| The glorious abbey and village of ST-GUILHEM-LE-DéSERT lies in a side ravine, 6km further on. A ruined castle spikes the ridge above, and the ancient tiled houses of the village ramble down the banks of the rushing Verdus, which is everywhere channelled into carefully tended gardens. The grand focus is the tenth- to twelfth-century abbey church, founded at the beginning of the ninth century by St Guilhem, comrade-in-arms of Charlemagne. The church is a beautiful and atmospheric building, though architecturally impoverished by the dismantling and sale of its cloister – now in New York – in the nineteenth century. It stands on place de la Liberté, surrounded by honey-coloured houses and arcades with traces of Romanesque and Renaissance domestic styles in some of the windows. The interior of the church is plain and somewhat severe compared to the warm colours of the exterior, best seen from rue Cor-de-Nostra-Dama/Font-du-Portal, where you get the classic view of the perfect apse. There are a couple of easy and worthwhile walks you can make from here – up the valley of the Verdus into the red-stained walls of the Cirque du Bout-du-Monde (from place de la Liberté, take rue du Bout-du-Monde out of the village and continue for about 30min), or up the zigzagging path of the GR74, through the sweet-scented shrubs and flowers towards the castle ridge (also about 30min). From the crest of the ridge the view down onto the village is magnificent. The path divides here: one branch leads back right to the ruins of the castle, while the other continues along the GR74 to the Ermitage Notre-Dame-de-Belle-Grâce (90min), and on to join the GR7 at St-Maurice-Navacelles on the Causse de Larzac. In season the village is on every tour operator's route, making early mornings and late afternoons the best times for visiting. A number of gîtes in and around St-Guilhem can put you up for the night, including the English-speaking Gîte de la Tour (tel & fax 04.67.57.34.00), located in a medieval tower in the village, and the CAP gîte (tel 04.67.52.72.11), also in town. The nearest campsite is Le Moulin de Siau (tel 04.67.57.51.08; closed mid-Sept to mid-June), near Aniane on the road back down to Gignac. Nearby, cave enthusiasts will enjoy the Grotte de Clamouse (daily: Feb–May & Oct 10am–5pm; June & Sept 10am–6pm; July & Aug 10am–7pm; Nov–Jan noon–5pm; €6.56). Alternate spellings:: France, St-Guilhem-le-Désert, St-Guilhem-le-Désert, St-Guilhem-le-Desert
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