TERROIR
Local products:
There are direct sales outlets (ask for directories of producers at tourist offices), and cellars (Vacquerie, Pégairolles-de-l’Escalette…) to discover the wines of the Larzac terraces. There are also specialist local shops where you can try the Camp d’Altou goat cheese “pélardons”, sheep cheeses (two direct sales outlets at Vissec), and Perail or Roquefort Causses sheep cheese, as well as honey, jams and wild plants from the Causses (Coulet plains), trout from the Vis river, onion preserves made with the local Cévennes sweet onions, chestnuts and more.
Markets of the Grand Site and nearby:
Le Caylar (34520) – every Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m
Lodève (34700) – every Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m
Le Vigan (30120) – every Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m
In the summer : La Vacquerie-Saint-Martin-de-Castries – Sunday afternoon
Campestre-et-Luc – every Friday from 3 April 2015 to 25 September 2015
Farmers’ Market : La Baume Auriol – from May to August : 1-2 days per month
Lodève : Tuesday mornings from May to September
Le Vigan : every Tuesday from 19 May to 20 October
Download the Viganais guide to farm shops and sheep, cattle, goat and pig farmers
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TOURS AND VISITS
Interpretive trails and circuits :
You can find information boards at three other viewing points which offer a different outlook over this geological curiosity : between Blandas and Vissec, between Rogues and Madières, or between St-Maurice and Vacquerie coming from the Coulet plains.
Travelling by car, you can discover the megaliths of the Coulet plains and the remains of the old priory of St Martin, the megaliths of the Blandas Causse, as well as the Dardé and the Larzac trails, as available in tourist offices.
There are also short Grand Site heritage walks to learn more about :
– Geology, with the Sorbs trail (4km, 1 hour 30 minutes)
– Botany, with the Foux mills path at the resurgence of the Vis and the Foux mills
For walkers, hiking from Vissec (3 hours return), Navacelles (3 hours return) or the Blandas road (1 hour 30 minutes return) will lead to the spectacular resurgence of the Vis, where the river reappears after seeping underground at Alzon.
Routes for electric bikes routes discovering agropastoralism are also available (see the “Hiking and outdoor activities” section or visit a tourist office).
Museums and places of interest :
A “Museum de France”, the Cévenol Museum in Le Vigan is in a former silk mill and presents the Cévenol civilization and the history of the Causses, with reconstructions of trades over three floors.
Set in the Cardinal de Fleury townhouse, dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Lodève Museum has collections in earth sciences, archaeology and fine arts (works of the sculptor Paul Dardé). Its major fine art exhibitions have become unmissable events, both regionally and nationally.
The Labeil cave, located at the north-west end of the Grand Site,is unusual in that it offers visits to an underground river which has an unknown origin. With exceptional crystal colourations, a range of sediments, dolomitic sands, Escandorgue basalts, everything here demonstrates a fascinating geological history created by water over the millennia.
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Crafts and Creations :
Information can be found in the Lodeve arts and crafts brochure.
On the Causses, in Lodeve and Le Vigan there are also many artisans and designers (potters with workshop visits at Vacquerie, Campestre and Le Vigan …).
Discovery Guides :
The “Regards Vagabonds” collections and the Lodévois Larzac papers contain more information on this heritage.
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You can find these booklets at the Lodeve and Le Vigan tourist offices – https://www.cirquenavacelles.com/contact-cirque-navacelles/
or contact the Southern Causses environmental association (CPIE) – http://www.cpie-causses.org/web/