Cirques de Navacelles

I had to do some geology research about the formation of a cirque to prepare for this day. A cirque is an amphitheater shaped bowl carved out of the side of a mountain by water and ice. We were able to get a good view of the cirque from the Blandas lookouts on the opposite side of the valley. Nestled in the bottom of the cirque is the tiny commune of Saint-Maurice-Navacelles. Today we hiked down into the valley to the remains of a medieval stone mill that was powered by the Vis river. The hike followed steep paths that fell off precipitously down into the valley (Chloë observed that in Canada these trails would be completely fenced in). We walked under enormous cliff faces, through green pastures and past several lizards. France is riddled with natural phenomena that are protected and preserved. The tourism bureau is well organized at harnessing the economic resources of the foreign visitor. We were delighted to discover that visiting this beautiful site was free! The other point worth mentioning is that the drive to get to the cirque area is hair raising. We climbed to the lookouts poking along at about 10k/hour on a single lane highway cut out of the side of the valley - hoping desperately at each hairpin curve there wouldn’t be another car coming in the opposite direction. Much to the amusement of her children, Lara spent most of the drive curled up in a ball to avoid looking over the edge of the cliff on her side.
- GeoffRead more