What to see around Uzès | The Uzège
Tomas k - News Writer and Moderator 
The countryside around Uzès – where fields of asparagus, cherry orchards, forests of truffle oaks and vineyards alternate with garrigues – is dotted with delightful old villages. Arpaillargues, 4km wet on the D982, has the added attraction of the Musée 1900 (15 Chemin du Moulin, musee1900.com) at Moulin de Charlier, one man’s amazing lifetime accumulation of period cars, motorcycles, gramophones, movie posters, locomotives and more. Just west of Arpaillargues, the walled hilltop hamlet of Aureilhac has a superb view of Uzès’ skyline.
Some 9km northwest of Uzès, off the road to Alès, Aigaliers, with its medieval lanes, dungeons, Saracen wall and Romanesque church all piled under a ruined castle, has long been a favourite subject of local painters.
The clay-rich soil north of Uzès has provided St-Quentin-la-Poterie with its vocation since the cows came home, and in some strange tangential way inspired its most famous son, Joseph Monier (1823-1906), to invent reinforced concrete. After producing thousands of amphorae, roof tiles, bricks, ceramic pies and all the glazed tiles for the floors of the Popes’ Palace in Avignon, the last ceramic factory closed in 1974; but in 1983 the kilns were fired up again as the village made a concerted effort to bring the potters back.
There are 15 now living in the village year-round; you can visit their workshops or get an overview of their work at Terra Viva (14 Rue de la Fontaine galerie-terrvaviva.com). The adjoining Musée de la Poterie Méditerranéene (muse-poterie-mediteranee.com) has a wonderful selection of examples of pottery from all over the Mediterranean, in a beautiful variety of glazes.
East of Uzès, strange sandstone formations and quartzite quarries mark the environs of St-Victor-des-Oules, ‘of the posts’, another pottery village, this one specialising in stoneware (grès). Paths lead up to Mont Aigu, for scant ruins of a 5th-century BC oppidum and superb views of the Cévennes to the west. Further east, the 12th-century château in La Capelle-Masmolène was the summer palace of the bishops of Uzès.
Lovely Lussan is 18km north of Uzès, but well worth the detour; a nearly perfect unspoiled medieval village perché below a 13th century château. Near Lussan, the sheer gorge of the River Aiguillon, Les Concluses, makes a magnificent and easy walk in the summer when the river is dry, with potholes (marmites) formed by the river, eagles’ nests and a remarkable steep and narrow portail that closes in on top. Leave your car in one of the car parks along the D643; the walk takes about 30 minutes.
Extract from Languedoc-Roussillon, by Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls with Jane Falkner, published by Bradt (bradtguides.com) in paperback, £18.99 (ISBN 9781804692806)
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