The beautiful and serene Lac de la Raviège spreads out over the two departments of Hérault and Tarn and is the biggest lake in the Haut Languedoc with a surface of 410 hectares. The Lac de la Raviège was created in the 1950s as a hydroelectric power reservoir. However, you would never guess that it’s an artificial lake, as today it fits in perfectly with the landscape of surrounding pine trees. I thought the frame of evergreens even had a Norwegian feeling to it.
La Raviège
During the summer, my family and I tend to go to the Mediterranean coastline or somewhere along the River Orb for a swim. However, this summer we found this soothing piece of heaven on earth more inland in the Haut Languedoc. Lac de la Raviège is about 12 kilometres long, and its main nautical base is at Plage de Bouldouïres near the village of La Salvetat-sur-Agoût. The name of the lake comes from the hamlet of La Raviège that was gulped down by the 50 million m3 of water used to fill the reservoir in 1957.
Bouldouïres
The lake wasn’t as busy as I would expect it to be on an August day, despite the weather being beautiful. All the better for us, as we had loads of room to spread out our towels. Lac de la Raviège is a very inviting place to practice all kinds of water sports. From the beach at Bouldouïres, we spotted stand up paddling, sailing boats, surfboards, pedalos, water skis and kayaks, and you can do loads more.
Motorboat
Chéri wanted to rent a small motorboat to cruise the lake. So we did. I thought an hour would be enough, but with everybody taking turns to steer the boat, we could have easily spent two hours on the lake. We even brought a picnic and saw many beautiful spots to dock and eat on our little tour. Regrettably, we had to sail past them all and eat our lunch on board because we lacked time. Just saying, in case you are planning a boat trip on the lake.
Challenging
The climate around Lac de la Raviège is cooler and wetter than the coastal areas, which means it can be challenging to take a dip. It didn’t bother our twins though. Once back at the base of Bouldouïres, they swam some more in the refreshing water. Chéri, oldest and I passed, as the lake was simply too cold for us. Nevertheless, I was very pleased to have discovered a whole new area of our magnificent region, and it made me want to go back soon!
