2018-09-11 Ste Pardoux to Ste Eulalie de Cernon

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Ste Pardoux to Ste Eulalie de Cernon

Another brilliant blue-sky day when we wake, and not as cold (about 13°C). I make coffee and as I start to pour the milk I see a thick white gloop about to descend into the mug agghhh! The milk has turned (about half a 2-litre container) it is thick and going solid. It must have been not good when we bought it from Aldi in the UK less than a week ago. I manage to stop pouring before it plops out and we have to drink black coffee.

We empty the grey and toilet cassette and are away from St Pardoux by 9.30, back on the D2144. At the small town of Comronde we see a small street market and Intermarché supermarket so park up to look at the market stalls and buy milk. The market stalls are selling somewhat bruised fruit and vegetables and is quite expensive, so we look but don’t buy. At the supermarket we buy milk (fresh and long-life UHT… just in case) and some excellent looking white fish and big prawns (crevettes) on special offer, so we buy some of both. Back on the road we take the A75 motorway and make good progress through the Margeride mountains to Clermont Ferrand. The road is good and not too busy but we climb and descent many Cols of 1100m some with magnificent views across viaduct bridges. Col de Fagiole (1120m) and Col des Issartes (1121m) being the highest.

Clermont Ferrand is a large city, but the ring road takes us around it and we stop later at Aire de Cazillier for lunch, a good-sized layby with toilets and plenty of parking for long vehicles and motor home. We eat in the camper, but most French families get out and sit under the shade of the trees at picnic tables. A UK car arrives, a middle-aged couple get out and sit at a table in the full sun, it must be unbearably hot! Back on the A75, through St Flour (a good place for a stop in the mountains) all the way to Millau, another large town. Here the A75 becomes paege as a new section of road has been built with a magnificent new viaduct-suspension bridge, taking the traffic away from and ‘over’ Millau. We drive through the big town, a tortuous downhill route round many hairpin bends, through the middle of the town and up and up away from the town along many bends and switchbacks in the road. We enjoy the drive, but it must have been a nightmare for trucks to drive through before the new section of paege. We take the D911 to Cavalerie, a magnificent drive over the top of the mountains and from here, the D77 to the small village of Sainte Eulelie. Our Aire is just on the edge of the village, for about 30 motor homes. Some level gravel pitches and some on a central grassy area under the trees.

An interfering German arrives and tries to tell Mr C. how to pay and enter at the pay station by the barrier, Mr C. is having none of it. We find our spot under a tree on the central grassy area and find that some of the hook up points do not work. Again, the busy-body German comes along and interferes… silly man, Mr C. politely ignores him, gets his electric testing device out and finds which hook ups work and which don’t. We hook up the electricity, get the outdoor mat and chairs out and open a well-earned bottle of wine. We sit in the shade (it is very hot and sunny, about 29°C) and enjoy the restful stop.

We are amused as each new camper arrives, our German busy-body does the same to each! A French couple arrive with a very long camper and have a problem parking up, as they try the hook up points (not working) the German pounces on them and very unhelpfully tells them that they “don’t work”! The couple see us and our hook up and come over to talk, followed by the German! Mr C. helpfully explains in French that there are four points on each pillar and only two of them work. They discuss moving again to a different spot near a different pillar, the women is frustrated but we laugh.

Mr C. takes his tester over to their new spot and helps them find a working socket, they are very grateful, and the German disappears and bothers us no more…

We have a dish of fresh prawns (crevettes) and lemon with our La Clape white wine (of the Languedoc) and cook the fish and make kedgeree later. It is delicious. As it goes dark the young man in the tent opposite plays his guitar. Mr C. goes to join him with his concertina, they play for about 30 – 45 minutes together. It is a very pleasant evening.