Published in French Property News in March 2005

Take Off in South Aveyron

The South of Aveyron is a land of enormous, open spaces, of endless, limestone Causses, red-stained soil, forests, deep valleys, dramatic escarpments, sweeping hills and a mesmerizing gorge. It forms part of the Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses. The towns of Millau and St Affrique are the commercial centres, stamping their presence on the dominating landscape. Elsewhere picturesque, often ancient villages, have survived by adapting to their environment. There are medieval castles and lovely churches. The most celebrated gastronomic speciality is the blue-green pitted Roquefort cheese, made from the milk of ewes which graze the Causses.

This beautiful part of the South West is still relatively unknown to British house buyers and house prices are among the lowest in France. However, things might be about to change. The construction of the impressive, elegant new viaduct just outside Millau, the highest in the world, has helped promote the area and has greatly improved access. The A75 now brings Millau to about an hour from the Mediterranean coast. An estate agent we work with in the area predicts that prices in the next two years could rise by 50%.

The Rougiers in the south west corner is a startling landscape . Minor roads take you across vivid maroon and russet soil and through grassy and mossy mounds and fields. The main town is Camarès, a quiet, authentic place off the beaten track, with narrow dark alleys and old houses beside the river. There is an eleventh century hump-backed bridge made of dark red stones, sprouting weeds like whiskers. The area is dominated by the bulky, tenth century château of Montaigut, standing sentinel on its imposing summit.

Nearby is the village of Sylvanès and its imposing twelfth century Cistercian abbey, situated in a lovely wooded valley full of birdsong. The characteristic brown stone village houses here are found throughout the area. There is a secluded, renovated, character farm house nearby, with 160m2 living space and 3 sizeable barns in fairly good condition on 32 hectares of land for 354 444 € .

One of the estate agents we work with estimates that 10 – 20% of his British clients are interested in buying properties in the Aveyron which could be used as gîtes or guest houses. In this most southern part of the department, where the climate is mild, the season runs from Easter to October.

The South of Aveyron has some exquisite old villages. The compact, fortified, medieval village of St Jean d’Alcas is architecturally harmonious and perfectly restored. Out of season you can have the place to yourself, except for the pigeons that roost in the walls.

St Jean d’Alcas is in the middle of the Causse, surrounded by grassy fields and rocky outcrops. Along the narrow and undulating D516 the landscape is especially scrubby and the rock forms stark. Birds of prey swoop across the sky. A mad dog may attack your tyres at the lonely hamlet of Mascourbe. Then the landscape changes and you’ve entered a different world. There are plunging slopes covered in pines and expansive tree-covered hills. The road is sometimes dangerously narrow. You hit the valley at St Felix de Sorgues, a reasonable sized village with more attractive brown stone houses. Towering escarpments lead the way to the village of Cornus and its elaborate church spire. There is a nicely renovated house in a peaceful hamlet nearby, 160m2 with 5 bedrooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a shower room, and a laundry, with a lovely vaulted cellar, a workroom and a stable for 171 684 €. It is only 90km to the coast so would make an ideal holiday home.

Cornus is near the Causse de Larzac, known as much in France for its independently-minded farmers as for its beautifully wild and varied landscape. In the 1970s the government wanted to extent a military camp that would have led to the expulsion of over a hundred farmers. The locals reacted furiously and launched a national movement to force the government to change its mind. They succeeded and the plans were abandoned. José Bové, the vocal leader of the Confédération Paysanne which fights for the rights of small farmers in the face of world monopolies, also farmed here.

One of the stars of the Causse is the ancient village of La Couvertoirade. During the twelfth century it belonged to the military-religious order of the Templiers and then in the fourteenth century it was take over by the Hospitaliers de Saint-Jean. The fortifications were erected in the fifteenth century against marauding bandits. It is a remarkable little place which remains utterly authentic.

There are several picturesque villages on Larzac with a similar history. There is a small, nineteenth century, L-shaped farm house for renovation near one of these, with 90m2 living space and 200m2 of land for 54 134 €. The surroundings are beautiful and peaceful. Many of the British buyers currently coming to Aveyron are looking for character houses and farms to renovate.

In the same area there is a renovated, pretty house 75m2 with 2 bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, 2 WC, work room, cellar, attic with superb carpentry and garden of 430m2 for 109 202 €.

