For more than a century, if you bought a good felt hat in France, there was a decent chance it came from Chazelles-sur-Lyon. This hill town in the Monts du Lyonnais was the capital of French hat-making, with factories turning rabbit fur into felt and felt into fedoras, bowlers and cloches for customers across Europe and beyond. The industry faded in the twentieth century, but one of the old factories now houses the Atelier-Musée du Chapeau, where you can watch the old machines at work and see hats worn by film stars and statesmen.
The town sits high on the western edge of the Monts du Lyonnais, where the hills look out over the wide Forez plain towards the Monts du Forez beyond. It is airy, green country: pasture, hedges, small woods and scattered farms, with the land rising and falling in long swells. The light up here is clear, and the wind can be brisk.
For riders, the high ground around Chazelles is a joy. The roads climb in short, winding sections, then run along ridges with views in every direction, before dropping into small valleys. Corners come thick and fast, many of them blind, and the surfaces are a patchwork of good and tired tarmac. Traffic is light, but watch for tractors and livestock trucks. In winter, frost and fog linger.
There is fuel in Chazelles itself and in Saint-Galmier and Feurs on the plain below. Saint-Galmier, just to the south, is home to the Badoit mineral spring, and the town is a pleasant place for a coffee. From the high point, look west across the Forez plain: on a clear day, you can see the whole of the Monts du Forez spread out like a backdrop.