Le Viala - Racoules

Agriculture and livestock farming

Architecture and village

Causses and Cévennes / UNESCO

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Discover farming past and present: Aubrac cattle, working farms and heritage elements…

4 points of interest

Architecture
Bread in Le Viala
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.
Architecture
The mill at Le Viala
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.
Pastoralism
Sheepfolds (jasses)
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.
Architecture
Racoules
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.

Description

Signposts will guide you all along this route, as well as yellow painted waymarks. In the description below, the signposted place names and/or directions are given in bold italics between quotation marks:

From “Pont de Montvert”, make for “Le Temple”, then “Place de l'Horloge”, “La Destourbe”, “Le Viala”. At “Le Viala” walk towards “Racoules” and cross the village to loop back to “Le Viala”. Then return to “Pont de Montvert” using the same route, “La Destourbe”, “Place de l'Horloge”, “Le Temple”.

This hike is taken from the guidebook Mont Lozère - Pays des sources, published by the Pôle de pleine nature du Mont Lozère.

Departure : Pont de Montvert Sud Mont Lozère
Arrival : Pont de Montvert Sud Mont Lozère
Towns crossed : Pont de Montvert - Sud Mont Lozère

Altimetric profile

Recommandations

Please do not bring dogs: you will cross many fields occupied by livestock. Make sure your equipment is appropriate for the day’s weather conditions. Remember that the weather changes quickly in the mountains. Take enough water, wear sturdy shoes and put on a hat. Please close all gates and barriers behind you.

Information desks

Office de tourisme Des Cévennes au mont Lozère

le Quai, 48220 Le Pont de Montvert sud mont-Lozère

https://www.cevennes-montlozere.com/

info@cevennes-montlozere.com

04 66 45 81 94

Tourism'house and national Parc at Florac

Place de l'ancienne gare, N106, 48400 Florac-trois-rivières

https://www.cevennes-gorges-du-tarn.com

info@cevennes-parcnational.fr

04 66 45 01 14

This office is part of the National Park's associated tourist-information network, whose mission is to provide information on, and raise awareness of, the sites and events as well as the rules that must be observed in the National Park's central zone.

On site: exhibitions, video projections, events and shop Open year-round

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