Tuesday 27th July 1999
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
and 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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Day 11 Day 12 Day 13 Day 14
Map of Today’s Route
