This was quite a
satisfying day. We covered quite a lot of
ground and got to our mid-point resting
place.
Purists might
criticise us for taking the easy way into Le
Mont Dore but the "real" GR4 does not
actually go into the town. We would have
found ourselves at the top of the Puy de
Sancy, having traversed several decent sized
mountains, and then having to descend to the
Youth Hostel. Of course if we were tigers we
could have carried on to Super Besse - but I
suspect we would have been dead tigers by
then!
The Diary
The Commentary
We got going about
10:15. About half way to Pessade the light
drizzle intensified so we put on our
waterproofs. Five minutes later we certainly
needed them. The rain got heavier and heavier
but actually made for good walking as it kept
us cool. We stopped for a coffee and half a
loaf of bread in Pessade and pressed on
through some very attractive country, rather
like the Highlands (especially the rain). At
12 we got to the D996 and turned down the GR4E
to get an easy way into Le Mont Dore. It had
dried by then. A had been very good in the
wet, trudging along with a hunk of bread in
one hand and a piece of St. Nectaire cheese in
the other.
Thankfully our rucksacks
were waterproof, which is more than can be
said for my bum bag. My wallet, and all the
money inside it, got soaked.
Alasdair got rather
annoyed with my rendition of "Singin' in the
Rain". I thought it was rather good, so kept
on singing it - perhaps that was the burden of
his complaint.
We diverged from the
path to see the Cascade de Rossignolet - very
pretty and flowing well. A had to change into
his trainers as his feet hurt in his boots.
Once in town we were still a long way from the
Youth Hostel. We found a bus stop but buses
seemed to be infrequent. So we walked through
town looking for a taxi - without success.
Eventually a bus showed when we had got
through the town and we got into the hostel by
4. Not sure how long we will stay here. Had a
leisurely evening - money laundering, phoned
home, had a couple of beers
Alasdair found it
difficult to tighten his boots sufficiently -
although he always said he had - and as a
result his toes were bashing into the toe of
his boots. And we didn't think to keep his
toe-nails well enough trimmed. However it
seldom caused him any great discomfort.
