| Day 1 - Basel -> Vichy | Day 2 - Vichy | Day 3 - Thiézac | Day 4 - Sarlat-la-Canéda | Day 5 - La Grande Côte (Coast) |
| Day 6 - Rigny-Ussé | Day 7 - Cosne-Cours-s/Loire | Day 8 - Cosne-Cours-s/Loire | Day 9 - Riel-les-Eaux | Day 10 - Montbéliard |
Monday
Vichy -> Thiézac
Map Link
While we wandered around in Vichy, Dan and I discussed where we should go next. Previous research had us leaning towards a town called “Sarlat-la-Canéda”, and then along the Dordogne River. But during our tour of Vichy, we saw an aerial photo of a previously-unheard of area: Parc naturel régional des Volcans d’Auvergne – volcanos! It was conveniently between us and Sarlat and it looked like it would be an amazing place to explore. Dan was excited to camp in the park, but I was less-than-excited. He challenged me to find an inexpensive hotel and he’d go along with it. I found something better: “Chambres d’hôtes et Gîtes le Clou” The price was right and the owner had a room available. Perfect! It would be a short day of riding and then we’d have the afternoon to enjoy the mountains.
The day’s riding was amazing. I said to Dan that I haven’t had an enjoyable day of riding like that in a long time. The day started out pleasant and as we headed south, the “hills” of the park became more visible and eventually we were riding through them. There were very few towns along our route, and even less traffic. It was a day that I would happily repeat again.
Grain fields and distant hills
Break time
The ubiquitous war memorial in the center of town
Nope, no evidence of volcanos here!
The roads got steadily curvier and the landscape more varied as we headed south. The day was perfect: fluffy clouds broke up the blue sky, the temperature felt great, and the roads were our own.
Getting close – the town of Molompize
Local stone became the architecture style
I had reached two-wheeled Heaven
Hi there!
One of the last towns we would pass through, Massiac, looked to be a very popular location to base a holiday from. It was there we stopped for a grocery store lunch, which we ate in the handy park behind the shop. Once we got riding again, it was just a few minutes to the town of Thiézac. Our instructions were to “ride past the cemetery, take the next right, the next right after that, and then go about 6km to the end of the road.”
The road to the Gîte
The road was narrow but in good repair and ended just beyond the Gîte, but the farmhouse was easily identifiable. After dropping off our bags and changing clothes, Dan and I took advantage of the weather, the time, and the location, and went for a little walk. We were in the Cantal Mountains and overlooked the Cère valley, neither of which I had ever heard of before despite being so lovely.
Gîte “Le Clou”
This would be amazing on a cold winter’s night
Our room – with a view
Two hours later, we had followed a trail through the forest and across wildflower-strewn fields, climbing 400 meters in the process. It was incredibly quiet – we saw one other person the entire time. We also saw a French fighter jet making a practice run through the valley below us. At one point I caught a brief glimpse of “something” as it dashed through the fields below us. Possibly a fox, as I saw quite a few of them that didn’t quite dash fast enough across the French roads over this holiday 🙁
I love the moss-covered stone wall
Breaking out of the trees
Our reward
This is not the France I was familiar with
Heading back down
Mondays in France can be difficult, as many shops and restaurants are not open. Being at the end of the road on the side of a mountain doesn’t help in this regard. Our hostess had offered to make a reservation for us as the restaurant down the road, reachable via an easy 15 minute walk. This sounded ideal and we were looking forward to a casual, local, meal.
Cows along our route to the restaurant
Unfortunately, the meal wasn’t quite what we expected. It was an upscale-type restaurant with upscale-pricing. And while the food was good, there was also too much of it, and we were unable to finish the last courses of the Menu. It wasn’t a terrible place, and we did get dinner, but I wish that there had been a better option.
We walked back to the farmhouse and we enjoyed the rest of the evening, sitting outside in the silence of the mountains, and then later relaxing in our room with a good book.
