Bois d'Alix

We start off the day with a trip to Villefranche sur Saone, because I miscounted my vitamins and ran out early.  Espace Nature is an amazing health shop on Rue Paul Bert, just off Rue Nationale.  When I buy my L-Glutamine, the store clerk showers me with various samples. Plus, the hairdryer in the gite gave up the ghost, so I aim to replace it.  We drive to Villefranche and do our shopping.  We end up walking 3km in town.

Around 11:30am, so we decide to try to locate some kind of Asian restaurant for lunch.  I am sure I remember seeing one before, somewhere near the vitamin store.  Colin would rather wander up and down Rue Nationale.  I try not to be annoyed: we have plenty of time before the restaurants close again at 2pm.  After wandering all the way up to Highway D44, he gives up.  I suggest going back to look on the street the vitamin store was on.  Jackpot!  We soon find Foulo Restaurant Asiatique, a couple blocks past Espace Nature on Rue Paul Bert. They have all you can eat lunch buffet for 13,50 Euro (9,50 Euro on weekdays).  Of course, we are the first to arrive, right when they open at noon -- which by the way, is the only time to eat buffet -- and they tell us we have to wait while they finish setting up.  I stuff my face with a wide variety of steamed dumplings. After lunch, we walk back to the camionette and get in.  It is so hot outside (and in the vehicle) that I start to feel ill.  I am not sure I will be able to hike today.

Driving with the windows down helps.  We decide to continue on our "forest" randonnée kick (a great strategy for really hot days).  I select Le Bois d'Alix for today's randonnée.  My route loops around the forest, following the randonnée trail on the map (see below).  Colin takes a look at my plan, and says, "That doesn't look like a good route to me... see how it's mostly AROUND the forest, not IN the forest.  Plus, there are only two opportunities to cross the highway, so we pretty much have to do that loop if we want to cross the highway."  

We look at googlemaps and decide that there is enough woods to the East of the highway that we can park at Grange Huguet and then wander around at our leisure.  Since the Eastern part of Bois d'Alix is off the edge of our randonnée map, I snap a photo of the trail map located next to where we park near Grange Huguet.  Between that, and googlemaps on our phone, we navigate our way around the forest. Our randonnée ends up being 6.5 km long, with an elevation of 128m.

While researching about Bois d'Alix, I learn some disturbing history.  Soon after the French Revolution, many members of the bourgeoisie were ousted from Lyon and fled into the Bois d'Alix. Villagers from the nearby villages of Theizé and Alix entered the forest, which was much larger then than now, and massacred them.  Many beautiful homes in Theizé were built using the gold and wealth taken off the Lyonnais they killed. While it made Theizé a wealthy village, it garnered them a poor reputation for generations. 

From where we've parked the camionnette, just off the Highway D338, we walk up Highway D656 about 300m towards Grange Huguet.  It turns out that the Grange Huguet randonnée signpost is next to a 19th Century lime kiln.  I don't quite fully understand how it works, but there are 3 compartments in the bottom and a cup-shaped space on the top. They use it to fire limestone to get lime, which is used to neutralize acidity in farmer's fields, and to make cement and plaster for building.  I think the limestone is put in the cup in the top of the kiln, and fires were set in the three holes in the base.  (I later find this video online which gives a pretty good idea of the process.) 

 The Grange Huguet randonnée signpost tells us to take the dirt path along the fence to get to Bois d'Alix.  It soon heads into the forest.  We pass some cows and then we're back into the woods.

As we get deeper into the woods, the path seems more like a riverbed.. The sides of the path are more like "banks." The bottom is rocky and rutted from some kind of flash flood. I'm glad the weather today is hot and dry.

At the next fork, we take the right-hand path, to continue on the randonnée route towards the Bois d'Alix signpost. The next fork is the Bois d'Alix signpost.  It sits perched on a fairly confusing trident root of paths. It points us vaguely ahead, but there are at least two paths branching off in that direction. The correct path is the leftmost, which we figure out thanks to the Bois d'Alix randonnée posts, which are square with pointed tops. They are very common throughout the forest, and extremely useful for navigating the many possible paths a person could take.

The path next opens up on the right side to a hay field.  The path follows along the edge of the field and forest. It's very picturesque, but significantly more hot.  Then we are given a choice of paths: straight ahead through the fields to Le Monéron signpost, or left back into the forest towards La Galoche. Even though it means giving up going to a signpost, we choose the forest. 

We are instantly rewarded with shade.  The surroundings alternate between bigger trees spaced farther apart, and thickets of tiny trees exploding in green leaves. 

The thin paved road exits the forest again to reveal vineyards. A horse stands morosely on the side of the road.  He appears to be tied up in a big field on a short leash.  We can't figure out why. These vineyards are pruned in Gobelet style and still very very young.

 

 Although we reach the fork where we will be turning left to head back into the forest, we keep going down Chemin des Bois d'Alix a few hundred feet more, so I can go to the La Galoche randonnée signpost.  On the way to La Galoche, we see the ruins of an old house. The signpost is right around the bend.

After the signpost, we turn around and head back to the fork we had just come from. This time, we take the dirt path to the right. On the right side is more vineyards; the left side offers shade from the forest. 

At the next fork, we take the left fork back deeper into the forest. When we are in the heart of the forest, we are quite surprised when the trees open up to a tiny hay field with bales of hay sitting waiting for collection.  The forest swallows the path again just as suddenly.  We puzzle over why there is a field here in the middle of the woods. Who does it belong to?  Why does the randonnée path go right through the middle of it?  Was it privately owned, in existence before the forest became a public forest, and so was required to have a byway?  We have no answers. 

At the next intersection, we turn right.  Our decision is eased by a big red spray-painted arrow pointing right. The woods last about half a kilometer, then open again to fields. 

At the end of the vineyards, we turn left and walk through the field back towards the woods. We plan to turn right at the edge of the woods, then make a quick left to head deeper into the woods. However, at the correct location to turn left, the only "path" we see looks extremely overgrown.  So we keep straight along the edge of the trees. Soon enough it heads back in to the forest. 

When a fork appears on our right, we keep straight.  From the next fork, we could go directly back to the Grange Huguet by turning left, but instead we decide to take the scenic route, so we turn right and head towards the Les Bruyères randonnée signpost. There, we take a left, and loop North.  

We emerge from the forest back into vineyards. The path becomes grass as we are led down towards a lone tree at the end of the vineyard. We pause there, enjoying the shade and wondering where to go next. A large feather catches my eye, so I walk to the right of the tree to collect it. From there, I can see a dirt road.  We turn left onto it. From there, we watch a kestrel hunt n the adjacent field. The view of the hills behind him is lovely.

  

The road leads us fairly directly back to Grange Huguet. Along the way, we see a rooster hanging out with two very disinterested sheep, who are cuddled together in the shade. The rooster gives me the red carpet starlet "backward glance" pose. 

When I see the Grange Huguet in the distance, I feel victorious: we are almost done!!  I run down to the lime kiln and mount on top of it in celebration.

I notice Colin is taking photos of me, so I give him a little sass. lol.   Then we finish the last little leg of our route back to the camionnette.