Le Chambon-sur-Lignon: The Plateau of the Righteous and the Velay Express
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France
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Plateau of the Righteous
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250
XP
+100 France
= 350 total
2 days
Le Chambon-sur-Lignon: The Plateau of the Righteous and the Velay Express
250 + 100 XP
During the Second World War the people of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and the villages of the Vivarais-Lignon plateau hid refugees, many of them Jewish children; estimates of the number saved run from about a thousand to five thousand and no reliable count is possible. In 1990 Yad Vashem gave the inhabitants of Le Chambon and the neighbouring communes a collective diploma of honour, and Le Chambon is the only town in France to hold one. The Lieu de mémoire, opened in June 2013, names the 90 people from the plateau proclaimed Righteous Among the Nations. Across the plateau runs the Velay Express, the highest steam railway in France.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Visit the Lieu de Mémoire in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, opened in 2013, with its filmed testimonies of the Righteous and the Resistance
2
of 4
Ride the Velay Express over the 27 km metre-gauge line from Raucoules-Brossette to Saint-Agrève, stopping at Tence, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and the Devesset halt, on track that climbs above 1,000 m across the Velay plateau
3
of 4
Walk out to La Plage, the riverside leisure ground on the bank of the Lignon du Velay south-east of the village, and swim in the river the village is named after
4
of 4
In Tence, climb to the chapelle des Pénitents at the top of the place du Chatiague, built in 1719 by the lay brotherhood of the Pénitents du Saint-Sacrement and now one of the town's two museums, and find the rounded end of the building that is thought to be the stump of a medieval tower
Visit the Lieu de Mémoire in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, opened in 2013, with its filmed testimonies of the Righteous and the Resistance
Ride the Velay Express over the 27 km metre-gauge line from Raucoules-Brossette to Saint-Agrève, stopping at Tence, Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and the Devesset halt, on track that climbs above 1,000 m across the Velay plateau
Walk out to La Plage, the riverside leisure ground on the bank of the Lignon du Velay south-east of the village, and swim in the river the village is named after
In Tence, climb to the chapelle des Pénitents at the top of the place du Chatiague, built in 1719 by the lay brotherhood of the Pénitents du Saint-Sacrement and now one of the town's two museums, and find the rounded end of the building that is thought to be the stump of a medieval tower
Before you go
Velay Express runs its regular service from May to December; check timetables and which days are steam-hauled before travelling, and note that trains no longer run west of Raucoules-Brossette since the Dunières section was lifted in 2015.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
250 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
350 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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