August 24, 2016
Le Puy en Velay: The heat and hills beat us
Here we are sitting on the platform at the Gare de Bas-Monustrol. How did that happen? More about that later but the clue is that the temperature is 36degrees and the hills are steep.
Our meal last night was superb particularly in terms of company and really stretched my French to its absolute limit. We sat at a long table with Bridgitte, Jon,Pauline (their daughter ) and our host and hostess Christine and Pascal. Pascal is a farmer way up in this remote country and Christine runs the Chambre d'Hote on the side and does it with style. The meal was slow with many courses, a very nice local wine made from Gamay and most importantly lots of lively conversation The price of milk is dominating a lot of French news at the moment so you can well imagine the difficulty I had explaining how low milk prices are affecting farmers in New Zealand and how with the huge expansion in dairying this is affecting the economy of the whole country. They were all so friendly and kind and seemed somewhat suprised that two of our age had strayed into this country on bikes. As we always do we slept well and were up bright and early for breakfast and to make our farewells. Thank you Christine and Pascal for making our stay so memorable.
The morning was warm even before 8 and our first 10km were a wonderful downhill. We were travelling on the Route de Balcons and all the way there were panoramic views of the Loire which was now confined to its gorge. The steep slopes are clad largely in beech and were giving us beautiful shade. Coming up the hill were pelotons of training cyclists, it looked like a very punishing way to start the day to me. At the bridge we turned right and were fairly close to the river although of course going up and down and going through the odd tunnel. We reached Aurac sur Loire and had a most welcome coffee in a bar with the most charming Patron. We didn't like to stay too long as the temperature was rising and we had a long way to go.
After this the ride really became serious there were long, long up hills (though unfortunately to tease you the road took you down to the river so you could start again). I actually was coping well and of course Ken never seems to have a problem. The problem however is the speed that you can travel in these conditions is so slow that it takes for ever. The scenery was gorgeous but I am afraid I was mainly concentrating on just keeping going. Bas en Basset was a little town down by the river and had once been a thriving river port. Now it is my favourite town in all of France. A huge market was going on, there were cafes galore and people everywhere in this tiny town. No one seemed to speak a word of English but the people were incredibly friendly. I think we must stand out as looking a bit weird as they kept coming up to us and having conversations. Then guess what I spotted an Information de Tourisme. In I went, it was now 36 degrees and we still had 16km of unrelenting uphill to do. The lady immediately gave me a glass of ice cold water. I asked in French (but I can't spell it) if there was a Gare close by. Out came a timetable and a map and sure enough there was a train only a bit over 3km away (uphill of course) that would take us to Le Puy. Merci, merci. So that is how I happened to be sitting on the platform of Le Gare writing this.
We have come to some decisions. It is foolish to try and ride in the Massive Central if the temperatures are as high as they are at the moment. Actually it is not much fun grinding up hills at snails pace in these conditions. I think that the fact that we are both in our late seventies doesn't help me in particular. We will stay here tomorrow do a lot of planning then set off on the next phase of the trip which will be more suitable for the elderly!!
Today's ride: 39 km (24 miles)
Total: 1,049 km (651 miles)
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