Awesome rock foundations (Montpellier Le Vieux)

Member Name: mumsymary

Product:	Montpellier Le Vieux
Date:	18/09/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Wonderful area

Disadvantages: not suitable for disabled

While on holiday we visited Montpellier Le Vieux (Montpellier the old man)
This natural park is in the area called Aveyron in the iArdèche on the edge of the Cevennes.

in the south of France about 12k from Millau along the d110.

This is a natural site known for its rock formations its fauna and flora. It is a spectacular sight of grey coloured black causse rock that has been shaped by the wind, the rain and time to make the most amazing shapes. The whole of this area of France is very rocky. This small spectacular, site Montpellier le vieux was discovered and developed in the late 1800's early 1900's into the site that we found.

We found this site by following a map we had it was not really very easy to find there were few signs along the road and we did find one leading to a narrow road which went quite a long way before we reached parking for Montpellier le vieux.

There are charges to walk around this site E5.45 for an adult E4.45 for between 15 -20 years olds E3.90 for a child over 3.

At the entrance there is a map on a board and maps and guides can be bought in the little shop. There are several routes around this rocky site including a route by a little train. You could as we did walk part of the way then take the train back to the start. The train costs 3.50E for an adult 2.60 for a child. The train is an open but roofed tourist train.

The track we took around this park was fairly well marked and fairly good underfoot in most places. It was rocky, some bits steep but the children scampered along well. I would suggest it is not very suitable for someone who is very disabled apart that they could experience the rock formations from the train ride.
There are a few trees and bushes around this site and some interesting flora dependant on the season of course.

I think you would need to allow yourselves about 1 to2 hours to walk and wonder at the rock formations. We took a picnic lunch and were there about 3 hours. You could easily spend a complete day here though, as we only walked one of the shorter routes and we were slow as I still have this tendon injury which means I am more cautious about where I walk.

Some of the rock formations were called animal names , the Elephant , the crocodile , dog head and if you used a little imagination looked at these rocks from the right angle you could see the resemblance There was a compete arch across the path, the door of Mycene which is pictured here . I do have a few photos of myself and the family in a similar position to the shown on this review header.

Not long after the door of Mycene was the stop for the train, so instead of walking a circular route we caught the train back to the beginning. At this train terminus were a couple of shelters and somewhere to sit. I seem to remember the train went approximately every hour. We bought our tickets on the train this cost e3.50 for an adult E2.50 for a child.
This was a good route back and we could see the rock formations well from the train window. It did stop at one point at a good viewpoint. I seem to remember the train took about ½ hour including this fairly long stop.

If you are interested do look at the website for further info and more pictures .http://www.montpellierlevieux.com is the main one but if you search there are a few others.

Summary: A natrual park in France