SPE23001 - The Heart of Southern France

Day 2: Clermont-Ferrand to Salzuit 

Our first day starts with a beautiful train ride to Gare Brassac-les-Mines, which protects us from a lot of trafic around Clermont-Ferrand. While we enjoy the landscape passing by the big window and have great conversation and laughters, Axel shuttels our bikes to the train station and prepares them perfectly!

Then we finally get to testride our powerful E-bikes. "Turbo-mode" - check! So no need to worry. It will bring us up on every mountain! After we grabbed some musly-bars and pimped our waterbottles with magnesium and vitamis we are ready to start our our adventure through the heart of southern France!

It´s a very relaxed ride on flat roads to our first stop in Brioude. We get to see the Basilique St-Julienone of the biggest churches of the Auvergne as well as the most impressive! Due to different building materials (pink and blonde sandstones, volcanic slag, as well as limestone and marble) St-Julien shines in a blaze of colours.

We also enjoy a walk around the little village which counts around 6000 citicens. But where are all the people? We barely meet anyon while we are strolling around the sleepy streets. Before we continue our ride we fill up our batteries in a lovely restaurant, which was nice and quite... till we arrived Those salads were just fantastic! And the sence of those lovely sardines lastet till up on the hill  I heard.

Yes! The first climb awaited us after lunch. We crossed the Allier river and it went up, up, up. But no problem for our powerful group! And there´re always to great reasons that bring us up the hill: 

1. You are rewarded with the most beautiful view!

2. Every climb is followed by a decent descent

Thumbs up everyone, that was a successful fist day! Time to arrive at the hotel, hop in the pool and have a cool drink! We look forward to our next adventure tomorrow!

Joy and Axel

St-Julien might be breathtaking and colorful, but we stand out as well

Seems like the photographer came too late

Making sure the tourguide gets enough energy to lead the way tomorrow

Day 3: Salzuit to Le Puy-en-Velay

Where do I get a window with a view like that to take back home? I could get used to this magical szenery to be the first thing to see in the morning! Some fluffy white clouds decorate the blue sky. It´s nice and sunny outside and we don´t need a tourguide to find the breakfast room - the scent of freshly baked croissants leads us the way.

Our riding day starts with beautiful rolling hills, green meadows and this wonderful field of purple-blue flowers which looks to beautiful to be real. Every now and then we pass by happy cows and cattle and it turnes out some of our cyclists speak their language How do you call it? Cowish? Doesnt´matter, it´s great fun!

At early noon we arrive at the Chateau Lafayette, where - you guessed it - Marquis de La Fayette was born. Due to his involvement in the American War of Independence as well as the French revolution he is considered a national hero in both countries. Walking through the door, strolling around those spendidly adorned chambers seems like entering a time machine.

In Langeac, a lively town closeby, we have lunch in a wonderful garten restaurant. We need a proper break as a good climb awaits us in the afternoon. I love to see how everyone is taking care and motivationd each other! Great spirit and energy in our Kiwi-Group!

And then, finally, as promised - after every climb follows a downhill. And today we roll down for quite a while. "Wow! That was the best part of the while trip so far", I hear a delighted voice right behind me. It won´t have been our last downhill, I promise. But you´ll have to deserve them all

From the distance we can already see the collossal statue of the Virgin Mary - the Statue Notre-Dame De France. Our destination Le Puy-en-Velay can´t be very far. A hot shower and a great dinner are waiting for us. Tomorrow we have a rest day and get to discover this exciting town! 

Sleep well and have a good rest,

Joy and Axel

Day 4: Restday in Le Puy-en-Velay

Le-Puy-en-Velay... what a magical place to be! There is so much to discover, see and do! On our rest day we split up and go on individual adventures! And as it is hard to describe the magical flair of this town, we will let the pictures talk today.

But in the end, you will have to visit Le Puy-en-Velay yourself to understand what we talk about!
Why not on our next E-bike trip through the heart of southern France?

Enjoy the colorful impressions of this lifely place!

Joy and Axel.

The perfect way to start the day. Italians would say this is anything but a cappuccino.
It tasted great, so call it whatever you like

... in case you forgot where we are right now

Day 5: Le Puy-en-Velay to Peyre en Aubrac

In the morning we look into 15 happy and motivated faces. Everyone enjoyed their rest days and we look forward to continue our tour through southern france. Our route today will lead us through the beautiful, peaceful and quite Margeride area. But before we get there, we have to get our of the city.

