Mont Lozère is a windswept and desolate barrier of granite and yellow grassland, rising to 1699m at the summit of Finiels, still grazed by herds of cows, but in nothing like the numbers of bygone years when half the cattle in Languedoc came up here for their summer feed. Snowbound in winter and wild and dangerous in bad weather, it has claimed many a victim among lost travellers. In some of the squat granite hamlets on the northern slopes, like Servies, Auriac and Les Sagnes, you can still hear the bells, known as clochers de tourmente, that tolled in the wind to give travellers some sense of direction when the cloud was low.If you're travelling by car from Mende, the way to the summit is via the village of LE BLEYMARD, about 30km to the east on the bank of the infant River Lot, with accommodation in the form of Hôtel La Remise (tel 04.66.48.65.80, fax 04.66.48.63.70; €30–40; restaurant from €12). From here, the D20 winds 7km up through the conifers to LE CHALET, with its gîte d'étape (tel 04.68.48.62.84; food available), where it's joined by the GR7, which has taken a more direct route from Le Bleymard. This is the route that Stevenson took, waymarked as the "Tracé Historique de Stevenson". Road and footpath run together as far as the Col de Finiels, where the GR7 strikes off on its own to the southeast. The source of the River Tarn is about 3km east of the col, the summit of Lozère 2km to the west. From the col, the road and Stevenson's route drop down in tandem, through the lonely hamlet of FINIELS to the pretty but touristy village of LE PONT-DE-MONTVERT. At Le Pont, a seventeenth-century bridge crosses the Tarn by a stone tower that once served as a tollhouse. In this building in 1702, the Abbé du Chayla, a priest appointed by the Crown to reconvert the rebellious Protestants enraged by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, set up a torture chamber to coerce the recalcitrant. Incensed by his brutality, a group of them under the leadership of one Esprit Séguier attacked and killed him on July 23. Reprisals were extreme; nearly 12,000 were executed, thus precipitating the Camisards' guerrilla war against the state. At the edge of the village, there's also an écomusée on the life and character of the region, the Maison du Mont Lozère (mid-April to Sept daily 10.30am–12.30pm & 2.30–6.30pm; €3.50). If you're tempted to stay, there's the small Auberge des Cévennes (tel 04.66.45.80.01; €30–40; closed mid-Nov to March; restaurant from €14), overlooking the bridge. There's also a gîte d'étape in the Maison du Mont Lozère (tel 04.66.45.80.10; closed Jan & Feb; reservations obligatory).
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