The sunny, relaxed little town of Nant has restaurants, hotels, a bank, shops, an old stone arcade and some bright, attractive houses. To appreciate the village’s privileged position climb the D999 and look back. Nant is surrounded by fertile fields that gradually give way to higher slopes, which rise to mountains in the distance. It is dominated by the 808 metre high Roc Nantais and sits astride the Dourbie gorge.

The Canyon de la Dourbie is small compared to the more famous Gorges du Tarn just to the north, but is nonetheless spell-binding. The drive from Nants towards Millau along the winding road, encased between grey-beige-black-pink-orange cliff faces, reveals some extraordinary rock formations. The village of Cantobre clings to the gorge-side flanked by bulbous rock columns. Other rock-shapes are more eerie and can dramatically rear up ahead. The hamlet of Saint Véran is so high above the valley floor and so well camouflaged it is easily missed.

Millau itself is a bustling place surrounded by the escarpments and Causses that make it an important centre for outdoor sports. The European hang-gliding championships are held here and the town attracts rock climbers, pot-holers, canoeists, cyclists, walkers and others who enjoy outdoor pursuits.

Millau’s first important commercial activity was pottery and ceramics from the town were exported throughout the Roman Empire. During the nineteenth century leather tanning became an important industry, particularly the production of gloves. The leather came from the lambs slaughtered for the ewe’s milk, used in cheese production. Today the industry survives but focuses on luxury products. There are several shops specialising in leather. The main shopping street is pedestrianised rue Droite.

One of the most attractive parts of the town is Place du Maréchal Foch, with its fountain, restaurants, trees, the town’s museum and covered arcades.

There is a typical Larzac barn for sale near Millau, characterised by its 5 interior arches. It is in excellent condition with planning permission and offers great potential. Water and electricity are connected. The ground floor is 270m2 and 10 metres high. The basement is 30m2 and 4 metres high. There is 1400m2 of land. It is on sale for 183 000€ .

Half an hour down the road from Millau is St Affrique, a spirited little town, surrounded by wooded hills, with an elegant thirteenth century bridge. It also has a lively market on a Saturday morning where you can find all sorts of fresh produce including Roquefort cheese. St Affrique is only 13 km from the famous village where the cheese is produced and shares the lime-light. It even has Pastoralia, a permanent exhibition on everything you could possibly want to know about the Lacaune ewe, the breed that produces the Roquefort milk. Near St Affrique there is a two-bedroom house to renovate with a barn of 40m x 2, a stable 60m2 and a hangar 25m2 plus 2 hectares of land for 166 000 €.

The village of Roquefort sur Soulzon, running along the Combalou cliff, is entirely dedicated to the ‘roi des fromages’ and several companies mount on-site publicity campaigns to lure visitors to their sites and shops. The biggest company is Société which offers a guided visit of its caves, with explanations, videos, models and a son et lumière explaining the history of Roquefort and how it is produced. When the absent-minded shepherd left his cheese and bread in one of the Combalou caves and later found it mouldy but delicious he couldn’t have predicted the future fame of his find.

Société produces 3 types of the cheese. Le Roquefort 1863 is relatively young and sharp. The Cave des Templers is strong and creamy. The Caves Baragnaudes is moist, salty, delicate and rich. They all have the distinctive aroma of the Causses.

The South of Aveyron is a rural region with a grandiose and varied landscape. It is ideal for the lovers of the great outdoors, whether sporty types or those who prefer to appreciate the outstanding, natural surroundings and historic villages in a more relaxed fashion. The commercial centres of Millau and St Affrique mean that the shops and supermarkets are never far away and the Mediterranean coast is only about an hour. The airports at Rodez and Montpellier, both under an hour and a half, provide easy access. Both airports have Ryan Air flights to Stanstead and Montpellier has a British Airways flight to Gatwick. The current very reasonable property prices and the prospect of an imminent rise in property values means that there has never been a better time to buy in the extraordinarily beautiful, often wild and undiscovered, South of Aveyron.

Linda Rano, Couleurs de France

Property agents Couleurs de France offer property search in the SW, support for buyers and courses on how to buy property in France.

Tel. 0871 210 6550 / +33 5 61 09 54 39

info@couleurs-de-france.com

www.couleurs-de-france.com