The Cirque de Navacelles / a hike from Lodève

April 9, 2022

It’s projected to be windy again today - averaging about 20 mph throughout the day, blowing in from the north. Windy enough that the thought of biking back to Mourèze gets quickly scrapped. It’s a roller-coaster of a ride that would be un-fun biking upwind at the end of the day; and besides, it’s a few miles further than we’d been thinking unless we want to take the same route as yesterday with its two barefoot stream crossings, both ways.

It’s a good thing we stopped long enough for at least a few shots, since as I said yesterday you never know.

So we’re staring instead at the original idea we had in mind when we decided to book two nights here in Lodève before being seduced with visions of a hike in Mourèze: an out and back to the Cirque de Navacelles, one of the designated Grand Sites of France. We visited this jaw-dropping cirque on a day ride from Ganges, dropping a thousand feet steeply to its base from the north rim and then climbing out the south one - surely one of the most spectacular day rides we’ve experienced anywhere. Our photo gallery from that ride gives evidence for why we’ve said ever since we’d revisit it if we were in the vicinity again.

So we’re here; and true to my word to myself, I’m going. Rachael considers the winds though and decides she’d be happier taking a long walk in the hills instead, so we go our own ways again. She maps out an impressive 12 miler and returns with a nice photo gallery, which we’ll post separately.

Today’s ride

It’s not only windy today; it’s pretty cold too so I wait around until after eleven to start. The outing begins with a ride north for a few miles, climbing gradually as I follow the Lergue through its narrow canyon, its west wall breaking the thrust of the wind. My route breaks almost due east at the village of Soubes and then I follow the Breze up its even narrower canyon for the next five miles, climbing 1,500’ at a fairly uniform 6-8% grade that feels much easier than that. As I’d been hoping, the winds are blowing strongly up-canyon and lending a much appreciated shove from the rear.

We’re heading up to the Causse de Larzac, the southernmost of the high limestone plateaus that characterize much of south-central France. An austere environment filled with stark timeless images and riven by steep-walled canyons like the one I’m climbing today, the Causses are one of my favorite environments in the country.

Looking west from the Lergue. We’re only about two miles north of Lodève here, and already the landscape is completely transformed.

Partway up the climb to the top of the plateau. It’s sunny and warm, and the coat comes off.

Nearing the top - a causse (the Occitan name for the limestone plateaus that define this region).

A red billed chough, seen from a distance perched at the top of the limestone cliffs.

Remarkable coloring on this horse, one of a half dozen or so similar animals I’ll see today. I wonder if they’re a hybrid of the white Camargue horses.

Once on top I’m surrounded by a broad, open expanse that’s largely treeless. No longer sheltered from the winds, it’s a hard go for the next eight miles as I push my way north to the Cirque. At their worst, the winds will hold me to about 8 mph traversing fairly level ground. Rachael did the right thing on opting for a hike today I’m sure, but through all the work I’m reveling in the raw elemental feel of the experience - the wind howling through the shrubby vegetation, the clouds racing across the sky, the pavement ahead in the shadows and then in a flash brilliantly illuminated when the clouds pass on.

A Grand Site ahead, but it’s also pretty grand right here.

The causses - an austere, starkly beautiful environment.

A last drop before approaching the cirque.

Video sound track: Feel So Near, by Dougie McLean

The cirque, when I arrive, is as I remembered - a jaw-dropping chasm with a tight cultivated crescent at the bottom a thousand feet below. It’s the incised meander of the Vis River, and that crescent is some of the only arable land around. I brace my camera against the fierce wind long enough for a few shots and then retreat to the wall of the inn to eat my lunch and contemplate the vastness of the scene.

Navacelles, the small village at the bottom of the cirque. Imagine living in such a place! There’s an inn down there if you wanted to spend the night. I’d considered it, but we wouldn’t like the choice so much if the weather turned foul.

Instead of strictly backtracking I’ve drawn a loop at this end of the ride, swinging further east on the way back to follow a road through a shallow gorge. My attempt at reading the conditions and terrain led me to hope that this would be a more wind-sheltered route - and it is. Unexpectedly though, it’s also a sublime cycling road - very quiet, with I think only a single car passing me in the next ten miles; and very interesting. Part of it is labeled the Route of the Menhirs, and I do spot several large, spindly limestone blocks along the way - and then a fantastic dolmen, alleged to date from 2500 to 3500 BC.

More of these amazing horses. What a setting for them!

A look back across the Cirque, to the Cevennes behind it. The high point on the horizon is Mount Aiguol, the highest peak in the southern Cevennes; and beyond it the land drops to the Tarn and it’s surrounding gorges.

At minuscule Le Coulet. This old chapel is named in the map simply as Vielle Chapelle.

And this amazing Neolithic structure: the Grand Dolmen of Ferussac, dated from between 2500 and 3500 BC.

An essential photo op, but one that felt almost sacrilegious. I was most careful to not scratch the surface.

One final brilliant sight for the day - this windmill at Saint-Pierre-de-la-Fage. From here it’s all downhill back to town.

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Ride stats today: 43 Miles, 3,400’; for the tour: 599 miles, 31,800’

Rachael’s hike

In a late breaking development, we’ve decided to add the photos from Rachael’s hike to this post rather than posting them separately. Great hike along a ridge SE of town,12.5 miles, feet were fine.

Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 599 miles (964 km)

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Suzanne GibsonGreat scenes, great pics, in spite of terrible wind! We were driving along the west bank of Lake Garda and the wind was fierce. Many cyclists were out on the busy road because it was Saturday, but it looked downright dangerous.
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Suzanne GibsonNot a problem here. Once I got a few miles out of town I hardly saw a car all day.
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2 years ago

Susan CarpenterAn amazing ride, fantastic photos. And the dolmen bonus - did you just stumble upon them?
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Susan CarpenterYes. Dumb luck, which I specialize in. I was just looking for the route that promised the best protection from the wind.
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2 years ago

Rich FrasierA five star biking day. Thanks for sharing it!
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2 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierIt was a fine day, that’s for sure. The surprising thing was that seeing that magnificent cirque again wasn’t even the best of it. It’s always the unexpected that makes a day special.
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2 years ago