LANDSCAPES AND LOCAL HERITAGE Along the Stevenson Trail Part 2 Le bleymard

SAGNEROUSSE, FOUZILHAC and FOUZILHIC After leaving Langogne,Robert Louis Stevenson continued his walking tour towards Sagnerousse, a tiny hamlet.. But he got lost and wandered back and forth for more than three hours in the dark, on muddy roads, in dense furze and a licheny forest, in the bush, among a chaos of stones and swampy land… He had been mislead by two children earlier in the afternoon… The inhabitants of Fouzilhic were not friendly either. An elderly man refused to help him find his way and to open his door… Actually he was still scared of the « Beast of Gévaudan », a supposedly wolf that had killed and eaten about 100 people from 30 June 1764 to 19 June A typical farm in Fouzilhac

LE CHEYLARD L’ÊVEQUE A very little place at the bottom of « Mount Le Moure de la Gardille » 1503m at its highest. Two springs start there: the River Allier and the river Chassezac. Lozère has the nickname of: « The land of the springs » because many rivers start from here. In autumn it is home to mushroom harvest. A gîte advertising for Stevenson’s passage in this place. A tiny church with the region’s typical bell tower A farm The spring of the river Langouyrou, flowing down to Langogne. The statue of Our Lady on top of hill in the village

LUC The ruins of the medieval castle, with new renovated parts, overlook the river Allier valley. On top of the turret Stevenson wrote about, we can see the statue of Notre Dame de Lourdes. A view from the castle A passage from the text

« OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS » ABBEY (1) some of their real estate

« OUR LADY OF THE SNOWS » ABBEY (2) Cistercian life is devoted to prayer and charity. The monastery has a guest house, a wine cellar where the monks produce their own liturgical and table wines out of the grapes that they buy from grape owners in the « Gard » département, further south. They cultivate their land, raise cattle, make cheese, dry saussages, honey…to make a living and share with those in need. They run a shop to sell their products, including religious replicas, books,or local products. This statue welcomes the visitor at the entrance of the Cistercian monks’ real estate, now called « Trappist Monks ». This place is 1100m at its highest point. It was founded in Stevenson spent 3 days there.He refused to be converted to Protestantism.