Only 64km from Montpellier and 18km from Ganges, LE VIGAN makes a good starting point for exploring the southern part of the Cévennes. It's a leafy, cool and thoroughly agreeable place, at its liveliest during the Fête d'Isis at the beginning of August and the colossal fair that takes over the Parc des Châtaigniers 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 cafés 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 Musée Cévenol (April–Oct daily except Tues 10am–noon & 2–6pm; Nov–March Wed only 10am–noon & 2–6pm; €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, André Chamson, noted for his novels steeped in the traditions and countryside of the Cévennes. Interestingly, Coco Chanel also features in the museum: she had local family connections and it seems found inspiration for her designs in the cévenol silks. The tourist office occupies a modern block in the centre of the place du Marché, 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; Sept–June 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 Hôtel du Commerce, with its wisteria-covered balcony and little garden, at 26 rue des Barris (tel 04.67.81.03.28; under €30). 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 AVÈZE (tel 04.67.81.02.70, fax 04.67.81.07.67; €40–55; closed Dec 21–Feb; restaurant from €11.50). There are also campsites in Avèze (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 gîte d'étape at 1 rue de la Carrierrasse (tel 04.67.81.01.71). One of the best places to eat in Le Vigan is Jardin des Cévennes (closed Mon), in place du Terral, just off the main square; menus start at €16 and feature French classics with a local twist, such as filet mignon with a chestnut sauce. A good alternative is Le Chandelier (closed Mon), housed in a converted cellar on rue du Pouzadou; the €13 menu includes confit de canard and a choice of delicious desserts. From Le Vigan, or more particularly from the Pont de l'Hérault bridge, a beautiful lane (D153) winds northeast through typical south Cévennes landscape – deep valleys thick with sweet chestnut and thinly peopled with isolated farms half-buried in greenery – from Sumène to St-Jean-du-Gard, a distance of around 45km, but very slow. SUMÈNE is a run-down but lovely old place, the entrance to its close, narrow streets still blocked by 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 Cévennes – that and the cultivation of the sweet chestnut, which provided the staple diet for the entire population. There's a gîte d'étape 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), where options also include the hotel L'Enclos (tel 04.66.85.44.30; closed Oct–Dec; €30–40) and the campsite La Salendrinque (tel 04.66.85.24.57; open April–Oct).
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