Our riding day starts directly with a good climb. But we are well rested and enjoy all the colorfull flowers right besight the road. A little bird is flying above our heads and sings a great song. How can a tiny animal like that make such beautiful sounds? And of course there are red-tailed hawks all around us again. They fly majestetically over the sleepy landscape. 

After the first 20km, mostly uphil, we deserve a coffe, hot chocolate and a break. But wait?? What is that dark cloud doing up there in the sky? The weather forecast was very promising this morning! That´s why we always have our rain gear with us. And hey, lett´s just call it liquid sunshine.

The rain doesn´t stop us to continue our ride to "La Bete du Gévaudan" - the famous beast of the Margeride which is told to have killed about 100 children and women in 18th century. We take out our colorful rain-jackets and are ready for the next climb! The rain is light and warm and will stop just in time.

As we arrive at the beast noone has eyes for the statue... our attention gets cought by the most delicious picnic, lovingly prepared by no one other than our dear Axel! What a unique lunchstop!

... a very interesting "cowversation"
Mostly with hand and feet, as we barely speak French, nor do they speak English.

Not entirely sure who is hungrier. The little buddy behind us or our super bikers

Day 6: Peyre en Aubrac to Laguiole

Our morning briefing is taking part in the garage today. Outside the first raindrops start falling. The weather forecast is not very promising. At least not if you favour sunshine. But we are motivated and excited to cycle along the Aubrac plateau anyways.

If you have a favour for brown eyes this is the day to keep yours open! All around us we see the famous Aubrac cattle with their shiny big brown eyes enjoying their day day in the magnificent landscape! They don´t mind the rain and neither do we. Just the shower this morning was definitly unnessacery. And when do they finally invent wipers for glasses? Who ever has no pool in the garden, now we all have two... in our shoes

Time to warm up in a lovely coffee. Friendly french people sit all around us. Doens´t their language sound so sweet? We order café au lait and chocolat chaud (hot chocolate). They will not only give us enough energy for the second half of the day but also warm up our fingers!

And off we go again! We arrive in Laguiole at noon already. For a good reason! We want to visit the knife factory. This is the town where the world famous Laguiole knifes come from! But first: time for a long hot shower.

Day 7: Laguiole to Vieillevie

Our first stop of the day is only two minutes away from the hotel. We visit the "Fromagerie Laguiole", a cheese factory. Here they produce the famous "Tome de Laguiole" a regional cheese of the Aubrac region. We get to see an interesting movie about the history of the company, visit the production and of course we pass by the shop on our way out and fill up Joy´s pannier with lot´s of lovely cheeses!

And then the fun beginns. Today we roll downhill most of the time, feeling the gentle breeze of the wind in our faces. When we start our tour it´s still chilly outside, but the blue cloudless sky promisses best weather. As we ride down the hills you can hear the birds sing all around us, crickets sing along and the air smells like fresh hay. We stop at a lovely cafe and get some fresh baguette which also disapear in the panniers, next to some swaet tomatoes, ham and sweets we got in the supermarket... well,the baguests do not disapear completly. 

With all those deliciacies we find our way to the confluence of the Truyère and the Lot where we will conjure up a small picnic! What a wonderful place right at the water. And this cheese we bought this morning... delicious!

It´s only a few more kilometers along the Lot till we get to our hotel in Vieillevie. Axel welcomes us there, we hand over the bikes and hop in the pool under some banana trees. Are we still in France?

The day offers one more highlight: A delicious dinner on a beautiful terrace with funny stories, many laughters as well as interesting conversations. Tomorrow the breakfast only starts at 8 as there won´t be any bread in this tiny village before that time So we can sleep a little longer or go for a morning swim.

Joy and Axel

Well, the baguette almost disappeared in the pannier

Day 8: Vieillevie to Figeac

We roll along the Lot in the river valley. What a szenic ride. On our way we recognise many majestic villas, some right at the river, some high up the hills. Back in the days rich citicens from Paris build their summer homes out here to flee the hot and musty city. 

In the morning we visit Conques with it´s stunning Abbitiale Ste-Foy. Have you seen the stone sculptures above the entry doors? They are one of the most beautiful artwork of the middle ages.
In a small bakery we buy fresh baguette with ham and cheese and put them in our bags for the next stop. Whereas it was nice and chilly in the morning it turned really warm duriing the day! The sky is blue, the air is humid. 

