Cirque de Navacelles France

Day 11 15th May 2026

It was another cold start to the day in Camprieu, with snow once again fluttering on Bluey. We felt nice and cozy inside with the heater on. Our plans to go up to Mt.Aigoual were cancelled as the clouds were well and truly covering the peak. The detour then sealed its fate. We drove over the Col de Faubel and then joined the D48 to go over the Col du Minier, where just after we deviated up the narrow, but luckily devoid of traffic, road to the Orgon Cascade. We braved the cold and went to explore along the walking path to the bridge atop of the falls set amongst the beautiful beech forest.

As we  descended in elevation and came out of the cloud we could admire the amazing views of the valley.

We headed for the town of Le Vigan, parking at the SuperU and doing a quick shop. Then to the office of tourism to get some information of the area.

We had our sights on the CIRQUE DE NAVACELLES. We had previously seen this extraordinary site in 2013 but from the other side. So we drove to the visitors centre just out of Blandas and walked to the several lookouts. It’s is a UNESCO and Grand site of France due to its ecological and geographical importance.

There are many hiking tracks to fully explore the area but the inclement weather made us move on up to ALZON, a quaint little village that kindly offers an aire for the camping-cars to stay overnight. 

76km today

Aigoual Massif France

Day 10 Thursday 14th may 2026

It was a short drive from Cocures to FLORAC which is quite a small town, but has two large open squares with restaurants and a few shops - the 'esplanade' is the larger of the two. Around these main squares we discovered a few smaller streets and alleys to explore the 'old' town.

The church has an interesting design, with one end of the building in the style of a traditional church with a belltower, and the other end of the building in a neo-classical style.

We also saw the facade of the old convent with its impressive 16th century renaissance facade.

A smaller river (le Vibron) runs down through the town which joins the Tranon, and is a centre for fish-breeding - baby trout are raised here to be released elsewhere. There are various ponds along the route of the stream, providing lots of 'pretty buildings reflected in the water' photo opportunities - this is the most attractive part of the town centre. 

It was market day and stalls were set up in various areas.

A big shoe market stall

Lovely flowers and plants for sale

We popped into the tourist office to get some ideas on what to see along our route for today. Unfortunately the weather is not the greatest for hiking or going up to Mt.Aigoual so we modify our original plans.

Our first stop was in ST.LAURENT de TRÊVES where we take short walk to see some dinosaur prints left many million years ago. The views up here were lovely too.

A pretty rainbow in the valley

We drove via Meyrueis but didn’t stop as we had previously been here in 2022. A bit further down the road was an underground cave, Abime de Bramabiau, that we thought to visit. We arrived just in time for the 12noon tour @€14 each.

To reach the site, we had to go down a trail for 15-minute walk through a beech tree forest. We finally saw the gigantic crack in the rocks where the Bonheur river (‘Happiness river’) comes out. We spent over an hour exploring a kilometre or so of passage ways with a guide that was passionate and fascinating to listen to. 

At the end of the tour there were dinosaur prints that had been discovered when making a man made tunnel.

One of the 7 river sources found inside the cave system

A few kilometres away was a dedicated motorhome parking next to Lake Bonheure which feeds the water coming through the cave.

67km today