Moussac

• Gard (30190) • Population: 1,241 • Altitude: 78 m

Moussac is a village perched on a low hill on the left bank of the Gardon river, about half way between Nîmes and Alès. In the center of the village are an amazing number of very large courtyarded-houses, possibly once farm buildings.

There aren't any particular tourist attractions in Moussac, but it has narrow, old village streets to wander, a 12th-c tower, a nice little café-restaurant, and it's on a lovely site beside the river.

Moussac is a charming village to explore. In addition to the narrow Medieval-style streets, we found a large number of "houses" in the central part of the old village to be very large, with fenced courtyards, resembling ex farms or working estates.

The Tour Carrée is a 12th-13th century tower, once part of a defensive castle. The castle is long gone, and the "square tower" now serves as a water tower (although that aspect of it is well disguised).

Bird of Prey

A rather agressive sound from high on the tour carrée alerted us to a Kestrel perched on a stubby knob of the ancient rock facade.

A foot bridge crosses over the wide Gardon river from the south edge of the village. From this narrow bridge, you have a good view back up at the village, and you're close to the river edges that harbor numerous birds. From down here we watched a large, Black Kite hunting very low and close, one Buzzard, what appeard be an Eagle (out photo is a bit small to be certain), and a flock of Commorants in their Spring plumage with white heads and white thigh-patches.

Hiking

• GPS: 43.98176, 4.224401

The lands surrounding Moussac are farmlands and vineyards. There aren't any petites randonnées or short local loop-hikes.

The GR6 Hiking Trail follows along the northwest side of the Gardon river, passing through the center of Moussac village.
Northwest, the GR6 goes to the Village of Vézénobres, then west along the Garnond d'Anduze river to Anduze and into the Cévennes.
Southeast, the GR6 goes through the villages of St Chaptes and Russan, then east through the Gorges du Gardon, past Collias and the famous Pont du Gard.

The GR700 hiking trail (Chemin de Regordane) between St Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) and Saint Gilles (Gard) on the edge of the Camargue shares the GR6 trail through Moussac.

Dining

There's one café-restaurant, Les Amis, on the main parking/square, in front of the Mairie. They offer a simple plat du jour, with friendly service and low prices. When we lunched there, we didn't want the beef or the porc on their menu, so they whipped us up a couple of complex salads with cheese, and a side of fresh pasta.

Another café, the Bar Tabac du Midi, on the Place de l'Ancienne Maire, was closed when we were there.

Transportation Moussac

Department 30, Gard Buses

See Beyond's Gard Department Bus Schedules for Gard bus-lines maps and bus-line schedules (Horaires).

Maps (Plans) for the Gard bus lines are on the www.edgard.fr website, with a flash webpage for each of five zones around Nîmes (www.edgard-transport.fr/plan/?rub_code=5).

Schedules for the Gard bus lines are available via the www.edgard.fr website horaires page (www.edgard-transport.fr/horaires/?rub_code=23).