travel

Chasing the blue

Mauriac, Auvergne, France
Monday, June 18, 2012

I woke to the sounds of birds - which is always lovely.
The gorgeous sunshine from yesterday was hiding so after packing up and saying my goodbyes, I went chasing the elusive blue sky. It was teasing me all day and kept appearing at the most surprising moments but it soon disappeared again.

I have four days until I am meeting the BCF crowd again at Rocamadour and it's just enough time to go and play in the Cantal region. Looking at the maps, all the roads look suitably twisted and I'm going to try and base myself in one spot for a few days and explore the passes without being loaded up.

It's Monday and there is barely a car on the road. The first 100km south was a dream run and even though the sun didn't come out, it still remained dry. As soon as I reached Tulle the road started climbing into the mountains. The road was excellent: great surface, wide lanes, clear vision around corners and twisty enough to be interesting. The next 50 or so kilometres across the top of the range were simply divine but then it was just too good to last. It turned into a goat track for the next 10kms and it was just hard work. The scenery was gorgeous as we wound our way along the river and then climbed up the hill again to the dam. There I met two German boys who were doing a whistle-stop tour of France.

I was heading for a place called Puy Mary which I had heard about but I couldn't recall when or where. I made it to Mauriac before admitting I was too tired to carry on. It was a good decision because the campsite is excellent - very quiet, beside a lake and with free internet.

Pompadour chateau
Pompadour chateau
Getting ready for the horsies
Getting ready for the horsies
The road into the mountains
The road into the mountains
The road across the top
The road across the top
Henry III in his element
Henry III in his element
The goat track down the mountain
The goat track down the mountain
Stunning forest
Stunning forest
Spot the blue sky
Spot the blue sky
A baby tunnel
A baby tunnel
Me and the Germans
Me and the Germans
Me and Henry
Me and Henry
Loving the scenery
Loving the scenery
My own personal internet cafe
My own personal internet café
Malibu disguised as pineapple juice
Malibu disguised as pineapple juice
Comments:
I taught you well mummy From BOSS, on Jun 20, 2012 at 01:12PM
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