Hausfrau's Berner Oberland - Rhone - Dordogne - Massif Central - Picardie Trip Report
Apr 6th, 2007, 12:16 AM
#42
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elliottp, glad to be of help, and thanks for nudging me to post my report.
schuba, yes, the Dordogne is incredible and I was thrilled to go back after 17 years and see that it was largely as I remembered! I am getting myself motivated to post some pictures online but that will take a while.
klondike, my mom and I thought the Cabanes du Breuil were fascinating and a fun off-the-beaten-path sort of visit; DH and DD were less impressed but went along for the ride. I guess it depends upon how interested you are in bories and farm life. It doesn't take long to visit, and is worth it to get a glimpse of a traditional lifestyle that is normally not seen by most tourists.
schuba, yes, the Dordogne is incredible and I was thrilled to go back after 17 years and see that it was largely as I remembered! I am getting myself motivated to post some pictures online but that will take a while.
klondike, my mom and I thought the Cabanes du Breuil were fascinating and a fun off-the-beaten-path sort of visit; DH and DD were less impressed but went along for the ride. I guess it depends upon how interested you are in bories and farm life. It doesn't take long to visit, and is worth it to get a glimpse of a traditional lifestyle that is normally not seen by most tourists.
Apr 6th, 2007, 12:35 AM
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I'm also guilty of putting my name in my trip reports titles - but since I normally post on the Caribbean board and we're a smaller friendly crowd we tend to know who is traveling where and look out for the reports. It's easier.
I love the details in your report - this will help other travelers, I'm sorry that the first response to your post was so negative and pleased that the rest were so positive.
Looking at your itinerary I can only say that had you named every place you'd been you would probably have had the longest tiltle in the history of Fodors
I love the details in your report - this will help other travelers, I'm sorry that the first response to your post was so negative and pleased that the rest were so positive.
Looking at your itinerary I can only say that had you named every place you'd been you would probably have had the longest tiltle in the history of Fodors
Apr 6th, 2007, 03:56 PM
#45
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Well, Hausfrau, pictures or not, this is a fantastic report. Your ability to capture nuances of french cuisine and its ingredients, the scenary, historical details, etc all blend well together into a mighty fine, entertaining and informative, trip report. Thank you.
Keep posting when you can. You could be a contender for "ComfySchuhe Award for Journalism" once you finish day 17
Best wishes.
Keep posting when you can. You could be a contender for "ComfySchuhe Award for Journalism" once you finish day 17
Best wishes.
Apr 9th, 2007, 02:32 AM
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DAY 10: INTO THE MASSIF CENTRAL
We enjoyed one final breakfast in L’Esplanade’s pleasant garden room, packed up, and checked out. I should point out that L’Esplanade charges a whopping 12 Euro per person for their very traditional breakfast (bread, croissants, butter, jam). DM, who has been trying to reduce her carb intake (yes, even in France!), ended up ordering just a poached egg the last two days, which still cost 3 or 4 Euro. We had to make sure that they didn’t overcharge us for her breakfasts.
We plotted out a backroads route from the Dordogne to the Massif Central, which ended up taking about five-and-a-half hours. We started out following a winding road along the Dordogne River; as we headed east the valley narrowed and the villages all but disappeared. We stopped along the river at midday for a pleasant picnic lunch. We continued through St. Flour, hopped onto the autoroute for a short stretch, and then continued across a high, rolling plateau where we got our first glimpses of the famous reddish-brown Auvergne cattle that seem to outnumber people in this region. We took a shortcut on D roads over a mountain pass that took us through dense forest and fertile pastures tinged with autumn colors. What an incredible landscape! We were already excited at the prospect of exploring this overlooked region in the very center of France. It was interesting to watch the architecture change as we moved north, from the squat yellow limestone houses of the Dordogne to the gray stone, peaked-roof buildings of the mountain towns.
We circled the town of La Chaise Dieu, with its large abbey, and descended into a broad valley between the Forez and Livradois mountains, finally landing in the nondescript town of Arlanc (which proudly boasts of being a gateway to an outdoor vacation wonderland). I have to say that it was difficult to find suggestions about places to say in the southern Massif. I finally made reservations at a chambre d’hôte called Ma Cachette based on a single response that I received to my post on the Fodor’s board. We have never stayed in a chambre d’hôte before so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. (There is a whole chambre d’hôte network in France and specific rules governing their operation. They can have no more than six rooms, and the experience is supposed to be that of being a guest in someone’s home, often including home-cooked meals with your hosts.)
Needless to say, we were a little anxious when Susie (the navi) directed us into a rather dingy part of town with lots of shuttered-up, rundown houses. We actually passed Ma Cachette once without seeing it because we came down the street the wrong way and didn’t see the Gîtes-de-France sign. With some trepidation I rang the bell. We had nothing to worry about, of course. We were greeted like old friends by Pierre, who together with his partner Johan and cat Fritz, are the proprietors of Ma Cachette. Pierre and Johan come from South Africa, which explains the African artifacts scattered through the house and the “Afrikaans” button on their website. Pierre showed us to our rooms, which were spacious, well-appointed, and brightly decorated, with huge bathrooms, real showers, lots of adjustable radiators, and big fluffy towels. DM and DD took the room called “Redouté” with a garden view, which we think is the best room in the house. DH and I stayed in the room called “Artichaut” on the street side. It was not quite as cozy as “Redouté” and only had one bedside table, but was still very nice. In retrospect we think “Amsterdam” is the next best room – it is a little smaller, but on the garden side. At double occupancy the rooms were 65 and 60 Euro – the best deal of our trip, and the nicest!
We took a short walk before dinner, and I do mean short, since we had just passed into daylight savings time without realizing it, and it was now getting dark at 6 pm. We peeked in at the ancient church of St. Pierre but it was too dark to see much, and strolled a short ways out into the countryside, where we got a talking to from several dangerous-looking German Shepherds. Then we joined Pierre in the comfortable lounge for cocktails and conversation. Johan and Pierre left South Africa to open Ma Cachette in 2000. The house dates at least to the 1600s and used to be on the main road through Arlanc, but with the passage of the centuries the town went into a sad decline. Pierre said that the townspeople have been very welcoming and were pleased to see one of the old houses getting fixed up. Johan and Pierre also have an award-winning garden; it is completely hidden from view from the street but covers perhaps half and acre behind the house. Of course it wasn’t in its prime in late October, but we could tell that it is a real gem and a labor of love for them.
