Via Millau to the Languedoc

Monday 29 April 2019 

Our route today led from Le Puy to Florac via the Mende Hills and now the bends began in earnest. We left the volcanic peaks behind, crossing upland plateaux with stones and rocks piled up in lines to separate fields. Our route criss-crossed the Modestine trail, now the long-distance footpath GR70 and fully geared up for tourists with at least eight organisations hiring donkeys and about 200 restaurants, accommodation and other services along the 220 Km Chemin de Stevenson. We even noticed a Modest'Inn among them! In Mende we rediscovered the HyperU on the outskirts, a massive complex where we purchased hot chicken and potatoes to devour in Modestine. An alarming steep winding descent from the Col de Montmirac (1046 meters) led us into the Tarn valley north of Florac. Florac was a disappointment. The campsite we had used before, but it seemed a long way into the town to find the picturesque spots - not "just 5 minutes" away as the guide suggested. Perhaps they meant by car. This time it seemed a run down shabby old town and like Le Puy full of dog mess. This impression was somewhat softened by an early evening nightingale serenading us back at the campsite.

  Tuesday 30 April 2019 Today was dedicated to a leisurely drive down the 50 kilometres of the impressive Gorges du Tarn, a drive made more agreeable by the lack of traffic this early in the year. Our first stop was at Castelbouc, one of nineteen castles strung along the gorges. Dating from the 12th century it is named in recognition of  the young seigneur left to look after the wives of local warriors away on the crusades. Attentive to their every need he apparently died of exhaustion and his ghost in the form of a buck (bouc) haunted the castle. 


Castelbouc.   A couple of kilometres downstream it was possible to see the towers of the thirteenth century Chateau de Prades which once protected the approaches to the abbey of Sainte Enimie. 

  

Prades.   
Sainte Enimie is the largest settlement along the gorges. Its cobbled streets climb up to the. Benedictine Abbey, refounded from Le Monastier-sur-Gazeille in 951 which once dominated the little town. Helped by the fortunate discovery of the relics of Sainte Enimie it thrived during the middle ages. The last six monks left in 1788 and it was destroyed in 1793 during the Revolution when, it is reported, the library with its precious contents burned for eight days. Many of the stones were re-used within the town. The refectory and the wine cellar (mistakenly known as the chapter house and the crypt) are all that survive. 

Medieval shops. Sainte-Enimie.

The Hermitage of the Rock protects the cave where Saint Enimie and her god-daughter, also named Enimie, lived and died. Ste Enimie was the daughter of the Frankish king Clotaire II. She refused all offers of marriageand  asked God to save her chastity. He helpfully gave her leprosy! Imploring divine aid again she was sent to a healing spring in the Lozere. She did many good deeds and was nominated abbess by the local bishop. There she overcame the Drac, an incarnation of the devil who is depicted in a fearsome mural sculpture in the austere late romanesque church. After she died in 628 her brother king Dagobert wished to inter her remains in the basilica of St Denis in Paris but by a clever ruse it was the remains of her synonymous god-daughter that were transferred, allowing the monks to rediscover the saint's remains at a convenient moment. A medieval piece of fake news or, more kindly, a local legend?   

Hermitage de la Roche. Sainte-Enimie. 

Hermitage de la Roche. Sainte-Enimie. 

Legend of Sainte-Enimie. 

Sainte-Enimie.  Further down the gorges Hautes-Rives looked picturesque, peaceful and generally idyllic but all was not well behind the picture postcard image. The winch was out of order and the only approach on foot or by boat. The posters put up by the distressed inhabitants claimed that there was not even a public toilet to serve the many tourists that did manage to get there.

Hautes-Rives. 

Hautes-Rives. 

Hautes-Rives.   In La Malene a local in the bar told us that it had been so cold overnight that there had been frost in the Causses of Lozere at the top of the gorges. He felt sorry for Theresa May trying to reconcile demands of the "bizarre Monsieur Johnson" and all the others. He felt that Ireland was the big sticking point. All was not well in Europe, he said, but we should make common cause to effect changes. Over lunch we watched the cars climb the "Chemin difficile", corkscrewing up to the desolate causses above the gorge. 

Malene. 

Jill at Malene.   In the local baker's our baguette was wrapped in a bag with publicity for Lozere social services, home helps, meals on wheels, child care etc. We felt it to be an effective way of getting a message across, recyclable packaging for something most French people buy fresh every day. 
Bread wrapper. Malene.     
Chemin difficile. Malene. 

