Taking the Right Path on Mont Aigoual

Part I Steam Trains and Olive Oil
Part II Taking the Wrong Path on Mont Aigoual

The Bastille Day holiday, or rather, le quartorze juillet, was the opportunity for a flea market down the main road of Meyrueis. I looked out of the window of the Hotel d'Europe and noted the busy goings-on, all quite low key and local. Further inspection on our way to have a coffee and croissant in the village bar revealed stands of old postcards and books, others with crockery, glassware, some clothes, toys, an old microwave oven, and a mono-cycle (new, €15) with stand. I thought of my youngest, and how he often moans about having nothing to do (when kicked off the XBox), and decided that learning how to use a mono-cycle would give him something to do. My DB agreed, so I asked the woman to keep it for me until I came back later with the car. She believed me, and put it aside.

We had breakfast outside in the morning sun having bought croissants from the boulangerie two doors down, as had everyone else, and I got quite a caffeine buzz from the strong café au lait. Now wired for the day, I went and got the car, got the mono-cycle and, stocked up with sarnies from the boulangerie, we drove back up to Mont Aigoual to walk the famous Chemin des Botanistes, stopping on the way to buy the maps at the tourist office...

Valleraugue Valley

The top was clear of low cloud, and full of sheep. The shepherd and his hard-working dog (which did not look like Shep, if you can remember that far back to Blue Peter days) were hanging about outside his van on the road.

Sheep, and shepherd's white van

We started by going up the tower to appreciate the view while the clouds were high above scudding across the sky. You can see as far as 250km away. The sea was visible, just, as was the Pic Saint Loup, and Mont Ventoux. Looking west, the cloud cover was too low to make out distant landmarks. The panorama of 360° is breath-taking and well worth the visit. The photos didn't come out that well as it was too hazy.

Then it was time to tackle our walk. We drove back down to the menhir and got ready for the 90-minute trek. Less than an hour later we'd finished. It wasn't that we were particularly speedy because we weren't, but cheating probably cut off a chunk of time, more than we expected. Anyway, the chemin was a narrow track cut into the side of the mountain with precipitous drops on one side. Not for the faint-hearted even if it was without difficulty. We saw a lot of evidence of wild boar activity - it must be a favourite spot with them because there were several areas of disturbed soil. I couldn't see why it was called the Chemin des Botanistes, not that I know anything about plants, but it didn't seem that different to the path we'd been on the previous day botany-wise.

Precipitous drop on the Chemin des Botanistes

Wild boar snuffled beds

We had expected to eat our sarnies somewhere along the chemin, but having finished in record time, we went back up to the top and ate them at a picnic table more-or-less out of the wind. They were filled with lettuce, ham and tomato salad, and were delicious. It also felt really good to be blown about a bit with cool air. Down in the valley it was 30°C+.

Picnic table and view

Eventually we dragged ourselves away and drove sedately back to earth.

The appeal of mountains and altitude is very strong with my DB and me. We love the Cevennes because it's so wild and mostly empty, and beautiful, and nearby. If I could have a weekend cottage in a small village with a fertile garden, I'd love it. Nothing grows in my arid corner of the garrigue so when I see the rows and rows of sweet onions on the valley terraces, it gets my none too green fingers itching. As we're not going to buy a cottage (we have yet to buy a house!), we have decided to walk there more often (hence the maps). It's not far, but it's so different from Montpellier, you feel like you've been on holiday even if you just go for a day. That's the plan, the resolution, the good intention. All we have to concentrate on now... is implementation!

Taking the Wrong Path on Mont Aigoual

Part I: Steam Trains and Olive Oil

It was thanks to a non-refundable hotel booking that got my DB and me to patch things up the next day and agree to enjoy the rest of the weekend together. I had indulged in a mega lie-in until 10am (I'm normally up no later than 8.30 even at the weekend, 9 grand max), so had to get my skates on to shower, pack an overnight bag (which hadn't really been unpacked since the weekend before...) and whip up a picnic.

