L'Ardéchoise Cycle Promotion

La Châtaigne

349 to 569km

You will start your tour in the land of the Chestnut forests in Lamastre.

Passing hills, gorges and small valleys you will discover wonderful landscapes.

In Gilhoc, you can think about the Greek merchants travelling through, during Roman times, to bring their products to the interior of Gaul.

Further on you will enter Vernoux an important village with an eventful glorious past with its 19th century church and its famous steeple (the highest in Vivarais). A pleasant downhill ride will take you to the La Fay pass in St Pierreville, a small Ardéchois village in the heart of the Regional Park of the Monts d’Ardèche, the cradle of the “Comballe” a type of chestnut loved for its fine and smooth taste. You can there enjoy a chestnuts beer.

Privas will welcome you after the four challenging Vios passes.Privas is the Prefecture and the world capital of marron glacé. It is a nice town where it is pleasant to stroll from workshop to grocery stores, in other word you should stop!

Having crossed the Benas pass you will go through Vals les Bains. It is a thermal spa that was famous during the Belle Epoque. Vals les Bains is an attractive town with its Casino, renovated thermal baths, shaded park and famous spring water.

Keep on going and in the middle of the magnificent Chestnut forests you will reach Antraigues with, in its background, the Aizac pass.

Change in altitude : 6500m to 1052 m.  Cols : 21 to 41

3 day option for touring cyclists.

8 different itineraries are offered to bring to an end in the heart of the Ardèche, your unforgettable trip in the land of  Chestnuts.

1. La Châtaigne-Ardéchoise 349km. Change in altitude: 6500m. Cols: 21.

2. La Châtaigne AVM 407km. Change in altitude: 7555m. Cols: 26.

3. La Châtaigne- Loire  417 km. Change in altitude: 7600m. Cols: 25.

4. La Châtaigne- Hautes Terres 475km. Change in altitude: 8655m. Cols: 30.

5. La Châtaigne-Ardèche 456km. Change in altitude: 8430m. Cols: 28.

6. La Châtaigne-Tanargue 514km. Change in altitude: 9485m. Cols: 33.

7. La Châtaigne-Allier 511km. Change in altitude: 9465m. Cols: 36.

8. La Châtaigne- Montagne Ardéchoise 569km. Change in altitude: 10520m. Cols: 41.

In the Land of Chestnuts.

Originating from the Mediteranean, the first trace of chestnuts has been dated at 8 million years. It was in the Middle Ages that people started to grow chestnut to eat.

The chestnut tree grows between 300 and 750 m in altitude and can reach 500 to 1000 years old. Each year the department of Ardèche harvests half of the national production of chestnuts : about 5000 tons.

It was Clément Faugier who in 1886 in Privas created, for the first time, marrons glacés and crème de marrons.