And here is a large map showing the train
route to Clermont Ferrand
The Overview
Navigate:
Day 13
This was a winding
down sort of day. Not a lot to do and all
day to do it in. It was a relief to get to
the end of the walk unscathed! But not
unchanged.
The Diary
The Commentary
Got up, had breakfast
packed slowly and went to the telepherique. We
ascended (84F) the Plomb du Cantal much more
easily than by walking - a great change.
Walked to the summit, admired the views, A
took some photos. Walking back to the
telepherique we met one of the two Frenchmen -
said hello and good luck. I wonder where they
were going?
Down at 11:30 and
onto the Crazy Golf which kept us amused until
12:30. It was quite good; A thought it was
wonderful. Got the stuff down from the room,
ordered and ate a light lunch. The total bill
came to 527F but, as we offered cash, only
500F was taken. We walked down to the gare at
Lioran in 20 minutes - got there at 1:30.
Its a pity we could not
carry on to St. Flour but we felt it was time
we were heading for home. We had accomplished
the main things we had set out to do. We had
found what were our limits and found they were
greater than we thought. Alasdair, in
particular, has found out that he can do much
more than he thought he could.
Bought the tickets to
Clermont Ferrand (170F) and waited. The train
was on time (13:54) and we arrived in CF on
time (15:54). But the train we changed to at
Neussargues did not have functioning air
conditioning and it was very hot and crowded.
At CF we crossed the street and got a room in
the first hotel we got to. It was right under
the roof and was very hot. There was a thunder
storm about and I thought that this would cool
things down to tolerable levels. We had to pay
for the room and breakfast straight away - it
was that sort of hotel (283F). Went to the
station and got a Euro Guardian.
The storm came -
thunder, lighting, rain. Clermont Ferrand
cooled, but not our room.
We went out to eat
and walked through the streets to the
Cathedral area. Quite nice at the Cathedral -
lots of pedestrianisation - but otherwise an
ordinary town. To celebrate our last night in
France, at A’s suggestion, we decided to eat
at MacDonalds. What there was, was OK. We then
walked back and had a dessert and a beer in a
restaurant next to the hotel.
And so to bed to
sweat.
There are probably
better hotels in Clermont Ferrand, but none
nearer to the station than the one we were in.
As far as A was concerned it had the huge
advantage of having a Cable TV in the bedroom
and he could watch English language programmes
for the first time in weeks.
