Hiking tour – The Régordane way also named St Gilles way

The Chemin de Régordane is the southern part of the old French route linking Ile de France to the Mediterranean, from Puy en Velay to Saint Gilles du Gard, ancient Roman port on the Petit Rhône river, a famous pilgrimage centre in the early Middle Ages. This natural migratory and transhumance path passes through the Auvergne, the Gévaudan and the Cévennes to reach the Camargue, crossing the Mont Lozère mountain range with ease through the famous Rochefort fault. This path became increasingly popular, being followed by many Christians heading to the tomb of Saint Gilles then to Rome and by the first crusaders embarking for Jerusalem. The churches, abbeys, monasteries and hospitals that punctuate the route welcomed these pilgrims. Commerce flourished, villages sprang up around abbeys and monasteries, the path was improved, with the difficult parts being paved. Bridges were constructed and as the traffic kept increasing, attracting bandits and thieves, fortresses were built…and tolls installed! Centuries passed, other saints and places were honoured, France annexed the Rhône valley at the beginning of the 14th century and the Chemin de Régordane became more and more forgotten. A few centuries later, the Wars of Religion and the birth of a rural economy gave new life to this trail, whose activity ceased completely in the 19th century with the arrival of first the railway, then the road. Today, the railway’s route partly covers the ancestral path, but on parallel paths or in the footsteps of our ancestors, you will cross these immense plateaux and climb up the valleys