UKC

Afternoon all.

The better half has an unexpected week off next week. We have consequently made no plans and are casting around for somewhere to go and my eye fell upon the Auvergne. Never been, just looks like an interesting part of France.

Anyone know anything about the general area? We'd be doing some - relatively gentle - walking, landscape photography and touristy stuff rather than climbing, so any pointers as to where's good would be, well, good; and we'll be camping, so if anyone knows of any good sites or places to avoid that'd be really helpful.

So, over to the collective wisdom of the site. All advice gratefully received!

T.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

its quite a large area, and includes a lot of different landscapes, old towns & villages etc. My favourites are probably the upper reaches of the Allier and the monts du Cantal but there's much more. The food is good with some great cheeses (Salers, Cantal etc). You could easily spend a week just driving round but maybe better to just visit a couple of places & walk a bit

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

It's a lovely area, with landscape characterised by puys or extinct volcanoes. The label on Volvic mineral water used to display an attractive photo of the area. I did some mountain biking there some years ago among the volcanoes, and I imagine the walking would be just as good.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

PS Kiri te Kanawa's rendition of Canteloube's Songs from the Auvergne is a delight youtube.com/watch?v=BlWaNu416YA&

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

It's a great part of France with some extensive forested areas, plus some good walking.

We did a camping trip over there a couple of years ago - stayed at the municipal campsite in Champs Sur Tarentaine...brilliant. Walkable into the village, where you'll find all the usual amenities (boulangerie, small convenience store, market on Saturday - I think!) From there, it's a short drive up to the lakes at Lastioulle and about half an hour to the Massif du Sancy, where the walking is really good. Worth the slog up Puy du Sancy for the views.

There is also some great walking in the forests, setting of right from the campsite. The river runs through the campsite and we spent many a happy hour catching crayfish by hand, then cooking them up for dinner. That area of the Massif Central is not as crowded as some of the more popular areas (around the "parc de Volcans") - we liked the sleepy, wild ambience of it, while it was still within easy reach of all the main tourist spots.

There is also some good sport climbing tucked away in the forest on small gneiss crags. Don't think any of it is in the database on UKC, but I can probably find the topos we used if you're interested at all.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

I'm pretty sure we stayed here a few years back and really enjoyed it. The village is really pretty and a couple of minutes to get to, there is swimming in the nearby lake and there is great walking etc all around the area.

http://www.camping-les-bombes.com/

I'm pretty sure this is it from the location but there appears to be a few more facilities than when we were there !

In reply to Pursued by a bear:
Went there on a family holiday as a child and spent most of it trying to catch lizards in the garden, and returned a couple of years ago with the pregnant wife as our last 'couple' holiday. Didn't do much walking but in terms of touristy stuff, Puy Du Dome is worth a trip as is the Gouffre De Padirac. Be warned that the latter can suffer monster queues but is an excellent show cave (underground boat trip etc.).
In terms of walking, I think we parked at Col D'Eylac (road blocked due to late snow in May), and walked up Puy Mary (touristy, but cracking views). The Breche de Rolland ridge looked interesting but wasn't an option for us at the time. We also did another walk up from a valley up to a waterfall flowing over a basalt cliff (think of the Giant's causeway hexagonal features) Maybe the Jordane valley? Aside from the Super Lioran ski area it's a very quiet unspoilt area if you're off the main roads / towns.

The IGN 'Monts du Cantal' is the map you need I think (but stand to be corrected).

In reply to Everyone:

Thanks all for your responses, some terrific and really useful stuff there. I know that going for a week would hardly scratch the surface (perhaps we'll do two weeks next summer as well) but it does sound like a lovely area that's worth spending the time to get to know a little better.

Cheers all, top stuff!

T.

In reply to Pursued by a bear:

Auvergne holds a special place in my heart as all of my family comes from there There's some good advice above (though the Gouffre de Padirac is in a different region!), but here's some more random suggestions:

-Going up Puy Mary and walking the ridge to the Brèche de Rolland is indeed super cool, not as impressive as the real brèche (gap) in the Pyrénées but still worth it. I remember walking as far as Puy de Peyre-Arse and going a long loop, can't remember where we started exactly but that wasn't at the Pas de Peyrol, way below on a kind of plateau with lots of blueberries (if you come at the right time of year). Ideally go early to avoid crowds on Puy Mary.

-If you've never seen hoodoos, there's a shortish hike in Boudes that takes you to the Vallée des Saints where you can see some, it's no Bryce Canyon but it's lovely nonethless! http://www.auvergne-centrefrance.com/geotouring/curieux/vallee-des-saints-b...

-The Vallée de Chaudefour is not to be missed, it's a natural reserve with two superb pitons (with excellent climbing I'm told), the Dent de la Rancune and Crête de Coq. You can do a very long loop, hiking up the left side of the valley, walking the ridge to Puy de Dôme (very touristy) and hiking back down the right side. About 20km/1,000m elevation gain. At least make the short walk (30mn?) to the bottom of the valley. There's a signed waterfall (Cascade de la biche) on the left side as well worth the detour once you're in the heart of the valley.

-If it's cold in the mountains you want to head for the area around Issoire, you'll think you're in southern France already! Issoire itself is a lovely town with a beautiful abbey. On your way there visit Saurier, Saint-Floret (check out the upper reaches to see the church and the graveyard and ossuary).

-If you like churches, make sure to visit Saint-Nectaire, Saint-Victor-la-Rivière, Cheylade (not far from Puy Mary)

-Personnally I'd avoid Murol and Chambon-sur-Lac, unless you like crowds

-Every summer there's some sort of art festival called Horizons Sancy: it's a collection of art works scattered around in nature, some are very conceptual, others are interactive, it just depends. They can be fun. http://www.avenue-web.net/_generateur/Documents/90/1/Horizons-Depliant-2017...

Hope the weather turns out alright for you, it can be cold and rainy up there (15C this week at 1,000m altitude)! But that's why it's so green Oh yeah and check out truffade, Salers, Saint-Nectaire, Cantal, saucisson (best one is in Condat)... And perhaps the local granite, basalt and gneiss climbing.

In reply to Toerag:


I've checked and it's the Cascade De Faillitoux.

Confirmed it is. It covers the area around Puy Mary, but not the Puy Du Dome area. The GR400 long distance path zigzags all over it picking out some nice-looking ridges. We bought ours locally for 11.5 euros, probably in Thiézac.