Along the river we continue our ride. Our destination today is the beautiful lively town Figeac! Our souvenier baguettes from Conques we eat at a lovely little picnic spot half way to Figeac. After our lunch we get stopped one more time. Sometimes life has other plans than expacted. We arrive at the hotel in Figeac in the later afternoon and gather togehter at the terrace with a cold beer.

What a day!

Joy and Axel.

Day 9: Figeac to Rocamandour

Our day starts with some tough climbs! Luckily we´ve had a delicious breakfast and these crunchy croissants were full of energy. The hills ain´t no problem for us! Up on the top we get to see a little sheep show   The fluffy white gang is on it´s way to the fields making the funniest mow sounds. 

We ride along little roads on the country side. The szenery around us is just perfect. Again we have all those diverse colorful flouwers around us. The oak trees in the forrest give us shade, as it it very warm and humid today! A cute little dear hopps out of the woods, leads our group for 7,5 seconds and disapears back in the bushes on the other side. We get to see a beautiful oldtimer on the way and find an antique store on the side of the road. Of course we have to sneak in! As we continue our ride all around us farmers sit in their tractors mowing their hay. 

For lunch we enjoy a light salad, dessert will be served at the spacial icecream store just a few minutes away from here!

 And maybe we´ve had another ice cream in Rocamadour as well... and one dessert for dinner, or two. 

It was a sweet day. Just the way Joy loves it

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Joy and Axel

An ice cream a day keeps the doctor away... or something like this...

Day 10: Rocamadour to Aurillac

How could time pass so quickly? Is this really the day before our last day? As every morning our bikes are nicely arranged right infront of the hotel. We fill up and boost our water, take our wind blockers on, it's still nice and chilly outside. Wow! Did you just see the huge eagle flying above the the old houses? What a beautiful morning! 
As we head out of the mediaval town we enjoy the last look at Rocamadour in our rear mirrors. It just looks like in a fairy-tail! 

Our day starts directly with the first climb. One of several today. With 1700 meters of elevation and again 90km this is one of our toughest days! But we are full of energy and look forward to the challenge!

In the morning the clouds protect us from the heat of the sun! We fight our way up the hills, get delighted by a downhill from time to time and distracted by the beautiful landscape all around us!

After two hours we deserve a stop in a lovely lively cafe! Before we continue our ride! The perfect time to have a look at the route in the tour book to see how far we've come already! 

The climbs never seem to end. And some of them are tough and steep. But once you've made it up to the top, you get fulfilled with the feeling of pride! YOU just made it up here! We all have, great team work, well done! 

Joy and Axel

And again we see more cattle than human

How comes you still look like a supermodel after that touch climb, Lyn?

Day 11: Aurillac to Clermont Ferrand

Can you believe this is our last day? How could time pass by so quickly? Yet we ain´t back in Clermont Ferrand though: We wake up in Aurillac and have the most beautifu riding day ahead of us! In the morning we roll through the valley, hay bales are lying on the big fields around us, of course we get to see cattle, cows, horses and sheep enjoing their day in the sun. When you look up you can see beautiful buildings up on the hills and on the road we are surrounded by other happy bikers.

We ride our bikes fast today, everyone is in a great mood! After an hour we stop for a coffee, gather all our energy and continue our ride up to Puy Mary, the second highest mountain in Cantal! We climb 1700hm up the summit! YOU CAN DO THIS! Of course we can! In a group like this, where each of us takes care of the other, shares some motivating words or a coockie in case of need. When we look back down the houses in the valley get smaller and smaller. What a feeling when you finally arrive at the top!

And yes, after every climb follows a downhill. Ans this one today is spectacular! It seems like a never ending story! 

Finally, after the most spectacular, szenic and successful day we arrive at the train station in Murat. Axel already awaits us with the trailer. We hand over our beloved bikes. The last km back to Clermont Ferrand we go by train. Half of the goup shares their favourite moments and enjoys the look out of the big windows, where the landscape is passing by. The other half falls alseep peacefully. 

"WE MISSED OUR STATION" Joy wakes us up. "We end up in Paris!!" 
No, just kidding But you should have seen their frightened sleepy eyes. And it took 5 seconds only till everyone was wide awake. We walk back to our hotel where the whole chapter started 10 days ago. Time for a proper hot shower and getting dressed before we meet for our final farewell dinner.

See you there

Joy and Axel 

No day without them

It was a wonderful time! We say THANK YOU and look forward to your next trip! Maybe in Italy, maybe in Norway, Japan or Belgium? It doesnt matter as long as you bring your happiness and curousity! 

All the best

Joy and Axel