No, there are no piles of stones on the Grands Causses!
“If we dared to make a comparison, we could say that the petit patrimoine de pays is to the Monuments Historiques classés what the “petit vin blanc” of the song is to the grands crus: less prestigious, less visible, but full of charm and flavor…”
Bref the “petit patrimoine” is great! And like all the great ones, it’s discreet, it’s earned…
We could turn it into a web-series or a film, to be discovered on every walk on our Grands Causses…
Scenario:
If stones could talk, they’d tell you about 2,000 years of agropastoralism and mutual engineering between Man and Nature. Shepherds and flocks of sheep have sculpted these rocky steppe landscapes. The ewe gives its milk for Roquefort cheese, the skin of its lambs for making gloves in Millau, its meat for trénels, gigots and other local recipes.
Casting:
Sheep and shepherds
Stone
Time
Award:
Nominated to the World Heritage of Humanity category by UNESCO: the “Causses & Cévennes” as exceptional cultural landscapes of Mediterranean agropastoralism.
Baumes Du Larzac1 MinSome hints of small heritage to discover on the Grands Causses
- Lavogne
No, it’s not a duck pond and no, there aren’t any goldfish at the bottom either! A paved drinking trough built into a natural depression, for flocks of sheep.
- Toit-citerne
A lauze roof used to collect rainwater and store it in a cistern, often dug into the rock.
- Caselle
No, this isn’t the home of an Aveyron gnome or leprechaun! Small dry-stone hut, often rounded and vaulted, to shelter the shepherd from the vagaries of the weather.
- Draille
Transhumance path surrounded by low dry-stone walls.
- Clapas
No, it’s not a cairn on your hiking trail! Stones ploughed from the fields and stored in piles for future construction.
- Buissière
No, it’s not the delusion of a landscape gardener.
Boxwood tunnel for transhumance of flocks, protected from the vagaries of the weather, wind, heat, snow…
- Jasse
Bergerie, in stone and limestone slate, vaulted with ogives along its entire length. No, it’s not a myth, there are sheep on the Grands Causses, but when it’s tourist time, they’re in the sheepfold. To see them grazing, it’s early in the morning or late at night, in the cool!
..and also, stone crosses, wheat threshing floors, bread ovens, bories…
It’s up to you to test the small heritage of exception and share your adventures on Instagram or Facebook #exploremillau
Discovering the Causses and Cévennes
Discover the “Voyage dans les Causses et Cévennes” series from the Causses and Cévennes agreement
