pedelon travels by eBike GRAND S AND AUBR AC +++ fl ying to the city of students +++ cycling through deep river canyons and the mountains of the Grands Causses +++ the blades of Languiole cut sharper than the swords of the Templars +++ living myths and hot aligot +++ Cantal, Pérail, Thérondel, Bleu de Caussee, Roquefort… “How should I reign a country where there are more types of cheese than there are days in the year?” (Charles de Gaulle) +++ magical manors and archaic villages +++ a memorable tour in a small group to the displays of nature in the Grands Causses and the Aubrac +++

Our tour across the Grands Causses and the Aubrac in 7 days, up to 10 persons. 3 double overnight stays. Clermont Ferrand Laguiole Hotels **** St Urcize C A U S S E Gastronomy **** D E S A U V E T E R R E Culture *** Nature ***** ! La Canorgue A U B R A C Ste Enemie Travel dates 2020 FGA1: Saturday, 13-jun-2020 to Saturday, 20-jun-2020 C A U S S E M E J E A N FGA2: Saturday, 27-jun-2020 to Saturday, 04-jul-2020 Jon FGA3: Saturday, 05-sep-2020 to Saturday, 12-sep-2020 Le Rozier te orge s du G n by eBike Tar by train Traveling price 2020 Roquefort Ste La Couvertoirade Price per person in the DR for 7 nights with half-board, eBike, Eulalie Le Cros Cirque de entrance free, transfers, guided tours: € 1890 Navacelles Single-room surcharge: € 490 L A R Z A C Does not include lunch, drinks and your personal expenses as well as travelling there and back. Montpellier 20 km

Grands Causses and Aubrac 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 1 pedelon travels by eBike

Flight Booked by you or by pedelon at your request. Target airport Montpellier from/to Frankfurt/Munich/Hamburg/Düsseldorf (as available): € 490 Flights from other German airports as well as from other countries on request.

By train From Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart, you can reach Montpellier by train in 9 to 12 hours with one transfer, in 12 hours from Hamburg and Berlin, two transfers cannot be avoided.

By car Continuous motorway connections to Montpellier. You may keep your car in a public parking garage near the hotel during the bicycle trip (approx. 70 € /week).

Participation conditions The arrangement contains the above services. Our terms and conditions apply.

With your booking confirmation, you will receive the “pedelon travel information”, which contains useful notes on travelling to Montpellier and other advice around your trip.

Grands Causses and Aubrac 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 2 pedelon travels by eBike

GRANDS CAUSSES AND AUBRAC A trip by eBike through great landscapes with memorable wide views and narrow river canyons, on deserted paths and to picturesque villages. Living in comfortable manors and haunted castles, travelling in a small group along a still untouched region in South-Western .

In Montpelier, the charming hotel „Le Guilhem“ will be waiting for terfall. Because of its picturesque and often gorge-like valleys and the pedelon guests. The small town hotel in a former town palace popularity for bathing, the canyon is much visited. has tastefully designed rooms. At 7 PM, you will meet in the hotel hall for an evening‘s town tour through the pulsating city of Montpelier. Past the cathedral Saint Pierre, the famous botanic garden Jardin des Plantes and the aqueduct de Saint-Clément, the tour will end in a popular evening restaurant in the old town.

1st day, Sunday: Montpellier – Le Cros – Cirque de On silent paths where there are only few cars, you will reach the Navacelle – Le Cros, 58 km Château du Cros, a picturesque place where you will spend the In the morning, the bus will take you on the Causse de Larzac in next two days. The fi ve comfortable rooms of the defensive castle a bit more than an hour. There you will receive your eBikes and have been tastefully furnished with antique as well as modern comfortably get used to them on your round trip on the southern- furniture. In the evening, you will meet for an excellent dinner in a most lime plateau of the Grands Causses, a UNESCO world cul- very good Auberge near the hotel. tural heritage since 2012. It is between 650 and 1,200 meters above sea level and is limited in the North by the nearly 500 meters deep gorge, and in the East by the Dourbie gorge and 2nd day, Monday: Le Cros – Roquefort – Le Cros, 56 km the Cevennes. The cycling section will lead you through a scarce, After breakfast in the Knights’ Hall of the former fortress, today’s dry and nearly abandoned landscape, with juniper and holm oak stage begins with a visit to La Couvertoirade, a Templars‘ village as your constant companions. Now and then, you will fi nd pictu- from the 12th century. This medieval jewel is special because of resque small settlements and villages that offer a unique langua- its closed architecture. After this visit, you will ride your eBikes ge of forms thanks to their regional styles. Suddenly, the bicycle on the mostly fl at path to Ste Eulalie de Cernon. This pictures- route passes a grandiose nature event: the Cirque de Navacelle. que place once housed the Commanderie of the Knights Templar, The huge valley was shaped by the small river Vis, which passed from where they managed their possessions on the Larzac. After through a pressure meander here and shortened its run in a wa- a walk across the pretty town with is small alleys and places, you

Grands Causses and Aubrac 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 3 pedelon travels by eBike will continue along the Cernon downriver towards Roquefort sur 4th day, Wednesday: St Urzice – Laguiole – Solzon. The famous sheep‘s milk cheese has been produced in St Urzice, 62 km the labyrinthine caves here for a long time. During the tour of a After breakfast in historic walls you will cycle on lonely paths with Roquefort cheese production, you will learn lots about how this magnificent views of the expanse of Aubrac to Laguiole. In the elaborate cheese is made. village of Aubrac, a short stop at Germaine to taste the best cakes in the region and visit the beautiful 12th century village church, “Eglise Notre-Dame-des-Pauvres”. A little later you will reach the lively Laguiole, famous for its traditional knife manufactures, who have been producing pocket knives since the 18th century. A bee flaunts like a trademark on the back of the knife, but the individual adornments of the feather spine and a cross of small nails are also typical. It is said to this day that shepherds put the knives in the ground to pray before this cross. Particularly interesting is the In the late afternoon, after a small transfer, you will return to the visit of the smithy “La Forge Laguiole”. Château du Cros. If the weather is nice, an aperitif with a view of the castle park is offered before you meet for dinner in a well-fre- quented auberge.