Gorges du Tarn at Malene. 

Gorges du Tarn at Malene. 

Malene from the bridge. 

Malene.


Chemin difficile Malene. 

Bridge at Malene. 

Gorges du Tarn. Malene. 

After lunch we went for a stroll along a track beside the river over the bridge from Malene, taking many photographs of this beautiful area before heading on to the narrowest part of the gorges where, as at many points along their length, the rock faces overhang the road, causing it to pass through tunnels.   

Detroits. Gorges du Tarn. 

Detroits. Gorges du Tarn.

After the Detroits the gorges open out and we soon arrived at Millau where we were to spend the night. 

Wednesday 1 May 2019, Millau

Millau on May day meant women selling bunches of lily of the valley and men with red flags under their arms on their way to a demonstration somewhere. We set out to explore the town. 

A monumental and stylish building proved to be the the local Lavoir or wash-house, built in 1749 to embellish and modernise the image of the town.

 

Lavoir. Millau. 

On the River Tarn are the remains of the old bridge with a medieval mill. The 12th century bridge was almost entirely washed away by a flood in 1758.

Pont Vieux. Bridge. Mill. Millau.  

The Porte du Vaultre was not a defensive gate to the town but simply a medieval house built across the street to save space. It is still a private residence today. 

Porte du Vaultre, Millau.  

The Hotel de Tauriac behind the Hotel de Galy has a tall square tower dating from the 12th century, built by the Kings of Aragon who were overlords of this part of Occitania. It is topped by a 17th century belfry, the symbol of the authoritarian rulers of that time.

Hotel de Tauriac, Millau.   The Hotel de Galy is an 18th century town house with a 21st century make-over to house the Office de Tourisme. The result typifies much of French design, a mix of misplaced pastiche and outspoken modernity without consideration of aesthetics or even practicality. The panelled doors surrounded by glass panels, the original corner tower topped by a glass cupola, the arcades fitted with large computer display screens facing straight into the sun and therefore invisible. In fact the town seems to specialise in illegible displays. The massive shopping complex of La Capelle also houses the Mediatheque with its name emblasoned across the glass frontage in a script that is almost impossible to decipher and the headings in the handout map issued by the Tourist Office employed a flowery script with capitals as difficult to identify as German Fraktur type.   

Hotel de Galy, Millau.  

The Place Fach was filled with a bustling market and was also home to the Cafe Les Colonnades. The square, the oldest in the town was formerly a burial ground but had served as the market place since medieval times and has two massive and venerable plane trees, also the busy PMU cafe under the colonnades where we braved the smoke from the gauloises to get a slice of French social life. Notre-Dame de l'Espinasse gets it name from a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns which it housed in medieval times. There was no sign of the relic today but a friendly lady cleaning the church turned on the light so we could admire the large murals in the apse behind the high altar dating from 1939-40, while a student from the music conservatoire used the acoustics of the church to practise on her flute.

Place Fach. Millau.

One reason for passing through Millau was to visit Geneviève's brother Yves who had recently moved there from Caen as his partner Christine had taken up a school headship there. After being unable to contact them by email and mobile we trekked out through the modern suburbs to the school only to find that they had gone away over the May Day holidays. We also spent much of the day searching for the glove factory we had enjoyed visiting last time only to find it almost opposite the campsite next to La Capelle but, like most places, closed on May Day. So we took a walk through the Graufesenque, meadows south of the Dourbie river where it joins the Tarn (hence name of Camping des Deux Rivieres). The meadows were a landing place for hang-gliders taking off from the limestone outcop of Puech d'Andan. We counted over thirty and watched several landing gracefully in front of us. We also watched a game of boules before returning to Modestine.

  Graufesenque meadows, Millau. 

Millau.

Thursday 2 May 2019

In the morning we looked at the glove factory before moving on. It was possible to see the workers cutting out and hand stitching the gloves. Those on display were beyond our reach and we noticed that they counted Madonna among their clientele. 

Old and new: the old bridge with the Viaduc de Millau behind.    We had only had a glimpse of the beautiful Viaduc de Millau during our stay and today we avoided the toll on our drive to Ambre, using the free motorway which must be one of the steepest in Europe. Fortunately we were going downhill but were overtaken by cars drawing caravans completely disregarding speed limits. The afternoon saw us back in the Languedoc and opening the shutters on the village house that was to be our home for the next couple of weeks.