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Departure is from Monastier-sur-Gazeille in the main street (Rue Langlade).
(S) Opposite the church, turn right onto Rue Saint-Pierre towards the end of the village. Shortly after the post office, turn right onto Rue Henri Debard, which you follow down for 1km to reach the bridge over the Gazeille at Le Moulin de Savin.
(1) 100 m after the bridge, take the path to the right at the Y-junction; this gradually climbs into the woods. 500m after leaving the woods, you reach the highest point at the crossroads with a path coming from the left; leave this one and continue ahead of you. Continue for another 800m to reach the hamlet of Le Cluzel, 300m before the village of Courmarcès.
(2) Once you've reached the center of Courmarcès, go straight ahead at the crossroads in the village center and turn left onto the track 200m further on. Continue for 600m on more or less level ground. You come to a track on the right, which you leave behind. Continue straight ahead, gradually descending in a slight curve to the left. At the bottom, the path bends to the right to pass over the Cros stream. After a slightly steeper climb and continuing for just over 300m, you reach Le Cros, where you take the path on the right as you enter the village. Turn left at the next Y-junction, then right as you join the road that runs through the village, to reach a crossroads.
(3) Here, take the first road on the left, passing the soccer pitch; the road becomes a footpath after 200m. Follow this road for 1.2km to reach the D49, which you take on the right for a few hundred metres. Take the path that rises steeply to the left, and continue straight ahead (do not take any other path to the left or right). After 400m, you enter the village of Saint-Martin-de-Fugères.
(4) You reach the war memorial and turn right towards the church, whose combed bell tower you can admire. Immediately after, turn left between the church and the crucifix, and head downhill to join the D49 in a bend in front of the large entrance gate to a property. Turn left on the D49 for a few hundred metres and, after the long stone wall on your left, take the first track on your left. At the Y-intersection, which follows after 300m, keep to the left and continue for another 1.2km to a place called Prémajoux, where you turn right onto the track you find there. Descend the steep path for 700m, taking time to admire the view of Goudet and the ruins of its Beaufort castle.
(5) At the bottom, you cross the D49 at an angle and slide right along a narrow path down to the first small street in Goudet, which you turn right into. This leads to the Hôtel-Restaurant de la Loire. In front of this hotel, turn right and cross the first small bridge over a stream; continue along this street, which turns left, overlooking the Loire.
(6) You reach the bridge over the Loire on your right, and cross it, continuing on the D49 towards Ussel and Costaros for 500m (leaving 2 streets on your right immediately after the bridge). On your right, you'll come to a signpost indicating a footpath; opposite it, on your left, you'll see a path leading up against the direction of the ruined Château de Beaufort, and another path also on the left, but which bends quickly to the right. Take this one. It crosses a meadow and then climbs up along this meadow and a wood.
(7) At the next bend, don't take the left-hand path, but continue uphill. Make the following switchbacks, leaving again a track on your left, then a track on your right, to reach a road near some farm sheds. Take the road to the right to enter the hamlet of Montagnac. Continue through the hamlet, leaving a small street on your right, then a second one after the small chapel, and finally a third one on your right again. At the end of the village, leave a fourth street on your right.
(8) At the next crossroads, take a small road to the right at the Y-intersection (just past a large stone house with a walled property). A little further on (300m), you take the path you come across to the left, then to the right at the Y-junction which follows. After another 600m, you reach the D54.
(9) Cross the road and take the small track opposite, rejoining the D54 a little further down, following its left-hand bend. Cross the bridge and, a little past the small farm on your left, take the small path which climbs to the left. After 700m in the fields, you come to a track close to the D54, which you take to the left to avoid the main road for a while longer. Leave the track leading off into the fields on your left and take the bend to the right. You'll find yourself back on the D54 (in front of you is a garden bordered by a low wall topped by a small white balustrade); turn left to enter the village of Ussel.
(10) In the center of the village, turn left on the D491 (towards Landos) for 200m (leaving the first track on the right), then take the second track on the right (an old stone cross hidden behind the corner of the house which precedes the track to be taken). Follow the GR® signposts through a jumble of intersecting paths (300m, then turn slightly left for 100m, then left for just under 100m, then right fairly quickly afterwards). You take this path for just over 2 kilometers (continue straight on, leaving two paths to the left along this stretch).
(11) Eventually, you reach Les Bargettes and turn right (slightly right) as you enter the hamlet, then 200m further on (before reaching the busy N88), turn right onto the small road which bends to pass under the N88. Immediately you come to another road, which you take to the right for a few dozen metres, then at the Y-junction, take the small road on the left which begins to rise before becoming a path. You continue to climb for about 600m, and as the gradient decreases, you leave the track on your right and bend slightly to the left. Continue for 800m before reaching a crossroads where you continue straight ahead. Continue for a further 1km, leaving a track on your right, until you reach the hamlet of Preyssac.
(12) Continue straight ahead at the crossroads. 200m further on at the Y-intersection, take the left-hand track; continue for another 900m, skirting a wood on your left. Leave the track on your left and continue straight ahead. 200m further on, the track bends to the left and you soon come across another track which you take to the right (in the distance, you can see the first houses of Le Bouchet and the Arrestadou refuge on the edge of the D31). After 600 m, you come to the D31 (a cross stands where your path joins the road). Follow the road to the left into Le Bouchet-Saint-Nicolas. 300m further on, at the crossroads, take the first street on the right (direction "Lac du Bouchet"), then immediately left, then right again to arrive at the foot of the church, which is the finish point of this route (E).
Walker
Difficult 
Moderate 
Easy 
