The Larzac, a sparsely populated plateau in the department of Aveyron, came under public scrutiny in 1971 when the French army threatened to extend its firing range and expropriate local farmers. The 103 farmers, whose ewes produced the famous Roquefort cheese, refused to give up their land. The struggle touched the hearts of many who flocked to the spectacular natural amphitheatre of Rajaj del Gorp for protests. The Larzac remained in the news throughout the whole of the seventies, until President Mitterrand put an end to the fight and the army abandoned its plan. Once the Templars’ stronghold, the little town of la Cavalerie has kept a medieval flavour and is worth a visit. (See map below)
La Bergerie de la Blaquière.
In 1973, 3 000 people helped Auguste Guiraud lay the first stone of the mythical sheepfold. It was funded with the 3% tax allocated to the army every French citizen is allowed to withhold and built according to the principles of civil disobedience.
In 1976, the army targeted Guiraud’s house with plastic explosives while he, his wife and their 7 children were asleep. Miraculously, they were unharmed. Nails were sprinkled on the road to slow down emergency help. There was a trial but no one was ever found guilty.
