The GPS road tracklog
from Aydat to Puy-de-Dôme
from 2020/08/03 to 2020/08/03
On Monday August 3, I went to explore the southern part of the
"Chaine des Puys". During the journey my nose was glued to the
landscapes in the turnstile of the road. I should have put on the
shoes and taken my hiking sticks; the weather was gloomy and cold, I
didn’t have the courage. In addition I bypassed the Vulcania Park.
When I got to Chamalières, I supplied with food for the driver as
well as fuel for the vehicle. Finally, at the end of the morning, I
arrived at the big parking lot for the panoramic train in
Puy-de-Dôme,
here.
As the photos show the weather was very dark and the
temperature around 13°C. The Espace Temple de Mercure building
traces the history of the occupation of the volcano called
Puy-de-Dôme since Roman antiquity with the discovery at the end of
the 19th century of the Temple of Mercury near the famous Voie
Agrippa,
here,
from Lyon to Limoges. I spent the night in the parking lot.
click on the pic for opening the gallery
The GPS road tracklog
from Puy-de-Dôme to Clermont-Ferrand
from 2020/08/04 ato 2020/08/04
Tuesday August 5 I went down from Puy-de-Dôme to arrive in
Clermont-Ferrand at the Parc-Relais des Pistes where there are six
sites for motorhomes with services. I took the tram at 8.00 am to
visit the old town of Clermont-Ferrand,
here,
always with the Green Guide book, which I scrupulously
followed the route to old Clermont knowing that private hotels
cannot be visited. The two religious buildings draw my attention.
The Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption cathedral,
here,
in a radiant Gothic style from the 12th century is built
of black volcanic stone. It is characterized by sumptuous 12th
century stained glass windows. Strolling towards the
Notre-Dame-du-Port Basilica,
here,
I crossed squares decorated with fountains. It is listed
as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Roman Auvergne style attested by
its exterior architecture. The saddleback lintel shows the worship
of the Magi, the presentation in the temple and the baptism of
Jesus. The choir is surrounded by an ambulatory, the capitals of the
pillars of which are historiated, in particular with the fight
between virtues and vices. A very beautiful statue of the Virgin
breastfeeding the baby Jesus from the 14th century lit by the red of
the stained glass windows. The crypt exhibits a Black Madonna on the
altar,
here.
I returned to Place de Jaude, stopping at St-Pierre-des
Minimes Church to photograph a 14th century polychrome stone Madonna
and Child. To all contemptors from the left and elsewhere, France's
cultural roots are Christian!
click on the pic for opening the gallery
The GPS road tracklog
from Clermont-Ferrand to Queuille
from 2020/08/05 to 2020/08/05
Wednesday 05 August I traveled the northern part of the Chaine des
Puys. Unfortunately, like Monday, I had my nose in the pastures and
the firs despite a detour via a dirt track. Of course I did not
undertake a walk. On the way I turned away for a closed 12th century
church and the view of the Chateau de Miremont. On the other hand,
the meander of Queuille attracts tourists and certain motorhome
drivers glued to the small parking lot. I bivouacked on the sideroad
of the roundabout before Queuille.
click on the pic for opening the gallery
|
Château de Miremont |
The GPS road tracklog
from Queuille to Hurlevents
from 2020/08/06 to 2020/08/06
Thursday August 6 I left the roundabout where I had spent an
excellent night to visit the Fades Viaduct above the Sioule gorges
then the Menat Bridge before stopping at Menat to see the remains of
a Benedictine monastery founded in the 6th century of which the
abbey church and the cloister of the 12th century remain. I arrived
in Vichy, known for its thermal waters and also infamous for the
collaborationist government during World War II. I was turning for
about a quarter of an hour to find a parking lot because all the
parking lots are underground with a maximum height of between 1.85
and 1.95 meters! The little that I have seen, modern attracting
buildings, tourist trap shops and of course idle spa guests. I went
my way to park in the small car park of the Hurlevents at the foot
of the television tower, not to be confused with the famous Emily
Brontë novel, Wuthering Heights.
click on the pic for opening the gallery
|
Viaduct des Fades |
The GPS road tracklog
from Hurlevents to St-Pourçain
from 2020/08/07 to 2020/08/07
Friday August 7 I went to Arronnes by non-listed local roads in the
Bourbonnaise mountain with morning encounters of cattle walking on
the road here and there. The priory of Arronnes was not open. I
continued to Châtel-Montagne to visit the granite church of
Notre-Dame in the Auvergne Roman style, attested by the bedside as
well as by the ambulatory. Two sculptures attract attention, a
polychrome wooden pieta and a Madonna and Child. I shot directly to
St-Pourçain, whose central square is adorned with a fountain and
with the belfry of the old monastery and the steeple of the church
of Ste-Croix in the background. The highlight is a sculpture of an
Ecce Homo in a single block of stone with all kinds of creatures at
his feet expressing the suffering of Jesus. I bivouacked on the
service area near the tennis court, the temperature rose to + 36°C
under my truck.
click on the pic for opening the gallery
|
St-Pourçain |
The GPS road tracklog
from St-Pourçain to Bourbon-l'Archambault
from 2020/08/08 to 2020/08/08
Saturday August 8 I visited the churches of the bocage bourbonnais
the first two in Montet and Meillers were still closed during my
visit I was content to admire the exterior architecture as well as
some sculptures of the Meillers church, the tympanum in the
saddlebag and the capital of musical animals, a lion playing the
viol and a donkey on the harp. The priory church of
St-Pierre-et-St-Paul de Souvigny has suffered the vicissitudes of
time, built in 950 in the Roman style and restored in the 15th
century. The interior decoration benefits from interpretive panels.
The church of St-Menoux belonged to a former 12th century Roman
abbey with a splendid ambulatory with in a chapel a polychrome
Virgin and child as well as a blessing Christ surrounded by the
symbols of the four evangelists and the lamb pascal. Lastly the 12th
century St-Georges de Bourbon-l'Archambault church has a very
beautiful painted ambulatory and in the chapel of the Virgin a white
marble statue of the Virgin and Child. A sculpted capital presents
musicians. I bivouacked on the service area, the temperature under
the truck reached 38 ° C and 42 ° C inside the cell.
click on the pic for opening the gallery
|
Bourbon-l'Archambault |
Le tracé GPS de la route
de Bourbon-l'Archambault à Épineuil-le-Fleuriel
du 2020/08/09 au 2020/08/09
Sunday August 9 was a short day on the road but heavy heat under a
leaden sky with 34°C under the truck and 37°C in the cell. The only
stop was at Épineuil-le-Fleuriel after the village of Meaulne which
gave its name to the hero of Alain Fournier’s,
here,
only novel, Le Grand Meaulnes,
here.
I waited until 10.00 to visit the Grand Meaulnes school.
By browsing the two classrooms as well as the furnished rooms of the
official apartment of his parents, both teachers, I relived the
beginning of Alain Fournier's novel which is the second most read in
the world after The Little Prince by Saint-Exupéry. I bivouacked at
the municipal campsite in Vallon-en-Sully.
click la photo pour ouvrir la galerie