Parc Belvedere Clermont-Ferrand

... nice.

Andy told us all about how a guy in the town we're staying at invented elastic, and it had something to do with sheep’s innards, cast-offs, and a small child – I think. The place we stayed at used to be a pig farm, but it had a concrete leaping stag as an emblem. I broke their satellite decoder. It was a very strange night.

11/06

This morning we decided to pack the car and go after lunch so I could do the washing. This is when I checked out and was told we stayed one day too long. Anyway we made our way across the south of France then we turn right to the centre to head north ...

... Lemptegy, which has been quarried for the lava which is used for all sorts of things, including making cat litter! We went on a tour of the crater in a small train with a manic young guide gabbling volubly in French. At the end of the tour there was a very entertaining theme-park type experience called The Exploding Mine, which was not ...

... opportunity to make our lunch which usually consisted of a baguette filled with pate, cheese and or meat. We would stop along the way some where for lunch in a park or a Chateau. The cruising along the canals was incredible especially going through the locks. One part took us over one of the longest viaduct in Europe at a place called Briare where we stayed for the night. The first couple of days was heavy going but my knees and legs settled down that ...

... lifetime of horse-riding skills come to the fore and I grip the monster between my knees. Finally, 5 minutes of pure bliss - not what you're thinking - the hottest, fastest shower I have ever had. When I grabbed the towel after, though, I realised the extent of the disaster - it was soaked. My fleece was dripping, and my cargoes looked as if I shared an incontinence problem with the bloke on the boat the other night. The ...

... shapes. The rain slowed me down a bit, and I arrived about 1:00 in Vichy for lunch with a retired church couple who live here. The name Vichy will long be associated with the seat of government of Philippe Pétain, who collaborated with the Germans after the fall of France in 1940, when he was 84 years old. He was arguably France's greatest hero from WWI (or as the French call it, the "14-18 war"). But as a reaction to the moral dissipation ...

On Le Weekend we met a group of the French kids and clearly they fell in love with us. So shortly after that weekend they wanted to party with us again as soon as they could. And did we ever. Quentin had a number of us over to get to know us a little better. A couple 40s later we were much better acquainted. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

So, on September 1 we headed to the Gare de Lyon and made our way down to Vichy. Its about 3 hours by regular train south to Vichy. When I got the station a girl from my school met me and took me right to my dorm. I was super nervous about this. I really wanted something nice to live in, and thankfully my dorm is perfect for me. It was super clean, had a shower, with pressure, toilet, and kitchenette ...

... reading, eating and having a nap. Later we went out in town with Laurent and the friends guests he was having over (a young family) and we walked to have a glimpse of the festivities at the Tram opening day. The sun was slowly going down and we enjoyed the time there walking in the crowd gathered by that inauguration day of the first tram line of Clermont-Ferrand. We went for a drink with other people and later, Dylan and me left to ...

Mida lähemale linnale, seda vichysemaks ja vesiseks ka ilm kiskus. Seetõttu polnud me seal väga entusiastlikud turistid ja käisime vaid tiiru linnas ning maitsesime kraanidest vett. Tegemist oli sooja ja väga ebameeldiva maitselise veega. Seega 0,3 € topsi ostmine vee degusteerimiseks oli üsna mõttetu. Vichy külastamist jääb meile meenutama karp pastille.