A la découverte du Massif Central

"one of the loveliest spots on earth... a country without roads, without guides, without any facilities for locomotion, where every discovery must be conquered at the price of danger and fatigue... a soil cut up with deep ravines, crossed in every way by lofty walls of lava and furrowed by numerous torrents"

This is how George Sand described the Massif Central in the middle of the 19th century. It has since become more accessible but it has retained its vast and stunning landscapes.

Covered by thick forests and sliced by numerous rivers and lakes, these once volcanic uplands are geologically the oldest part of France and culturally one of the most firmly rooted in the past. Nature rules there and the air and the water remain unpolluted, thus attracting families who enjoy both the winter or the summer months during the school holidays and spa lovers all the year round. It's not only the favourite place of hikers, campers and skiers but an attraction to scientists, ecologists, historians or first or second generation farmers.

The Massif Central has been settled by humans probably longer than anywhere in France.  At its core lies Auvergne, an historic region and former province of central France, whose name is derived from a Celtic people whose leader was Vercingétorix, chief of the Gauls who defied Julius Ceasar and was defeated by him.

The region has cultivated its traditions and language with a

passion. The ancestral language is occitan; it was widely spoken in the southern half of the territory from Italy to Spain and is still understood and spoken by five million people south of the river Loire.
The inhabitants are said to be reserved, serious and close to their money.  Lots of jokes are made about the Auvergnats' legendary tightfistedness, not unlike the Scots'reputation for being cautious with their money.
This is a country of landscapes rather than cities.  The best known places apart from Auvergne and its spectacular extinct volcanoes (called puys)   are

the Cévennes and R.L.Stevenson's trails,  the Rouergue and l'Aveyron.  The Ardèche  in the east and the Tarn in the south offer canyons and rapids to the most adventurous.
However the culture of the past is embedded in a few towns and villages worth a detour: Le Puy-en-Velay famous for its green lentils and delicate laces) spiked with gothic pinnacles of lava, steep streets and churches perched in the air, Clermont-Ferrand, the capital built in volcanic stone and some of the most beautiful villages of France: Saint Cirq Lapopie, La Couvertoirade, Conques or Cordes-sur-ciel.