Anduze is the gate of the Cévennes, a town on the Gardon river where the flat vineyards of Languedoc end and the schist mountains begin. The main entry is under the Tour de l'Horloge, a clock tower of the fourteenth century that stands at the edge of the old town, and the streets inside are narrow, shaded and full of small shops. The town is also known for the Anduze vase, a large, glazed, urn-shaped pot that became fashionable in the seventeenth century and decorated the gardens of Versailles. Potters still make them in workshops around the town, and you can visit and watch them being thrown.
The history of the area is intertwined with Protestantism. The Cévennes were a stronghold of the Huguenots, and when the French crown tried to suppress them after 1685, the mountain people rose in the Camisard revolt in the early eighteenth century, fighting a guerrilla war in the forests and hills. The memory of the struggle is still strong, and a museum in the town tells the story. Just outside Anduze, the Bambouseraie, a garden planted in the nineteenth century with giant bamboo and other exotic trees, is a strange and lovely sight in the middle of France, and a steam train runs through the valley to Saint-Jean-du-Gard.
The riding in the Cévennes is a pleasure, with the Corniche des Cévennes, the D9, running along a ridge between Saint-Jean-du-Gard and Florac with views over a sea of ridges and valleys. The road is narrow and winding, cut into the hillside, with bends and drops. The surface is mostly good, but gravel and fallen branches can appear after storms. In summer it is hot, with the sun beating on the road, while in spring and autumn the colour of the chestnut woods is a delight. The sweet onion of the Cévennes and the chestnut, in every form, are the local foods.
Anduze has about thirty-three hundred people, with fuel, bakeries and cafés, though the larger stations are at Saint-Christol-lès-Alès, about eight kilometres away. The Gardon is a pleasant place for a swim in summer, and its clear pools lie below the old stone bridge, though it can rise suddenly in storms, with flash floods in autumn. Be careful in the rainy season, because the cévenol storms can be violent. Order a plate of charcuterie and a glass of local wine at a café in the square, and watch the village go about its day.