Les Peux de Vesdun

(S/E) From the War Memorial Square, take the road towards the water tower, to the north-west.

(1) At the three-way junction, take the path on the left and continue, ignoring the path on the right.

(2) At the crossroads, turn left.

(3) At the junction with the road, carry on along the path opposite. Continue until you reach another road, a few metres from the D4.

(4) Take the road on the right.

(5) At the three-way junction, carry on straight ahead. Continue until you reach the next junction.

(6) Carry on straight ahead. Then ignore the first junction.

(7) At the second junction, turn left towards Peu de Vesdun. Then turn left at the mast and walk alongside the vineyards and through the coppice to reach the wooden pyramid, which symbolises the site’s use as a reference point for calculating the standard metre.

(8) Retrace your steps.

(7) Carry on straight ahead. Follow the path down, ignoring all the paths to the left and right, until you reach a road.

(9) Once you reach the road, you can visit the Forest of a Thousand Poets, visible on the left. Alternatively, take the road to the right and return to the starting point (S/E).

Le Peu de Vesdun (or Peu de Ripolle):
The Peu de Vesdun (from the Latin podium: height, hill, mountain) rises to 367 metres and marks the first undulations of the Massif Central. This notable point was marked by a granite geodetic marker. In the 18th century, during the French Revolution, geographers marked out the meridian used to calculate the length of the standard metre (one ten-millionth of a quarter of the Earth’s meridian). To carry out these calculations, they erected markers on the highest points. The section of this meridian—which ran from Dunkirk to Barcelona—passing through the municipality of Vesdun was marked at Le Peu de Vesdun by an 8-metre-high pyramidal marker, which still stood at the start of the 20th century. In the year 2000, an exact replica of this marker was constructed from wood, based on documents from the period.

The Forest of a Thousand Poets:
In 1994, the first of the 1,356 oak trees in the Forest of a Thousand Poets was planted; 1,100 of these have already been sponsored by living ‘creators’ (the Greek meaning of the word ‘poets’), that is to say, writers, artists, musicians and friends of culture. It inspired the artists Nardo Dunchi and Wang Keping to create two monumental sculptures. A veritable walking trail, the forest is dotted with pink sandstone stelae paying tribute to the talents of illustrious creators who have passed away.