La Bastide-Puylaurent in Lozere
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La Bastide-Puylaurent in Lozere |
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La Bastide-Puylaurent is a French commune located in the department of Lozere in the Occitanie region. It has about 170 inhabitants and is situated at the heart of the Cevennes National Park. La Bastide-Puylaurent is known for its exceptional natural setting, with mountain landscapes, forests, and rivers ideal for outdoor activities such as hiking, mountain biking, fishing, and swimming. The commune is also traversed by the famous GR70 hiking trail, also known as the "Stevenson Trail," which connects Le Puy-en-Velay to Ales. La Bastide-Puylaurent is a destination of choice for those seeking tranquility and the beauty of the Cevennes' natural landscapes, as well as for history and heritage enthusiasts, notably with the Pont de la Resistance, a historic structure dating from World War II.
Until 1917, La Bastide-Puylaurent was called Puylaurent. The village was created in the 19th century following the opening of the railway from Nîmes to Saint-Germain-des-Fosses.
In the 18th century, La Bastide Puylaurent was just a hamlet of a few houses stretched along the Regordane Way. There were some inns and a very active mule relay in the 17th and 18th centuries, where travelers and pilgrims found refuge and sometimes remained confined for several weeks during heavy snowfalls. It was not until 1741 that a first church was built on the site where, a century later, the current building was erected.
The construction of the station, with the branch line to Mende, spurred the growth of the town, divided between two departments, Ardeche and Lozere. La Bastide-Puylaurent is the highest station on the line from Paris to Marseille via Clermont-Ferrand, Langogne, La Bastide, Villefort, Genolhac, Chamborigaud, Ales, and Nîmes. Another line connects to Marvejols via Chasserades, Belvezet, Allenc, and Mende (the capital of Lozere).
A premier hiking destination, La Bastide-Puylaurent is at the crossroads of many GR and PR trails.
The village has several shops: a newsstand, hardware store, clothing and various products, a pharmacy, a butcher, a grocery store, a post office, a gas station garage, a train station (called Gare de La Bastide Saint Laurent les Bains), the Hotel de la Grande Halte, the Hotel des Genêts, and L'Etoile Guesthouse. The Camping de l’Allier is located on the road to Chasserades, 3 km from La Bastide Puylaurent on the banks of the Allier. There is a swimming area and a beautiful lawn for relaxation with children's games and a snack bar.
Since the village is regularly served by the SNCF, access difficulties in winter do not arise. For summer vacations, and also for the rest of the year, many furnished rentals and rural gîtes are available.
La Bastide-Puylaurent, near the sources of the Allier and the Chassezac (Moure de la Gardille), is a village created in the last century on the borders of Lozere and Ardeche due to the arrival of the railway. It's been just over a hundred years since railway workers replaced the mule drivers of the Regordane, the forest has reclaimed the meadows abandoned by transhumant herds, and the Trappists of Notre Dame des Neiges have renewed the monastic tradition of Mercoire and Les Chambons.
3 km away is the Trappist Abbey of Notre Dame des Neiges, a Cistercian monastery founded in 1852. The current buildings date from 1918. Father de Foucauld came here seeking solitude and contemplation. There is a view of the Ardeche mountains and the Tanargue massif (watershed). To reach the abbey on foot, you can follow the shared GR®72 & GR®7 trails. A hiking circuit partly follows the historic route of Robert Louis Stevenson, passes by the monastery, then via the valley of Serres and Rogleton, returns to La Bastide following the Allier and the GR®70 (shared with the Regordane Way GR®700). 2 km away is the Beal fishing pond, an ideal spot for picnics. 8 km away is the thermal spa of St-Laurent-Les-Bains, renowned for treating rheumatism (Chaînes Thermales du Soleil). 15 km away is the medieval village of La Garde-Guerin on the Regordane Way, overlooking the gorges of the Chassezac. 28 km away is the fortified town of Pradelles with its historic streets, offering views over Lake Naussac.
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I loved the land before January 9, 1966, but it was on that day that I became aware of rural life. "If you want," Roger Martin said to me, "to grasp at a glance the depopulation of the countryside, come with me. We will climb to the Croix de Grabio."
Roger Martin lived, somewhat detached, from the discreet hotel business his parents ran in La Bastide-Puylaurent, Lozere, a business he has been trying to maintain since his mother's death in 1969. The Hotel des Genêts was then open all year round. It was already the only one in the small climatic resort, located at the borders of Gevaudan and Vivarais, never to close its doors.
I had come to rediscover the strong emotions of my adolescence in Lozere, to discover the gentle emotions born of the name I bear, which has remained engraved since the thirteenth century in the stone and history of the Cevennes. I came dreaming of the past and was about to root myself in the rural realities of today and perhaps tomorrow. "Les Genêts" are now open five months, which is enough to ensure (modest, no doubt) income for the whole year. "We" rest from the season by preparing for the next one, near Aubenas in Ardeche.
If a man does something important for us one day, even without his knowledge, let's never forget it. Whatever his development and choices, this man will remain a milestone in our lives. He will have opened one of the doors we must pass through to reach ourselves. What more could we ask of him since he has given us, in a single moment, what he had for us?
Carved into this crystalline rock that seems to hold back time, protected from the southwest winds by the barrier of Mont Lozere and the Montagne du Goulet, situated at twelve hundred meters altitude on the edge of the path leading to Puylaurent, the Croix de Grabio opens its arms over the Cevennes, the Vivarais, and the high reliefs of Velay.
"But it's the desert!"