We were joined for dinner by a French couple, the only other guests in the house. We all sat down in the dining room at a single large table and discovered that the best part of Ma Cachette is Johan’s cooking. For 25 Euro per person you get a three-course meal including wine that rivals any restaurant. We started with a lovely salad of roasted tomatoes and peppers on a bed of greens, followed by roast chicken breast with a balsamic vinegar reduction, couscous, and broccoli – simple yet immensely satisfying – finishing with poached spiced pears with whipped cream and an assortment of teas. We turned in early with plans to explore the famed city of Le Puy-en-Velay tomorrow.
Next: Le Puy-en-Velay
We enjoyed one final breakfast in L’Esplanade’s pleasant garden room, packed up, and checked out. I should point out that L’Esplanade charges a whopping 12 Euro per person for their very traditional breakfast (bread, croissants, butter, jam). DM, who has been trying to reduce her carb intake (yes, even in France!), ended up ordering just a poached egg the last two days, which still cost 3 or 4 Euro. We had to make sure that they didn’t overcharge us for her breakfasts.
We plotted out a backroads route from the Dordogne to the Massif Central, which ended up taking about five-and-a-half hours. We started out following a winding road along the Dordogne River; as we headed east the valley narrowed and the villages all but disappeared. We stopped along the river at midday for a pleasant picnic lunch. We continued through St. Flour, hopped onto the autoroute for a short stretch, and then continued across a high, rolling plateau where we got our first glimpses of the famous reddish-brown Auvergne cattle that seem to outnumber people in this region. We took a shortcut on D roads over a mountain pass that took us through dense forest and fertile pastures tinged with autumn colors. What an incredible landscape! We were already excited at the prospect of exploring this overlooked region in the very center of France. It was interesting to watch the architecture change as we moved north, from the squat yellow limestone houses of the Dordogne to the gray stone, peaked-roof buildings of the mountain towns.
We circled the town of La Chaise Dieu, with its large abbey, and descended into a broad valley between the Forez and Livradois mountains, finally landing in the nondescript town of Arlanc (which proudly boasts of being a gateway to an outdoor vacation wonderland). I have to say that it was difficult to find suggestions about places to say in the southern Massif. I finally made reservations at a chambre d’hôte called Ma Cachette based on a single response that I received to my post on the Fodor’s board. We have never stayed in a chambre d’hôte before so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. (There is a whole chambre d’hôte network in France and specific rules governing their operation. They can have no more than six rooms, and the experience is supposed to be that of being a guest in someone’s home, often including home-cooked meals with your hosts.)
Needless to say, we were a little anxious when Susie (the navi) directed us into a rather dingy part of town with lots of shuttered-up, rundown houses. We actually passed Ma Cachette once without seeing it because we came down the street the wrong way and didn’t see the Gîtes-de-France sign. With some trepidation I rang the bell. We had nothing to worry about, of course. We were greeted like old friends by Pierre, who together with his partner Johan and cat Fritz, are the proprietors of Ma Cachette. Pierre and Johan come from South Africa, which explains the African artifacts scattered through the house and the “Afrikaans” button on their website. Pierre showed us to our rooms, which were spacious, well-appointed, and brightly decorated, with huge bathrooms, real showers, lots of adjustable radiators, and big fluffy towels. DM and DD took the room called “Redouté” with a garden view, which we think is the best room in the house. DH and I stayed in the room called “Artichaut” on the street side. It was not quite as cozy as “Redouté” and only had one bedside table, but was still very nice. In retrospect we think “Amsterdam” is the next best room – it is a little smaller, but on the garden side. At double occupancy the rooms were 65 and 60 Euro – the best deal of our trip, and the nicest!
We took a short walk before dinner, and I do mean short, since we had just passed into daylight savings time without realizing it, and it was now getting dark at 6 pm. We peeked in at the ancient church of St. Pierre but it was too dark to see much, and strolled a short ways out into the countryside, where we got a talking to from several dangerous-looking German Shepherds. Then we joined Pierre in the comfortable lounge for cocktails and conversation. Johan and Pierre left South Africa to open Ma Cachette in 2000. The house dates at least to the 1600s and used to be on the main road through Arlanc, but with the passage of the centuries the town went into a sad decline. Pierre said that the townspeople have been very welcoming and were pleased to see one of the old houses getting fixed up. Johan and Pierre also have an award-winning garden; it is completely hidden from view from the street but covers perhaps half and acre behind the house. Of course it wasn’t in its prime in late October, but we could tell that it is a real gem and a labor of love for them.
We were joined for dinner by a French couple, the only other guests in the house. We all sat down in the dining room at a single large table and discovered that the best part of Ma Cachette is Johan’s cooking. For 25 Euro per person you get a three-course meal including wine that rivals any restaurant. We started with a lovely salad of roasted tomatoes and peppers on a bed of greens, followed by roast chicken breast with a balsamic vinegar reduction, couscous, and broccoli – simple yet immensely satisfying – finishing with poached spiced pears with whipped cream and an assortment of teas. We turned in early with plans to explore the famed city of Le Puy-en-Velay tomorrow.
Next: Le Puy-en-Velay
Apr 9th, 2007, 02:40 AM
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DAY 11: LE PUY-EN-VELAY
We enjoyed a nice breakfast of bread, croissants, and yogurt, then told Pierre that we’d like to eat dinner there again tonight if it wasn’t too much trouble (seeing as how other dining options in Arlanc are virtually non-existent). Before we left, Pierre supplied us with several maps of Le Puy-en-Velay and specific instructions on getting to the best-situated public parking garage in the center of town.
It was about a forty-five minute drive to Le Puy; we spotted the impressive profile of Château de Polignac on the way and then descended down into the city with its three legendary volcanic rock formations – the puys – crowned, respectively, by a statue of St. Joseph, the 11th-century chapel of St-Michel, and a huge red statue of the Virgin Mary somewhat reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty. We found the parking garage without too much difficulty and followed a historic walking tour towards the cathedral.
