After la Bastide-Puylaurent, the Régordane parts company with the Robert Louis Stevenson walk.
Instead of tracing the Allier upstream, it climbs to the top of the watershed and enters the part of the Cévennes that drains into the Mediterranean rather than the Atlantic.
Following the fault-line to the east of Mont Lozère, it crosses the cols of Villefort and Portes before descending on a long ridge to the coastal plain at Ales.
We found this section deeply atmospheric.
The remains of the old road were visible all along and we could imagine the toughness and fortitude of the wagoners who used it for so many centuries before us.
There were very few walkers on this section and accommodation proved difficult in places.
As we came out of the mountains, the abnormal cold spell ended and we felt the heat of summer for the first time.
Day 4: La Bastide-Puylaurent to Villefort
Day 5: Villefort to L’Affenadou
Day 6: L’Affenadou to Alès
Previous section: Le Puy-en-Velay to la Bastide-Puylaurent