Photos

September 5th, 2009
Valleraugue 300339 30570
Gard Languedoc-Roussillon
44.083 3.633 436 m

The "Café du Siècle", Valleraugue. The "coffeehouse of the century".

In a coffeehouse, one consumes alcoholic drinks or not, one slackens, one meets, one discusses of all and of nothing, one exchanges pewters, news, information, one speaks there about policy, knowledge or culture.

Inside. January 12, 2009.
Anecdote. An actor at the terrace of the "Café du Siècle", September 27th, 2009.

ANECDOTE. During second about fifteen September 2009, the village was put in agitation by the presence of a film making team and a group of actors, of which “THOMAS JOUANNET”, seen at the “Café du Siècle” terrace.
The film, directed by “Caroline Huppert”, “Les chataigniers du désert”, from the book of the same name of “Frédérique Hébrard”, partly made in the Cévennes, will be visible at the first half of 2010 on television, France 2.
“Frédérique Hébrard”, French novelist, was born in Nîmes in Gard, like her father, the academician “Andre Chamson”.

At the confluence of Herault and Clarou rivers, Valleraugue is at foot of the AIGOUAL MOUNT, solid mass granitic in the south-east of the Massif-Central, culminating point of Gard to 1565 m and second culminating point of Lozere after the mount Lozere 1699 m. It is remarkable by his panorama, its climatology. In clear weather, one discovers on 300 km around, the Mediterranean, the mount Lozere, the Mounts of the Cantal, the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the large causses and the surrounding Cevennes.
A station météorologique was built there of 1887 to 1894, as a strong castle. Its weather observatory is the last in France with being occupied by the men. The climatic conditions are very hard, Aigoual receives on average 2,5 m of rain per annum. In addition to one table of orientation, the station proposes a museum on the history of meteorology.
The watershed between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean crosses the summit part of the Aigoual mount. Several rivers take there their source of which HERAULT.

HERAULT is a coastal river of south of France of 160 km length. It takes its source in the department of Gard, in the mountain of Aigoual to 1228 m of altitude. It is thrown in the Mediterranean in Agde in the department of Herault. It crosses a catchment area of 2900 km². Its very irregular flow is of 52 m3/s on average annual, but can reach 4000 m3/s at the time of strong risings.
After having been a descending torrent of the important slopes, it slips and is boxed in a valley bored in limestones of causses, then is spread out a little in the coastal plain. Its very irregular course and sometimes very violent one is not easy to domesticate. One finds however there some old forgotten mills, built like fortresses to resist the fury of his spectacular risings.

Valleraugue is a French commune, located in the department of the Gard of the Languedoc-Roussillon area, populated of 1009 Valleraugois in 1999, distributed on 79 km², that is to say 12 hab./km².

Sericiculture made at the XIXème century richness of the village. The old magnaneries and spinning mills are frequent in the Cevennes valleys.

My images of Valleraugue.