Le Puy has been a major pilgrimage destination since Charlemagne and is one of four departure points for the famous 1,600-kilometer pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. We headed first to the Romanesque cathedral of Notre-Dame-du-Puy, begun in the 5th century on the site of a pagan temple. Walking up the steep hill lined with crooked houses, with the Byzantine black-and-white striped façade of the cathedral at the top, was quite an experience. The cathedral was expanded over the centuries to accommodate the ever-increasing crowds of pilgrims; this sprawling construction is reflected in the unusual series of tiered landings, archways, and massive doors leading up to the entrance. The interior is rather stark, with the exception of the famed Black Madonna on the high altar. The statue is a replica of the original, which was burned by revolutionaries in 1794.
We exited out the back of the cathedral and headed towards the huge red statue of Notre-Dame de France, made in 1860 from Russian cannons captured during the Crimean War. You have to pay 3 Euro for the privilege of climbing up to the statue, so we decided to pass. On the way to lunch we stopped in a small souvenir shop to check out the three items for which Le Puy is famous: hand-made lace (but you have to watch out for Asian and machine-made knock-offs), Le Puy lentils (a strain of green lentils grown only in this region), and a green herbal liqueur called Verveine, flavored with verbena. DM bought some lace bookmarks for gifts, we tasted the Verveine and decided to buy a small bottle, and picked up a couple of tins of Le Puy lentils. We stopped for lunch at an ocean-themed café called Le Petit Gourmand, where we ate fried calamari and big salads.
Next we made our way over to the 10th-century Chapelle de St-Michel d’Aiguilhe, built atop the vent of an extinct volcano. DH and I climbed the twisting stairway to the top while DM and DD relaxed on a bench at the base. It was well worth the view from the top out over the red tile roofs of Le Puy. The chapel itself is very unusual, with a red, black and white tile façade that combines Romanesque and Islamic influences. Inside, the tiny chapel is low and dark, with an irregular floorplan following the shape of the rock, and some interesting wall frescoes.
We meandered our way along side streets back to the car and decided to check out the Château de Polignac on the way back to Arlanc. Unfortunately we discovered that the castle is closed on Mondays, so we could only walk up to the outer walls and peer through the keyhole. It was still lovely to watch the late afternoon light turn the hilltop ruins a deep orange. We also stopped in La Chaise Dieu on the way back to Arlanc and walked around the abbey and through the cloister, but the church itself was closed.
Dinner at Ma Cachette was just the four of us this time, and another wonderful meal. We enjoyed a lovely tomato tart with cheese and basil and a small green salad garnished with smoked Welsh salt. The main course was a traditional favorite – duck confit with Le Puy lentils, and dessert was Johan’s latest creation – homemade banana sorbet with chopped pistachios!
Next: Puy-de-Dôme and St.-Nectaire
We enjoyed a nice breakfast of bread, croissants, and yogurt, then told Pierre that we’d like to eat dinner there again tonight if it wasn’t too much trouble (seeing as how other dining options in Arlanc are virtually non-existent). Before we left, Pierre supplied us with several maps of Le Puy-en-Velay and specific instructions on getting to the best-situated public parking garage in the center of town.
It was about a forty-five minute drive to Le Puy; we spotted the impressive profile of Château de Polignac on the way and then descended down into the city with its three legendary volcanic rock formations – the puys – crowned, respectively, by a statue of St. Joseph, the 11th-century chapel of St-Michel, and a huge red statue of the Virgin Mary somewhat reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty. We found the parking garage without too much difficulty and followed a historic walking tour towards the cathedral.
Le Puy has been a major pilgrimage destination since Charlemagne and is one of four departure points for the famous 1,600-kilometer pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. We headed first to the Romanesque cathedral of Notre-Dame-du-Puy, begun in the 5th century on the site of a pagan temple. Walking up the steep hill lined with crooked houses, with the Byzantine black-and-white striped façade of the cathedral at the top, was quite an experience. The cathedral was expanded over the centuries to accommodate the ever-increasing crowds of pilgrims; this sprawling construction is reflected in the unusual series of tiered landings, archways, and massive doors leading up to the entrance. The interior is rather stark, with the exception of the famed Black Madonna on the high altar. The statue is a replica of the original, which was burned by revolutionaries in 1794.
We exited out the back of the cathedral and headed towards the huge red statue of Notre-Dame de France, made in 1860 from Russian cannons captured during the Crimean War. You have to pay 3 Euro for the privilege of climbing up to the statue, so we decided to pass. On the way to lunch we stopped in a small souvenir shop to check out the three items for which Le Puy is famous: hand-made lace (but you have to watch out for Asian and machine-made knock-offs), Le Puy lentils (a strain of green lentils grown only in this region), and a green herbal liqueur called Verveine, flavored with verbena. DM bought some lace bookmarks for gifts, we tasted the Verveine and decided to buy a small bottle, and picked up a couple of tins of Le Puy lentils. We stopped for lunch at an ocean-themed café called Le Petit Gourmand, where we ate fried calamari and big salads.
Next we made our way over to the 10th-century Chapelle de St-Michel d’Aiguilhe, built atop the vent of an extinct volcano. DH and I climbed the twisting stairway to the top while DM and DD relaxed on a bench at the base. It was well worth the view from the top out over the red tile roofs of Le Puy. The chapel itself is very unusual, with a red, black and white tile façade that combines Romanesque and Islamic influences. Inside, the tiny chapel is low and dark, with an irregular floorplan following the shape of the rock, and some interesting wall frescoes.
We meandered our way along side streets back to the car and decided to check out the Château de Polignac on the way back to Arlanc. Unfortunately we discovered that the castle is closed on Mondays, so we could only walk up to the outer walls and peer through the keyhole. It was still lovely to watch the late afternoon light turn the hilltop ruins a deep orange. We also stopped in La Chaise Dieu on the way back to Arlanc and walked around the abbey and through the cloister, but the church itself was closed.
Dinner at Ma Cachette was just the four of us this time, and another wonderful meal. We enjoyed a lovely tomato tart with cheese and basil and a small green salad garnished with smoked Welsh salt. The main course was a traditional favorite – duck confit with Le Puy lentils, and dessert was Johan’s latest creation – homemade banana sorbet with chopped pistachios!
