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Travel
Information
Arrival: At a hotel in the village of Le Crestet, between Tournon and Lamastre.
By Air: : Lyon. British Airways scheduled flights from London Heathrow to Lyon.
Or
to Paris from most UK regional airports, with onward connection to
Lyon by TGV high-speed train.
Alternatively go ‘land only’ and you can use low cost airline Easyjet to Lyon.
By Rail: The Eurostar Rail Service from St Pancras via the Channel Tunnel and Lille, avoiding central Paris. (Journey time approx. 5 1/2 hours).
(There are some direct TGV services to Lyon from Lille and from Paris CDG airport, but the TGV service to Lyon from Paris Gare de Lyon is more frequent.)
Train from Lyon to Tain l’Hermitage and taxi from Tain l'Hermitage
to Le Crestet (about 45 Euros and 1 hour 30 mins).
End of Tour: After breakfast on the last day in Lamastre taxi or
bus to Tain l'Hermitage.
Season: May to mid- October. Due to closure of hotels on certain days of the week
it is not possible to start either tour on a Wednesday, Thursday or a
Friday outside July & August..
Fitness
This circuit should present no difficulties for anyone in reasonable condition and accustomed to walking.
Grade
Moderate
Day Stages
Walking between 12 and 23km per day with some level days on high forested plateaux, and some ascents / descents of 700 - 800m.
Waymarks
Various, often the Red/White mark of the Grande Randonnée long-distance paths. See daily route notes.
The trail follows, in the main, well-established paths and presents no special difficulties.
General Information
Baths:
French country hotel rooms are more likely to have showers en-suite than baths.
Breakfast:
in France it is usually coffee/tea/hot chocolate with fresh bread/croissants, butter and jam, though some hotels on this tour serve a buffet-style breakfast. It is important for you to tell us if you have any dietary requirements when you book your holiday so that we can inform everyone that you are staying with.
Single
Supplements:
are payable on most of our tours.
The single supplement guarantees the privacy of your own room,
however, rooms can at times be small and in some places may not enjoy
the same facilities as double/twin rooms.
Language:
Note that you will not necessarily come across people speaking English. Vive la difference! Bring a phrase book and try to learn a bit of French!
Luggage:
When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage will have been taken to your room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be surprised if your luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your room.
Accommodation & Meals
(Facilities
normally ensuite unless otherwise indicated)
Half-board (evening meal, bed and breakfast) all the way through.
Picnic lunches are not included, but can be ordered from the hotel the night before (for about 8-10 Euros), though it is fun to shop locally for crusty bread, quiches, saucisson etc. Route notes indicate where there is a restaurant on the trail.
Traditional dishes on menus here include “caille”, a tasty meatball like a rissole, and Crique Ardechoise or “rapee” - rather like rosti. You will be offered “fromage sec or fromage frais” and should try the latter, fresh white cheese served with cream and sugar, and preceding, not instead of the dessert.
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Accommodation
(8-day tour)
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Night 1: Le Crestet. A small friendly hotel ( ** Logis) overlooking the winding valley of the R. Doux. Facilities are ensuite. Meals are served on the vine-covered terrace on warm evenings. The hotel has a swimming pool.
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Night 2: Lamastre. A long-established family-run hotel (**Logis) in a quiet shady corner near the center of the small market town of Lamastre; conveniently situated opposite the station, comfortable rooms with ensuite facilities.
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Night 3:
: Lalouvesc is perched at an altitude of 1100m and enjoys splendid views across the Rhone valley to the distant Alps. Our simple walker’s hotel (*) is in the main street of this old spa town. The Patron, M.Guironnet, is a welcoming host and you will eat well in the 1950’s décor of the enormous dining room.
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Nights 4 & 5:
St Bonnet-le Froid. You enter the department of Haute-Loire tonight, to stay at a smart modern hotel (***) with indoor swimming pool. The old stone building was formerly a convent. Rooms are comfortable and the restaurant is of a high standard.
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Night 6:
: St.Agreve. A tall narrow hotel ( ** Logis) in the central square of this busy little market town, it is family run, and recently refurbished. Food is locally grown, often with wild mushrooms from the woods, and a superb chestnut ice cream. The bar seems to be the hub of the town, and previous customers have reported a particularly warm welcome here.
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Night 7:
Return to Lamastre.
(10-day circuit)
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Nights 1 to 6: Accommodation as 8-day circuit.
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Night 7:
At St.
Martin de Valamas you stay in a lively little hotel(*) in this small
town, deep in the narrow Eyrieux valley, or in a comfortable chambre
d'hote nearby.
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Night 8: Return to St. Agrève
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Night 9:
Return to Lamastre
Outline Itinerary
(8-day circuit)
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Day 1:
Individual arrival at your hotel in Le Crestet, overlooking the
winding valley of the R.Doux.
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Day 2: Le Crestet to Lamastre 14km. Climb out of the village on a
waymarked trail through orchards into wooded hills. The shady path follows an ancient drove road, where flocks
would be transferred to the summer pastures in days gone by.
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Day 3: Lamastre –
Lalouvesc. 20km; 6 hours walking. Views back over Lamastre as you
climb out of the valley on a well-graded path. Thereafter glimpses
into steep little valleys and views across towards the pretty hill
village of Rochepaule.
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Day 4: Lalouvesc
to St Bonnet le Froid. 19km.
Steep terraced slopes fall away to the South as you descend to a
wooded valley, and the views are particularly good from the church at St.
Pierre du Doux, an excellent spot for a picnic.
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Day 5: St.
Bonnet-le-Froid. Rest day Circular walk
(optional).
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Day 6: St
Bonnet-le-Froid - St Agreve. 23km. A level day in woodland and high
open country past the Lac de Devesset to St Agreve (pop 2723) at 1050m.
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Day 7:: St. Agrève – Lamastre. 20km. 5 hours walking. Leaving the high plain of St.Agreve by small paths you join an ancient mule-road, whose paved causeway can still be seen. The old village of Desaignes is worth exploring, then the trail follows the high ground overlooking the valley of Doux to regain Lamastre.
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Day 8: Depart
after breakfast.
(10-day circuit)
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Days
1 to 6: As
the 8 day circuit.
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Day
7:
St Agrève – St. Martin de Valamas 14km.
From the plateau of St. Agreve you head South towards the
strange outline of the Mezenc range, passing the dramatic ruins of the
Chateau of Rochebonne, on your way to the village of St. Martin de
Valamas.
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Day
8:
St Martin de Valamas to St. Agrève 12 km. The climb back to St. Agrève is partly along a former
railway, with a gentle gradient.
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Days
9
& 10: As
Days 7 & 8 of the 8-day tour.
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Facing the Alps across the broad valley of the Rhone lies a walker’s paradise of hills where the Ardeche, Loire and Haute Loire regions meet. This is a watershed for some of France’s great rivers, a land of steeply terraced slopes, half-hidden valleys and tumbling streams, largely absent from the guidebooks. Massive ruined farmhouses seem to have grown from the landscape and the bleat of goats and call of a wild bird are often the only sounds you will hear.