Saint Etienne. The crassiers, walking grounds: « It was my daily walk »

Our summer series

The slag heaps

On sunny days, when you raise your head above the Puits Couriot, it is not uncommon to distinguish silhouettes overhanging the crassier. Many Saint-Etienne residents defy the ban and climb to the top of the mound, some of them regularly.

“There was a time when it was my daily walk,” says Mélanie*, who arrived in Saint-Étienne six years ago. “For me, going up there is like a mini-adventure right next to my house. When I was in my small apartment with my partner at the time, I went upstairs to make quiet phone calls. »

Mélanie then became a guide for her friends who want to discover the crassier. “I even took “pure strain” Stéphanois who had never ridden. I also happened to wear a flip-flop at two o’clock in the morning…”, she says.

Ten minute ascent on a steep incline

She describes the rise of the crassier as a…