Ravin des Arcs

Loutre - Londres - Lamalou You have to say it out loud: Loutre - Londres - Lamalou. It almost sounds like a counting verse. But it"s not, it"s partly an explanation of the name Londres. No, not the cosmopolitan city on the Thames, which is called Londres in French. It"s the pretty country town of Saint-Martin-de-Londres, which lies in the Plaine de Londres, which in turn is overlooked by the Pic Saint-Loup. Etymology provides two explanations for "Londres". Firstly, Londres comes from the Celtic word Loundra, which means swamp, moor, reed. Or secondly from Loutre, which is the French word for otter. Both are understandable, as the Lamalou meanders through the plain before plunging into a gorge that we want to visit. The source of this river is hidden one kilometer east of the village of Notre-Dame-de-Londres. Somehow, it is also a sacred area. And if you pick up the book "Histoire de Saint-Martin-de-Londres" by Émile Bougette, you will find out why - it has to do with the Benedictine monastery of St-Guilhem-le-Désert. You can read everything else on Wikipedia, in around 30 languages. Including in Italian. There the otter is called Lontra.(Automatically translated by DeepL)