La montée du Crêt de Roc

Description

Taking the steps up to Crêt du Roc takes you high above the city for a panoramic view of the western side of Saint-Étienne.

As you may know, Saint-Étienne is built on 7 hills, like a certain European capital... and among those hills is Crêt de Roc. To get up there, you need to take the Montée du Crêt de Roc. Why? First of all for its architecture, with its sublime Art Nouveau-style handrails, designed by Joanny Morin; and then for the view the Montée du Crêt de Roc offers over Saint-Étienne: it overlooks the city's rooftops, even that of the Préfecture, you can just about make out the Place Jean Jaurès, and in the distance the ever-present slag heaps are a proud reminder of the industrial past. The Montée du Crêt de Roc is like having a little bit of Montmartre in Saint-Étienne… After you've admired the view, you can take a selfie to immortalise the moment and then head on up: here we are 60 metres above the Hôtel de Ville (Town Hall), a stone's throw from Crêt de Roc cemetery, our version of the Père Lachaise, in a neighbourhood that in the 19th century was home to numerous makers of braids and trimmings. They are long gone, but they have been replaced by all kinds of sustainable development initiatives.