One night in buron (Cantal)
Resourcing in rustic fashion ... Formerly during the summer, the Cantal cowherds lodged with their animals in stone shelters, dressed in slate, where they made the cheese. Salt cows no longer take refuge in these vaulted bellies, partly buried to guard against winds, thunderstorms and snowstorms. Many have disappeared, but some are now opening their doors to visitors armed with a good pair of walking shoes. Perched between earth and sky, above the valley of Cère, the buron of Niercombe has a crazy charm with its rough stone walls, its custom wooden furniture and its padded benches. Nearby, the burons of Fumade Vieille and de la Chambe offer a similar, although less sophisticated, cachet against a backdrop of high pastures and old volcanoes. As for the Bâne buron, on the Pailherols plateau, you can taste a large bowl of oxygen and silence at 1400 meters above sea level.
www.burons-gites-auvergne.com
The meander of Queuille (Puy-de-Dôme)
The Queuille belvedere, known as "Paradise", allows you to fully enjoy an unobstructed view of a sublime meander, an immense loop formed by the river. Getty Images
La Sioule is a turbulent river whose whims are not easy to follow. Born in the chain of the Dore mountains, this undisciplined student does not hold in place: she squirms, drowns in reservoirs, forms waterfalls, digs gorges in the granite of Combrailles. But at Queuille, here it is, applied like a first class, draws a superb loop, a meander in the shape of a horseshoe with perfect proportions. The belvedere of Paradise allows you to appreciate the result. A water boa in the middle of a dense forest that looks like the Amazon ... The river encloses the Murat peninsula, formerly inhabited and cultivated. Today it is a lobe of greenery that evokes the uvula from a mouth. We are speechless. In the fall, beeches and oaks are adorned with orange and brown, but do not wait for the perfect season to enjoy the panorama. Carpe diem, said the poet, in other words: "queuille le jour".
Mont Mézenc (Ardèche, Haute-Loire)
In winter, the burle, an icy wind that blows from November to April, transforms peaceful Mount Mézenc into a kingdom of snow and ice. Getty Images
A Siberia hides in the heart of France, between Velay and Vivarais. In winter, the burle, an icy wind that blows from November to April, transforms peaceful Mount Mézenc into a kingdom of snow and ice. The hikes then take on the air of polar expeditions, and we almost refrain from planting a flag when we reach the summit, at 1,753 meters above sea level. The panorama embraces the Cantal mountains, the Sancy massif and the Alps. The feeling of fullness that invades us then is the same in the heart of summer. The pastures and hay meadows make the Mézenc plateau undulate. The horizon is wide open, but never monotonous thanks to the juices of Meygal (volcanic domes) and the Péléennes needles, witnesses of the distant but intense volcanic activity of the region. We are here on the exact border of Auvergne and Ardèche. It is good to walk the relief, sometimes soft like a caress, sometimes steep, of this country of transition, where the houses are still covered with thatch.
The Vanoise glaciers (Savoie)
At the top of the Vanoise, the ice, the high peaks, the fresh air and the endless horizon… Patrick Folliet / Vanoise National Park
In the last censuses, the Vanoise glaciers are the least populated area in France: no inhabitants within a radius of nearly 10 kilometers. So march towards an ice no man's land! From Pralognan, a two-day loop with overnight refuge allows you to climb up to the domes of the Vanoise. It is at the dawn of the second day that we reach the ice cap, a sort of high pack ice from which we look at the peak of Grand Paradis, Mont-Blanc, the Lauzière and Belledona ... The wind blows on the glacier like a polar blizzard and the snow creaks under the crampons as we progress in strings, like valiant conquerors of the useless. You need a high mountain guide to explore these snowy heights, but this becomes much more than that during these two days of glacier hiking. It is that we do not live twice this kind of experience: ice, high peaks, fresh air and the endless horizon ...
Needless to be a rock climbing expert, the excursion requires good physical condition but does not present any great technical difficulty.
Lake Annecy (Haute-Savoie)
Annecy and its emollient lake where the spirit escapes to the Alpine peaks. Getty Images
It is the second glacial lake in France, and its water is one of the purest in Europe. One bathes there in summer in an atmosphere of padded dolce vita , well captured by Éric Rohmer in Le genou de Claire . The Roc de Chère, the peaks of the Bornes and Bauges mountains form a mountainous setting with this blue, even turquoise, eye on the Saint-Jorioz side. What are we doing there? We dream there like Patrick Modiano in Villa triste , we relax there, we sail or Riva. It is an emollient lake where the spirit escapes to the Alpine peaks. The body refuses to leave the grassy beach heated by the sun, the postcard village (Duingt) or the wild reed beds. Each season is magical on these enchanted shores: spring for its crystal clear light, summer for its laughing Riviera atmosphere, autumn and winter for the spectacle of the snow-capped Lanfon Teeth, reflected in the mirror of the lake.
