Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
The temperature went below 13C last night but this morning is clear and sunny. Last night's scruffy field actually has lovely country views through the hedges and it's been a restful night. Ali pops over to the shop and buys some tins of pate.
We programme our route and drive back to Severac to look at the castle high on a mound over the town.
An old sea captain in a Norwegian fjord once told us "Sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride" and since we had to decide between Norway and France for our summer tour, this route promises the best of both.
The first surprise is a big white headed vulture sitting in a field by the roadside.
Starting from Le Massegros we drive the D995 towards Les Vignes. This road surpasses anything we have driven in the past. On the map it looks like it was drawn by a swinging pendulum - on the road it is stunning. On a downhill gradient as steep as 1:8 it drops in a series of hairpin bends, which alternately puts us close to rocks or close to a completely unguarded edge with glimpses into the valley some 400 feet below. It's 18-20mph all the way in second gear, braking foot and sphincter all engaged! There are a few pull-ins for photos from where we can see the Tarn way below and the rocks steadily rising above as we descend. At Les Vignes we finally level out and drive through the pretty stone town 25 feet above the river, where colourful canoes paddle along.
Here we join the D907, this section of which is called Cirque des Baumes. Now we are gently climbing with grey mountains high above us across the gorge. The road has a central white line but a low wall on one side and jagged, overhanging rocks the other make for some tight squeezes. There are no more white-knckle hairpins but straights can be measured in double figure metres. All the time there are glimpses of the river with canoes below, while the sun picks out tans, ochres and yellows in the rock beside us and the proverbial forty shades of green in the trees.
We find a large layby at La Caze and stop for lunch. The grey, weathered rocks towering over us, covered in yellow grass and pine forests look like pictures of the american rockies. R L Stevenson travelled this area with a donkey, and if Grizzly Adams appeared he wouldn't look out of place. There is some evidence of man's hand here in a large, square wall, the remains of a castle on top of one of the rock columns. Eagles soar in the current.
Continuing to Ste Enemie the road passes under a number of rock overhangs and through short, jagged tunnels.
Canoeing is big business along this valley and a fleet of minibuses towing canoe trailers belt along the road causing less familiar motorists to surrender any gaps. There are also any number of waterside campsites, many of which are well occupied.
Near Ste Enemie is Point Sublime among the highest pinnacle in the region at over 1600m.
Another panoramic viewpoint is Castel Bouc, looking down on a bend of the green river where small, cube buildings with pointy rooves grow out of the rock.
Having negotiated the most dramatic and challenging section without incient we reach the little village of Blajoux. Like many French villages there is a 30kph/20mph section with a series zebra crossings. Sometimes there are aggrressive humps marked with white triangles. In Blajoux the third zebra is a hump, but only marked with black and white striipes. We launch onto it at 18mph, Mary*Lou does a bunny-hop, Nick brakes and all of our china cascades out of the cupboard like a fruit machine jackpot. We pull in and look around at a scene from a Greek wedding. Opening the cupboard again Ali finds we have one cereal bowl and one dinner plate unharmed, plus the lunchtime cups and plates in the sink. Conveniently we have parked beside a large wheely bin so in go two bucket-loads of mixed shards.
Mid afternoon we are approaching the end of the tour, Florac. We pass a large supermarket on the way into town, but with the aire less than half a mile we decide to get parked as there are so many MoHo's on the road. Wise choice, we get the last space on the top terrace which is the official aire, although by early evening a dozen more will have crammed into the lower carpark. RLS and his donkey had no such worry about finding their accommodation in Florac and the town celebrates its literary fame with tea-towel, postcards and the like.
Ali walks back to the supermarket and comes back with some crockery.
To check the plates work OK Ali makes cauliflower cheese with some of the regional cheese we've picked up along the way.
- comments
Roger I see you just missed the Millau viaduct crossing to Florac from Severac; wonderful views from there if it's not raining!