Next: Puy-de-Dôme and St.-Nectaire
Apr 10th, 2007, 05:54 AM
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DAY 12: PUY-DE-DÔME AND ST.-NECTAIRE
Pierre joined us at breakfast and we had a nice chat. He was interested to know how I found Ma Cachette and I told him all about the Fodor’s forums. We paid our bill, said goodbye to Pierre, and headed out of town. Today we had the sad task of driving into Clermont-Ferrand to pick up our rental car and saying farewell to DH, who had to drive back to Stuttgart and return to work. We almost didn’t find the Europcar office because of the angle at which we approached (this is one big disadvantage of the navi – it often sends you on a really bizarre route because it thinks it is the shortest way to your destination, but it may not be the most logical!). I filled out the paperwork for our car (the woman at the counter didn’t speak a word of English) and we did the big switcheroo, moving all of our luggage from DH’s car into our Renault Scenic. (With its latest models Renault has made a valiant, if somewhat misguided, effort at redesigning the basic shape of the automobile. Ours was actually a “Grand” Scenic, which was somewhat too large for just the three of us! It was nicely appointed, with an electronic start button and a shifter that came out of the center dash, which took some getting used to, but no navi – I had tried to reserve a car with a navi but none were available.)
We watched DH drive away and then really felt the loss of our navi as we attempted to make our way out of Clermont-Ferrand using DD’s Michelin maps. We decided to drive up Puy-de-Dôme, which, at 4,800 feet, is the highest peak in the volcanic Mont-Dôme range and the showcase of the Parc National des Volcans, which contains more than 80 dormant volcanoes and all sorts of interesting craters, cinder cones, lava flows, and other relics of volcanic activity. We could see the distinctly domed peak off in the distance; we just couldn’t figure out how to get there. We ended up making a huge loop around Clermont-Ferrand before finally finding our way.
We paid a few Euro at the entrance gate, then ascended the winding road that spirals up the mountain. There is a large weather station and a visitor center at the top, and an extensive network of new trails is under construction. Ruins of a 1st-century Roman temple to Mercury were discovered here during excavations for the first observatory back in the mid-1800s. The whole place was a bit worn around the edges, and it was quite windy and cold, so we didn’t linger for long. Unfortunately it was overcast and quite hazy, but we could still make out a number of cinder cones scattered like giant molehills across the landscape. Looking down into Clermont-Ferrand, we could just make out the famous black volcanic stone cathedral.
We had a chilly lunch at a picnic table at the base of the mountain, then headed south in search of a hotel. This is the first time in recent memory that we have gone on a trip without a hotel reservation. I had a list of a few possibilities, but we figured that given the time of year we wouldn’t have trouble walking in someplace without a reservation. What we did not anticipate was that many places were already closed for the season, since winter comes early to the Massif Central (it was now the last day of October).
We headed for a string of picturesque villages southwest of Clermont-Ferrand, guided by several trip reports that I had printed off of the Fodor’s forum. First we drove through Orcival, which was one of five Romanesque hospices erected in the Auvergne region during the 12th century along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Unfortunately the church was all covered up in scaffolding. Orcival was tiny, so we decided to move on to Le Mont Dore, a much bigger ski resort town nestled in a narrow valley. There were quite a few hotels here but the place looked fairly deserted. Next on my list was Murol, a very cute village overlooked by a ruined château. I had hoped we could stay in the Hotel de Paris, the most promising establishment on my list, but when we finally found it (no small feat), it was all shuttered up. There was a note on the door recommending a lakeside hotel back up the road at Chambon-sur-Lac, but when we drove by it did not inspire us. We decided to continue on to the former spa town of Saint-Nectaire, where we figured we could always stay in the Relais Mercure hotel that was listed in Fodor’s. It wasn’t a very creative option, but it fit the bill, and most importantly, it was still open! We checked in for two nights and found our rooms to be comfortable and nicely decorated in a modern style, with slate and tile bathrooms and flatscreen TVs.
After getting settled we drove around town to scope out our dinner options. Saint-Nectaire has definitely seen better days – the spa is still there but half the hotels appeared to be permanently closed, and the other half were looking a bit the worse for wear. We finally decided that the cute pizza joint just up the street would suit our dinner needs. Next we went in search of a place that makes handmade wooden clogs, which Pierre had told us about. We had seen signs for a clog-making atelier on the outskirts of town, so we followed the signs up a steep, narrow road to a tiny hamlet called Sapchat. It was 4:30 but fortunately the shop was still open. A middle-aged woman was sitting in the workshop hammering nails into the sole of a shoe, surrounded by mountains of pale wooden clogs. She spoke a little English and helped DM and I try on several pairs. They had the really authentic all-wood ones, called sabots, which look like those Dutch gardening clogs with the slightly turned-up, pointy toes, but these didn’t fit our feet (they are usually worn by men). We preferred the ones with wooden soles and leather uppers, called galoches, which look more like “American” clogs. The leather comes in a natural light tan color, embossed with a simple design, but the woman assured us that over time they would darken to a warm brown just like the pair she was wearing. DM and I both bought pairs.
Back in town we stopped at a little tourist shop and bought some sausage, cheese, and a bottle of crème de cassis for making kir. We went back to the hotel and had a bottle of wine before dinner, then headed over to the pizza place where we enjoyed nice mixed salads and tasty thin-crusted pizzas. There was an American couple there when we arrived (the first Americans we had seen or heard since we arrived in the Massif Central) and two other parties came in while we were eating, but it was a pretty quiet night in Saint-Nectaire.
Next: Little villages of the Auvergne
Pierre joined us at breakfast and we had a nice chat. He was interested to know how I found Ma Cachette and I told him all about the Fodor’s forums. We paid our bill, said goodbye to Pierre, and headed out of town. Today we had the sad task of driving into Clermont-Ferrand to pick up our rental car and saying farewell to DH, who had to drive back to Stuttgart and return to work. We almost didn’t find the Europcar office because of the angle at which we approached (this is one big disadvantage of the navi – it often sends you on a really bizarre route because it thinks it is the shortest way to your destination, but it may not be the most logical!). I filled out the paperwork for our car (the woman at the counter didn’t speak a word of English) and we did the big switcheroo, moving all of our luggage from DH’s car into our Renault Scenic. (With its latest models Renault has made a valiant, if somewhat misguided, effort at redesigning the basic shape of the automobile. Ours was actually a “Grand” Scenic, which was somewhat too large for just the three of us! It was nicely appointed, with an electronic start button and a shifter that came out of the center dash, which took some getting used to, but no navi – I had tried to reserve a car with a navi but none were available.)
