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Park in the Vouas du Lyaud car park (hiking map), situated on the small road linking the village of Les Moulins d’Amphion to the hamlet of Armoy.
From the car park, there are four circular routes on offer, which more or less overlap and are signposted in different colours: Yellow, Green, Red and Blue. This walk follows the first three in their entirety and omits part of the fourth, which goes round a quarry that is a source of local controversy. The signposting is one-way, in the direction described here.
Yellow + Green + Red + Blue signposting
(O/R) Facing the walking map, set off to the left of it (west) onto a gravel path running parallel to the road and separated from it by a fence. Ignore a steep wooden staircase leading down to the right, which leads to a viewpoint overlooking the Voua Bénit (information board). Continue along the path and pass a hairpin bend. Ignore two shortcuts on the right and follow the gravel path round the hairpin bend. Walk down to a crossroads beneath the spruce trees at the edge of the pond (picnic table).
Green + Red + Blue signposting
(1) Then turn left onto a path between a meadow fence on the left and a hedge on the right.
(2) At the end, follow a stony path to the right and climb gently alongside a field on your left. Take a sharp turn onto thefirst path on the left (arrows on the ground).
Green signposting
On the signpost, the red and blue arrows are incorrectly oriented (they should point to the right).
(3) At the junction, continue straight on. Pass a section of ruined wall, then, at the corner of a small ruined building, head down to the left along a narrow path overgrown with vegetation (be careful, the slope is steep). You’ll come out at the edge of the Voua Beudet (Voua des Splos on the map).
Retrace your steps. At the top of the path, turn right: the path on the left leads to the quarry, which is off-limits to the public.
Red + Blue signposting
(3) At the junction, turn left and follow a path between two fields for about fifty metres.
Red signposting
When the path reaches the quarry fence, take a path on the left (not shown on the map) which starts at the foot of a signpost (do not follow the blue sign for ‘Back to car park’). This path initially runs along the edge of a field on the left-hand side and then, shortly afterwards, along the edge of a meadow on the right-hand side. After a metal post, turn right, follow a track downhill across the meadow and head towards a metal gate.
You’ll come out onto a track; follow it to the right for about 150 metres, skirting the Lyaud quarry. At the junction at the 597-metre mark (rock boulders), turn left and head uphill along a path that leads into a wood. Descend gently, pass a metal barrier, then walk along the left-hand side of a meadow. Then walk along the right-hand side of the fence surrounding the Praquemont spring catchment site.
(4) As you approach a large building, turn sharply left (discreet arrow – keep an eye out) and head back up through the woodland. Ignore a vague path on the left and walk alongside a meadow on your right. Pass a gate on the left (no. 242) and continue along a stony track. Return to the tarmac and carry on straight ahead until you reach the ‘give way’ sign. Then turn left onto the Route du Moulin d’Amphion (D233), using its wide pavement on the left-hand side.
(5) At the crossroads (cross), turn left onto the D233 towards Le Lyaud. After a good fifty metres, before the ‘end of built-up area’ sign, turn left onto the Chemin de Plain Bois, which is the road to the quarry, lined with small rocks.
At a left-hand bend, leave the road and take a stony track on the right (red arrow). Climb gently through a young plantation (if you turn round, there’s a view of the two Allinges Castles). Pass a chicane made up of boulders and continue through the woodland, then along a meadow on the right-hand side.
Green + Red + Blue signposting
(2) At the junction, turn right onto the path you took on the way out, between the hedge and the fence.
Yellow signposting
(1) At the crossroads, veer left and follow the Voua Bénit on your right. At the corner of a fence, head straight up and ignore a path branching off to the left. Join a wider path and follow it to the right; the ground is fairly level. Pass an old plasterer’s workshop (information sign). About twenty metres further on, before a sign, turn right through a gap in a low wall (arrow on the wall).
Head down through the woodland. At the bottom, ignore an access path to the pond on the right and start climbing gently at first, then more steeply. As you approach a small building, veer to the right (ignore the track leading straight towards the building). Immediately ignore a descending path on the right and climb up alongside a wire fence some distance to your left. Pass a chicane and you’ll immediately come to the starting car park on your left (S/E).
A lovely walk to discover the vouas, with a beautiful view of the Allinges castles and the opportunity to picnic on the first Vouas on the way back. Be careful on the descent to the second Vouas, which is not easy, and also when crossing the quarry if you are doing the route during the week. The explanations were very detailed, thank you for sharing.
Visorando Member
Difficult 
Moderate 
