Travelling through France to Lyon

Sunday 21^st Donzenac to Champeix

Today was a travelling day as we made our way back towards the east of France. We left our aire about 9am but as we were leaving we saw an Intermarche supermarket with a launderette in the car park. Annoyed that we had not seen it last night we pulled in to get some food and to get our bedding washed. Shopping was not easy as there are so many lovely choices in French supermarkets but as our fridge is really struggling to keep anything cold much of what was bought was in jars or cans. Once our chores were complete we set off again. It was to be another day well into the 30s but we found a lovely picnic area under shady trees where we could have our coffee. We were only saying how quiet it was in this spot when another motorhome arrived. This was a dutch couple with a large black Labrador cross. Of course we went over to say hallo. We spoke about their travels and they showed us a video  ‘ the last post’ played at Ypres that they had visited. The last post has been played every evening since WW1 (although we did wonder what happened during WWII years). We said our goodbyes and continued our journey. Most of it had been on the main road but we came off to explore the small towns of La Bourboule and Le Mont Dore.  These are in an ancient volcanic area of France and we found ourselves once again driving up mountain passes. All very attractive. We eventually stopped in Champeix at a free aire by a small river. The aire was lovely but the town was uninteresting. We went for a short cycle but could not find anything of interest so returned home to have supper and for Mike an early night.

Monday 22^nd July

Today was another hot day spent travelling. We first had a short 30km drive to Clermont Ferrand. This city is the capital of the Auvergne region.  It is a large university city and so is somewhat out of place with the very rural nature of the Auvergne and massif central regions.We explored the main centre which led us to the Cathdrale Notre-Dame. This building has a very dark exterior as it is made from the local volcanic rock. This rock is very hard and thus enabled the building to be built with slender pillars. Inside the building there were some of the best stained glass windows we have seen in France.

Already it was now very hot as we headed back to the van. Jacqui was driving today as Mike’s eyes were hurting him – probably due to the bright sunlight and lack of recent sleep. We set the SAT NAV for Lyon and continued our journey. We stopped off for lunch just outside of Thiers, another town built on a hill and could see thunderstorms clouds looming. As we drove the roads were steaming in places where rain had fallen but we were not troubled by it. We eventually pulled off the road at an Aire in Trevoux north of Lyon. This town is on the banks of the River Saone, which is very wide here. We went into Carrefour to buy some ice lollies to cool down and decided to have a simple supper of bread, cream cheese and smoked salmon washed down with some French cider. Three ice lollies each we were still hot. Mike made it to four but Jacqui’s last one melted before she got round to eating it. We had a short walk around the town and along the river but then sat outside in the warm evening air.  It was still over 30C when we went to bed.

23^rd – 25^th July Lyon,

From Trevoux it was only a short drive to the Port de Lyon where we had identified a campsite with a much needed swimming pool. We decided to stay for a couple of days to relax after all the travelling, Mike to service and clean  the van and Jacqui to catch up on some marking.

The following day we planned to visit the centre of Lyon. Instead we decided to stay on site and make best use of our time finishing off emails, doing research on the Black Forest campsites, van cleaning and spend more time at the pool. We achieved most things but were disappointed to find the pool closed all day “due to technical difficulties” . still it was good to relax and cool down when necessary with a cool shower.

Thursday 25^th July, Lyon.

We stayed at the campsite until midday as today we were going all out to enjoy the delights of Lyon “Frances Gastronomic Centre”. There was quite a bit of traffic but we managed to negotiate ourselves round the ring roads and motorways until we eventually hit town and found a parking spot by the river Saune.  Both the Soune and the Rhone flow through Lyon. It was yet another hot day. We passed the Palais de Justice and walked around the Cathedral St John before walking up the hill to the Basilica Notre Dame.





 Although it was a very hot walk it was worth it as this cathedral was beautiful. It contained some huge elaborate mosaics and was highly decorative. This Cathedral is said to be Pope John Paul II’s favourite.

We had promised ourselves one of the best possible meals in Lyon, so with the advice from our guide books we identified three possible restaurants. We chose the Petit Glouton and when we arrived decided to have the menu that listed all the local dishes. Jacqui had the Garlic Cream Cheese Salad and Mike had the local rough Pate to start, we both had the local Sausage cooked in Beaujolais Red Wine and small onion sauce accompanied with perfect Lyonnaise potatoes, French beans and salad. We both had Crepes to finish, Jacqui had Grande Marnier and Mike had, of course, chocolate followed by the best coffee he  had tasted all trip.

After our meal, feeling very full, we drove round the city to see some of the other sights and finally headed off in the direction of Geneva. On route we stopped off in Nantua, which had a beautiful lake surrounded by hills. There were two parking lots for campers. But as they charged 7.50 just for a space and we would have been parked tight next to another van we found our own free parking place by the lake, with loads of room and a nicer lake possition.

We didn’t need supper so we spent the evening with a little stroll and then sat on the bench together,  romantically, watching another beautiful  sunset go down on the lake.

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