Chemin de Stevenson (4/4) : Florac, Saint-Germain-de-Calberte, Saint-Jean-du-Gard
Traduction française :
"A little way up the Tarnon, a covered bridge of wood introduced us into the valley of the Mimente. Steep rocky red mountains overhung the stream; great oaks and chestnuts grew upon the slopes or in stony terraces; here and there was a red field of millet or a few apple-trees studded with red apples; and the road passed hard by two black hamlets, one with an old castle atop to please the heart of the tourist."
Pont près de Florac
Château de Montvaillant
Saint-Julien-d'Arpaon
Tunnel de l'ancienne voie ferrée de la Mimente
Tunnel de l'ancienne voie ferrée de la Mimente
Gare de Cassagnas
"And still it was perhaps the wildest view of all my journey. Peak upon peak, chain upon chain of hills ran surging southward, channelled and sculptured by the winter streams, feathered from head to foot with chestnuts, and here and there breaking out into a coronal of cliffs."
Mont Aigoual
Ancienne route royale de Barre-des-Cévennes à Saint-Germain-de-Calberte
Col de la Pierre Plantée
"St. Germain de Calberte is a great parish nine leagues round about. At the period of the wars, and immediately before the devastation, it was inhabited by two hundred and seventy-five families, of which only nine were Catholic."
"I went down beside the Gardon of Mialet, a great glaring watercourse devoid of water, and through St. Etienne de Vallée Française, or Val Francesque, as they used to call it; and towards evening began to ascend the hill of St. Pierre. It was a long and steep ascent.!"
Saint-Étienne-Vallée-Française
Pont du Martinet
Hameau
Col de Saint-Pierre : borne
Vallée du Gardon
Village de Pied-de-Côte
"St Jean du Gard is a large place, and largely Protestant. The young women of the Cevennes profit by the common religion and the difference of the language to go largely as governesses into England."
"I had lost Modestine. Father Adam wept when he sold her to me; after I had sold her in my turn, I was tempted to follow his example; and being alone with a stage-driver and four or five agreeable young men, I did not hesitate to yield to my emotion."