Like so many French rivers, the Loire rises in the Massif Central and flows generally westward towards the sea. Its upper waters, however, take a northerly course through the mountains and over millions of years they have worn a gorge, deep in some places, wide and fertile in others.
Our four-day walk took us upstream from Aurec-sur-Loire to le Puy and we passed through a great variety of landscapes, including dry, eroded hillsides, flooded gravel-pits, forests, rich pastures and savage, rocky escarpments. This was part of a longer walk that we did in 2011.
Getting to Aurec-sur-Loire
Aurec has a railway station so you can get there from almost anywhere in France.
Our route for this walk
You can also get a full screen view of this map in Google Earth and take a virtual flight along our route.
Day 1: Aurec-sur-Loire to Bas-en-Basset
Day 2: Bas-en-Basset to Retournac
Day 3: Retournac to Vorey-sur-Arzon
Day 4: Vorey-sur-Arzon to le Puy-en-Velay
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