We watched DH drive away and then really felt the loss of our navi as we attempted to make our way out of Clermont-Ferrand using DD’s Michelin maps. We decided to drive up Puy-de-Dôme, which, at 4,800 feet, is the highest peak in the volcanic Mont-Dôme range and the showcase of the Parc National des Volcans, which contains more than 80 dormant volcanoes and all sorts of interesting craters, cinder cones, lava flows, and other relics of volcanic activity. We could see the distinctly domed peak off in the distance; we just couldn’t figure out how to get there. We ended up making a huge loop around Clermont-Ferrand before finally finding our way.
We paid a few Euro at the entrance gate, then ascended the winding road that spirals up the mountain. There is a large weather station and a visitor center at the top, and an extensive network of new trails is under construction. Ruins of a 1st-century Roman temple to Mercury were discovered here during excavations for the first observatory back in the mid-1800s. The whole place was a bit worn around the edges, and it was quite windy and cold, so we didn’t linger for long. Unfortunately it was overcast and quite hazy, but we could still make out a number of cinder cones scattered like giant molehills across the landscape. Looking down into Clermont-Ferrand, we could just make out the famous black volcanic stone cathedral.
We had a chilly lunch at a picnic table at the base of the mountain, then headed south in search of a hotel. This is the first time in recent memory that we have gone on a trip without a hotel reservation. I had a list of a few possibilities, but we figured that given the time of year we wouldn’t have trouble walking in someplace without a reservation. What we did not anticipate was that many places were already closed for the season, since winter comes early to the Massif Central (it was now the last day of October).
We headed for a string of picturesque villages southwest of Clermont-Ferrand, guided by several trip reports that I had printed off of the Fodor’s forum. First we drove through Orcival, which was one of five Romanesque hospices erected in the Auvergne region during the 12th century along the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Unfortunately the church was all covered up in scaffolding. Orcival was tiny, so we decided to move on to Le Mont Dore, a much bigger ski resort town nestled in a narrow valley. There were quite a few hotels here but the place looked fairly deserted. Next on my list was Murol, a very cute village overlooked by a ruined château. I had hoped we could stay in the Hotel de Paris, the most promising establishment on my list, but when we finally found it (no small feat), it was all shuttered up. There was a note on the door recommending a lakeside hotel back up the road at Chambon-sur-Lac, but when we drove by it did not inspire us. We decided to continue on to the former spa town of Saint-Nectaire, where we figured we could always stay in the Relais Mercure hotel that was listed in Fodor’s. It wasn’t a very creative option, but it fit the bill, and most importantly, it was still open! We checked in for two nights and found our rooms to be comfortable and nicely decorated in a modern style, with slate and tile bathrooms and flatscreen TVs.
After getting settled we drove around town to scope out our dinner options. Saint-Nectaire has definitely seen better days – the spa is still there but half the hotels appeared to be permanently closed, and the other half were looking a bit the worse for wear. We finally decided that the cute pizza joint just up the street would suit our dinner needs. Next we went in search of a place that makes handmade wooden clogs, which Pierre had told us about. We had seen signs for a clog-making atelier on the outskirts of town, so we followed the signs up a steep, narrow road to a tiny hamlet called Sapchat. It was 4:30 but fortunately the shop was still open. A middle-aged woman was sitting in the workshop hammering nails into the sole of a shoe, surrounded by mountains of pale wooden clogs. She spoke a little English and helped DM and I try on several pairs. They had the really authentic all-wood ones, called sabots, which look like those Dutch gardening clogs with the slightly turned-up, pointy toes, but these didn’t fit our feet (they are usually worn by men). We preferred the ones with wooden soles and leather uppers, called galoches, which look more like “American” clogs. The leather comes in a natural light tan color, embossed with a simple design, but the woman assured us that over time they would darken to a warm brown just like the pair she was wearing. DM and I both bought pairs.
Back in town we stopped at a little tourist shop and bought some sausage, cheese, and a bottle of crème de cassis for making kir. We went back to the hotel and had a bottle of wine before dinner, then headed over to the pizza place where we enjoyed nice mixed salads and tasty thin-crusted pizzas. There was an American couple there when we arrived (the first Americans we had seen or heard since we arrived in the Massif Central) and two other parties came in while we were eating, but it was a pretty quiet night in Saint-Nectaire.
Next: Little villages of the Auvergne
Apr 10th, 2007, 10:28 AM
#49
hi, hausfrau,
how brave to venture off without either satnav or reservations!! to think this was how most of us travelled most of the time in the bad old days.
seriously, great report- the puy du dome is an area we've thought about but never got to - so perhaps I'll get that map out and start planning.
regards, ann
how brave to venture off without either satnav or reservations!! to think this was how most of us travelled most of the time in the bad old days.
seriously, great report- the puy du dome is an area we've thought about but never got to - so perhaps I'll get that map out and start planning.
regards, ann
Apr 12th, 2007, 12:51 AM
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DAY 13: LITTLE VILLAGES OF THE AUVERGNE
Today was All Saints’ Day and we were prepared for everything to be shuttered up, but actually many stores were open. First we headed back to Murol to check out the chateau. Unfortunately there was a sign posted on the front gate saying that it was closed for the whole month of November. All I could do was climb up on a rock wall and try to see over the high walls surrounding the keep. We did get to visit with a very friendly fat pony and a collection of deer, sheep and reindeer grazing on the grounds below the castle. I wanted to feed the pony an apple from our lunch supplies. I cut the apple into quarters and started throwing the pieces into the pony’s pasture. I’m not a very good throw so the first two didn’t get very far. On the third try I finally got the pony’s attention. He looked up and slowly ambled over to the last piece I’d thrown, munched it, then started heading our way. He spotted the second piece and went over to eat that one, then came over to the fence where I fed him the rest of the apple. He stomped his hoof begging for more. I think he was sad to see us go.
Next we set out on a lovely scenic drive to Besse-en-Chandesse. The countryside was barren and beautiful, with dramatic volcanic peaks, green pastures, little stone farmhouses, and fuzzy brown cows. Lots and lots of cows. It’s true what they say, there are more cows than people in the Massif Central. We arrived in Besse just as everyone came streaming out of the little stone church to the sound of pealing bells. We felt a bit like intruders as all the townsfolk greeted each other in the square outside the church. The town is quite somber and gray, with all the houses made out of the same dark volcanic rock. We did a little window shopping and checked out the restaurants. DM and I went bonkers over the extensive collection of antique copper and pewter kitchen items in one little shop, but we liked the lovely natural wool sweaters even more. We both ended up with sweaters and DD got a vest. The shopkeeper was very nice and explained (in French of course) how the sweaters were made at a local factory with local wool.
