Aire de coopération de la réserve de biosphère des Cévennes

Encore un village des gorges du Tarn....superbe endroit!

I watched another sunrise from the fort at the picturesque village of Banne in the Ardeche, southern France. It was yet another glorious morning, with the grape harvest underway in the valley below. The shot is looking across the olive groves with the early morning sun picking out the silvery leaves, towards the village church on the opposite hill.

These gentle rapids are deep in the Gorge du Chassezac, near the town of Les Vans and the village of Berrias et Castlejau in the Ardeche, Southern France. The Chassezac carves its way through Limestone hills that are topped with the Bois do Paiolive, an Oak wood with the most extraordinary limestone towers and outcrops.

Sometimes you look at nature and wonder how on earth did that happen? I had that feeling when I found this full grown tree sprouting out of the wall of the fort at Banne.
I had watched the sunrise from the top of this fort, and as the sun started to climb over the low hills to the east I had a walk round the lower level if the fort to see how it looked in the low sun. The walls are sheer and glowed nicely in the golden light, but how that tree managed to take hold and thrive is beyond me. Oh and the view out across the vineyards in the valley below was quite wonderful.