France : one week in Lozère

We had the opportunity to travel to Lozère in the first week of september when everybody was back to work.  Add the fact that it is one of the less populated department of France with a lot of natural wonders and legends and you have ingredients to spend a wonderful week.

We were staying in a charming and typical stone house near La Canourgue. (http://en.gites-de-france.com/holiday-rentals-La-Canourgue-Cottage-Lzg305b,48G3052.html)

We found a flower nailed on the door of the barn. This caught of course our eye and we had to find out the reason why this flower was there. The flower is there to provide happiness to its inhabitants. The people of Lozere have done done for years. However, it is now forbidden to pick them up as they risk to disappear as lots of people started to join the tradition and bring the flowers home.

On the first morning after having some typical pastries we went to the town of La Canourgue. This convivial little town has kept its narrow stoned streets.

After enjoying the afternoon walk in the wonderful countryside we decided to go watch the sunset on the beautiful Tarn Gorge's.

On the second day we decided to do the via Ferrata of La Canourgue. Even though it is free of access we went to Accro Branche (http://www.accrobranches.com) to rent some equipment. We had to drive for 20mins from La Canourgue with about 10 mins off road but we finally got there. The course is really nice and in good shape. It's quiet high but it gives a wonderful view on the town of La Canourgue. It features a nice ZIP line and some really fun bridges of all sorts.

On the third day we decided to have a walk on the plateau of Aubrac. The scenery keeps on changing when driving up there. Arriving on the all we could see were meadows. The weather was changing and windy. We felt directly that it is a hard environment. We had the opportunity to see the beautiful cows of Aubrac with their light brown colour. The landscapes made us think of pictures we saw of Scotland.

On the last day we decided to go down the river on kayak. We started in La Malène with Canoe2000 (http://www.canoe2000.net/fr/). We only did the 4 hours trip which was just fine to enjoy the river and being able to have some ice cream when we got back in La Malène.  There are plenty of nice picnic spots on the banks. Next to the wonderful landscapes we were lucky to see a beaver swimming under our kayaks before disappearing in the woods.

Afterwards we took the car and drove up the river to Saint-Enimie. Even though it is a very nice town with a lot of narrow streets, it is the little town of Saint-Chely-du-Tarn that caught my attention. With this beautiful cascade coming out of the town and dropping a few meters below.