The depopulated mountains (3)

Just then, suddenly and unexpectedly, we meet one of the rare species of the area, the Fuzz! (Gendarmes). A road check in this wilderness seems rather amusing. After a bit of a chat and some insistent tourist recommendations we are released and on our way again.
Their tip helped make our minds up and dared us to go for the ascent of Causse Méjean. In the cool of the early morning, a veil of mist hangs over the valley as we follow the winding road ever upwards to reach the high ground of the Causse Méjean but once there, we are in another world.

Whereas in the valleys and on the hills of the Lozére, the colours range from deep green, through the yellow of the broom and to the violet of the heather, up here on the plateau we are offered the washed-out yellow of dry grass and the dull grey of the limestone rocks.

The few fields or patches that lie in the karst and hollows seem like green islands in a sea of stone. As the chalk does not hold a large amount of water, rainwater seeps through the rock to form underground rivers which re-appear as springs around the edge of the plateau, for example the Source du Pêcher in Florac.

The Aven Armand has to thank this phenomenon for its existence as it is the largest and grandest dripstone cave system in Europe. We are taken 75 metres (250 ft) deep underground by a modern railway and with a guide we enter a gigantic cave in which a forest of limestone columns stands. There are over 400 stalagmites here, including those that are the largest in the world. The cave is so large that Notre-Dame cathedral would fit inside.