Clocher de Tourmente: from the hamlet of Les Sagnes to the Étang de Barandon

Park at the side of the road at the entrance to the hamlet

(S/E) Facing the Clocher de Tourmente, turn right onto the paved slanting street that climbs up to the tarmac road. Then turn left towards the old school.

(1) Turn right and continue uphill along the concrete path, then the dirt track.

(2) On the flat stretch, pass the Croix du Peyrou (view of the hamlet of Les Sagnes and, in the distance to the left, Mont Finiels). Ignore a path on the right and continue to a fork.

(3) Ignore the path on the right (signposted Auriac) and continue left towards the south.

(4) Continue straight on along the path which turns left and runs alongside a pine forest.

(5) At the end of the woodland, ignore the path branching off to the right, continue straight on and descend to the Ruisseau du Peschio. Cross the old embankment of the pond, now a bog that is barely visible in the landscape. An inattentive walker might pass by without noticing it.

(6) Continue slightly to the right on the path that climbs through pastures dotted with wild bushes, heading south-west. At the top of the hill, join the^GR®43,^GR®44and^GR®88.

(7) Turn right onto these^{GR® trails.} On your left, the Croix de Maître Vidal and the Chaos des Chiens Fous. Continue to the fork.

(8) Turn left, leaving the paths on your left, and head down to the Étang de Barrandon.

(9) Artificial lake, open refuge with a fireplace and a fountain. Turn back to the previous fork.

(8) Turn left onto the^GR®43,^GR®44and^GR®88, also known as the Route des Chômeurs.
For the very observant, along this path you can see the remains of silver-lead mining operations.
You will reach a fork in the road.

(10) Continue straight on to the Sagnoles crossroads.

(11) Take the first right onto the^GR®43 and^GR®68. Continue for about 500 m until you reach the junction signposted for Auriac.

(12) Ignore this sign and continue straight on through the pine woods. Ignore the paths on the left and stay on the flat path, returning to the fork you passed on the way out.

(3) Turn left and follow the path in the opposite direction to the outward journey. Head towards the Clocher de Tourmente (S/E).

(10) You can turn right to shorten the walk by heading directly to (5).

(S/E) Typically Lozérien, these bell towers standing in the heart of five hamlets (Oultet, Les Sagnes, Auriac, Serviès and La Fage) would ring out on winter days, when the snow fell thick and fast, almost horizontally, whipped with force by the wind sweeping down the Lozère, covering the drovers' roads and fields in an instant, erasing the boundary markers that dotted the rough roads, and blocking the paths with impassable snowdrifts to allow the lost traveller to find their way back to the village by ear. They also served a religious and social purpose (the Angelus, the tocsin to announce deaths).

(5) This pond is said to have served as a fish reserve for the Lord of Tournel for Friday’s meal.
It is said to have been destroyed following the drowning of one of his relatives.
- In this bog, which is rich in characteristic flora and fauna, earning it the classification as a ZNIEFF (Natural Area of Faunistic and Floristic Interest). Gathering plants here is strictly regulated; notably, a carnivorous plant can be found here: the Drosera.

(7) Maître Vidal’s Cross and the Chaos of the ‘Mad Dogs’.
Maître Vidal was a wealthy Languedoc landowner who owned a large flock of sheep that grazed on Mont Lozère during the transhumance. In the autumn, on his way back whilst he was still up there with his shepherds and his flock, he fell in love with a girl from the hamlet of Les Sagnes... He courted her so ardently that he lingered too long with the fair maiden; despite warnings from the locals, he did not set off until late in the evening and, caught in one of Mont Lozère’s famously sudden snowstorms... He lost his way and met his end there...
The dogs that accompanied him took refuge in one of the local granite boulder fields to shelter and stayed there all winter, but hunger drove them mad... Hence the place name: Roc des Chiens fous.

(9) An artificial lake created by the Lozère Angling Federation. There is a shelter with a fireplace – very handy in bad weather – and a fountain. In the summer season, for a few euros, you can hire rods and bait for trout fishing.

(8) Turn left onto the^GR®43,^GR®44and^GR®88, also known as the ‘Route des Chômeurs’.
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, to help those in need, the authorities provided work for the unemployed; this path was restored to create a ‘paved slanting street’.
- Along this path, you can see the remains of silver-lead mining operations dating from the High Middle Ages and the Late Middle Ages. There are signs of ore smelting workshops, silver-lead slag and associated charcoal kilns (producing the fuel needed for smelting).