Sur les Traces des Faux-Sauniers

Guidebook with maps/step-by-step :

Étape 1 : With your back to the signpost, cross the village (D13), pass the church and continue on the D62. As you leave the village, turn left onto the Chemin de Riberolles. At the hamlet, go straight on. At the T-junction, turn right. Turn right at the fork. At the next junction, keep left and join the road. Turn left, go through Chanteranne and, at the left-hand bend, go right up a track in the forest. Go through the hamlet of Les Rochettes. At the main road (with views of the Chaine des Puys and the Sancy), go down the road opposite and take the first track on the left. Go downhill until you reach a road (after 5 minutes, take the road on the right as far as La Fayette village, where there are 3 Sully lime trees).

Étape 2 : Turn right onto a wide track. At the crossroads, continue straight ahead. At the Grand Pré crossroads, go down the road opposite. Take the first track on the left. Keep to the right until you reach Longvert. At the crossroads (stele thanking the village’s Righteous), turn left onto the road. Go through Lacot to a stop sign.

Étape 3 : Go down to the left and immediately take a wide track to the right towards ‘Les Neuf Boules’. Ignore a track on the left. At the T-junction, go right (remarkable oak tree after 30m). At the road, go left (view of the Chaine des Puys and the Sancy). At Murat (remarkable lime and oak trees at the entrance to the hamlet), turn left at the fork. When you see a covered spring, take the left-hand path and continue straight ahead. At the fork, turn right. At the road, take a wide track to the left until you reach a road.

Étape 4 : Turn left. Enter the hamlet of La Villefranche (on your left, there is a stele commemorating the Resistance and information on the history of the faux-sauniers), and cross it. At the stop sign, continue straight ahead. At the fork, turn left and continue straight ahead. Take the second track on the left. Pass the ‘Prés du bois’. Leave a track on the right. At the stop sign, cross the road and continue straight ahead. Take the first track on the right. Continue straight on, ignoring the side tracks. At the road, turn left to return to Espinasse and the starting point.