We peeked into a couple of places for lunch, but one was filled with cigarette smoke and the other turned out to be just a bar. We were looking at the menu of a rather expensive restaurant when a French woman came by and told us to go down to Mont Dore instead, giving us the name of a restaurant she’d eaten at the day before. The drive into Mont Dore was even more stunning – down into a deep valley and then up over a high pass through rolling, rocky terrain. It was really a shame that it was overcast because my pictures just don’t do the landscape justice. We didn’t get to Mont Dore until 2:00 and were a little worried that we wouldn’t find anything still open for lunch. DM saw the restaurant the lady had recommended, but it was closed, so we decided to go into the first open place we saw. I don’t even remember the name, but it was right on the main road through town, across from the Grand Hotel. Less than fifteen minutes after we arrived they started turning people away, but the place was still nearly full of French families out for a holiday luncheon. The three of us shared a huge pan of truffade – fried, sliced potatoes mixed with gooey, melted tome fraiche and Cantal cheeses, served with thick slices of cured ham and a salad. Simple, rustic, but oh-so-delicious, especially on this chilly autumn day. We finished our meal with a round of espressos and then looked around town a bit. We stopped in a bookstore and bought a couple of Auvergne cookbooks so we can try to mimic some of the traditional recipes at home.
We backtracked along part of our scenic drive but it was now cloudier than ever. We spent the next hour or so following winding country roads back to St-Nectaire. I was navigating and literally chasing the sun trying to get some good landscape pictures. Way off in the distance we could make out the distinctive silhouette of Puy-de-Dôme. We finally headed back to the hotel around 5:00 and cleaned up for dinner. We ate at the comfy little brasserie just up the street from our hotel. We all had salads because we were still stuffed from our hefty lunch!
Next: To Amiens, and the final chapter of our trip!
Today was All Saints’ Day and we were prepared for everything to be shuttered up, but actually many stores were open. First we headed back to Murol to check out the chateau. Unfortunately there was a sign posted on the front gate saying that it was closed for the whole month of November. All I could do was climb up on a rock wall and try to see over the high walls surrounding the keep. We did get to visit with a very friendly fat pony and a collection of deer, sheep and reindeer grazing on the grounds below the castle. I wanted to feed the pony an apple from our lunch supplies. I cut the apple into quarters and started throwing the pieces into the pony’s pasture. I’m not a very good throw so the first two didn’t get very far. On the third try I finally got the pony’s attention. He looked up and slowly ambled over to the last piece I’d thrown, munched it, then started heading our way. He spotted the second piece and went over to eat that one, then came over to the fence where I fed him the rest of the apple. He stomped his hoof begging for more. I think he was sad to see us go.
Next we set out on a lovely scenic drive to Besse-en-Chandesse. The countryside was barren and beautiful, with dramatic volcanic peaks, green pastures, little stone farmhouses, and fuzzy brown cows. Lots and lots of cows. It’s true what they say, there are more cows than people in the Massif Central. We arrived in Besse just as everyone came streaming out of the little stone church to the sound of pealing bells. We felt a bit like intruders as all the townsfolk greeted each other in the square outside the church. The town is quite somber and gray, with all the houses made out of the same dark volcanic rock. We did a little window shopping and checked out the restaurants. DM and I went bonkers over the extensive collection of antique copper and pewter kitchen items in one little shop, but we liked the lovely natural wool sweaters even more. We both ended up with sweaters and DD got a vest. The shopkeeper was very nice and explained (in French of course) how the sweaters were made at a local factory with local wool.
We peeked into a couple of places for lunch, but one was filled with cigarette smoke and the other turned out to be just a bar. We were looking at the menu of a rather expensive restaurant when a French woman came by and told us to go down to Mont Dore instead, giving us the name of a restaurant she’d eaten at the day before. The drive into Mont Dore was even more stunning – down into a deep valley and then up over a high pass through rolling, rocky terrain. It was really a shame that it was overcast because my pictures just don’t do the landscape justice. We didn’t get to Mont Dore until 2:00 and were a little worried that we wouldn’t find anything still open for lunch. DM saw the restaurant the lady had recommended, but it was closed, so we decided to go into the first open place we saw. I don’t even remember the name, but it was right on the main road through town, across from the Grand Hotel. Less than fifteen minutes after we arrived they started turning people away, but the place was still nearly full of French families out for a holiday luncheon. The three of us shared a huge pan of truffade – fried, sliced potatoes mixed with gooey, melted tome fraiche and Cantal cheeses, served with thick slices of cured ham and a salad. Simple, rustic, but oh-so-delicious, especially on this chilly autumn day. We finished our meal with a round of espressos and then looked around town a bit. We stopped in a bookstore and bought a couple of Auvergne cookbooks so we can try to mimic some of the traditional recipes at home.
We backtracked along part of our scenic drive but it was now cloudier than ever. We spent the next hour or so following winding country roads back to St-Nectaire. I was navigating and literally chasing the sun trying to get some good landscape pictures. Way off in the distance we could make out the distinctive silhouette of Puy-de-Dôme. We finally headed back to the hotel around 5:00 and cleaned up for dinner. We ate at the comfy little brasserie just up the street from our hotel. We all had salads because we were still stuffed from our hefty lunch!
Next: To Amiens, and the final chapter of our trip!
Apr 12th, 2007, 01:29 AM
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DAY 14: TO AMIENS
Our friends were not expecting us in Amiens until late afternoon, so we took our time driving out of the Massif Central. We stopped for a short walk in St. Saturnin, which has an impressive family-owned château (closed for the season) and an ancient little church.
I have to say that exploring the Massif Central in late fall was a spectacular experience. This region is certainly visited by fewer tourists than virtually any other area of France. Its unspoiled vistas and empty countryside are so hauntingly beautiful, and the comforting cuisine is so marvelous, I am surprised that more people don’t come here. It was also amazing how different the weather was in the Massif compared to the Dordogne – we definitely felt winter coming, compared to the summer-like warmth of the Dordogne. I can only imagine how harsh and lonely the winters must be there. You get the feeling that life has not changed much in this region over the past few hundred years.
