Léa and Marine are touring Occitanie by bike to promote female craftsmanship.

Marine et Léa dans les jardins de l’hôtel de ville de Lodève, au pied de la cathédrale Saint-Fulcran. Midi Libre – ALAIN MENDEZ

The co-founders of LM L’Artisanat crossed Hérault this week between Pézenas, Lodève and Saint-Jean-de-Fos.

They had checked off Pézenas, Lodève, Saint-Jean-de-Fos and Saint-Guilhem, passing through the Great Sites of Salagou-Mourèze Lake, the Navacelles Circus and the Gorges de l&rsquo ;Hérault. Léa and Marine's week in Hérault was not entirely relaxing, but full of enriching encounters.

Souvenir photo in Pézenas. DR

As has been the case since their departure from Montauban on April 29 for a tour of Occitanie which will end in Saint-Quentin-la-Poterie on the 12 ;nbsp;May. The two childhood friends, originally from Mayenne and co-founders of the LM L’Artisanat association, have indeed embarked on a bicycle journey in three parts, making a total of more than 500  km, to highlight artistic crafts present in the region.

Visit, meet, exchange

"We have the same passion for cycling and arts and crafts. We had this slightly crazy idea of ​​going to visit the workshops, talking with professionals, but also discovering places of promotion like museums", explains Léa, a cultural engineering consultant who knows well the subject. "For this, we created our association whose goal is to promote art artisans who lack a little visibility for our taste."

The journey first took the two young women from Caussade, capital of hat making, to Giroussens, land of ceramics while passing through Sorèze and its abbey city, to finish in Castelnaudary.

A break at Salagou Lake. DR

"There, we took a train to Béziers and launched our second stage started in Pézenas last Saturday, a recognized arts and crafts center to reach Lodève with the meeting with the licières from the Savonnerie carpet workshop, who have a special history", says Marine, marketing manager, and in charge of itineraries and logistics. "We then leave towards Saint-Jean-de-Fos, Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert to go to Montpellier to take a train to Gard where we will do Beaucaire, Vallabrègues and Saint-Quentin- la-Poterie". With the panniers attached to their two bikes for luggage.

Portraits to come

"We are easily recognizable" smiles Léa. "We are often asked the question but our bikes are not electric . There is also a sporting challenge in this journey."

In the workshop of ceramist Lydie Carbou in Saint-Jean-de-Fos. DR

"To prepare it we used the website of the Villes et Métiers d’art association, we also survey people through meetings which exceed our expectations" take up the two young people, delighted, who share their adventures on the networks with posts in the evening around travel diaries, logbooks and shots of heart. "We will then make written and photographic portraits which we will publish throughout the year on Instagram and perhaps other media. And we already have a lot of material!"

Info, contact: lm.lartisan@gmail.com and on Instagram @lm_lartisan