"Not really," Roger Martin replied. "Look more carefully. Those aren't rocks you see, but villages, hamlets, isolated farms. Look closer still, and you'll see smoking chimneys: those are inhabited homes." The snow hadn't yet fallen. Only the summits were whitish, as if covered by fields of daffodils. I could distinguish meadows, cultivated land, heathlands, or sparse woods. I could also discern the terraces, the "sfaissa" or "bancer" as they say in Cevenol dialect: they were fallow. "Not so long ago," my guide told me, "you could still see vines, potatoes, alfalfa, or rye when it was the season. Over there, chestnuts were harvested... Come back each year at the same time if you can: you'll count the hearths that have gone out since your last visit."
The air was pure, like a few hours before the rain. The cold stung our cheeks. It would snow the next day. The setting sun made the wind run through the valleys and cast its light on every detail of the highlands. La vie rurale, mode d'emploi: pour une politique globale de la ruralite. By Gilles Dautun. Editions L'Harmattan.
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Mountain Honey
Recognizing good honey. Quality honey has a uniform color and a pleasant aroma when the jar is opened. Its texture should be consistent. Price differences are due to the rarity of certain honeys. Very cheap honeys are generally imported from Asia or South America and are blends. "All-flower" honey doesn't have a dominant flavor but can be of excellent quality. Selected honeys (raspberry, fir, chestnut, etc.) must come predominantly (50% to 98%) from the specified plant. All honeys are liquid when harvested, but most crystallize after a few weeks. To liquefy them, place them in a bain-marie below 40°C (the temperature of the hive). Microwaving is not recommended. Temperature fluctuations damage them. Store your jars in a cupboard away from light at 15°C to 20°C. They have an almost unlimited shelf life.
Wildflowers of Margeride-Aubrac. Our honey is harvested in Margeride and Aubrac between 900 & 1200 meters in June & July from thousands of wildflowers in natural meadows, pastures, and woods located in a preserved environment. Among them are many medicinal plants. The honey is more or less light depending on the year and the abundance of certain flowers.
Here are the plants revealed by pollen analyses: clover, hawthorn, raspberry, bramble, germander, knapweed, scabious, cornflower, bird's-foot trefoil, knotweed, blueberry, cranberry, rockrose, savory, thistle, bellflower, violet, wild thyme, dandelion, mullein, alder buckthorn, boxwood, marjoram, stonecrop, plantain, wild cherry, borage, calamint, wild radish, fireweed, fruit trees. We call it "wildflowers" to distinguish it from "all-flower" or "thousand-flower" honeys from the plains, often harvested from large crops of rapeseed, sunflower, alfalfa, etc.
Specific honeys. To obtain them, we move our hives to various locations (from 700 to 1500 meters altitude) at different times from May to September. By harvesting the honey at the end of each variety's flowering period, we obtain sweet honeys like clover, bramble, raspberry, blueberry, fireweed; more robust ones like dandelion, fir, oak; or very fragrant ones like heather, ling, wild thyme, chestnut. The richness of our mountain flora allows for this diversity.
Why different colored honeys from the same beekeeper? The color of honey depends on the flowers foraged by the bees. In the same region, the flora can vary a few kilometers apart and a few days apart. An experienced beekeeper with several hives scattered in nature extracts his harvest hive by hive and doesn't mix them when bottling. This allows the honey to retain its specific color and aroma. That's why you'll find, side by side, honeys ranging from white to brown, from very light to very dark, due to the flowers foraged by his bees. The dominant color of a honey reflects the predominance of nectar from a particular flower variety but not its exclusivity. Pollen traps and pollen analyses help authenticate the dominant flora in a honey, hence its name. by Daniel Plantier, Beekeeper, rue du Theron, 48250 La Bastide-Puylaurent, 04 66 46 00 03.
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The Hamlets of the Commune
Culminating at over 1000 meters altitude and covering an area of 24.19 km², the commune of La Bastide-Puylaurent comprises five hamlets:
Puylaurent, a former parish and commune chief town until 1917.
Les Huttes, where one of the oldest families of Gevaudan still resides.
Le Thort, where there is a huge dolmen weighing nearly six tons, which popular tradition has named "Palet de Gargantua." The giant is said to have dropped it while playing there.
Les Gouttes, where the paternal ancestors of Theophile Roussel—doctor, politician, and French philanthropist—lived for many generations.
Masmejean, where one of the first victims of the Beast of Gevaudan was found (a nickname given to a creature responsible for a series of attacks on humans between 1764 and 1767, resulting in about a hundred deaths).
| La Bastide-Puylaurent: L'Etoile Guesthouse, 06 83 99 70 86, Email Former resort hotel with garden on the banks of the Allier. Ideal for a relaxing stay; large dining room with fireplace, healthy and hearty meals served at the guest table. Spacious and comfortable garden-side rooms with private facilities. Belgian beers and homemade bread. Private parking. Hiking trails: GR7, GR70, GR72, GR470, GR700. Tour of the Ardeche Mountains, Tour of Margeride, Le Cevenol. Numerous Loop Hikes. |     
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La Bastide-Puylaurent
Former resort hotel with a garden on the banks of the Allier, L'Étoile Guesthouse is located in La Bastide-Puylaurent, nestled between Lozère, Ardèche, and the Cevennes in the mountains of Southern France. Positioned at the crossroads of GR®7, GR®70 Chemin Stevenson, GR®72, GR®700 Voie Regordane (Saint Gilles), GR®470 Sources and Gorges of the Allier, GRP® Cevenol, Montagne Ardechoise, and Margeride. It offers numerous loop routes for hiking and day-long cycling excursions. Ideal for a relaxing stay.
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