I picked him up at 11am, and we drove off towards Mont Aigoual. Just outside Le Vigan, we took a road we've never been on before, not even on the bike. It was a teeny road - single-car narrow - and bumpy, the D329, and although not 'green' (on the Michelin map), it went through some lovely fragrant woods and scenery. (I note that it joins up at Mandagout with the D170 which is similar, but green. Must try that one next time!) We stopped at a shady spot amongst delicious-smelling pines for our picnic, and enjoyed the excellent 'Tradition' bread with good ol' cheddar, Branston pickle and spring onions, and dipped cucumber and green pepper into the rest of the hummus.

Thus fortified, we drove on and arrived at L'Esperou via the Col de la Lusette which was open (natch). There were very many bikers about, several of whom were sprawled on the sledging slopes having a snooze. Otherwise, it was pretty calm and very different from the frenetic atmosphere of the ski season.

We drove up to the tourist office at the Col de la Serreyrède and had a look at the maps and books of walks, but decided not to buy anything, which of course turned out to be a mistake. The girl at the desk suggested we do an easy walk at Mont Aigoual called the Chemin des Botanistes, and told us where it was and what to look out for.

At the top of Mont Aigoual is an imposing castle that was built in the 19th century as a meteorological observatory. It still serves this purpose, and today, has the addition of a free meteorological exhibition and museum. We had a quick look at the shop because we like to do things the wrong way round, and I bought a book on local edible salad plants because you never know when times could be hard... The exhibition was extremely interesting. It's not at all hands-on, so my boys would whizz round it in 5 minutes to be found in the snack bar later scoffing chips (probably), but I enjoyed reading the panels about clouds, the weather, and watching videos. There is also a museum of old machines used to gather information and make forecasts, and panels describing how the castle was built. We found it very interesting.

Mont Aigoual Observatory

Then, being lazy, we drove down to the menhir below the castle to start the Chemin des Botanistes. We should have started from the castle, but saved ourselves the 200m or so... Without the map, we got lost. We asked people if we were on the right path, and rather than show ignorance, they said yes, even though it wasn't. It was a nice walk along a wide path, but it was not the Chemain des Botanistes! In the end, as we were going ever further down down down, we decided to stop and turn round. It was as we neared the top that we saw the start of the Chemin des Botanistes which goes around the top of the hill.

Menhir (left)

It was lovely and cool up there. The temperature hardly ever climbs over 15°C so it's the place to go if you can't stand the heat of the plain any longer. The wrong path took us through the forest where we saw some interesting forked trees, foxgloves (which I noted for future reference... just in case, and if you've read Agatha Christie you'll know what I mean...), and a keen botanist who was not on his chemin, but was taking a photo of a small pink flower. I asked him what it was and he told me it was wild version of some edible plant (whose name escapes me).

Foxgloves

Frankentree

Dead tree of many stumps

Forked tree (many looked like this)

By this time, the clouds had come down over the castle so there was no point climbing the tower to admire the view. We drove off, instead, to Meyrueis where we had booked our hotel. Meyrueis is a village set on the ancient trade and transhumance route between Auvergne and Bas-Languedoc. Today, it welcomes tourists in numerous hotels, camp sites, holiday cottages and B&Bs, but it isn't a tourist trap, for all that. We found it very charming despite having so many people milling around. Our hotel room overlooked a stream which burbled noisily below our window on the other side of the not-so-main road. We were staying at Hotel d'Europe which is a 2* place, and was basic but clean. It was July 13, so you might expect the hoteliers and serving staff to be a bit grumpy but everyone we came across in this village was warm and friendly. For France, that's saying something!

View from bedroom balcony of Meyrueis main street and stream

Narrow streets in Meyrueis

After reading my Kindle on the balcony while my DB had a snooze inside, we went to have dinner at one of the few remaining tables at the restaurant of the hotel next door (Hotel Family) as ours only did breakfast, and expected to be waiting all evening to be served, but this was not the case. We were served promptly, and ate very well. The fried aubergine, in particular, was so good, my DB asked for more, and got it with a smile. Even the pichet rosé wine was a pleasure to drink. It was a Saint Saturnin from down the road, near Montpeyroux, and was much better than a lot of the rubbish that gets put in a pichet, and excellent value at €5 for half a litre! It was great value at €19.90 for the menu.

We slept with a cool breeze floating in through the open window, and the sound of the stream which penetrated even through my ear plugs!