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Only 64km from Montpellier and 18km from Ganges, LE VIGAN makes a good starting point for exploring the southern part of the Cevennes. It's a leafy, cool and thoroughly agreeable place, at its liveliest during the Fete d'Isis at the beginning of August and the colossal fair that takes over the Parc des Chataigniers on September 9 and 22. The prettiest part of the town is around the central place du Quai , shaded by lime trees and bordered by cafes and brasseries. From here it's only a two-minute walk south, down rue Pierre-Gorlier, to reach the gracefully arched Pont Vieux , with beside it the Musee Cevenol (April-Oct daily except Tues 10am-noon & 2-6pm; rest of year Wed only 10am-noon & 2-6pm; 20F/3.05), a well-presented look at traditional rural occupations in the area, including the woodcutter, butcher, shepherd and wolf-hunter. There's also a room devoted to the area's best-known twentieth-century writer, Andre Chamson, noted for his novels steeped in the traditions and countryside of the Cevennes. Interestingly, Coco Chanel also features in the museum: she had local family connections and it seems found inspiration for her designs in the cevenol silks . The tourist office occupies a modern block in the centre of the place du Marche, at the opposite end of the place du Quai from the church (July & Aug Mon-Sat 8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-7pm, Sun 10am-12.30pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-6.30pm, Sat 9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; tel 04.67.81.01.72, fax 04.67.81.86.79). For somewhere to stay , try the simple but attractive Hotel du Commerce , with its wisteria-covered balcony and little garden, at 26 rue des Barris (tel 04.67.81.03.28; 160-220F/24-34). The best alternative is a couple of kilometres out of town, south towards Montdardier on the D48: the handsome old Auberge Cocagne in the village of AVEZE (tel 04.67.81.02.70, fax 04.67.81.07.67; 160-220F/24-34; closed Dec 21-Feb; restaurant from 70F/10.50). There are campsites in Aveze (tel 04.67.81.95.01; closed mid-Sept to mid-June), or 2km upriver from Le Vigan, on the opposite bank, is the well-shaded riverside Val de l'Arre (tel 04.67.81.02.77, www.campingfrance.com/valdelarre ; closed Oct-March). There's a gite d'etape at 1 rue de la Carrierrasse (tel 04.67.81.01.71). One of the best places to eat is Jardin des Cevennes , in place du Terral, just off the main square; menus start at 95F/14.25 and feature French classics with a local twist, such as filet mignon with a chestnut sauce. A good alternative is Le Chandelier , housed in a converted cellar on rue du Pouzadou; the 78F/11.89 menu includes confit de canard and a choice of delicious desserts. From Le Vigan, or more particularly from the Pont de l'Herault bridge, a beautiful lane (D153) winds northeast through typical south Cevennes landscape - deep valleys thick with sweet chestnut and thinly peopled with isolated farms half-buried in greenery - from Sumene to St-Jean-du-Gard, a distance of around 45km, but very slow. SUMENE is a run-down but lovely old place, the entrance to its close, narrow streets still blocked by its medieval gates . It was once a centre for silk spinning, which for a couple of centuries until the 1900s was the mainstay of economic life in the Cevennes - that and the cultivation of the sweet chestnut, which provided the staple diet for the entire population. There is a gite d'etape at COLOGNAC (tel 04.66.85.28.84) and another in the valley bottom outside the rather nondescript village of LASALLE (tel 04.66.85.27.29), also home to the old-fashioned, well-established Hotel des Camisards in the main street (tel 04.66.85.20.50; 160-220F/24-34; closed Nov-April; restaurant from 70F/10.67).
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