The Marvels of the Millevaches

Hiking across the Millevaches Plateau is like jumping back in time. (For my first encounter with this mystical, Druid-haunted place, check out this post.) The word is Occitan, and has nothing to do with a "thousand cows." Millevaches actually refers to the number of springs bubbling from the sloping pastoral landscape. In the middle of France, indeed in the middle of nowhere, this granite plateau abuts the Massif Central. Villages are sparse. You won't bump into many other folks out there, but you'll see lots of cows.



Three brothers and I set out for the last hike of the season and ended up with numb fingers and ears. We traversed fields and forest, lost out there in the cold. Though when we walked through protected hollows, where the wind was buffered, we felt toasty warm in the sunshine. Plus, chocolate-covered madeleines, a regional specialty, served as the best kind of sustenance.

Summiting a mountaintop, we stumbled upon three enormous stone crosses. So we stopped to picnic beneath them, overlooking the Lake Vassivière in the distance, despite the wind roaring across the peak. Shivering, huddled together, we appreciated the glorious vista and our ice cold wine.