The Cascade du Sartre
The Cascade du Sartre
Day
1 (No cycling!): After an
8 h delay (overnight) in Mirabel aéroport near
Montréal, we flew direct to Satolas aéroport east of
Lyon, France. We took the 'navette' (shuttle
bus) from the aéroport to Gare Perrache (a much better
alternative than cycling the 20 km through the suburban sprawl of
Lyon. The shuttle also stops at Gare Part Dieu and the drivers are
familiar with carrying bikes). Since we arrived late we went straight
to a hotel we'd stayed at before - the Hotel d'Azur, near the
station, not too expensive (for Lyon). The friendly hotelier has
cycled the Pyrénées from the Atlantic to the
Mediterranean!
Day
2 (50 km): We took a late morning train to
Clermont-Ferrand (home of the Michelin empire -
there's an interesting connection between Michelin and the Mackintosh
of raincoat fame), arriving at 2:00 PM. We try to find trains which
allow us to carry bikes free as 'bagage à
main'. You must load and unload the bike yourself but it
travels on the same train with you. (To find these trains, check
my web page on 'bikes on trains'.) We headed south out of the city
from the station and were immediately in the rolling hills of the
Massif Central - beautiful cycling, although a
little tough for the first day and the late start. Two villages along
the way, St. Saturnin and St.
Floret are included in the "Plus Beaux Villages
de France" ("most beautiful villages of France"), and
deservedly so. Check out the old fountain in the former. At 7:00 PM
(we had called ahead), we stopped at the little hotel in Le
Cheix. Nice meal.
Day
3 (64 km): We began with a long climb to
Besse-en-Chandesse, where
we were too early for the wine & cheese festival they were
setting up. As we usually do at the beginning of a trip, we rushed
through this very attractive little town because it was early in the
day. We should have stopped there, found a place to stay, parked our
panniers and toured the countryside and then returned to enjoy the
festival later in the day. When will we ever learn? From Besse there
was a long descent (19 km, almost all downhill) to
Condat, then south, after lunch, with a couple of
steep climbs and descents to Cheylade
(interesting small church - note the ceiling), then along the
river valley (check the Cascade du Sartre) to Le
Claux, a pretty, quiet village at the foot of the
Pas de Peyrol, the highest 'col' in
the Massif - a tough, hilly day of cycling.
Day
4 (34 km): Although the pass was only about
4 km away as the crow flies, the day began with a serious 12 km climb
with many switch-backs to the 'col'. There's a
walking path from there to the summit of Puy Mary,
one of the highest peaks in the Parc Régional des
Volcans. With our already rubbery legs, we didn't try it
(although my wife ventured up a hundred metres or so - she's tougher
than I am). We took the northwest route out, starting with a fierce
descent and then, after a short(ish) climb, a long, gentle descent in
to Salers (another of the
"Plus Beaux Villages de France") where we stopped and booked into a
nice, inexpensive hotel (Le Beffroi). Salers is a very pretty little
town - all with that black lava stone characteristic of the
Auvergne. Lots of tourists!
Day
5 (62 km): It was raining when we woke up
but had stopped by the time we were ready to load up. (After 13
summer tours in France (as of 2000), I can tell you that we've only
been seriously rained on three times, and never for more than half an
hour!) We had breakfast in St.
Martin Valmeroux, then down a tiny country lane (love
those Michelin maps!) to Tournemire
(another "Plus Beaux") at the top of a short steep hill. Neat castle
- beautiful gardens - old stone houses - cider on tap in the
café! There were three tough climbs from there to the
Col de Bruel and then a great 20 km ride along the
Route des Crêtes high above the river with a
spectacular view and lots of wild flowers. At the end there was a
steep descent to Aurillac. It was a good cycling day
in these mountains. Aurillac, like most little French cities, is very
quiet on a Sunday. We saw a display of antique cars and a great old
bridge (Pont Rouge).
Day 6 (72 km): We headed south-west out of Aurillac. It's different here - more farms, more prosperous looking. Marcolès is a pretty little village for a 'pause café'. After three long descents we're at the Lot river. The hotel we were hoping for was expensive and isolated so we stopped in Capdenac-Gare. The Hôtel de Paris was cheap, clean and we had a lovely meal there, including our first ever 'avocat vinaigrette' (a perfect half avocado, pitted, with some of France's perfect 'vinaigrette' dressing in the cavity) - a pleasant surprise in a rather dingy little town.
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