Allègre at both volcanoes

Depart from the town of Allègre, latitude 45.1999400 (N 45° 11’ 60”), longitude 3.7127100 (E 3° 42’ 46”)

• Paved roads to carry water

• The "charreyron" was one of the paths used by water carriers with two pennies for two buckets from Fonteline.
• In 1912, the first running water system was created. The achievement was, moreover, an important step forward for the village. The water that came from Fix, replaced advantageously the water carriers brought.
• In the 2000s, further work was undertaken on Fonteline water catchments
• It is discussed in a newspaper of March 18, 1960
• "He was one of the first in the Haute-Loire. The one in Allègre was built in its oldest part from 1912. The trenches were completed by German prisoners of war and it cost 100,000 gold francs."

• Sheltered from the ramparts

• You are facing the first line of rampart that protected the city of Allègre. The wall that continues at an important height marks the traces of the old fortifications. The houses above were able to use this elevation to rise in an imposing way when the wall was no longer used.
• Memory most of the city was held by the Duke of Nemours in 1593. This commander-in-chief managed to breach the wall by firing the cannon from the foot of Mount Bar.
• All you have to do is look back to see the site where the cannonballs that hit the wall have come from.
• The meadow near the college of Allègre is still called the meadow of the cannon.

• When it rains on Mount Baury, fonteline springs fill up

• Here in Allègre, it has long been believed that the Fonteline springs, located in the valley between Mount Baury and Mount Bar, were fed by a water table from the base of this volcano.
• To improve the Fonteline network, the town hall relied on the work of geologist Pierre Boivin, after observing an exploration trench, to better understand the flow of water at depth and to develop the new catchments. The water did not come from the base of Mount Bar but from Mount Baury.
• Rainwater falling on Mount Baury slowly seeps under the volcano before reaching impermeable terrain made up of rocks close to granite. The plateau at the foot of Mount Baury is an ancient lava flow. At its base, a small level of permeable volcanic rocks (slag) allows water to flow very slowly in the form of a water table.
• At the foot of Mount Bar, the small drop created by the valley allows the water to emerge through the numerous scree coming from Mount Bar.

• The Borne Valley

• Your gaze will focus on plateaus whose regularity is only interrupted by the Valley of the West Borne. It is a very old plateau of crystalline rocks that was flattened more than 250 million years ago. The Borne River has been digging its valley for only a million years.
• These long geological times have thus shaped the structure of the landscape that is open to your gaze.
• La Borne on the commune of Allègre is not alone. It is accompanied by another Borne, the Eastern Borne, which passes east of Mount Bar.
• It was the heavy volcanic masses of Mount Baury behind your back, and Mount Bar, which you will see again on your way back to Allègre, that forced these two river arms to follow their own path. The two meet downstream to give the Borne which flows into the Loire.
• The western terminal cuts through the granite plateau where your gaze will distinguish on the left, a small woody relief that escapes from the monotony of the plateau.
• It is the Montchaud, a humble remnant of an old volcano chimney. Beyond and on both sides, volcanoes have not expressed themselves.
• This landscape has changed since the pre-war period of 39-45. The trees were less present especially on the edge of Borne and the many small tributaries that join it. The prairies were not dominant, it was often the ploughing and therefore crops that dominated the landscape.
• The villages you see in the landscape are spread over three communes: in the distance the Bertin Chapel and closer to you Allègre and Montlet.

• The mills of the Borne

• As early as the 14th century, mills existed in Haute-Loire.
• The mills were a matter of stately banality, a tax paid to the lord in exchange for the use of the installation. This was the case of the Picard mill located near the Borne and which was subject to the authority of The Baron of Allègre.
• The horizontal iron wheel is the first drive mechanism under the water load
• released from the nearby lock. The tree connected to the horizontal wheel crosses a dormant wheel on which the millstone rotates, crushing the grain. It was this mechanism that made the mills a lasting success until the 20th century.
• 26 mills installed along the Borne used the hydraulic energy of this small torrent to the best of their ability.

• The gallows in the crosshairs

• You'll find it hard to believe but the gallows never existed. No one was hanged there.
• It was simply a remnant of the façade wall (the courtine) of the castle located between two towers. The inhabitants of Allègre claim the name gallows.
• After the Second World War, the gallows partially collapsed. Residents of Allègre were appalled.
• Everyone took care of these heritage elements that were put back in place in 1952. This first consolidation was then done with the reinforcement of a clever wooden scaffolding set up by the company Perre du Puy-en-Velay.
• In 1976, the architect of the Buildings of France unraveled disturbing cracks in every tower on the north face.
• It was in 1979 that the consolidation work entered an active phase. The Flauraud company was at work. The metal scaffolding was less impressive than that of 1952, but The Gallows was saved.

