The Aubrac plateau, located in the south
of the Massif Central is a revelation for tourists, especially those doing the trail to the shrine ofSaint James of Compostello.
Its dramatic scenery, which bears a resemblance to the Scottish highlands, and its wild countryside give the countryside its strong individual character.
This is a mysterious place, where winter snowstorms used to be as terrible as in Siberia. But in Aubrac, each Spring brings with it thousands of species of amazing wildflowers which are a botanists dream.
Beware of the wild cows roaming in the Aubrac
plateau
during the summer! These beautiful fawn-coloured
animals with their large pointed horns and beautiful
black eye patches seem to have come straight
out of some old western movie. Used primarily
for meat production, they are especially famous
for their flavour.
On
Aubrac, there are also the famous "burons",
special mountain huts where the herdsmen live
during the summer with their wild cows. A famous
French cheese comes from here, called Laguiole,
named after capital of Aubrac. Laguiole is also
the name of a world-famous knife, produced in
this realm of pastoral tradition. (see below).
Aubrac,
is also the name of a famous village for pilgrims
(see below)
walking towards Compostello in Spain.
In
Laguiole, which has been consecrated as the
"town of taste", there is a cutlery
factory which produces the world-famous Laguiole
knives. These are very strong pocket knives,
with a very particular shape, and they are specific
to the Aveyron region. The factory can be visited.