It was a good chance for me to test out the bike with the trailer on as I made my way from Wimbledon to Clapham Junction to meet Dean and Helen and catch the train to Poole. Although rather difficult to get all our gear on board the train, we made it to Poole and onto the boat without too much trouble and began to get a sense of what it would be like travelling in this manner, ie attracting plenty of attention from various onlookers, particularly the loaded tandem.
The trip over was quite fast and easy, passport control was non existent, the ferry was quite pleasant and very quick, the sea was calm and the skies clear, the highlight was a stop at Guernsey.
Boats moored in Guernsey harbour
Lighthouse at Guernsey
We arrived into St Malo just before darkness fell and saw a nice sunset. St Malo was actually one of the nicest towns we saw on the whole tour which and was a very unexpected highlight.
Sunset over the bay from the camping ground
Looking over the walled old town
A gun emplacement the next morning, different to anything at home, this one had clearly seen some serious action.
Stage 1 - to Mont St Michel
We set off late from St Malo as it was raining in the morning - not a good start. It remained overcast for most of the day so actually quite good conditions for our first serious day. After a couple of teething problems with the map reading, we rolled in to Mont St Michel at about 5.30 and claimed a cabin for the night because of the dubious weather. Mont St Michel was very impressive, basically a big church / monastery on an island, which is quickly losing its island status due to silt build up (and the fact a road goes out to it!)
Mont St Michel on an overcast evening
A rare shadow as the sun came out from behind the clouds
Leaving in the morning
Stage 2 - Brittany, Normandy back to Brittany, did we actually ever leave....
For the next couple days our main purpose was to get to the start of the Loire Valley so we did a lot of cycling and not a lot of sightseeing. The cycling was mainly on back roads and a lot of it was traffic free. We think we went into Normandy for a while but couldn't be sure. Bothe areas are well known for the cider so there were plenty of apple trees along the way. The weather was pretty good during the day but each morning was cold and dewy which meant we didn't get away until late morning which was a bit frustrating.
Trying to dry washing on the church lawn at lunch time
We camped next to this river at Chateauneuf-sur-Sarthe
Stage 3 - Loire Valley
The Loire Valley is a World Heritage site, one of the largest of such sites in the world. There are many huge and impressive chateau in the vicinity and its fair to say we were done with looking around inside them after we had been to a couple. Nonetheless, they were very impressive.
Chateau numero uno at Samur
Houses built into the limestone cliffs, this used to be where all the workers lived, after they carved out the stone for the chateau they lived in the caves. Now they are highly sought after and are almost as trendy as the chateau.
One of the nicest villages along the way, Candes-St-Martin at the junction of la Vienne river and la Loire. There were millions of fish in the river under the bridge where this photo was taken.
Chateau at Azy-le-Ridaeu, build in the middle of the river!
The cycling was reasonably easy compared to what was coming up. We followed the route in Dean and Helen's Lonely Planet guide and this took us well of the Loire and explored some of the tributaries. Again, we were blighted by cold damp mornings but by lunchtime it was clear and sunny.
We were able to check out some genuine caves where the stone had come from. The workers were known as troglodytes and one chap had set it all up like it used to be, complete with all the animals. We decided that live would have been rather nice as a troglodyte, apart from when pesky bandits came calling.
Troglodyte living room, and kitchen, and bedroom, and dining room. The stable was next door so living conditions would not have been particularly pleasant.
Underground caves where they hid from the bandits. The tunnel on the right was a decoy and the cavity on the left was where the guard stood and would nail the bandits with an arrow through a small hole in the wall.
..and back to how the other half lived. This was inside a very impressive Chateau called Chenonceau....
and outside
Spanning the river
Some sort of vegetable growing in the gardens. I think more for decoration rather than eating.
Then, on our last day in the Loire, we ran in to this huge thing.
Stage 4 - Train to Clermont Ferrand
We took a train from Orleans to Clermont Ferrand in the Massif Central which proved to be a pricey exercise. The train left early on a Monday morning so we tried to find a hotel the night before in Orlean which was impossible with most of them being 'Ferme' (closed) because it was Sunday. This was the beginning of true frustration with Ferme time.
Anyway, we got on the train and after hearing all sorts of stories about how difficult it was, it turned out to be a breeze and we flew to the hills without anyone even checking our tickets.
Bikes all staked up on the early train.
Stage 5 - Massif Central
What a shock we got on the haul out of Clermont Ferrand. It was hot and steep and unlike anything we had come across so far. The terrain and surrounding landscape had changed, and apart from having to bike up the hills, we all agreed it was a change for the better. The Massif Central is relatively untouristy compared to other areas in France an is quite a volcanic area.
Looking back onto what had been day one in the Massif Central - a row of Volcanoes
To be honest, the quality of the farmland and the professionalism of the farming was pretty rubbish, it reminded us a bit of the Otago Peninsula, without gorse.
Dean admiring some volcanic formations, which we later walked around....
...and walked up....
...and took photos a bit closer.
Crazy mountain sheep about to leap over the edge.
A lake a bit further down the road.
From the lake it was a long descent down to Le Mont Dore, where we had a day off.
From Le Mont Dore there was a short steep bike ride to a skifield where we took a gondala up Puy de Sancy
and walked back down.
We were dreading the next day. We allowed ourselves a brief stop to check out a 'cascade'...
..before a 6km climb out of Le Mont Dore over Col de la Croix St Robert nestled in fog...
..and we were stoked to make it.
The next day bought another couple of climbs, the biggest being to a col just below another peak, Puy Mary. We stoped at the restaurant at the top after riding up through the fog and got down with some much needed local nourishment.
Then we hiked to the top, we clearly weren't the first to do so but that didn't stop Dean claiming the peak for NZ.
The views on the way up were good, when the fog cleared. This was another road heading up to the col.
Typically, all the fog cleared when we were on the way down.
Our last morning in the Massif Central was in Murat and we woke up to a frost. That was a fairly strog signal that it was time to head south so we got on a busy road in the hope of a quick getaway but struck some tough climbs along what we thought was going to be a flat river valley. However, we were rewarded with a long descent and a brilliant campsite at the end of the day, boasting a lake, a bathroom almost like you'd find at home and a good spot to make a fire.
How about the serenity.
Warming up by the fire, we even had marshmellows!
Lakeside the next morning
1 comment:
nice ingenuity on the clothesline ..
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