La Ricamarie is a former mining town on the south-western edge of Saint-Étienne, where the coal basin meets the first slopes of the Pilat. For more than a century, the pits here produced the coal that fed the factories of the Stéphanois region, and the town still carries the marks of that history: workers' houses, old slag heaps grown over with trees, and a strong sense of community.
In June 1869, during a miners' strike, troops opened fire on a crowd at a place called Le Brûlé, killing more than a dozen people, including women and a child. The massacre shocked France and became a symbol of the struggles of the working class. Émile Zola drew on events like this when he wrote Germinal. A memorial in the town recalls the victims.
Behind La Ricamarie, the land climbs quickly into the Pilat regional natural park, a granite massif of forests, pastures and moors rising to over 1400 metres. The road over the Col de la République, south-east of Saint-Étienne, is part of cycling history: it was the first mountain pass ever climbed in the Tour de France, in 1903. The roads through the Pilat are winding and scenic, with views over the Saint-Étienne basin and the Rhône valley.
As a photo stop and finish, La Ricamarie offers a striking contrast between the industrial past and the green hills beyond. Fuel and food are available in the town and in Saint-Étienne. The light in the evening, falling across the old mining landscape, can be surprisingly beautiful.