I was up early this morning as I wanted to get the tent packed up and to be away before 9am. Thankfully it was another bright sunny day so there was no trouble packing up. I dread the day when I have to pack up the tent and it’s raining. Trying to pack things away into the 7 wet is not going to be easy.After a Taize breakfast of a bread roll pat of butter and hot chocolate I said my farewells to the group I had joined and then headed 5km down the road to Cluny. The Abbey at Cluny was once the most powerful and wealthy community in Western Europe it was founded by William the Pious Duke of Aquitaine in 910. It finally closed in 1790 and much of it was used for building materials the French even built a road through the central part of the nave. Can you imagine what English Heritage would do at this suggestion!
Unlike William I was not feeling particularly Pious and decided that the 7 needed a clean as it was caked with 10 days of mud and cow manure, which when heated on the exhaust makes a rather unpleasant whiff. There’s hardly any point of cruising through beautiful French villages waiving at the young ladies if your car leaves a rather organic odour in its wake. The first garage I found I fuelled up and then used the jet wash to clean the car. It made a pleasant change too actually by using on of these to clean the car rather than a rain shelter. Rocinante was soon sparkling and turning heads once more as I left Cluny.
The drive to Vichy was fantastic. The D roads were virtually empty and the car just eats up all those wonderful bends. I had to stop twice to reapply sun lotion as by 11am it was scorching and even though the breeze was cool through driving I could feel my arms and the back of my neck burning. I got lost at one point. A new bypass has been built and it’s not on the sat nav or any maps so I kept taking the wrong exit. This then involved driving about 4km to a junction where I could turn round. At one point I though I would be condemned to drive this labyrinth until someone came to the rescue or I ran out of fuel.
On route I chanced upon an old garage whose forecourt was filled with rows and rows of classic French cars in various states of repairs so I had to stop. The owner was an avid collector and in the workshops he had the ones which had been fully restored. He was very impressed with the 7 and let me walk round a photograph all the cars and the rather provocatively dressed manikin he had standing by the side of the road looking like she was trying to hitch a lift.
I arrived in Vichy for lunch time and had no problem finding a secure underground car park. Vichy is the French equivalent of Bath. It has thermal springs and bath house which the wealthy Parisians flocked to just like the London aristocracy in Georgian times. For this reason parts of it look just like Paris and it very easy to think you are there. There are lines and lines of small boutiques selling all manner of luxuries. Kate would love this place and when I phoned her this even suggested we visit together sometime in the future. At the centre of the town is the Parc des Sources the main focus being the Art Deco bath house built in 1900 it is reminiscent of the design found on the Paris Metro and has a long colonnade that enabled the wealthy to stroll around the park from the bath house to the Opera and Casino with out getting wet.
I found a very pleasant restaurant offering a buffet of very healthy salads and pulses which on such a hot day was most welcomed. My French is also improving daily I can now order several types of beer rather than just beer! After lunch I had a stroll round and sampled the waters as is the fashion and then wished I had not. The thermal spring water in Bath England is not the most delightful beverage one can have but the water here is ghastly I actually wanted to spit it out but had to swallow as French folk where knocking it back like it was Champagne.
As I continued my walk round I heard loud claps of thunder and the sky turned black. Shortly after it began to rain so I thought I would be in for a wet second half of the day. Half an hour later it was gone and the sun was out once more so I set of for Le Puy with the hood down. As the air had been renewed by the rain it was very refreshing driving along often through clouds of steam caused by the rain on hot tar mac.
However I was soon to catch up with the rain as it was moving in the same direction and it was not to long before spots of rain appeared on the windscreen. As I could see clear blue skies ahead so I hoped I could out run the rain [just like everything else on the road]. I got some odd looks form folk as I drove by pouring with rain and the hood down. As long as I kept above 30mph its fine the water just goes straight over your head. Twenty minutes later I was at the centre of the storm and could not see anything as my glasses where covered in water and huge clouds of steam rose for the road. Again I sort shelter in a jet wash which I had spied up ahead.
Ten minuets later it was all gone and I continued on my way hood down and headed up the mountain passes. The driving was excellent and every so often there would be two lanes to let people pass slow moving traffic mainly logging lorries. At these points it was down into third gear and foot to the floor. Now I know why Catherham’s are always successful in hill climbing races they just gooooooooooooo!
After an hour of driving upwards round tight bends which the 7 grips as if on rails I arrived at the top in the small village of La Chaise –Dieu whose abbey appears quite menacingly out of the trees as you approach. This is part of the Camino so it must have been a welcomed sight for pilgrims who had just traversed the mountain and were looking for refreshment and a bed for the night. The Abbey like so many others no longer functions so modern sore footed pilgrims today have to settle for the many hostelries displaying the scallop shell and by the looks of some of the prices they realize that have a captive market as the nearest refuges are down the other side in Le Puy a good half days walk. I was very please I had brought the 7.
The abbey has the most magnificent choir with 144 oak stalls. Above each stall is a separate carving for each brother that sat there depicting vice and virtue many are very amusing. Above the stalls hangs a series of 16th century tapestries circling the choir depicting scenes from the bible. They are spectacular now but in there hay day it must have be incredible to sit for prayers as a brother and look at the bible stories portrayed in brilliant colour.
The drive down the mountain was lots of fun using low gears and making sure the car does not run away with you was important as there are some sharp hair pins. This is where the sat nav come into it’s on. On the 3D setting you can see the road ahead mapped out so a quick glance enables me to see where the bends are and which way they will go and how sharp they will be. This is just as well as the French only put blue and white hatchings signs when you come to a 180 degree bend so it’s easy to get caught out and by the rather dented crash barriers on the side of the road several people have been. Thankfully my decent was fun but uneventful as I kept full concentration until I saw the Chapelle of St Michel rising up from a rock outcrop signifying that I had arrived at Le Puy. I nearly didn’t find my hotel as it has been renamed All Seasons rather than Ibis but as I had programmed the address into thee sat nav there was no mistake and the receptionist confirmed the hotel had been rebranded but was still part of the Ibis change owned by Accor.
My room was very pleasant with a fantastic view of a large square with a fountain surrounded by cafés and bistros. My lighting of candles and prayers at shrines on route had obviously been heard as I discovered I had a bath and not just a shower as normally found in these hotels. A quick trip down to the bar and armed with an ice cold beer I had a good soak in the bath which was heaven as my knee and shoulders where acing from the hard driving. Constant gear changing and being pushed left and right in the cockpit round those bends.
Supper was Moule and Frits normally fantastic when I have had them in Brittany. I was concerned as to quality as we are miles away form the cost but being France I was sure they would be perfect. Disappointment ensued when the rather large bowel of Moules was presented and I discovered that the mussel inside many of them were no bigger than a pea.
After an evening stroll and writing my blog I headed for a very welcomed bed with fresh linen sheets.
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