Saint-Privat-d'Allier to La Falzet Previous | Books | Films | Index | 日本語 | Pics | Training | Via Podiensis | Next

13 September 2026 - La Falzet

I was awakened at 5:30 this morning by the lowing of cattle, so I broke camp in the darkness and headed out onto the road. Monistrol-d'Allier at the bottom of the gorge of the Allier river was about 7 km away, and seemed big enough to have some cafés. Along the way at the edge of the gorge was the stone built town of Rochegude with a thousand year old church and a small castle on the hill next to it. Then was the long descent into the gorge. Monistrol had several cafés, but sadly none of them were open because it was either too early or the wrong day. There is a steel bridge to walk across though, built by none other than Gustave Eiffel of Paris tower fame. I also could not help but think of the more infamous city downriver on the Allier to the North, Vichy. The climb out of the gorge is much, much steeper than the road down into it. Part is next to a wall of columnar basalt and they've used some fallen columns as roadmarkers. Across the gorge, Rochegude is visible in the distance. And there is a small chapel carved into the rock of the hillside. Finally at the top there was a boulangerie in a town too small for a name consisting of just three buildings. There I finally got coffee around 10:30 and stopped for a break.

The morning was blessed with small stops as I got a coke in one man's backyard in Le Vernet and some myrtille pie in a woman's in Rognac. So I didn't arrive in Saugues until the early afternoon. Being Sunday, this meant the Carrefour was already closed. I found a restaurant to make me a sandwich and drank some beers while reading for a couple hours. La Bête du Gévaudan, which I had seen hints of before, has a full museum in town. Apparently for 3 years in the 1700's the beast terrorized the area and killed hundreds, prompting even the king to send hunters after it. After the break I hiked on past La Falzet, where I again found a cowfield to spend the night in.