Le Viala - Racoules

The bread oven had a special place in the communal life of the village. Inhabitants provided wood, heated the oven and kneaded balls of dough to bake bread and tarts together.

A granite vault covers the small mill. As with all grain mills, a water intake diverts the stream towards a gourgue (basin). Under the mill, water turned the wheel, which had an axle that turned the grindstone. Inside, the only vestiges are damaged sandstone grindstones.

The top of the slope is covered in granite block fields. A little lower down, the slope is striped with low walls that border paths and close off small parcels of land which used to be farmed. There are 13 jasses built from assembled blocks; these sheepfolds were night shelters for the flocks of sheep from Racoules and Le Viala that stayed on the plateau for the summer.

Racoules used to be a part of the municipality of Fraissinet-de-Lozère but is now included in Le Pont-de-Montvert - Sud-Mont-Lozère. Here, farmers concentrate on rearing cattle for meat. alves provide high-quality meat. There are herds of Aubrac cows with suckling calves. The Aubrac is an elegant bovine, with its tawny coat, soft and delicately outlined eyes, as well as a hardy and fertile one. In Lozère, Easter beef (from three-year-old cattle exclusively fed on grains and hay from Mont Lozère) is a traditional, high-quality product.