Saint-Étienne-Vallée-Française | |
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![]() A view of the village from the south | |
Coordinates: 44°10′04″N 3°50′33″E / 44.1678°N 3.84250°E | |
Country | France |
Region | Occitania |
Department | Lozère |
Arrondissement | Florac |
Canton | Le Collet-de-Dèze |
Government | |
• Mayor (2021–2026) | Patrick Valdeyron [1] |
Area 1 | 50.99 km2 (19.69 sq mi) |
Population (2021)
[2] | 496 |
• Density | 9.7/km2 (25/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 ( CET) |
• Summer ( DST) | UTC+02:00 ( CEST) |
INSEE/Postal code |
48148 /48330 |
Elevation | 194–925 m (636–3,035 ft) (avg. 245 m or 804 ft) |
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
Saint-Étienne-Vallée-Française (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃t‿etjɛn vale fʁɑ̃sɛːz]; Occitan: Sent Estève de Valfrancesca) is a commune in the Lozère department in southern France. [3]
The Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson passed through the village on 2 October 1878, as recounted in his book Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes:
I went down beside the Gardon of Mialet, a great glaring watercourse devoid of water, and through St. Etienne de Vallée Française, or Val Francesque, as they used to call it; and towards evening began to ascend the hill of St. Pierre. [4]
The Robert Louis Stevenson Trail (GR 70), a popular long-distance path following Stevenson's approximate route, runs through the village. [5]