Source de la Vézère (tourbière de Longeyroux)

Meymac

The Vézère rises at Meymac, on the Millevaches plateau, in the Longeyroux peat bog, at 887 m according to the Wikipedia EN text and the Haute-Corrèze tourist office (the Wikipedia infobox gives 970 m, which is contradictory). This peat bog is the largest in the Limousin; the spring is ‘lost’ in the wetland and cannot be seen, which echoes the remark of a neighbouring hiking entry: on this plateau, the true springs are the peat bogs. The place is called ‘Sources de la Vézère’, west of the Puy Pendu (973 m). The name is ancient. Gallo-Roman Latin visara is said to have given the old forms, and ‘Visera’ appears in Carolingian monastic manuscripts of 889. Specialists propose two origins: a hydronym Vizara or Izara, of Ligurian origin, with viz or iz, ‘hollow valley’, and ara, ‘watercourse’; or the Celtic Isara, ‘fast, impetuous water in flood’. The river flows for 211 km, crosses the Corrèze and the Dordogne and flows into the Dordogne at Limeuil. No legend of the source is reported in the sources consulted.

Getting there: Spring ‘lost’ in the wetland, not visible according to the tourist office. Coordinates: OpenStreetMap node ‘Source de la Vézère’, near the D 979 (place called Lontrade); exact position not verified on the ground.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound