Day 18 St. Alban to Le Blaymard. Chilly.
Day 17 was a rest day – it rained most of the day, I stayed in my hotel room doing some bookkeeping on the internet and the blog, and lying prone listening to a tinny version of mozart trios on the phone, moving my legs as little as possible. But today is another day and […]
Day 16 to St. Alban
Today started with a very steep hill up a very rough track. 350m climbing in 3.5 km. So an average incline of 10% for three and a half kilometers. But it was another lovely cold bright morning and I was in the sunshine and mist filled the valleys below me. I walked on up for […]
Day 15 Neussuargues to Ruynes in Margueride
Starting out full of bread and jam on a bright cold morning. The way went quickly uphill onto a plateau of high pasture. As I passed a field of brown dairy cows a white grebe flew up from the hedge, I stopped to watch it circle around and land among the cows, hunting for insects […]
Day 14 Condat to Neussargues
Well the story of the hotel and it’s wan mistress was that she was from the Philippines, married to a Frenchman from the area. They bought the hotel in 2019 and refurbished it, opened in Jan 2020, Lockdown started in April. They survived on government support for businesses, things improved in the summer when lockdown […]
Day 13 Murol to Condat. Changes.
I had so little desire to stop that I arrived at my destination early, a deeply unpre-possessing village called Godivelle. I was going to stay at a hostel here, bunk beds. But I was 2 hours early, all was locked up and there was nowhere to buy food. So I emailed my cancellation and made […]
Day 12 Orcival to Murol. All about breakfast.
Look at this lot, Auvergne’s specialities are charcuterie and cheese, add four fruit tarts, yogurt and creamy creamy butter. Besides there was bread, honey, croissant and a dish of blackcurrants on the table, and a pot of coffee.
Day 11 Riom to Orcival. Immersed.
A big day today, I willl get up into the mountains, 67km, 1,430m uphill. I will go from 300m to 1,100m altitude. I manage to get on the road by 9a.m.The first 10k is all solid uphill, all on roads luckily so I can ride it. I skim Volvic, it seems a run-down place, I […]
Day 10 Chantelle to Riom
A trip across country today, heading towards the Auvergne and it’s extinct volcanoes. But the list of battles on the other side included a couple of non-Napoleonic defeats. It turns out that the words “Tell the consul that I die with only one regret, that of not having done enough for my country or for […]
Day 9 Moulins to Chantelle. “Bouge ton Bouble”
A wealth of experiences today, what travel is all about.The picture at the top is someone I met on the way. I didn’t take a picture of the inside, six massive pillars holding up a high roof, that special sense of dark quiet you get, and all those centuries of worship in the atmosphere. The […]
Day 8 Long Haul
Having rested for a day I set myself too much to do. 120 km and 900m climbing was too much when most of it was on off-road tracks. When making my plan I didn’t quite realise how much harder the off-road stuff was compared to riding along smooth tarmac. After seven days in the slow […]