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Wednesday 28th May. Today was to be spent exploring the natural bounty of Nîmes-le-Vieux. This is not, as might be expected from its name, the former location of the present-day city of Nîmes, but a wild area, believed (?) in past times to have been the original city, because its grey rock, karst, formations look vaguely like ruined walls. The sky was grey or dark grey all day, and at one point we rushed to put our waterproofs on. Fortunately the shower was soon over.

We were right on the edge of the Causse Méjean. The Causses are vast blocks of a limestone plateau, cut through by deep river gorges. The Causse Méjean is the highest.

Before arriving in the hamlet of L’Hom, there was a stop to examine a slope with many orchids, mainly Military of that name, which come in both mauve and cream.

I didn’t stay up with the group for long. Having left my walking pole in the minibus, I did not feel steady enough clambering around, so I went down again and chatted with Martine, the semi-retired owner of the minibus firm, who was replacing Jean-Pierre for this one day. While there, I noticed this caterpillar, which Kieron subsequently identified tentatively as that of an Eggar moth, malacosoma neustria.

As the previous day, we followed a recommended path today. I don’t recall seeing any actual waymarks, but the path was well-worn, and there were a few information panels on the way. (Through curiosity, I have tried the QR code off a zoomed-in version of this picture off my computer screen. It works!)

A bouvier was a cowshed worker.

There were a few Griffon vultures to greet us high in the air as we set off.

This next photo is perhaps my favourite of all those I took in the two weeks.

We saw a few Black redstarts flitting around this rock. I was convinced that I had managed to capture at least on of them in a photo, but searching on my camera’s small screen I couldn’t find them. Enlarging enormously on my computer I found one in this picture. (It’s the tiny fluffball perched on the small rock in front!)

Thyme

It is impossible to convey in pictures the sheer beauty of our surroundings that day. Views near and far of rocks and wildflowers made me breathe in deeply, and then sigh out, over and over again – and to take far too many pictures.

Striped corn catchfly, Silene conica
Prickly poppy
Globularia and rock rose
Austrian speedwell, Veronica austriaca
Cévennes bugle, ajuga cebbenensis, and rock rose
Dor beetle
Green lizard, lacerta viridis
Rivulet moth, trying to pretend it’s a stone. It’s about one inch, 2.5 cm, across
Early purple orchid

Over lunch we saw that some sheep were to come through on our path.

Kieron and others (I didn’t) took a photograph of an orchid before the sheep could trample it.

But the sheep didn’t come through, and we became aware that there were quite a lot of them.

A rather handsome dog came through though. Unusually he did not come up to sniff us, or to ask for friendly pats. He just surveyed us for a long time and ran back, a couple of times. And still the sheep did not come through.

We realised that the dog was in charge of the sheep. There was not a sign of any human shepherd. We finished our lunch, and realised that there was no way that the dog was going to let us take the established path, so we had to find an alternative way round. On the way we saw…

… a grizzled skipper butterfly

Back on proper path, we looked back. There were lots and lots of sheep! (As with any picture, clicking on it will enlarge it and give greater detail.)

At one point, as we continued, Kieron took one for the group. This Field cricket bit. Many times. And many ‘Ow’s escaped Kieron’s lips.

Common wall lizard
Knapweed fritillary

At the last panel, some of us had a chance to exercise our sight-singing skills.

The day’s outing concluded with a visit to the town of Florac, a few kilometres from our hotel. There we went first to the Cévennes National Park visitor centre, and then to a café/bar (owned – disappointingly for me – by a Londoner).

Not a single ray of sunshine all day. Tomorrow?