This is where I
tell you all the boring bits about how to
arrange a similar trip to the one Alasdair
and I did.
Because time has
moved on I will attempt to give an up to date
gloss.
The Maps
The best place to get
maps is
Stanfords.
In Bristol we are lucky as there is a branch
in town at 29 Corn Street, BRISTOL, BS1 1HT
Phone: 0117 929 9966. The maps you will use
most are the IGN 1:25,000 series - the ones
with blue covers. These can be ordered from
Stanfords over the internet through this
link.
The maps you use are:
Number
Name
2531 ET
Chaine des Puys
2432 ET
Massif du Sancy
2534 OT
Monts du Cezallier
2434 OT
Riom-es-Montagnes Bort-les-Orgues
2435 OT
Monts du Cantal
2535 O
Murat Neussargues-Moissac
2535 E
St-Flour
The Riom-es-Montagnes,
Bort-les-Orgues sheet, 2434 OT, is not really
necessary as you are on it for about 10
minutes only. You could easily get by without
it. We of course did not use the Murat and
St-Flour sheets.
Also from Stanfords I
got sheet 49 in the Serie Verte 1:100,000 map
(Clermont-Ferrand - Aurillac). This covers
virtually the whole walk, just missing the
first few miles of the first sector.
The
Transport
The best site for
getting details of train times etc, especially
when cross border travel is concerned is the
German Railways web site! Find it
here.
You can't buy tickets on it but at least you
will find which trains exist. This is not
always easy on the French and (especially) the
British sites.
To order tickets for
your UK trains
The Trainline
is pretty good. Just make sure you do not
restrict yourselves too much in the effort to
reduce costs - like I did!
To order tickets from
London to Clermont Ferrand the
SNCF
web site is pretty good. However it can be
difficult to understand the various types of
special deals. So if you want anything
complicated it may be worth while phoning RAIL
EUROPE TRAVEL CENTER on 08705 848 848. When
phoning this number go for option 2, Trains in
France, and you will get through quickly. The
Eurostar option entails a long wait. In fact I
never got through to anyone on that option.
The address of RAIL EUROPE TRAVEL CENTER is
179 Piccadilly, LONDON W1V 0BA
When booking tickets
which entail crossing Paris, remember to leave
enough time. Although the RER lines are very
fast.
Local trains in
France are best booked on the spot.
The
Accommodation
We tried to arrange
accomodation in Paris with the
French Youth Hostels,
but to little avail. They would not take
internet reservations. What they will do is,
if the hostel is full (and it will be!),
redirect you to, and reserve a room for you,
at a nearby hotel, for a modest fee (10F
each). Nowadays I see that they say they will
take bookings by Fax.
The Youth Hostel in
Le Mont Dore proved to be very satisfactory.
Otherwise we stayed
in small hotels and generally there were
plenty of them. All of them were at least
satisfactory. None disappointed. We were
disappointed in Lugarde where the hotel had
recently closed. I hope the hotel in
Saulvet-le-Froid is still open, but I can see
no mention of it on the internet.
There are several
Gites d'Etape on the route and we stayed in
the one in Lugarde. But I know very little
about them. We looked for the gite in
Egliseneuve but could not find it! There is a
site
here
which lets you know where the gites are - but
it comes with a plethora of pop-ups. You have
been warned!
The GR
The organisation which
looks after the GR system is the
FFRP.
They produce walking guides on which Alan
Castle's guide is based, and their catalogue
can be viewed online, in French. I have not
tried to, but it can also be ordered from the
site. Many of the guides are available from
Stanfords.
The Cost
Expenditure on our walk in the Auvergne
The figures are in
French Francs
Day
Date
Travel
Accomm-
odation
Evening Meal
Breakfast
Other food
Sundries
Totals
Thu
15-Jul-99
55
260
216
531
Fri
16-Jul-99
46
160
239
49
38
49
581
Sat
17-Jul-99
215
527
60
70
872
Sun
18-Jul-99
100
463
563
Mon
19-Jul-99
20
240
44
304
Tue
20-Jul-99
40
240
173
247
700
Wed
21-Jul-99
116
240
60
416
Thu
22-Jul-99
583
25
608
Fri
23-Jul-99
539
79
40
658
Sat
24-Jul-99
100
100
66
266
Sun
25-Jul-99
576
50
21
647
Mon
26-Jul-99
500
34
95
629
Tue
27-Jul-99
254
283
111
71
719
Wed
28-Jul-99
40
20
60
Totals
846
4711
555
159
761
522
7554
Accommodation costs are
recorded for the day arrived at the Hotel.
