Le Vigan

Le Vigan is within an hour and a half drive of Nimes or Montpellier International Airports and within a (long) days drive from the Channel Ports via the A75 Autoroute.
Below are extracts from the "Michelin Guide" and the "Rough Guide to France". Additional sights worth seeing that are within an hours drive are:
Grotte des Demoiselles - A cave of staggering proportions with incredable stalagmites (not for vertigo suffers).
Cirque de Navacelles - an impressive natural feature formed by an immense, magnificent meander in the river Vis, deeply imbedded in almost vertical walls of rock.
Bambouseraie - An exotic bamboo plantation founded in 1855.
Observatoire du Mont-Aigoual - where, on a clear day, you can see the Causses, the Cevennes, the Cantal range, Mont Ventoux, the Alps, the Languedoc plain, the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees.
For the energetic there is white water canoing and paragliding

Extracts from the Guides

Le VIGAN
"Michelin Green Guide"
Population 4,523
Michelin map 80 fold 16 or 240 fold 14 - local maps under Massif de I'AIGOUAL and Les GRANDS CAUSSES
This little town in the Cevennes, well situated on the southern slope of Mont Aigoual in the Arre valley which, at the confluence of the Souls and the Coudoulous, is particularly fertile, is an industrial centre (hosiery, silk spinning mills).
Le Vigan is the native town of two French heroes, one of whom is more famous than the other, although both are of comparable moral stature: Chevalier d'Assas and Sergent Triaire. The town has had a statue built in memory of each.
Local heroes - Louis d'Assas (1733-1760), an aristocrat, was a captain in the regiment of the Chasseurs d'Auvergne, who met an untimely, but heroic death at the battle of Clostercamp during the Hanover campaign. While reconnoitring, he was ambushed by the enemy, but, ignoring their threatening bayonets, he managed to cry out and warn his compatriots of impending attack before being struck down. This heroic act, which had not been officially recognised, was rescued from oblivion by Voltaire in 1768. The house where the Chevalier d'Assas was born is still standing in the Boulevard du Plan d'Auvergne.
Sergent Triatre (b 1771) managed to pack a fair number of daring feats into his military career as a gunner with the Bourgogne regiment. In 1793, he was among the troops fighting the English at Toulon, playing a leading role on the attack on Fort Malbousquet, then he participated in the Italian campaign, holding an abandoned redoubt against the enemy for 2 hours with only a few helpers. Finally, during action in Egypt, finding himself in the fort at El-Arich as it was overrun by the Turks. he shut himself in the powder magazine and blew the fort and everyone in it sky-high.
SIGHTS
Promenade des Chataigners - This pleasant avenue is shaded by enormous, ancient chestnut trees.
Statues of Louis d'Assas and Triaire - The Chevalier's statue in on Place d'Assas, and Triaire's is on Place de I'Hotel de Ville.
Old Bridge - The bridge, which dates from before the 13C, spans the Arre. There is a good view of it from a platform on the river bank, upstream of the bridge.
Musee cevenol This museum is located in an old 18C silk spinning mill and is almost entirely devoted to the popular crafts and traditions of the Cevennes. The Salle des Metiers displays traditional crafts: basket weaving, wickerwork, gold panning, tinsmithing, etc. There are also reconstructions of craftsmen's workshops and a typical Cevennes interior. A room is devoted to Andre Chamson (1900-1983), a writer from the Cevennes, who set some of his novels in the foothills of the Aigoual. The Salle du Temps is devoted to history, from the dawn of time (geology, prehistory) until the time of the Reformation and the 19C, represented by a collection of silk costumes from the Cevennes.
EXCURSIONS
Col des Mourezes - 5km-3 miles north. Good view from pass (alt 560m- 1,837ft).
Arre valley - West along the D 999. Pretty river valley; from Bez a tiny winding road leads to the village perche of Esparon.

LE VIGAN
"Rough Guide to France" 7th Edition
Only 64km from Montpellier and 18kni from Ganges, LE VIGAN makes a good starting point for exploring the southern part of the Cevennes. It's a leafy, cool and thoroughly agreeable place, at its liveliest during the Fete d'lsis at the beginning of August and the colossal fair that takes over the Parc des Chataigniers on September 9 and 22.
The prettiest part of the town is around the central place du Quai, shaded by lime trees and bordered by cafes and brasseries. From here it's only a two-minute walk south, down rue Pierre-Gorlier, to reach the gracefully arched Pont Vieux, with beside it the Musee Cevenol (April-Oct daily except Tues 10am-noon & 2-6pm; rest of year Wed only 10am-noon & 2-6pm; 3.05 Euro), a well-presented look at traditional rural occupations in the area, including the woodcutter, butcher, shepherd and wolf-hunter. There's also a room devoted to the areas best-known twentieth-century writer, Andre Chamson, noted for his novels steeped in the traditions and countryside of the Cevenne. Interestingly, Coco Chanel also features in the museum: she had local family connections and it seems found inspiration for her designs in the cevenol silks (see below).
The tourst office occupies a modern block in the centre of the place du Marche, at the opposite end of the place du Quai from the church (July & Aug Mon-Sat 8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-7pm, Sun 10am-12.30pm; rest of year Mon-Fri 8.30am-12.30pm & 1.30-6.30pm, Sat 9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; Tel 04.67.81.01.72, fax 04.67.81.86.79). One of the best places to eat is Jardin des Cevennes, in place du Terral, just off the main square; menus start at 14.25 Euro and feature French classics with a local twist, such as filet mignon with a chestnut sauce. A good alternative is Le Chandelier, housed in a converted cellar on rue du Pouzadou; the 11.89 Euro menu includes confit de canard and a choice of delicious desserts.
From Le Vigan, or more particularly from the Pont de I'Herault bridge, a beautiful lane (D153) winds northeast through typical south Cevennes landscape - deep valleys thick with sweet chestnut and thinly peopled with isolated farms half-buried in greenery - from Sumene to St-Jean-du-Gard, a distance of around 45km, but very slow. SUMENE is a run-down but lovely old place, the entrance to its close, narrow streets still blocked by its medieval gates. It was once a centre for silk spinning, which for a couple of centuries until the 1900s was the mainstay of economic life in the Cevennes - that and the cultivation of the sweet chestnut, which provided the staple diet for the entire population.