Leave the Dordogne region after dropping in at Chateau de Val, with its unique 6 spire tower architecture (huh? What about the weird metal horse). Lucky escape from car park with 2m limited d'hauteur (2.6m van!!).
Diversion to Tour d'Auvergne for lunch, then Chastreix, hoping to sample at least one of the famous (?) 5 cheeses of the Auvergne cheese route (really). (ok... St. Nectaire, Bleu d'Auvergne, Cantal, , &). Quelle horreur, fromagerie ferme, and the much vaunted France Passion "stay with your camping car gratuit on your hosts farm" turns out to be the church car park (11th century no less, to be fair). Still, Nadine in tourist info is most helpful, indulging our franglais, as well as tickling our fancy for some upland country.
And so we find ourselves meandering up & into the neat little spa town of Bourboule, on the very upper reaches of the haute Dordogne, and marking the gateway to the Sancy side of the Haute Auvergne. Its impossible to resist the hills though, so despite vague earlier motions by Mrs S to restrict mountainous expeditionary mularkey in the van, we're soon climbing up to the high plateau of the Massif de Sancy. Lac de Guery & the views from the col are astonishingly picturesque ... Another lucky turn in our travels.
Mont-dore has a more compact, Chamonix-ish feel to it, but something tells us theres a better deal to be had, & follow our noses to a campsite at Les Grandes Cascades. Next evenings hike to see the 100ft falls was worth it, kind of Hardraw Force in a mini Alpine setting. That evening was probably the best bbq in the world watching Puy de Sancy fade out in a rosy smudge above the meadow.
Ride the telepherique up to the plateau, hike up to Puy de Sancy, then on to Puy Gros. Peregrine falcons calling, & swarms of swifts feasting on clouds of mountain top black flies. Cable cars on part time so we plod back down the summer scars of the pistes. Double bonus - pass the actual spring source of the Dordogne, and Helen gets to come down a red run!
Day well rounded with 4 course blow out at Comptoir Cyrano. Kier & Bordeaux accompanying duck gizzard salard & lamb shanks. Proper French cuisine & worth all the hundred sheets!!
Next day we're back in the valley for the local Sancy outdoor festival - mostly focussed on the Sancy-athlon triathlon during the day & some funky displays in the evening (BMX, skate/blade half pipe, dry tooling comp, all to DJ Franks awesome 80s break beats!). We pile up the mini Bourboule gondola with the bikes in the aft, and do a wee circuite verte in the forest. Then Mrs S hits the downhill trail (dewd!) home, while I blast round the local black 20k - well recommended with awesome 6/7 km trail & single track descent.
We depart this lovely part of the Auvergne feeling thrilled to have found such a gem...
0 comments:
Post a Comment