This pilgrims’ town, on the left bank of the Lot at the foot of the 1000ft-high Mimat cliff, grew up around Saint Privat’s tomb (martyred by barbarians) and afterwards became the seat of the bishop of the Gévaudan. Gargoyles stare out from the façade of Mende’s outsized Gothic Notre-Dame Cathedral, which dominates the town, capital of Lozère. Pope Urban V in Avignon, commissioned the Cathedral to be built in 1368 and it was consecrated a century later. Step inside to see Aubusson tapestries from the early 18th-century, 17th-century wood-carving on the rood screen and choir stall and a 12th-century Black Madonna, said to have been brought back from the Crusades. See the Gothic door of the Old Synagogue (no. 17 rue Notre Dame) and stroll the narrow streets with their half-timbered houses and carved wooden doors. Find the best views from Saint Privat Hermitage cut into the rock some 200 metres above the city. (Office Municipal du Tourisme de Mende: www.ot-mende.fr)