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Park in the small car park on the edge of the D1, opposite the Sainte-Marguerite bottling plant. Information sign (enamelled lava) about the Sources Sainte-Marguerite site.
(S/E) Opposite the factory, cross the D1 then head left to walk along the perimeter of the factory. Take the path that climbs to the right. You’ll reach a junction with a smallPR®® sign. Follow the direction it indicates by turning right. You’ll come to another path.
(1) Turn left. Further on, on the right-hand side of the path, you’ll find the beautiful Fontaine Marguerite and the small spring cascading down. Continue along the path until you reach a crossroads marked by a beautiful, recently erected cross. Carry straight on, ignoring a road on the right and two roads on the left. Further on, ignore a path on the right and you’ll reach a crossroads. You are now in Lissac.
(2) Cross the road and continue straight ahead along Rue de la Pierre. Follow it as it curves to the left, ignoring Rue du Four on the right. Pass to the left of the fountain and continue along Rue des Portes Rouges until you reach a junction marked by a cross.
Head up to the right onto Côte de Courieux. At the junction, carry straight on, passing the cemetery on your right, then turn left onto Chemin de la Chevaleyre to reach Saint-Maurice.
(3) At the junction, turn left and then, very quickly, take the steps leading down to the left. Continue along the street and then turn right onto Petite Rue de l’École. You will come out higher up on Rue du Saint-Romain. Turn left and you will arrive at the small Place du Tiari, where you will see yellow directional signs at the foot of a purple lamppost.
Look out for the town hall and the fountain directly in front of you. Walk past the fountain and then the church, which is on your right at the top of the steps. Then turn into the first street on the right to come straight out onto Place de la Halle. Head diagonally left to walk down Rue de la Halle for a few metres, then take a path leading down to the right to reach a street.
(4) Turn right and look for the yellow signposts. Continue straight ahead along the street, ignoring the path on the left and following the signs for the Route du Vallon des Bouys. Cross a stream and, just after that, the tarmac gives way to a path. Further on, ignore a path on the left and continue to a junction marked with yellow signposts.
(5) Continue straight on, towards the Route du Vallon des Bouys. Further on, you’ll come to a small road. Turn right for a return trip to the antenna to enjoy a view of the Vallon des Bouys, whose meadows slope down towards the Allier. Then head back down the small road and continue straight on towards the village of Mirefleurs. Ignore the paths on the left and, as you enter Mirefleurs, go through a housing estate, ignoring all the streets on the right and left. You will eventually reach a junction with a Stop sign.
(6) Turn left. Shortly afterwards, ignore a street on the left and you’ll reach the wash house at a crossroads. Continue straight ahead along Rue du Grand Bac. You’ll come to a beautiful fountain topped with a cross on your right, at a junction. Continue left along Rue des Aires, then turn left onto the first street, Impasse de la Fontaine de Chêne.
At this beautiful fountain, you’ll reach Rue du Petit Pont. Follow this street to the right for a few metres, then head back up Rue des Aires via a narrow tarmac path. Turn left to quickly reach a junction. Turn right onto Rue de la Grande Côte to reach Place Jean Domat. Note on the right the “ceremonial” fountain (engraved with the list of elected officials from 1893) and then, at No. 2, near the cross, the beautiful house where Jean Domat lived – a renowned legal advisor under Louis XIV and a friend of Pascal.
Leave the square via Rue des Rocs. Further on, turn right onto Rue du Clocher to reach the foot of the old castle and this isolated bell tower. Take a few steps to the right to admire the castle’s beautiful curtain wall and its four-leaf clover-shaped oculi. Retrace your steps and walk past the fountain, then past the church porch (feel free to go inside; the interior of this church is beautifully painted and contrasts with the austere appearance of its façade). Then take a narrow lane to the left of the church. The descent is made easier by a ramp. Continue down the steps and you’ll come out onto a small road.
(7) Continue straight ahead along the small road until you reach the junction at the corner of the cemetery. Carry on straight ahead, keeping the cemetery on your right. At the next junction, turn left then take the first street on the right, Rue du Champ de la Reine. Keep going straight on until you reach the D1. Then walk a few metres to the left, across the picnic area, to the pedestrian crossing.
(8) Cross the D1 with care. Continue along the road opposite, which leads past some businesses and then the sports facilities. At the end of the road, turn left. Further on, you will come to another path.
(9) If you wish, from this junction, turn right for a return trip to the Source du Sail (about 1km there and back), but, frankly, in December 2017, it’s not worth the effort: the spring and its small salt marsh are completely neglected and overgrown with brambles.
For the rest of the route, turn left instead. Further on, ignore a path on the left leading to a small pumping station building, and continue straight on along a path normally closed to motor vehicles (the tracks in the mud on the path suggest that the law isn’t always respected...). Continue along this path through the woodland, which runs alongside the Allier on your right. Keep a close eye out (there are no signs on the site) for a tunnel entrance and an old lime kiln on your left, carved into the limestone cliff. On the ceiling of this kiln is a shaft or ‘gueulard’ from which the limestone rocks from the Vallon des Bouys fell, destined to be turned into lime. Continue along the banks of the Allier to the Sources Sainte-Marguerite site.
(10) Continue to follow the Allier until you find, on your left, a small sign pointing towards the Geyser. Follow this path to discover this little geyser, which may be active... or dormant... Turn left to find the gate leading out of the site (you can also explore this unusual site further; see “During the walk or nearby”). Continue along the small road to the right until you reach the D1 at a large house with green shutters, the door of which is topped by a superb piece of glazed lava. Follow the D1 to the right for a few metres to reach the car park (S/E).
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