Anduze Travel Guide

 JLBG Says:  All what we have visited can be completely flooded. On the house where the offices of the "bambouseraie" are located, the blue label shows the heights reached by the November 2003 flood. The whole garden was under water.Higher on the wall, another darker label shows the... 

 JLBG Says:  The Washingtonia filifera avenue. The part of the estate where they grow has a very different look than the more classical parts of the "bambouseraie". They were planted about fifty years ago and have not yet reached their full size. 

 JLBG Says:  On the streets that lead to the market, some booths are installed and resident shop keeper push their goods into the street (pedestrian only at market time !) to be at the same level. Here, local products "Au regal Cévenol" ! So many dishes to taste ! 

 JLBG Says:  Fruits and salads are coming directly from local gardens. The strawberries have a terrific fragrance. They have certainly not be grown on fertilizers and are not from the new varieties that keep well but hardly smell anything ! Fragrance of the strawberries 

 JLBG Says:  Spices coming from all over the world are on sale here! This is not very different from what can be seen at markets in Italy, in Croatia, in Greece and on the other side of the Mediterranean, in Algeria, Tunisia or Morocco. Spices from here and from elsewhere 

 JLBG Says:  The fountain-pagoda is surrounded with vegetables. They are local and no China's vegetables ! The Covered market square (place du Marché Couvert) was built in 1457 for the trade of "grains" (corn/wheat) which at that time was a main crop in Anduze. The yields were very low... 

 JLBG Says:  The fountain-pagoda was built in 1648 by a local silk grower on the highest side of the covered market square. He had traveled to China to bring back silk worms. The fountain has an oriental style, with glazed tiles on its pinnacle. Bamboos in the "bambouseraie" and... 

 JLBG Says:  From early morning till midday, the old covered market is busy with flowers, fruits, vegetables, etc.... It is a very small covered market and there is not enough space under its cover. Some local producers have to install their booth outside.. Beautiful flowers ! 

 JLBG Says:  The old covered market is still in use and was renovated at the end of the 19th century. The old stone columns have received a new roof. In the afternoon and evening it is very quiet as it is on this picture. Don't miss the market ! 

 JLBG Says:  In Anduze, this kind of wooden door is not uncommon. The carving of this door remains very simple and matches well with the Protestant character of the city. It should date from the beginning of the XXth century. Some doors are older and have more sophisticated... 

 JLBG Says:  Here is a passage leading to the covered market. There are several passages of that kind in Anduze. The region is hot in summer but winters are often cold and with much snow. These passages allow to go from one house to another and to be (a little) protected from the cold... 

 JLBG Says:  In front of the Protestant temple, at the lower end of the main square, another fountain flows also all the time. It has an amazing style that seems to have been chosen to match more or less with the Greco-Roman style of the Temple.Plenty of water comes from the nearby... 

 JLBG Says:  The protestant temple is at the lower end of the main square. It has a very strict style with four columns and a peristyle, Roman style. It was built in the XIXth century in the place of barracks. It is the largest in France with a three vaults nave. It has an 1848 organ... 

 JLBG Says:  At the highest end of the main square, a fountain flows all the time. Water is abundant in Anduze and in this entire region. This is also why plane trees grow easily : they love heat but need to find plenty of water in the soil, which is the case here. 

 JLBG Says:  Some houses have kept their old door. The main entrance door is of carved wood. The wood is most often chestnut wood : the chestnut tree provided food for many years and when it had to be cut down, it provides wood for the carpenters. 

 JLBG Says:  This is a typical house in the Cévennes. They use local stones for the walls. Most of the time, these local stones are granite. They also are often covered with slab of stones (''lauzes'') which are the most often thick slabs of schist.