We eventually said farewell to the Massif Central and hooked up with the autoroute, speeding north towards Amiens, capital of the province of Picardie. Our last three nights would be spent with friends, a family that we met through a student exchange program when I was in high school. My parents have been back to visit them several times, and the French parents came to my wedding a number of years ago – their first trip to the U.S.! I hadn’t seen them since then, so I was really looking forward to this visit, although I was a little worried about my rusty French, as the parents speak virtually no English. The parents recently moved from their ancient farmhouse outside of Pertain to an apartment in Amiens, but their two sons continue to run their extensive farming operation.
We had some difficulty finding our way to the apartment in the middle of Amiens in the dark – this is where a navi would have come in handy – but we finally made it and were warmly welcomed by our friends. We were joined for dinner by the younger son (the one who stayed with my family), whose English was a little rusty, but still better than our French! Between DD and I, we got along fairly well, although I kept finding myself lapsing into the German sentence structure and getting bogged down as my brain attempted to translate what I wanted to stay from English to German to French!
DAY 15: EXPLORING AMIENS
After a breakfast of flaky croissants, fresh baguettes and quite possibly the best pain au chocolat I’ve ever had, we walked a few blocks to the heart of the city, visiting the indoor market hall and Amiens’ impressive cathedral – Notre-Dame d’Amiens, the tallest cathedral in France. The central nave is especially narrow, which lends to the lofty feeling, and the tall windows fill the space with light, especially on sunny days. It is also notable for purportedly housing the head of John the Baptist, brought from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade. Our friends’ older son was married in this cathedral; I can only imagine how spectacular that must have been! On the way back to the apartment we passed the elegant Hotel de Ville (city hall), decorated with a gorgeous display of autumn flowers and pumpkins cascading down the front steps. After lunch we drove to the family farm for a grand tour, followed by coffee and cake. It was amazing to be back in the ancient farmhouse, which I hadn’t seen in 15 years. In the evening we returned to Amiens for dinner.
DAY 16: TO THE SEASHORE
We decided to give our friends a break from entertaining us today and took a drive out to the Normandy coast, to the seaside town of Saint-Valery at the broad mouth of the Somme River (the Baie de Somme). Here the river empties into a huge tidal marsh, home to a large and diverse migratory shorebird community. We parked in Saint-Valery and strolled along the boardwalk, enjoying the ocean breeze and quaint storefronts. The place was pretty quiet, with just a few French tourists wandering the streets with us. We found a pleasant little restaurant for lunch that quickly filled up with French patrons while we were there, to the point that people were being turned away at the door (always a good sign). DD and I feasted on huge bowls of delicious moules-frîtes (steamed mussels and french fries) while DM had a plate of shrimp and a bowl of tomato-based fish stew.
We headed up the coast to the Parc Ornithologique du Marquenterre, driving through salt marshes dotted with sheep and cattle (they say the salt gives the beef a special flavor). We decided to pay the hefty entrance fee and spent a couple of hours wandering the pleasant sandy trails of the preserve. (I’m not exactly certain how much of a sanctuary this really is, since we heard gunshots the entire time!) We spotted a number of bird species without trying very hard – Graylag geese, Barnacle geese, mallards, Lesser Scaup, Redheads, white storks, cranes, moorhens, and herons. Mostly it was just nice to be outside walking in the golden evening sunlight with a cool breeze at our backs.
We returned to Amiens to have dinner with our friends at a place called The Salmon House, which specializes, not surprisingly, in salmon served a myriad of ways. I had my last serving of foie gras as my appetizer, which should tide me over until my next trip to France. The food here was decent but not inspired.
DAY 17: HOME AT LAST
We packed up shortly after breakfast, said goodbye to our friends with promises to visit again, and were on the road by about 10 am. We had an uneventful six-hour drive home to Stuttgart. It was definitely nice to be home after sixteen days on the road. We covered a lot of ground, but by staying 2-4 nights at each stop, the trip did not feel rushed. It was wonderful to go back to places we know and love, like Kandersteg and the Dordogne, and also explore new ground in the Rhône Valley and Massif Central. (Perhaps I shouldn’t have said so much about the Massif Central, so that it remains one of France’s best-kept secrets!)
Hope you enjoyed this report; perhaps a few details will be helpful to those of you planning trips to these regions!
Our friends were not expecting us in Amiens until late afternoon, so we took our time driving out of the Massif Central. We stopped for a short walk in St. Saturnin, which has an impressive family-owned château (closed for the season) and an ancient little church.
I have to say that exploring the Massif Central in late fall was a spectacular experience. This region is certainly visited by fewer tourists than virtually any other area of France. Its unspoiled vistas and empty countryside are so hauntingly beautiful, and the comforting cuisine is so marvelous, I am surprised that more people don’t come here. It was also amazing how different the weather was in the Massif compared to the Dordogne – we definitely felt winter coming, compared to the summer-like warmth of the Dordogne. I can only imagine how harsh and lonely the winters must be there. You get the feeling that life has not changed much in this region over the past few hundred years.
We eventually said farewell to the Massif Central and hooked up with the autoroute, speeding north towards Amiens, capital of the province of Picardie. Our last three nights would be spent with friends, a family that we met through a student exchange program when I was in high school. My parents have been back to visit them several times, and the French parents came to my wedding a number of years ago – their first trip to the U.S.! I hadn’t seen them since then, so I was really looking forward to this visit, although I was a little worried about my rusty French, as the parents speak virtually no English. The parents recently moved from their ancient farmhouse outside of Pertain to an apartment in Amiens, but their two sons continue to run their extensive farming operation.
We had some difficulty finding our way to the apartment in the middle of Amiens in the dark – this is where a navi would have come in handy – but we finally made it and were warmly welcomed by our friends. We were joined for dinner by the younger son (the one who stayed with my family), whose English was a little rusty, but still better than our French! Between DD and I, we got along fairly well, although I kept finding myself lapsing into the German sentence structure and getting bogged down as my brain attempted to translate what I wanted to stay from English to German to French!
