This two day itinerary has been put together by the departmental tourism committee of the Gard to help plan your trip to the Cevennes and discover the fantastic rivers and waterways that this beautiful region has to offer.

Day 1: Arrival in Nîmes

Itinerary: the Vis Valley, De Blandas Plateau – the Navicelles Cirque
Departure for the Valley Of La Vis: discovery of unusual landscapes. Its very cold, crystalline and exceptionally pure water contains an extraordinary number of brown river trout, which breed naturally.

La Vis Gorges
Three million years ago, the "Blandas Plateau", at that time a vast plain, began to rise gradually. The River Vis, which meanders through there, started carving out gorges, the edges of which receded, inexorably crumbling away in a mass of scree. 6,000 years ago, 300 meters below, the Vis left its course and regained through cascading water.

At the centre of this course, some people see an island, a giant oyster shell, the tiers of a ruined arena or a meteorite's impact crater: this is The Navacelles Cirque. This cirque is a spectacular example of an ox-bow : the hamlet of Navacelles, lodged at the bottom of the cirque; its form and architecture contribute to the picturesque aspect of the site.

La Foux Resurgence
The chalky undersoil is hollowed out in an underground network that is evidenced by the many caves that open onto the gorges. The Vis River uses this network for several kilometres, flowing underground before emerging into the light at La Foux mill, leaving behind it a dried valley which bears witness to its emergence into the open air in olden times. Located in this valley, the small village of "Vissec" (Dry Vis) derives its name from this phenomenon. A twisting pathway, posted with botanical information, links Vissec and Navacelles, passing by the resurgence at La Foux, the site of a permanent exhibition on the Vis.

Dinner and accommodations in hotels or bed and breakfast establishments.

Day 2: Dourbie Gorges – Espérou – Mont Aigoual

Dourbie
On the edges of the Gard, Dourbie is one of the communes of the Aigoual Plateau and is certainly the most characteristic of the Cévennes. Between 700 and 1,410 meters high, watered by the Dourbie river, it offers a wide diversity of plant life and landscapes.

Esperou
For more than a century, Espérou has been the only village in the Cévennes whose population has remained stable. Originally founded by serfs freed by their lord for acts of bravery, Espérou was repopulated, after the religious wars, by people from Aubrac.

Aigoual Forest
The landscape of the Aigoual plateau, mainly wooded, is the work of man. Between 1770 and 1870, most of the forests disappeared, stripped away by the need for fire wood (forges and glass works).

The thousands of sheep who graze there during the summer and the torrential autumn rains wreak havoc on these exposed lands.
In 1885, becoming involved in the national movement to restore this mountainous terrain, Georges Fabre and Charles Flahault began a programme of reseeding the massif with the involvement of the Water and Forestry Commission.

Mont Aigoual
Since 1887, the Mont Aigoual Observatory and its METEO France observatory have stood on the Gard and Lozère boundary. Men and machines scan France's skies 24 hours a day. A panorama of over one quarter of France, from the Mont Ventoux to the Mont Blanc, from the Canigou to the Pic du Midi, from the Chaine des Puys to the Mediterranean Sea, rarely seen horizons spread before you. To be explored: the 350 m2 exhibit.

The Bramabiau Chasm at Saint Sauveur Camprieu
Between the Grands Causses and the Cévennes, discovery of the Bramabiau Chasm, one of the main natural curiosities of France.

The source of the Bonheur stream is in the Aigoual massif; it then disappears underground on contact with a chalky ridge and, when it resurfaces becomes the 'Brama biau' (the bellowing ox). At Bramabiau, cavers will experience an otherworldly sensation.

Dinner and accommodations in Pont d'Hérault.

More Information

Gard Department of Tourism
3, rue Cité Foulc
B.P. 122
30010 NIMES Cedex 4

Tél : 0033 (0)4 66 36 96 30

contact@tourismegard.com
http://www.tourismegard.com/

© Comité Départemental du Tourisme du Gard

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