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Head to Présailles. At the entrance to the village, head towards the church and park on the lay-by next to it.
(S/E) With your back to the church, join the road running above it and follow it to the left. Red and white markings and yellow markings. You are now on the route of the ancient Roman road that linked Clermont-Ferrand to Avignon. Carry on straight ahead, cross the departmental road and leave the village. The tarmac gives way to a track. At the lowest point, you’ll cross a large wet meadow where the Merdanson, the stream that flows through Présailles, has its source.
Carry on straight ahead. At a crossroads, theGR®® heads off to the left. Carry on straight ahead, following the yellow ‘Balade de la Burle’ markings until you reach a tarmac road.
(1) Turn left onto it, opposite a pretty, simple wrought-iron wayside cross. Pass the Cistrouze farm on your right. The road then climbs a fairly steep slope. You are still on the Roman road.
(2) At the top of the hill, in front of a solitary tree, at a Fork in the road, turn right towards Malcap. You now have a beautiful view ahead of you of the Montagne Ardéchoise, dotted with wind turbines. Head down towards the farm and walk through it (normally, the friendly dog Flika will be there to welcome you and may even accompany you for a bit). Follow the path leading out of the farm until you reach another low point where it crosses a stream.
(3) Ignore the yellow markings leading off to the right and carry on straight ahead, climbing back up to the hamlet of La Roulle, where you’ll rejoin a tarmac road.
(4) Turn left onto it, pass the three houses (two of which are in ruins) in Cholet, then head up towards Lasteyres, which you’ll leave on your left as you follow the road to a wood of tall conifers.
(5) At the junction, turn left: you are now back on the Roman road, this time heading in the opposite direction. To your right, in the distance, rises the Knoll de la Lauzière. Carry on past the Malcap junction again (if Flika has followed you, she should leave you there).
(2) Follow the route back in the opposite direction to the outward journey, passing the Cistrouze farm again and returning to the junction you passed on the way out.
(1) Carry on along the road until you reach the junction with the departmental road. On your right, you can admire the rooftops of Vachères Castle. Take the departmental road on the left and enter the hamlet of Vachères. If you’d like to see the château (private, not open to the public) more closely, continue along the departmental road which circles it, then retrace your steps to return to the aptly named Place de la Fontaine.
(6) Turn left and cross the square. Follow the road, ignoring all the side streets branching off to the left. After the last houses, the road becomes a grey track, covered in pozzolan, a volcanic rock found in abundance in the region. Walk through pretty pastures surrounded by dry-stone walls.
(7) When you reach a fork in the road, take the right-hand path. Continue along the pozzolan track, ignoring another fork on the right to head towards the entrance to the Bois de Breysse. After three bends, you’ll find yourself facing the entrance to a pozzolan quarry! Take the path on the left which runs alongside the quarry fence, then heads back into the woodland.
(8) Carry on straight ahead until you reach another pozzolan track, which you take to the right. You are now back on theGR®®. You’ll soon leave the Bois de Breysse at a place called Le Chalet, where the track becomes a tarmac road. Head down it (you’ll be facing Mont Mézenc, with its distinctive camel-like silhouette) and turn right towards the village of Présailles. The church is on your left (S/E).
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