We decided our next stop was to be the Cévennes National Park. Made famous by a Robert Lewis Stevenson book about a trek through the National Park with a donkey. You can walk the same paths he did by following the GR 70 walk. Neither of us have read the book (it’s on the list) but we thought if the man who wrote Treasure Island was taken by the place then we would be too.
On the way we decided to take a short detour to see Millau Viaduct which is the longest cable stayed bridge in the world at 2.5 kms and the tallest of any bridge in the world (according to Wikipedia). After driving over it we got to admire it from the viewing platform and it was pretty impressive and worth the little detour.
We picked Florac as the town to base ourselves which turned out to be a charming little French town with tight picturesque streets, a lovely tree lined promenade filled with restaurants and local produce stores. The campsite was only a short walk away so we spent nearly everyday going for a walk into town and yes they even had an ice-cream store. 🤗
The drive into Florac was very strange with us entering the national park to be met with fields upon fields of farmland. Not something you usually expect in a national park but then we were treated to some incredible rock formations as we descended into the valley through pine and chestnut trees.
As usual the main reason for the visit was to explore on foot. Our first walk trekked up one side of the valley to be greeted with an open plateau of farmland and we soon found ourselves walking through cow and goat fields. Since reading about the Cévennes it seems to be the norm with steep valleys and gorges cutting through high plateaus with medieval townships dotted throughout. We got to walk through a few of these on our way back down the valley. Another completely different walk than we have completed from any other, not spectacular per se but enjoyable none the less.
We also decided we would complete a small section of the GR 70 which took us up the valley floor following one of the local rivers up a gorge and beyond into the forest. Again a nice walk, not spectacular but great to view the different countryside. We passed a few others who were clearly doing the whole walk with their overnight packs on and our campsite every afternoon would fill with groups of tent campers walking in and leaving the next day to continue the walk. Some days we say a long multi day hike is definitely something we want to accomplish and then other days when you’d see the hikers walking in after a day of 35+ degree heat and I think maybe not!
We really enjoyed our stay at Florac though the days towards the end were getting a little too hot for comfort. Luckily as soon as the sun set the temp decreased so sleeping in the van was never an issue. On the last day we forewent our walk due to the temps hitting high 30s and instead walked into town for a lazy long Sunday lunch. It was delicious. Especially the dessert 😁. S