The Old Town

The charming village of Laval-sur-Luzège, one of the last witnesses to the habitat of the valley bottoms, is absolutely worth discovering.From the car park (circuit presentation panel), go up by the D978. In the bend, take the street to the right and continue on the sunken path through the undergrowth, which leads to the plateau. Continue between woods and fields on the main path. Take the road to the left (on the right, the landscape opens onto the Vassejoux gorges and the bell tower in the village of Lapleau).After a ruin, follow the track to the left (old oaks with hollow trunks at the entrance of the ancient hamlet of Pranchère, only one of which has remained standing). Continue on the track, then go upwards on the D 978 on the right.Take the track on the left (an old pond or "Serbe" on the left of the road used to be used as an irrigation reservoir), then follow the road on the left.At the crossing, fork left towards L'Echamel, leave the road on the right, continue along the dead-end lane and arrive in the hamlet.Disregard the return path on the left to continue straight ahead until the last houses and then continue on the gravel path that goes ahead and down towards the gorges. It leads to a lookout (take care: no safety barriers) which overlooks the Luzège (dry moors with heather, cliffs and wooded slopes shelter remarkable fauna like the peregrine falcon and the rare booted eagle). Come back into the hamlet.Turn right onto the path that zigzags down into the forest. Cross the stream, the Lauge, go up along the Luzège, then climb up the path lined with dry stone walls that leads to Laval (along the road, a fountain flows into a basin that is none other than an old sarcophagus). Walk past the presbytery, then the church.Continue to the left on the D978 to reach the car park again.