• A tower that is not one of them

• The charreyron (path) you take has been restored in 2017 by an international youth project.
• Its border on the right side of the path will help you find the line of ramparts that was the third enclosure of the castle of Allègre.
• This third line of defence consisted of nine towers that allowed to watch and defend the castle in the event of an attack.
• In front of you, a small dovecote will give you the impression of an old tower belonging to the fortifications. That is not the case. On the other hand, the second line of enclosure joined the third line at the location of the loft.
• The end of conflicts and civil wars prompted the authorities to gradually abandon the ramparts. New needs have emerged. The population has taken over these new spaces to build and recover many of the stones that you will find in the current walls.
• To find your way around, use the Allègre fortification map.

• Royal visits

• The kings of France who went on pilgrimage to Our Lady of Puy were received with dignity at the castle of Allègre.
• It is the chronicler Etienne Medicis who lived at the Puy, at the hinge XV è - XVI è who tells us the story:
• On December 24, 1424, King Charles VII came to Puy with the Queen. They remained at Espaly Castle until One in January 1425. They visited Our Lady of Puy several times. Then the king left and went to bed at Allègre.
• The hundred-year war was not yet over. It was to be completed in 1453 and it was important for the king to strengthen his good relations with the Allied territories in the fight against the English.
• On Thursday, July 17, 1533, it was Francis I's turn to sleep at Allègre and the next day he came to dinner at Polignac Castle before making his official entrance at four o'clock in the afternoon at the Puy.
• He went to Marseille to conclude the marriage of Catherine de Medici, niece of the pope with his second son who would become Henry II. His detour through Allègre allowed him to grant his wish, made in the prisons of Charles V in Madrid, to come to worship our Lady of Puy after his liberation.

• Changes in the neighbourhood

• A postcard, published a few years after the departure of Germaine Tillion, allows to rediscover the atmosphere of the neighborhood where she spent her first seven years between 1907 and 1914.
• The building housed the dwellings of seven gendarmes.
• Nearby, the rocker (public weight) was already there, serving the measurement of loads of grain and other agricultural products. It was also a well-placed café. Advertisements for popular alcohol were on the walls.
• The garage and the first cars including a B14 are also evocative of the use of new means of travel. The district was an active center of the life of Allègre.
• The building that housed the Tillion family was connected to the neighbouring building in 1927.
• it's up to you to look at the postcard and find all the changes!

• The Place du Marchédial

• Allègre fairs and markets have had a very good reputation for a very long time. The Market Square and the nearby streets were black with people and animals.
• Today the medieval festivals of Allègre animate for two days, in summer, the heritage of Allègre. Numerous dance and juggling shows, blacksmith demonstrations, a large walk in costume through the streets, all this brings to life the historical past of the city.
• Journal la Haute-Loire of May 17, 1894:
• "The patron saint's day is in full swing. At 10:30 in the morning, firefighters and young men ride on wrapped horses. At 10:34 a.m., firefighters, drums and bugles in the lead, go to the church to wait for the mass to leave.
• At 2 o'clock in the afternoon the games resume: At the mast of cocagne, a young man of fifteen years performed a real tour de force by climbing successively twice to the top of the mast and going down upside down, arms folded on his chest, holding himself to the tree only by the legs."

• The balcony of the Velay volcanoes

• This building has a history:
• The municipal elected officials built the first town hall of Allègre on this site after 1824. The town hall then moved in 1884 and, in its place, the elected representatives had a covered washroom built.
• As part of the development of the village of Allègre the elected representatives in 2017 decided to make it an observatory of the landscape open on Mount Bar, with a wide escape on the volcanoes and the western Velay plateau: the Devès.
• If you are a visitor or hiker, a table will allow you to have a picnic. If you are contemplative, an observation bezel and an interpretive table will introduce you to the remarkable landscape open to the volcanoes of Velay.
• Go ahead, push the door of time to access this great lookout. You won't regret it.

• Protecting the inhabitants of the city of Allègre

• it's up to you to look for the defenses of the gentleman's door.
• You will easily find the hinges that could hold the heavy doors and especially close them in case of an attack. Two solid wooden beams supported the door in the event of an attempt to ram.
• It is easy to spot the cavities that housed the square ends of the beams in the wall.
• Looking up at the sky and on either side of the door, a cavity let down a heavy iron harrow that was another curtain of defence.
• In front of the door some stones in advance bear witness to a lost construction. These are humble remnants of an advanced door protection device: the barbacane. If the enemies passed through the barbacane gate, they were exposed to the defenders' fire.
• The murders of the towers allowed the installation of streamers (individual firearms).