During the 16th century France was racked by religious wars, pitting Catholics against Protestants, alos called Huguenots.
In 1685 King Louis XIV revokes the Edict of Nantes and the Huguenots lose their freedom of worship.
The resulting persecutions to conform compel at least 300 000 of them into exile.
This mass exodus had one of its starting points in the region, in the village of Poët Laval.
A modern day hiking trail recalling their route starts there, crosses at Dieulefit and reaches Bourdeaux in our area. It carries further for another 374kms divided in 29 stages. This is the French leg, which reaches the Alps at Chambery, to then cross into Switzerland and eventually, after 1800kms, end at Bad Karlshafen in Germany.
The ‘Federation Francaise de Randonnee’ (French Hiking Association) is currently preparing a guidebook describing the French portion (called GR965) of this international trail.
Animated by the same spirit as the pilgrims on the ‘Compostela Camino’, you can walk on the steps of the Huguenots!
Find more information on : http://www.surlespasdeshuguenots.eu/
Download the hiking route plan for Le Poët-Laval -> Dieulefit
Download the hiking route plan for Dieulefit -> Bourdeaux
Download the cycling/driving route plan Dieulefit-Bourdeaux
Download the cycling route plan for en vélo de la Drôme à Genève
Download the riding route plan Sur les pas des Huguenots à cheval