On to the Auvergne

  Clermont-Ferrand, Auvergne, France
Monday, May 26, 2008

This morning the sun is trying to put in an appearance. It is still and mild, and we're just about
recovered from Friday night's sailing. Ralph has collared the camp attendant and got us a shower token each, and I set out to test the facilities. The shower cubicles are a generous size, and spotlessly
clean.

There are few instructions on the token machine, so I undress, put the shower head into the wall socket and
turn on the water. Nothing happens, as I expected, until I put in
the token. The shower head immediately leaps to attention, and I am
blasted in the face by the kind of water cannon usually reserved for
major riots.

I scrape myself off the far wall and
grope blindly for the shower head. I wrestle the brute off its
mounting and aim it at the drain. Heart pounding, I stand wondering
how to free a hand to open the shower gel.

Eventually, a 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 wet trousers and the appearance of
the sun were a good excuse to put on a skirt, I thought. We had
planned a long slow drive with an end destination of Le Puy en Velay,
south of Clermont-Ferrand. We had programmed all the side roads into
the SatNav, so I could enjoy the views of the Loire without having my
nose in the map book.

Almost immediately we set off, the clouds moved in, but it always seemed brighter in front of us. We
saw at least one English yacht cruising peacefully down the canal.
Someone once told me it is possible to travel from the UK to the
Mediterranean through the canals of France, even in a yacht. An
excellent way to see France - but don't do it in a Bongo sized
boat.

Charite sur Loire

We first stopped in Charite-sur-Loire,
for some bread, but all the other shops were shut. This seemed to be
the pattern in every town we passed. At first we thought it was a
Bank Holiday, as in the UK, but we saw roadworkers, builders and
postmen - and there were no children anywhere. In the afternoon we
found an Intermarche and bought some fruit and veg. Maybe Mondays
are half days in these parts?

At Charite, I decided it wasn't skirt
weather after all and reverted to cargoes and fleece. We'd better
have some sun soon, or I'm going to run out of clothes!
We didn't see the sun until evening,
and met with many showers

There was nothing much to capture our
interest and the weather was offputting so we continued south,
stopping in a rest area for some lunch and a break. Our journey took
us via Nevers, Moulins and Thiers. It was after this that the
countryside started to get dramatic. We were definitely on/in the
Massif Central, and the views were spectacular at times.

Olliergues

When we got to Olliergues, we saw a
sign for camping. The town was beautiful and the road to the camp
site took us up steep hills with ever changing views, but eventually
we were too far out and too high up (it was windy and cold), so we
gave up the hunt. Returning down the mountain we continued through
Ambert and finally settled on Municipal Camping Le Metz at Arlanc.

The site is less manicured than the
previous night, but the facilities in the main block are ok. Apart
from a French motor home parked beside the main block, we are the
only ones here. We parked at a distance from them because the sun
was finally out and the pitch we chose had the most exposure to the
setting sun.

Camping Le Metz, Arlanc

Much good it did us, because within the
hour the clouds had arrived and an hour after that we were in the
middle of a spectacular thunderstorm. It's now raining steadily and
we've decided bed is the only option.