Issue No. 18

© D.Viet / CRT Midi-Pyrénées
Aveyron echoes with the past. Every
densely wooded gorge and valley, every
ancient bastide town and every winding
road seems to whisper of pilgrims making
their weary way south, of Romans and
rebellious Gauls or of Knights Templars,
thundering across the plateaux.
Part of the Massif Central but also the
northern most part of the Midi-Pyrénées, as
a department Aveyron has an earthiness, a
simplicity and a quiet but wild ruggedness
that’s hard to find elsewhere. Forests and
vineyards cling to steep ravines, medieval
villages poke their heads out of leafy
canopies in the hills and rivers dotted with
old mills and forges laze their way through
cool musty valleys.
landscape and you just have to take your
time here and absorb.
walk on the wild side
The plateaux of the Aubrac to the north east
of the region are vast, forlornly beautiful and
represent the Aveyron at its most untamed.
It feels wild and unconquered here with a
haunting beauty to its bleakness and you
can roam for hours in solitary delight
interrupted by nothing more than mountain
shelters (Burons) and the occasional Aubrac
cow. It’s definitely the place to start if you
want to imbibe the very soul of the region
and it also harbours one of the ancient
pilgrim trails that cuts across France.
No one seems to be in a rush here and the
region’s cuisine remains deeply connected
with its past and its terrain. It’s all about the