Hiking - La croix de Georges

"La croix de Georges," towards Chez Barby: when granite emerges from the bracken...


In the 1980s, a pioneer of "nature running," now known by the anglicism "trail running," Georges GOUTTEFARDE (1926-2014), stumbled upon a granite stump hidden beneath the ferns at a place called "chez Barby," a stone's throw from "Chedondet" and "Tarrit," bordering the municipal line between Job and Vertolaye. With the help of his brothers Paul and François, as well as members of the CSV
(Club Sportif de Vertolaye) hiking section, this enthusiast of history and nature set about uncovering and erecting this rough-hewn cross. It originated from a site renowned for the quality of its plutonic-magmatic rock, used among other things for making millstones, one of which still lies in the vicinity of the cross.
This discovery is commemorated by a plaque installed by RELF and inaugurated on October 31, 2015, by the family of this lover of the Forez region.