Stevenson Trail 2016


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The Stevenson Trail

Day 5 - Cheylard l'Évêque to La Bastide Puylaurent

6th May 2016

Distance Time Elevation in meters

Km Elapsed
Hrs-Mins Moving
Hrs-Mins Gain Loss Min Max

26.72 7H13 5H29 675 780 972 1,247

A donkey outside La Refuge du Moure ready for the day's work

Leaving Cheylard l'Évêque early morning

Forêt Domaniale de la Gardille

Lac de Louradou

(Photo JJB)

Approaching Chateau de Luc; last year I could hardly see it because of the fog

The Château de Luc is a ruined castle in the town of Luc in the Lozère département, in the Languedoc-Roussillon région of France. It was built in the 12th century on a previous Celtic site. The castle, as a strategic point between the two provinces of Gévaudan and Vivarais, guarded a link to the south of France of the Auvergne frequently used by pilgrims of Saint Gilles, also known as the Regordane Way, on which it was a toll-gate.

For the first 100 years or so of its existence it was the home of the Luc family. In the 13th century it became the property of other regional seigneurs. During the Hundred Years' War it withstood a number of sieges. During the 16th century Wars of Religion the state of Gévaudan garrisoned the castle. Around 1630 the castle was dismantled under orders of Richelieu. During the period surrounding the French Revolution it continued to fall apart from neglect.

In 1878, local parishioners renovated the keep into a chapel, installing a shrine to the Virgin Mary. In the same year, the English writer Robert Louis Stevenson passed through on his travel-adventure, as he recorded in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes:

..[the hill] came to a point in the ruins of the castle of Luc, which pricked up impudently from below my feet, carrying on a pinnacle a tall white statue of Our Lady, which, I heard with interest, weighed fifty quintals, and was to be dedicated on the 6th of October... Luc itself was a straggling double file of houses wedged between hill and river. It had no beauty, nor was there any notable feature, save the old castle overhead with its fifty quintals of brand-new Madonna.

View from Chateau de Luc showing its strategic importance with its commanding views of the valley

A few minutes in the sun at Luc (Photo JJB)

There are route choices to make after Chateau de Luc. Strictly speaking, the GR70 goes off to the left, before swinging round and eventually arriving at Pranlac. But this is quite a tortuous path, and most people just continue walking down past the cemetery and down on to the main road (Green above) There is a lane that peels off to the left at Pranlac across a railway crossing. The road continues into Laveyrune and a second choice has to be made. There is a turning to the left to Serres which eventually comes out at Rogleton, or you can simply continue to walk along the minor road. The latter, shown in green above, is not so interesting but it brings you to Rogleton much quicker. At Rogleton you can continue along the GR70 to Abbeye Notre Dame de Neiges before dropping down into Le Bastide Puylauent. But if the weather is not good and/or you are tired, there is an alternative shorter route to Le Bastide which goes along the west side of the railway tracks. Eventually you reach La Bastide station and cross the tracks by the pedestrian crossing. The Hotel Grand Halte is a 100 meters or so from the station.