Anduze, the gateway to the Cévennes, offers the charm of a small medieval citadel marked by the history of Protestantism. From the village, the Cévennes railway plunges into the heart of the mountains that still echo with tales of the Camisards.

You come to Anduze to breathe in the scents of history: that of the Camisards, who turned the village and its neighbour Saint-Jean-du-Gard into strongholds of Protestant résistance and identity. For a century, from 1685 (revocation of the Edict of Nantes) to 1787, they sought refuge in the area, fighting and protecting themselves as best they could against the exactions of the King’s dragoons.

The Musée du Désert, in Mialet, a few kilometres north of Anduze, tells their story. The village, too, is well worth exploring, for its citadel atmosphere, the Place Couverte, with its pretty clock tower, and the curious Oriental-style pagoda fountain, built in 1648 by an Anduze silkworm breeder on his return from a trip to Asia, and for the history of its pottery, which made the citadel famous throughout southern France and all the way to Versailles! The Sun King’s orange trees had in fact been planted in vases made in Anduze...

And you mustn’t leave the village without having a ride on the TVC. What’s the TVC? The “Train à Vapeur des Cévennes”, or Cévennes Steam Train, which links Anduze with Saint-Jean-du-Gard, 13 km away. An unforgettable journey in time along the Gardon Valley, in old carriages towed by a smoking locomotive. On the way, you may like to stop off at the Prafrance bamboo plantation: over 10 hectares containing thousands of species of bushes, including the famous bamboo, representing the largest plantation of the species in Europe.