The Eschino d’Azé and the Cham des Bondons

On the western end of Mount Lozère a limestone plateau known as the “Cham des Bondons” bridges the space between Mont Lozère and the Sauveterre Causse. The Cham is interesting for a number of reasons.

- The plateau is sprinkled with an estimated 150 prehistoric monolithic standing stones. Over time, many have been knocked over but many are also still standing or have been replaced upright in modern times. The meaning or purpose of the stones is unknown. Religious significance, waymarkers for travellers, burial markers… ? Christian prelates, however, considered these monoliths to be a symbol of paganism and so some were voluntarily knocked down to signify the dominance of the Christian faith. These monoliths are all granite and have therefore been quarried elsewhere – presumably on Mount Lozère – and transported to the Cham to be erected. The Cham has the largest accumulation of these monoliths in southern France. No one knows why prehistoric peoples would have gone to all the trouble so the monoliths represent a cultural heritage yet to be explained. To the best of my knowledge, however, there are no upright monoliths along this particular route.

A stream on the plateau – the Bramont – carries the unusual distinction of being a tributary of 2 major rivers. The Bramont rises on the north slope of the Cham where a portion of the river water disappears into underground cavities only to resurface on the south slope. The north slope waters flow towards the Lot river. The south slope waters flow to the Tarn. This unusual (but not unique) situation has been known to local people for a long time and has been the cause of disputes and legal battles. In particular attempts were made to block the flow to the south slope causing problems for mills on that slope. After various legal battles, a ministerial decision in 1869 regulated the shared use of the water. This decree is, incredibly, still valid.

the Eschino d'Azé and the 2 Puechs — the Eschino d’Azé and the 2 Puechs

On the plateau, there are 2 side by side rounded, conical shaped hills composed of a mixture of clay and layered rock (probably a moraine deposit) . They sit on the Cham at elevation ~ 1150 m and their summits are about 75 m higher. They are visible from a fair distance away and their similarity to female shapes has, predictably, given rise to various fertility legends. Each hill has a name and they are also known as “les Puechs” or “Les Bondons”.
Near the Puechs, there is another hill of similar height but elongated in shape. The name of this hill – the Eschino d’Azé – is due to its resemblance to a donkey-back (“dos d’âne” in French) and hence the name in the Occitan or Languedoc language.

A puech and the entrance to the Malaval cave

On the steep south slopes of the Cham near the base of one of the Puechs, and just above the hamlet of Malaval, an entrance to and outflow of the Malaval cave is visible. This cave has been explored for up to 12 km underground and is reported to be the longest in the region. A subterranean stream flows in the cave and analysis has shown that and underground branch of the Bramont flowed though this cave as it shifted waters from the north slope to the south. A sample video.

a puech seen from the edge of the Eschino

a puech; view from the summit of the eschino d'Azé — a puech; view from the summit of the eschino d’Azé

a puech (marl hillock) on the Cham des Bondons

This hike starts at a remote spot on the plateau, not far from the Puechs. The track runs along the base of the Puechs and then to the left to eventually reach the top of the Eschino d’Aze. Along the way, there are plunging views to the valley where the Brenou/Bramont (Tarn) resurfaces. From the top of the Eschino, on a clear day you can see the peaks of Mount Lozère, Mount Aigoual and a panorama of the grand Causse plateaus. After leaving the Eschino, the track loops south around the base and heads down a steep slope toward the mountain village of Malbosc. After Malbosc, it’s uphill all the way, passing through the picturesque hamlet of Malaval. And then more uphill back to the cars parked on the Cham at about 1180 m elevation.

Notes
(1) the elevation profile suggests that this hike started at elevation of about 1400 m. This is patently incorrect. The hike started and ended at the same spot, at elevation around 1180 m. This is an illustration of the need to calibrate the Garmin GPSMap 64s at the start of the hike. It takes way too long to get a good fix on altitudes when left to itself.
(2) The 2 hillocks are named alternately as “puechs”, an old french word for summit or “trucs”, an old french word for an eminently visible highpoint. In much of the Lozère, the more popular term is truc.

Hiking in south central France

This site is about walking, mostly in south central France, specifically the Cévennes “mountain” range, the Grands Causses area with it’s plateaus and canyons, the departments of Gard with the garrigue landscapes, the Vaucluse, the Herault, sometimes the Ardèche, the Avéyron and the Drôme. There are descriptions of interesting walks, but sometimes also the non-interesting ones. There are occasional articles about the hardware and software you might use while hiking and in particular handheld GPS devices and smartphones. There are also references to cartography both in the field and on the computer screen back home. The progress in the area of web mapping in the past several years, with the arrival of services like Google Maps, Nokia Here (now “Here we go”) and the OSM Open source map service, has been spectacular.

However, hiking in this region is more than just walking with eyes focused forward or concentration on the GPS screen. It’s also about observing and understanding the landscapes, villages, farms, ancient ruins and various geological curiosities. Often the subject of interest is not the “what”, but the “why”. Why did people settle here hundreds of years ago? Why did the ancient trade routes pass this spot?

In this region, traces of human activity are everywhere – in the still occupied villages and farms, but also in the undergrowth, on the riverbanks and and on the abandoned hillsides. This site aims to explore these subjects, traveling on foot, at about 3.5 km per hour.

This site is also for people who like maps. There are maps in nearly every article, often with interactive features. Try them out.

For every walk mentioned in an article, the site provides a downloadable gpx file suitable for use on a handheld gps device. The site provides additional access to a database of some 700 circuits also complete with downloadable gpx. It is worth noting however, that a gpx track is a perishable commodity. Over time waymakings change, land owners block walking routes, obstacles appear. For this reason, when available, dates of the most recent passage on the circuits are also provided. Use with care.

Everywhere you go on these hiking routes you are likely to see a field cross. They can be in iron, stone, or wood and can be simple or ornate. These field crosses are supposed to have protected travellers from bandits – as supposedly no bandit would dare attack near a symbol of the all powerful religion.

So the french word “croix” translates to cross and holds the connotation of the cross as a religious symbol. However, in the context of this site, cross means crossroad or intersection. “La Croix de Gattigues” refers to a crossroad in a hamlet in the Gard department at which, no surprise, there is also a fine an iron cross.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply