L'Aubrac
The Aubrac
Aubrac is a volcanic and granite plateau in the south-central part of the Massif Central.Aubrac is an important stage on the Via Podiensis, one of the 4 roads leading to Santiago de Compostela. The via podiensis (or route du Puy) starts here and passes through Conques after passing through Aubrac. This route coincides with the GR 65 and is very popular with pilgrims in the summer months.
On your way to Santiago de Compostela or on the Via Agrippa, or simply along the way, you'll come across many bridges, bread ovens, fountains, crosses, ferradous, wash-houses and burons that make up the Aubrac's small heritage.
Not to be missed
At one end of the plateau, the town of Laguiole is famous for its knives and is a must for cheese (fourme and fresh tomme made from raw cow's milk).
There are two outstanding churches to visit: the 11th-century Romanesque church in Nasbinals and the church of Saint Urcize, with its combed bell tower and ambulatory, unique in the Upper Auvergne. The area is ideal for picking at the height of the season... Aubrac tea, in particular, is consumed as an herbal tea.
The region has two major spa resorts: La Chaldette and Chaudes-Aigues, whose waters at the source of the Par reach a record 82°C (used to heat the town, among other things).
Four lakes of glacial origin are accessible from the D52 road that runs from Nasbinals to Saint-Germain-du-Teil (known locally as the "route des lacs"): Lac des Salhiens (the stream that flows from it forms the Déroc waterfall), Lac de Souverols (the smallest), Lac de Saint-Andéol (the largest and most steeped in history) and Lac de Born (the wildest and highest). Several summits can be climbed without difficulty
"An attraction that is not violent, but difficult to resist, draws me back year after year, again and again, to the high bare surfaces, basalt or limestone, in the centre and south of the massif: the Aubrac, the Cézallier, the planèzes, the causses. It's like a piece of bald continent that's suddenly flooded, surfacing above the endless bocage countryside that's so commonplace in our land. These are sacramental, austere tones in our continuous network of trees, images of an almost spiritualised stripping down of the landscape, which indissolubly combine, for the walker, a feeling of altitude and a feeling of elevation".
- Julien Gracq, Aubrac
There are two outstanding churches to visit: the 11th-century Romanesque church in Nasbinals and the church of Saint Urcize, with its combed bell tower and ambulatory, unique in the Upper Auvergne. The area is ideal for picking at the height of the season... Aubrac tea, in particular, is consumed as an herbal tea.
The region has two major spa resorts: La Chaldette and Chaudes-Aigues, whose waters at the source of the Par reach a record 82°C (used to heat the town, among other things).
Four lakes of glacial origin are accessible from the D52 road that runs from Nasbinals to Saint-Germain-du-Teil (known locally as the "route des lacs"): Lac des Salhiens (the stream that flows from it forms the Déroc waterfall), Lac de Souverols (the smallest), Lac de Saint-Andéol (the largest and most steeped in history) and Lac de Born (the wildest and highest). Several summits can be climbed without difficulty
"An attraction that is not violent, but difficult to resist, draws me back year after year, again and again, to the high bare surfaces, basalt or limestone, in the centre and south of the massif: the Aubrac, the Cézallier, the planèzes, the causses. It's like a piece of bald continent that's suddenly flooded, surfacing above the endless bocage countryside that's so commonplace in our land. These are sacramental, austere tones in our continuous network of trees, images of an almost spiritualised stripping down of the landscape, which indissolubly combine, for the walker, a feeling of altitude and a feeling of elevation".
- Julien Gracq, Aubrac
