GARNIER JIBES

10 km from the village, a small mountain road takes you over the meadows and through the dark woods of conifers and beech trees, to an altitude of over 1,300 m. You then reach the treeless Hautes-Chaumes region, vast plateaux of moorland, heather and peat bogs that stretch over a wide horizon as far as the summit of Pierre-sur-Haute and several passes in the neighbouring department of Puy-de-Dôme. What a change of scenery! Altitude and extreme weather conditions have shaped the landscape. The flora blossoms during the brief summer: daffodils, lily of the valley, then the medicinal arnica from the neighbouring mountains with gentians and a few rare martagon lilies. A purple carpet of heather unfolds at the end of August. There, in dark stones, a long isolated building stands in this vegetal desert: it is a jasserie, a summer farm where the shepherd used to meet his herd in summer. After milking, the cows would spend the night in the stable. Washed every morning thanks to a water reserve, the cowshed fertilized the fumade, the name given to the meadow below the building. At dawn, the animals would return to graze in the surrounding area. In our time, it is rather flocks of sheep which transhume on the fields of Garnier. From there, the view is superb on the Forez country, and the walks are inexhaustible. To make the most of the scenery, go to the Auberge de Garnier at 5661 route de Garnier which, in addition to being a starting point for hikes, is also an excellent gîte and restaurant run by Antoine Catesson.