Allègre

Allègre perches its roofs at 1,050 m in the north of Haute-Loire, on the edge of the Livradois-Forez. A Petite Cité de Caractère (a heritage label for small towns), this medieval town can be spotted from afar by its Potence: two towers joined by a stretch of wall, the last remnant of the castle.

The town is explored on foot, climbing towards the top. You pass under the porte de Monsieur, the former castle entrance, listed as a Monument historique (a protected French heritage site) since 1926, before coming out on the place du Marchédial and its 15th-century townhouses. Saint-Martin church completes the walk. Allow a good hour, two if you climb up to the Potence for the view.

The castle once had around twenty towers linked by ramparts. A fire ravaged it in November 1698, and all that is left is this angled silhouette planted on the ridge. From up there, the eye runs over the whole Velay plateau.

The market takes place on Wednesdays. And if you are aiming for mid-July, the Alègre Médiéval turns the village into a medieval encampment for a weekend (fights, craftspeople, banquet), free and good-natured since 1994.