DAY 15: EXPLORING AMIENS
After a breakfast of flaky croissants, fresh baguettes and quite possibly the best pain au chocolat I’ve ever had, we walked a few blocks to the heart of the city, visiting the indoor market hall and Amiens’ impressive cathedral – Notre-Dame d’Amiens, the tallest cathedral in France. The central nave is especially narrow, which lends to the lofty feeling, and the tall windows fill the space with light, especially on sunny days. It is also notable for purportedly housing the head of John the Baptist, brought from Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade. Our friends’ older son was married in this cathedral; I can only imagine how spectacular that must have been! On the way back to the apartment we passed the elegant Hotel de Ville (city hall), decorated with a gorgeous display of autumn flowers and pumpkins cascading down the front steps. After lunch we drove to the family farm for a grand tour, followed by coffee and cake. It was amazing to be back in the ancient farmhouse, which I hadn’t seen in 15 years. In the evening we returned to Amiens for dinner.
DAY 16: TO THE SEASHORE
We decided to give our friends a break from entertaining us today and took a drive out to the Normandy coast, to the seaside town of Saint-Valery at the broad mouth of the Somme River (the Baie de Somme). Here the river empties into a huge tidal marsh, home to a large and diverse migratory shorebird community. We parked in Saint-Valery and strolled along the boardwalk, enjoying the ocean breeze and quaint storefronts. The place was pretty quiet, with just a few French tourists wandering the streets with us. We found a pleasant little restaurant for lunch that quickly filled up with French patrons while we were there, to the point that people were being turned away at the door (always a good sign). DD and I feasted on huge bowls of delicious moules-frîtes (steamed mussels and french fries) while DM had a plate of shrimp and a bowl of tomato-based fish stew.
We headed up the coast to the Parc Ornithologique du Marquenterre, driving through salt marshes dotted with sheep and cattle (they say the salt gives the beef a special flavor). We decided to pay the hefty entrance fee and spent a couple of hours wandering the pleasant sandy trails of the preserve. (I’m not exactly certain how much of a sanctuary this really is, since we heard gunshots the entire time!) We spotted a number of bird species without trying very hard – Graylag geese, Barnacle geese, mallards, Lesser Scaup, Redheads, white storks, cranes, moorhens, and herons. Mostly it was just nice to be outside walking in the golden evening sunlight with a cool breeze at our backs.
We returned to Amiens to have dinner with our friends at a place called The Salmon House, which specializes, not surprisingly, in salmon served a myriad of ways. I had my last serving of foie gras as my appetizer, which should tide me over until my next trip to France. The food here was decent but not inspired.
DAY 17: HOME AT LAST
We packed up shortly after breakfast, said goodbye to our friends with promises to visit again, and were on the road by about 10 am. We had an uneventful six-hour drive home to Stuttgart. It was definitely nice to be home after sixteen days on the road. We covered a lot of ground, but by staying 2-4 nights at each stop, the trip did not feel rushed. It was wonderful to go back to places we know and love, like Kandersteg and the Dordogne, and also explore new ground in the Rhône Valley and Massif Central. (Perhaps I shouldn’t have said so much about the Massif Central, so that it remains one of France’s best-kept secrets!)
Hope you enjoyed this report; perhaps a few details will be helpful to those of you planning trips to these regions!
Apr 12th, 2007, 11:47 PM
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annhig,
I forgot to reply to your post - I always think it is funny how dependent we are on the internet, sat nav, etc. given that we've all taken plenty of trips to Europe without them...it sure is a different world we live in now!
Of course we did just fine without a navi in France, but we had good maps and my dad and I made a pretty good navigating team!
Definitely check out Puy-de-Dome and the Massif Central. Puy-en-Velay was fine for a day trip but we preferred the landscape of the St. Nectaire - Murol - Mont Dore area. It is so pristine and uncrowded and the food is great, especially if you like potatoes and cheese! I think early to mid October would be the perfect time to visit, with the fall colors in full swing but before everything shuts up for the winter.
I forgot to reply to your post - I always think it is funny how dependent we are on the internet, sat nav, etc. given that we've all taken plenty of trips to Europe without them...it sure is a different world we live in now!
Of course we did just fine without a navi in France, but we had good maps and my dad and I made a pretty good navigating team!
Definitely check out Puy-de-Dome and the Massif Central. Puy-en-Velay was fine for a day trip but we preferred the landscape of the St. Nectaire - Murol - Mont Dore area. It is so pristine and uncrowded and the food is great, especially if you like potatoes and cheese! I think early to mid October would be the perfect time to visit, with the fall colors in full swing but before everything shuts up for the winter.
Apr 13th, 2007, 08:28 AM
#55
hi, hausefrau - no worries!
Your lovely description of amiens reminded me of a day-trip we made there when we lived in Kent - for a wedding anniversary lunch! Leaving home in west Kent by 9am, we made it easily through the Chunnel in time for lunch in a restaurant in the centre of amiens.
no idea of the name, but it was very "comme il faut" with 4 glasses and loads of cutlery per place, which gave us kittens every time our rather hyper then 6 year old DS moved a muscle. [no change there, unfortunately!] we spent a lovely afternoon in Montreuil, then went home. Those were the days!
thanks for reviving that happy memory.
regards, ann
ps how are the UK trip plans coming on?
Your lovely description of amiens reminded me of a day-trip we made there when we lived in Kent - for a wedding anniversary lunch! Leaving home in west Kent by 9am, we made it easily through the Chunnel in time for lunch in a restaurant in the centre of amiens.
no idea of the name, but it was very "comme il faut" with 4 glasses and loads of cutlery per place, which gave us kittens every time our rather hyper then 6 year old DS moved a muscle. [no change there, unfortunately!] we spent a lovely afternoon in Montreuil, then went home. Those were the days!
thanks for reviving that happy memory.
regards, ann
ps how are the UK trip plans coming on?
Apr 16th, 2007, 02:47 AM
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Hi ann, glad to revive memories of Amiens! It's a nice town.
My UK itinerary is coming along nicely - we have hotels in Goodwood, Salisbury, Cornwall, and central Wales already booked - but for various reasons I've had to put further planning on hold. I'm really hoping the trip is still going to happen, after all my hard work and research!
My UK itinerary is coming along nicely - we have hotels in Goodwood, Salisbury, Cornwall, and central Wales already booked - but for various reasons I've had to put further planning on hold. I'm really hoping the trip is still going to happen, after all my hard work and research!
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