Also read: 5 winter activities for a sports weekend at Lake Annecy
The Roanne valley (Drôme)
Col de Lescou, Col de Muse and hills of the Drôme Provençale. Ride and Pics
France has no shortage of lost valleys. We found one: the Roanne valley. It is on the right after Saillans when we head towards Die. As soon as you leave the Drôme valley, which is very well planted and well combed with Clairette vines, the Roanne, a discreet tributary, takes you into its wild and harsh world. To the black pines of Austria on the eastern slope meets the dry, Mediterranean rock of the western slope. In the middle flows a blue-green river, especially in spring when the snowmelt loads minerals. It is the season when the flowering Saskatoon berries mix their fragrance with those of the pines. In Gleizolles, the Escharis gorges reserve emerald green swimming. Towards Pradelles, fields of lavender bring their violet fragrance to the slightly austere landscape of scrubland and rock garden. The hamlets disappear at the bottom of winding roads: that of Rochefourchat has only one inhabitant, and Saint-Nazaire-le-Désert lives up to its name. By joining Gumiane via the Muse pass, the road flies over the valley, and so do we: here are the Vercors outposts in the distance. In autumn, the red coat of oaks and maples is dotted with pine green. And to enjoy this show: nobody…
The Eyrieux valley (Ardèche)
Ashram founded by Arnaud Desjardins in Saint-Laurent-du-Pape. The Friends of Hauteville / Press photo
Not far from the kayaking crowds of the Ardèche gorges, it is a valley of silence and sun, sheltered from the wind and the rumors of the world. From Beauchastel to Cheylard, Eyrieux meanders between ancient terraced crops and a few pretty stone hamlets. An old railway line converted into a green way, the Dolce Via, follows the river nicely without causing the calves to suffer (no more than 6% slope). But inner calm, we will find it especially in the ashram founded by Arnaud Desjardins in Saint-Laurent-du-Pape. In this place dedicated to spiritual research, the day is punctuated by guided or silent meditations, individual or group interviews, daily work. Objective: erase all self-centeredness and fully experience the present moment. On the other side of Eyrieux, a Zen center, just as serious, offers sesshin, intensive meditation courses. Here, interior work involves breathing or practicing kyūdō (traditional Japanese archery). Oriental wisdom a stone's throw from the Rhône valley.
Les Amis de Hauteville, 07800 Saint-Laurent-du-Pape; amis-hauteville.fr .
Zen center of La Falaise Verte, La Riaille district 07800 Saint-Laurent-du-Pape; www.falaiseverte.org .
Le Creux du Van (Switzerland)
Creux du Van, canyon of the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Getty Images
When we talk about peaks and mountains, Switzerland reaches new heights. But at Creux du Van, on the border between the cantons of Vaud and Neuchâtel, it plays a funny trick on us: here we are facing a gaping hole, a natural circus 1.5 kilometers wide and 160 meters high which dominates the Travers valley and the Areuse gorges. Impossible to climb the void. So we land on the edge of this amphitheater and contemplate. The glance glides on the perfect rounding of the arena before projecting itself far towards Neuchâtel and the lake of Bienne. Sitting feet in the air, we surrender to the warm caress of the summer wind. If you really have to walk, take the path that runs along the edge of this circular abyss. It is not uncommon to spot marmots, ibex, chamois and even a lynx with great luck, because the Creux-du-Van is home to a nature reserve. Hikers will prefer to start from the bottom and reach the heights of Creux (if we dare say) by the path known as "des fourteen contours".
The bisse du Trient (Switzerland)
Randos en Famille offers this very easy, shaded walk along the fresh Bisse du Trient in Switzerland. Family hikes
Ten minutes from the French-Swiss border, on Swiss soil, the Bisse du Trient offers us an original stroll among fir and larch trees. We follow in fact a bisse, a typical Valais irrigation canal. It was built in the 18th century on an old railway line which was used to transport ice from the Trient glacier to the Col de la Forclaz, from where it was then conveyed to Paris or Marseille. This bisse now irrigates the meadows and vines of Martigny. In the cool sound of the gurgling water, we follow this long water snake against the backdrop of the Swiss landscape: the glacier tongue of the Trient and its ice cascades, the Golden Needles, the tip of the Ecandies. Three kilometers of an easy walk (1h30 return), accessible for the most part to strollers and people with reduced mobility.
Departure from the Col de la Forclaz (Switzerland). The Bisse du Trient is in water from June 1 to September 15. www.les-bisses-du-valais.ch
