Robert Louis Stevenson traveled
the Cevennes with his donkey, but you will equally enjoy your visit by car. If
you’re bent on the donkey experience, though, they can be rented for day trips
in several Cevenol villages.
The narrow, meandering roads that provide access to this still relatively untouristed region will take you through a maze of deep, narrow valleys, with clear, winding rivers. The countryside of the Cevennes opens out over vast limestone spaces called the Causses. The beautiful hills are covered with chestnut and mulberry trees and seasonal bruyère.
Mulberry trees were planted in days gone by for feeding silkworms. The region is dotted with magnagneries, silkworm-breeding houses at the origin of the wealth of the Cévennes in the 19th century, before the arrival of silks from the Orient. It is also dotted with bee boxes. The honey produced here comes from a variety of sources, one of which is the chestnut trees that have marked Cevenol culture for centuries. On schist soil and up to an altitude of 800 meters, you will see chestnut trees that have fed generations of Cevenols. This year’s chestnut harvest doesn’t look too promising, though, at least not in my corner of the forest – yet another victim of a too chilly and too short summer. Still, my consistently optimistic Cevenol neighbor tells me: on verra, “we’ll see,” the Cevenol-French version of “it’s not over till it’s over” or “if all the facts aren’t yet in, then I’m not going to believe it.”
One of
the region’s culinary specialties is the crêpe made from chestnut flour and honey spice bread that’s
right up there in taste and quality to my New England ancestors’. A regional apéritif that you are unlikely to find elsewhere in France is the
chestnut kir. While a traditional kir is made with white wine or champagne and cassis, the
Cevenol concoction uses chestnut liquor in the place of the cassis. In my
opinion, the cassis is better. That said, don’t pass up the opportunity to try
the chestnut version. Most folks find it delightful and you’re unlikely to find
the combination elsewhere.
The
population of the high valleys in the Cevennes has dwindled over the past
century, in part because of the many young men killed during the First World
War and, more recently, because of economic hardships. My own little village,
with a current population of well under 100, once boasted several schools,
shops, cafes, and restaurants in the days of its oldest citizens, now in their
eighties and nineties.
Things
are looking up, though. While silk and chestnuts were once the backbone of the
regions’ economy, farming, honey, wines, and goat cheeses are the more recent
base. And the Cevennes are attracting more and more attention from the tourist
trade because of its natural sites and its rich historical and architectural
heritage.
The
Cevennes’ reputation depicts it as a country of rebellion and tradition. My own
experiences here bear that out. The region played a primary role for French
Resistance fighters during WWII and much earlier, during the 17th
century religious wars between Protestants and Catholics. Like the Resistance
fighters who would follow, the Protestants sought refuge in the Cevennes,
hiding out in the hills and caves from the King’s armies tracking them.
Reminders of the tumultuous and bloody period are everywhere. The Museum of the
Desert – whose name is taken from what is called the “desert period” from 1685
to 1789: from the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, taking away the rights of
Protestants, to the French Revolution – is located in the Mas Soubeyran
(Mialet) and commemorates the persecution and perseverance of the Protestant
population of the south of France.
If your
travels take you into the Cevennes, I recommend a visit to at least the
following three sites:
1.The
Musée des Vallées cévenoles in
Saint-Jean-du-Gard, a quirky ecomuseum displaying in inimitable fashion the
history and culture of the Cevennes; audioguides are available in several
languages: http://www.mescevennes.com/visiter/musee_cevenol.php
2. The
Museum of the Desert in the Mas Soubeyran of Mialet; written guides are
available in several languages. Web site in English: http://www.museedudesert.com/article5759.html
3. Terroirs
Cévennes: a wonderful coöp for organic
products and items crafted by local artisans, on D-907 between Anduze and
St-Jean-du-Gard http://www.terroircevennes.com/
