In June 1940, as the German army swept south, a unit of Senegalese tirailleurs fighting for France defended the approaches to Lyon at Chasselay. After they surrendered, many of the African soldiers were separated from their white comrades and massacred. Two years later, a cemetery was built for them in the style of a West African tata, a walled enclosure of red earth, with gates and pointed towers. It stands on the edge of the village today, one of the most moving war memorials in France.
Chasselay itself is a quiet village on the northern slopes of the Monts d'Or, with stone houses, vineyards and views over the Saône valley. The Azergues valley, to the west, leads into the Beaujolais, and the golden-stone villages begin a few kilometres north.
This finish brings you back from the Dombes, the plateau of ponds east of the Saône, where you may have seen herons, egrets and storks among the reeds. The final stretch crosses the river and climbs into the hills, with roads that are narrow and winding.
There is a bakery in the village, and Neuville, a few minutes east, takes care of fuel. Whatever the time, give the Tata ten minutes before you go home. The red walls, the rows of graves, the silence on a summer evening: it is a short stop, and it stays with you for a long time.