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Start at a niche near an old wall with an iron cross.
(S/E) Go down the small street on the left with a dead-end sign, which ends at two dirt tracks.
(1) At the signpost, head towards the Croix de Chirol on the right, along a wide stony path (marked in white and yellow). The path then becomes tarmac to allow access to the houses. Continue uphill. You will arrive at the tarmac path of Combe Lange, which you take on the left. Continue along this wide path and ignore all the paths on the right and left, which are access roads to houses.
After going around the top of Les Fayets, you will enter the Loire department. Keep going along this road, which will now start to give you some interesting views of the surrounding mountains.
(2) At the Fontanille crossroads, take the road on the left that goes around the sheepfold at the top (goat farm. Be careful with the guard dog, which can be aggressive even in the presence of the shepherd). Continue up the Forez-Velay-Vivarais trail.
(3) You will arrive at the ruins of Fontilles where, before reaching them, you will see a spring where you can drink. Join the path that climbs from Chavannes on your right and you will arrive at the signpost (a place called "Les Fontilles").
(4) Turn left towards Toissieux, the hamlet we are heading for.
Continue to the next signpost (at a place called "Larie").
(5) Turn left onto theGR® de Pays du Bassin d'Annonay (red and yellow markings), which follows a ridge and descends towards Toissieu. On clear days, there is a beautiful view of the Rhône valley and the Alpine and Pre-Alpine mountain ranges (on the left of the Alpine panorama, you may see a large white mountain: this is Mont Blanc). Descend this path carefully, as it is often eroded by heavy rain and by motorbikes and quad bikes. During this descent, you will cross from the Loire department into the Ardèche department.
As you approach the hamlet of Toissieu, you will see the bell tower of its church. This is where the path becomes steep and very stony, making it unstable underfoot. You can choose to take a detour through the moorland and then follow a small tarmac road to reach the hamlet.
(6) If you choose to take the detour, you will see the trailhead at a tree that marks the steep, curved descent of the rocky trail. The start is before this tree on the left in the broom. Go around the broom-covered hillock following a wide track. Continue straight ahead until you reach a short heath and see a sign below indicating that you are on private property where motorcycles are not allowed.
(7) You then descend onto the Chazalet road and continue to the right (the map shows other shorter routes that I did not see on the ground).
(8) You will then be on the road to the water tower and will rejoin theGR® country trail (marked in yellow and red on an electricity pole) that you left earlier.
(9) Continue downhill to the left to return to the main road through the hamlet of Toissieu (you can refill your water bottles and use the public toilets on the main road, near the white statue of the Virgin Mary, close to the village school).
(10) You will find a hiking sign and, behind you on the wall, a sign indicating the next stage: Châtelard. TheGR® de Pays (red and yellow markings) starts below the road, but we do not take it.
(11) We continue along the road on the right-hand side as the road curves towards Châtelard. There are few cars but visibility is also poor.
Pass Châtelard and continue down the road, taking care, until you see the start of a stony path climbing up to the left (yellow and white markings) at the bottom of the second bend on the right.
(12) The path is pleasant until it begins to descend, which is a little technical as it is steep, rutted by recent heavy rains and stony.
(13) You will arrive at Vigneronde, above a farm. At the signpost marked "La Vigneronde", head towards Annonay. Leave this unpaved road a little further on, continuing straight ahead (white and yellow markings).
(14). The path then becomes pleasant and overlooks the Vocance valley and the road to Annonay.
(15) Once you reach Les Baraques, you can head towards Chatinais to rejoin the "Chatinais" signpost seen at the start of the hike. However, I couldn't see where it started (there were lots of tractor tyre marks in the mud that day) and I wisely returned by the road to get back to my vehicle (S/E).
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