Vichy

Day 1 - Basel -> Vichy	Day 2 - Vichy	Day 3 - Thiézac	Day 4 - Sarlat-la-Canéda	Day 5 - La Grande Côte
Day 6 - Rigny-Ussé	Day 7 - Cosne-Cours-s/Loire	Day 8 - Cosne-Cours-s/Loire	Day 9 - Riel-les-Eaux	Day 10 - Montbéliard

May 24 – June 3, 2025
Map Link

Today was the first day of our vacation and we weren’t going anywhere. After yesterday’s push to get away, we took today to relax and see what Vichy had to offer. And it had a lot to offer!

Despite it’s dark history of XXXXXX, the draw for us was its retention of the Art Deco and Art Nouveau.

We took a long walk today, following the Allier River (also Lac d’Allier) downstream to the damn / bridge / fish ladder. The sun was hot, but we were enjoying the views. The area has an incredible amount of activities! It is home of an Ironman course (and we saw a lot of runners on the paths today), a kayak course was near the dam, a horse racing track on the other side of the lake, as well as both golf and mini-golf courses. The water itself provided numerous activities as well: motor boats, sailing, water skiing, jet skis, kayaks, surf foil board (no idea what they are really called). So much to do!

Today was Sunday – but not just *any* Sunday, but French Mother’s Day Sunday. The city was packed with families out to enjoy the day. This means that we had to work a little harder to find somewhere for lunch, and we ended up a low-key burger / taco place. The photo of the burger I was going to get looked amazing and I was excited for it to be on table in front of me. Unfortunately, “life” didn’t imitate “art” – to the point I had to lift up the bun to see if there was even a burger in there! But it tasted ok, and by then I was too hungry to care.

During the search for lunch we ran across one of the most interesting flea markets I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t any special about it at first glance, but the more I looked, the more it seemed that every single seller was offering unique, interesting, and often historic items. Fortunately, I don’t need anything, nor do I have much room in my apartment for some of the fun stuff I saw.

I had hoped to visit one of the Thermal Spas while in town, but they weren’t as accessible as I thought they would, and I didn’t want to bother with the “high end fancy spas” that I did see on the map. So instead Dan and I enjoyed the free mineral water from the taps – actually, no. We didn’t enjoy it at all. It was heavily sulphuric and effervescent – disgusting, to be honest. But hey, at least we tried it!

Link to house styles: https://vichymonamour.com/discover/city-envy/resort-architecture/
Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vichy

Day 2