Mountain bikingModerateBoucle

228 - To the sound of the lauze and the breath of the wind

Start: Fay-sur-Lignon

Dreaming of a peaceful hike, perfect for getting away from it all? Over the course of a short walk, discover a fabulous setting of greenery: don't wait any longer!

Distance: 9.7 km
Elevation gain: +221 m
Elevation loss: -223 m
Duration: 1 h

Route on the map

Base map © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA): route licensed under ETALAB-2.0 via Données : Comité Départemental Randonnée Pédestre Haute-Loire · FFRandonnée · sportsnature.hauteloire.fr — sous licence ETALAB 2.0.

The feel of the route

The lauze: In the lauzières (quarries), the lauzerons extracted the lauze (the stone roofing slab) for more than 300 years, until the start of the Second World War.

Each farmer in the area had his own plot, which he worked around his farm work, in spring and autumn.

With a crowbar, a sledgehammer and, later, explosives, he split large prisms of volcanic rock from the cliffs. Then, with a chisel and a mallet, he cut these blocks of phonolite into slabs 2 to 3 cm thick.

The lauzeur (the roofer) fitted these lauzes on the roofs with wooden pegs (because metal nails rusted and made the stone split).

Laid on a bed of moss and clay, they overlap by two thirds to give good protection against wind and snow. Weighing between 80 and 200 kg/m², a lauze roof needs a sturdy frame.