3rd day, Tuesday: Le Cros – St Urzice, 48 km In the morning, the bus will take you across the famous Viaduct of Millau. Designed by Norman Foster, it is the world‘s largest cable-stayed bridge at a length of 2.5 km and a maximum pillar height of 365 m. After a photo stop, you will reach the Aubrac a little later. This nearly treeless, slightly wavy plateau is remini- Here, you can be introduced to the secrets of blacksmithing of scent of a prairie and rather unusual for France. The Aubrac is one of the most traditional family businesses. Shortly after leaving thinly settled and only used for cattle breeding. Apart from the the bustling Laguiole, you will again be riding on wild, romantic village of the same name, there are nearly only individual farms paths in the direction of St Urzice. In the late afternoon you are and former herdsmen‘s cottages, now abandoned. back in the guest house of Monsieur Remise. A Buron invites you for a very special dinner with specialties in the best quality. In the former shepherd’s huts, today cooking is still done on an open fire. An unforgettable experience.

5th day, Thursday: St Urzice – Roziers, 79 km In the morning, a long downhill ride from the high plateau of the Aubrac will take you to Canourgue. The picturesque village core After a few kilometers by eBike, the powerful Château de la Bau- invites you to stay before the accompanying bus and a taxi will me will appear by the side of the road. Built at an elevation of take the cyclists to approx. 900 m lake height, to the Causse de 1200 meters, it is France‘s highest castle. The slightly strict but Sauveterre. impressive building dates from the 17th century and is known as the „Versailles of Gévaudan“. In the early evening, Fred Remise will be waiting for his guests in his carefully restored manor house in St. Urzice, in the middle of the Aubrac. His luxurious guest house has five tasteful rooms, all of them with large bathrooms. Fred is known well in the Aubrac. He takes care of „his“ region with great commitment. Before a dinner typical for the country, he will offer a small guided tour of the beautiful village church from the 13th century. It is one of the four high plateaus of the Grands Causse and differs from the others due to its inhospitable roughness. Bizarre rock

Grands Causses and Aubrac 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 4 pedelon travels by eBike formations and seemingly unending stone fields are your com- 7th day, Saturday: Roziers – Montpellier panions until you reach the magnificent view of the Canyon des In the morning, a bus will return you to Montpellier to the airport Tarns. The landscape changes increasingly as you start the long or the parking place, if guests arrived in their own cars. downhill ride to the valley. Fertile meadows and floodplains more and more replace the scarce landscapes; breath-taking rock If the departure times permit, you may leave your suitcases in walls determine the view now. Even the architecture grows richer the starting hotel and explore this interesting town until you have and more playful. Houses are no longer rare. Many villages line to leave for your plane. You can also check in your suitcases and the valley‘s bottom. In the afternoon, you will reach Ste Énemie, take the shuttle and tram back to the center. It is only 11 kilome- which has been named France‘s most beautiful village several ters to and from the Montpelier airport. The taxi can take you to times. From here, there are another 20 kilometers to the day‘s town or back to the airport in approx. 20 minutes. destination Le Rozier at the confluence of the Jonte and Tarn. The modern „Grandhotel de la Muse et du Rozier“ is a four-star-hotel with every comfort (pool) and a fine hotel restaurant.

6th day, Friday: Rozier– Causse de Méjean – Roziers, 65 km After breakfast, you will reach the Causse de Méjean after an hour by bus. Abandoned side streets and paths take you to Nîmes Visiting the Musée Fabre is perfect to bridge the time. It was le Vieux, a bizarre rock sea the silhouette of which reminds you founded in 1825 by painter François-Xavier Fabre. This museum of the Southern French metropolis in the evening twilight. At least houses approx. 1,800 paintings, 4,000 drawings, 1,500 graphics the Royal troops during the religious wars supposedly mistook and several hundred sculptures. Since its reopening in 2007, the this place for Nîmes. Across the wasteland and along seemingly permanent exhibition has been showing approx. 800 objects. unending dry rock walls, the segment will stop at the wonderfully Among others, they are works by Gustave Courbet, Frédéric Bazill retained Ferme Caussenarde. The small museum will illustratively and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. present the hard life on the Causse de Méjean. If the schedule permits, you can visit one of the best cheese productions of the Causse de Méjean before returning back to Rozier. The Froma- gerie de Hyelzas produces five different types of cheese with an outstanding reputation beyond the region.

Late in the evening, you will return from the Causse de Méjean down to the wildly romantic Jonte valley by eBike. You will reach the „Grandhotel de la Muse et du Rozier“ after a downhill ride of nearly 20 km, interrupted only briefly by a rise halfway down, ear- ly in the evening. Meet for the final dinner in Rozier in a family-run restaurant, highly frequented by locals. Here we will celebrate the conclusion of a trip full of outstanding impressions with a top menu with regional specialties.

Grands Causses and Aubrac 2020 pedelon. travels by eBike +49 (0)89 61466980 www.pedelon.com 5