the middle of whatever road width is available (regardless of corners) with no concept of "line" and no idea of the width of whatever they are driving. We're sorry if this sounds harsh but some of this driving is appalling and roads like this are not dangerous if approached with a bit of imagination and plenty of thought for other users. Oh, and in a suitable vehicle - there were "camping-cars" parked at Navacelles. For some reason they are not banned on either of the two descents into the Cirque; neither are towed caravans - the mind boggles! And although we took it steadily, it was huge fun in the Smart!
The French writer Max Chaleil, in his description of the Cirque de Navacelles says that:
"Navacelles simply takes your breath away: this rift, rupturing the silent and infinite causse..."
We approached from the North through the hamlet of Blandas leading to the easier of the two road routes, the D713. The sky was pure blue and the sun hot. There are few opportunities to stop, just one at the very top of this descent, by a decent restaurant (the Relais du Cirque), and a second on a corner part-way down. At the bottom we turned towards the village of Navacelles:
We parked with difficulty - it was pretty crowded down there, a big contrast with our last visit 14 years ago in 1995. We discovered that the Auberge des Cascades (where we remembered getting a decent meal in the past) doesn't serve weekday lunches but we found a small creperie further into the village and ate a simple lunch of a delicious mushroom omelette with green salad, followed by a selection of cheese and sweet crepes for dessert; with 500cl of drinkable red wine this cost 30 euros for two and we added a tip for the waitress, who was friendly and quite delightful.
There was an interesting incident here - two French couples arrived at more-or-less the same time as us and went immediately up some steps to a higher level terrace where a largish table appeared to be free - in fact it had been reserved. They returned towards the lower terrace of the creperie but there was no table for four available so they did not enter the restaurant but stood in the street discussing what they should do. We noticed that there were in fact two tables with four seats and only two seats occupied at each, so we asked the couple at one of these if they minded us joining them. They said they were about to leave anyway and we were welcome to sit there. Seeing this, one of the Frenchmen in the group of four still in the street, still apparently discussing what to do, clearly took great exception to what we had done. He came over and with obvious anger said somenthing to us in French, speaking fast; genuinely neither of us understood a word! R replied politely in French to the effect that we were English and we hadn't understood. We understood the Frenchman's reply, however, as it was delivered in slow, deliberate and clear French and was to the effect that we had chosen not to understand and we had, in fact, understood perfectly well (totally untrue in fact). R simply repeated that he had not understood. Only then did we work out that this was to do with our taking the two places at the table which he clearly felt should be occupied by his party, as the other two seated there were now getting their bill! He stalked off towards his three companions in a huff, muttering something which again we didn't understand at all. The whole scene was witnessed by our waitress who had brought the bill for the other two sitting with us and was about to take our order. She was mystified by the guy's behaviour and said so. Two men occupying the two seats at the adjacent 4-place table tried to help by offering their spare seats; we would have been absolutely happy to move as required so that the four waiting could sit together. If only they had approached reasonably and asked! But all to no avail - the man was determined to have his little spat with "les Anglais". In no more than a few minutes they got seated anyway, the four of them together at another table entirely.
When we had finished our lunch and were leaving, they were still sitting there and as our waitress wished us a friendly goodbye and a nice day, the same guy couldn't resist adding "et bon retour" - we assume he meant "en Angleterre" and took the phrase to be a French equivalent of "Good riddance". From this experience he came across as a disagreeable character. We couldn't help but note that he chain smoked his way through six fags while eating his lunch. Unlikely in the extreme though it is, we would love him to read this (though if he understands any English he wasn't letting on). It was one of several incidents of minor rage so far encountered in which we were innocent parties save for the sin of not being fluent in French. There's nothing French about the phenomenon of course - people like this are the same the world over - little imagination and even less consideration for the situation of others who are doing their best to communicate in a foreign tongue. And in this guy's case, we suspect, not exactly a fan of "les etrangers", especially perhaps "les Anglais". Given his smoking habit, we were glad not to have shared a table with him!
The Creperie in the village is recommended - it's called the Mas Gilhou.
The Auberge des Cascades is so named because it is right beside spectacular falls on the Vis. The surrounding rocks were densely populated by sunbathers, swimmers and jumpers, the latter plunging into the deep, turbulent pool at the base of the main fall from tall surrounding cliffs:
This was entertaining to watch for a while. We also walked up the gorge on a little path in an Easterly direction (downstream) but it was very hot and there was no indication that the path, getting narrower by the minute, led anywhere interesting. We strolled across the pretty medieval bridge:
and then tried to buy ice creams from a kiosk by the Auberge but they had run out of anything we liked.
So we drove back up to where the exit road South to St.Maurice-Navacelles leaves the route from the North - there is a small parking area here. Leaving the Smart we took a path opposite signposted to the Moulins de Foux and the "Resurgence de la Vis":
This is a delightful gorge walk along a generally good path, but with one or two steep and rocky passages, giving access to the extraordinary spot where the Vis emerges from an underground course and becomes a surface river:
The ancient mills are built above the forceful torrent that hammers out of a fissure in the side of the hill. In spite of the remoteness of the site, the mills operated until 1907, became completely derelict and were then partially restored as a tourist attraction in the late 90s:
There are signboards in the three mill towers giving the historical and environmental details. This route to the mills and the "Resurgence", from Navacelles, is better than the path on the North side of the river from halfway up the road towards Blandas - it is longer but gives excellent views of the crystal-clear, cold waters of the Vis and access to the river at several remote spots:
This walk is about 1.5 hours each way and we highly recommend it. The Resurgence de la Vis is a very special place:
Walking back to the car was thankfully cooler than walking in had been, as the sun was now shaded by the hill for much of the way.
We drove out by the Southerly route to St.Maurice, a red and white road on the Michelin map and deservedly so, though again not dangerous if driven with care. Our return to the campsite was via Ganges and used the spectacular section of the D25 between St.Maurice-Navacelles and Madieres - this is yet another superb drive, especially for the passenger who can concentrate fully on the incredible landscape as the road plunges once again into the Vis Gorges.
We were too tired to eat much and finished a wonderful day with some fresh nectarines and peaches accompanied by chilled Muscat.
Wednesday 12 August 2009
We spent the whole day at the campsite today with the exception of this evening's dinner at the Chateau du Rey. It was very relaxing, with the awning and our white sun blind protecting us from the worst of the heat - the afternoon temperature reached the upper 30s again and the sky was cloudless for the second day running.
We wrote up this blog, downloaded photos, had lunch and went for a very refreshing swim in the river. We showered and dressed-up to go out for dinner.
The restaurant at the Chateau du Rey is called the Restaurant L'Abeuradou and we had an excellent dinner there. We ate outside as the sun was going down. The situation and ambience are lovely. The food was superb and very good value. We asked them to recommend a local wine and they suggested a Pic Saint Loup red (Languedoc) at 22 euros - it was the best wine we have had so far on our holiday and very good value. The service was friendly and professional. We had a wonderful evening here that will stay in our memories for a long time:
Cheers:
Camping Le Val de l'Arre, Le Vigan - the best campsite of the holiday so far!
The Smart - simply brilliant on Mont Aigoual and at the Cirque de Navacelles.
The Cirque de Navacelles and the Resurgence de la Vis.
Boos:
Super-U - possibly the worst of the French supermarkets from our experiences
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