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Depart from the car park at the Abbey Church of Issoire.
(S/E) Facing the botanical garden (with your back to the abbey), turn right onto Boulevard Triozon Bayle and continue to the first bridge over the Couze Pavin. Cross the Couze.
(1) At the crossroads, turn right, then at the fork uphill, turn right again onto Rue du Moulin Charrier and cross Avenue de la Libération. Opposite, Avenue Ernest d'Hauterive runs alongside a school and its chapel. Take the footpath and then the footbridge until you reach a side street, Rue de la Safournière, which you will take on the right. This straight street crosses Boulevard du Commandant Fayolle and then climbs towards Hauterive Castle, bending to the left and then to the right.
(2) Keep right at the fork, then right again onto the driveway leading to the castle. Opposite the castle, turn left and follow the boundary wall of the Hauterive estate. The driveway is followed by a grassy path, still heading west. It eventually meets a small tarmac road after a left-hand bend.
(3) Take a sharp right turn onto the small road that descends towards the Montplaisir farm. Turn left as you approach the farm. The small road curves to the right before meeting Chemin de Binazat, which you take to the left.
(4) Leave the tarmac road at the hamlet of Binazat by turning right, just after a metal shed, onto the grassy path leading to Couze Pavin, Chemin de Siorac. Ignore the paths branching off to the left, then the first path branching off to the right over Couze Pavin. After 200 metres, turn right onto the next path, which is not very busy.
Yellow-red markings (GRP® Autour d'Issoire)
(5) Turn right at the crossroads, Rue du Mézel, which crosses the Couze Pavin. Turn left at the crossroads, opposite the church, onto Rue des Gravières, which you will leave at the first street on the right, Rue de la Poste, opposite the town hall. Cross Rue de l'Oradoux with caution, then continue straight ahead uphill on Rue des Grottes. At the crossroads, turn left as indicated by the sign for Les Grottes.
(6) At the fountain, at the next crossroads, turn right onto Rue de la Baricoune, which bends to the right as it approaches a house, then follows Chemin des Grottes. After passing the first building in the village of Les Roches on your left, take a hairpin turn to the left and then to the right. A short detour (about 100 metres) is necessary to see the Maurifolet tower, the symbol of the village of Les Roches, recognisable by the lava cap that covers it. Back on the hiking trail, Chemin des Grottes overlooks Chemin des Roches. Climb up to the Pardines plateau.
(7) Once on the plateau, turn left at the intersection at the edge of the plateau. Pass the first path on the right.
(8) Take the second path on the right to reach, after 250m, the small asphalt road, which you will take on the right to descend towards Issoire, ignoring all the side roads.
(9) After passing the hamlet of Boulade, the road becomes busier and takes the name Chemin de Bourbon, then Chemin de Boulade and finally Chemin de Pardines. It runs alongside the cemetery and ends at a crossroads.
(10) Cross Boulevard André Malraux to reach Rue des Chapelles, keeping to the right at the fork. Turn left at the crossroads (Rue du 8 Mai). Go around the market hall, cross Boulevard de la Manlière and take Rue du Ponteil opposite. This street turns right at the clock tower and ends at Place de la République.
(11) Head towards the Abbey Church via Rue Gambetta, following the signs for AbbatialeXIIème siècle, then go around the Abbey Church to return to the starting point (S/E).
Visorando member
Easy 
