The Cevennes is France’s largest national Forest, relatively undeveloped largely due to the destruction of the area by French kings over 600 years ago in response to local defiance, particularly from the Cathars.  Most of the vegetation is pine forest, but there are also beautiful groves of hardwood trees - particularly chestnuts!   It is regarded by the French as an area of outstanding national beauty and is favored by the French themselves for their holidays.

The wildlife is beautiful & varied, with red squirrels, badgers, foxes, wild boar, bats, owls and songbirds.  St Laurent (at right) is located on the basaltic plateau of Coiron.  Seen from above, the plateau's shape resembles an oak leaf, with deep river valleys cut through the volcanic rock.  On the west face of the plateau, the Mas is in the midst of pastures, thus you’ll also see many, many cows!

Ardeche is home to many beautiful villages, Vogue (pictured on the left), Balazuc, Viviers, Alba-la-Romaine, Vals-les-Bains.  This is also a region full of historical significance, and St Laurent has its own beauty - and history.  Other favorites include Usez, further to the south in the Gard region.

Earliest historical reference is to its church, founded in 673, in Pope Thomas II's  Charte Vetus.  Just under 1,000 years later, St Laurent was on the front line of combat  during the Wars of Religion in the late 1500s, and it is believed that our home was built in the relative stability that followed.