Thiers to Saint Floret

Paul woke up at 7 and started rustling plastic bags as he got ready. I have to say I really wasn't in the mood so it was good that Paul did. It was cold and windy outside so we both wore a thermal top which turned out to be a very good idea. We were out at 7.50 am, amazing!

A few hundred metres down the hill we got bread and then across the road there was a market on and so we sat at a bench and ate our baguette and the rest of the cheese. I got some squashed nectarines at the market and then we were off down the hill! It was a lovely descent down to the valley floor and across the river. We had an average of 23 after 6 K's. Of course that is when we turned off the road we were on and started on rolling hills as we crossed to the west.


Unexpectedly there was a rather long climb from here, not particularly steep but it went for 6 K's, followed by a nice descent, followed by another climb and descent. Then we had a much steeper climb, although not as long, and lo and behold a Col! Totally unexpected! We stopped there for photographs and then enjoyed the descent down the other side before, you guessed it, the road turned up. However it was only brief before another long descent and then we were basically across the long valley floor that we had planned to cross.

It was only just 11 am and we had less than 10 K's to go to the town we had originally planned to stop at! The final stretch was fairly flat and I got Paul to lead. When Paul leads we tend to have a higher average but it is rather tiring for me. Paul slows down on long gentle hills slower than me and his slowest speed is faster than mine. I kept trying to keep up and then I would eventually pop and within 15 seconds I'd be 30 seconds behind Paul! Anyway, we got to the town, Chempeix, and decided to study the maps, as really, 11.30 is a bit too early to finish. We decided to cross over to the next valley to Saint Floret, only 7 K's, but 7 K's we won't need to do tomorrow, and Saint Floret is marked on the map as a town of interest.

We had a 'restoration' as the French call it, an eclair and a coke, and then set off up the pass. It was reasonably steep but not too bad. Paul shot away as usual and I made my way up as usual. We met at the top, alas no Col. I was sure it was going to be a Col but there was no sign. I will have to check the 100 Col clubs Col list and see if it is. It wasn't :( We then had a very nice descent down to the town. About 1.4 K's from the bottom was the camping it looked quite nice actually but of course we just continued on down :)

We went straight to the Tourist Info and there is only one hotel in town and the camping up the hill. I told Paul, who was waiting outside, “Oh well, there is nothing for it” and started to ride in the direction of the camp site. Then as he started to turn up the hill I turned around and went to the hotel just down the street :) Alas there was no one at the hotel, so we went to 'the' bar in town and got lunch. I had a terrine with bread and a ham and mushroom omelet, Paul just had salmon omelet. I asked for chips, Paul asked for salad, and we both got both :) It was a cheap lunch and just the right size, we even went without wine!


We had a bit of a look around town on the bikes before we got a room at the hotel. We did a short tour of the chateau, which is actually just the chapel at the bottom of the chateau because of the danger of falling rocks (and one assumes bricks) from the chateau and the cliffs around it. The chapel is 13th century and still has a very good fresco on it. The guide explained quite a bit about it but we didn't get much of it.

After that we walked up the hill on the other side of the town (which is only 1 block wide) and to the top where there is an 11th century church and its cemetery. In fact you have to walk through the cemetery to get to the church and need to watch out that you don't step in the rock graves that are no longer in use. After a good look around we went back down the other side of the hill, took some photo's of the town and then rested until dinner.


Paul had been looking forward to dinner because they have a speciality of the region that he is keen to try, Truffade. It is basically a cheese fondue that has potato and onion in it served in a dish. It also came with some raw ham and a salad. It was quite nice but I am a bit worried about what such a huge mound of cheese is going to have on my digestive system. (Nothing as it happened.) There was a tart for dessert then we went back to the TV less room to relax some more until bed.