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This all started a couple of years ago when I was helping a couple of ADVriders from the UK plan a visit to the part of France where I grew up. As I was linking small towns in mapsource using very scenic backroads, I realized that I had left the place before I really got into Adventure riding and that I needed to get back to it!

Fast forward to this spring and I emailed a couple of my riding buddies and told them that this year was the year and that I was going to make it happen! By the time the dust settled RVSparky and I were the only two who committed to the trip.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be sharing our travel, but for now a few teaser pictures

Food:



Small villages:



Small roads:



Beautiful Scenery:





Old Stone house:




Newer Stone house:

A couple of weeks before our departure from the US as I was participating in the Cortez Rally, I managed to break my thumb on a small fall during the last stage of the rally.



For a while I thought I would be able to ride while on our trip, but finally reality set in and I realized that with a cast on my right hand there was no way I could safely ride a bike. I called RVsparky and we decided that we will still go on with the plan but rather than renting 2 bikes, we'll rent one bike and a car. The down side of that is that we did less exploration off road than what we would have done otherwise.

So after an overnight flight to Paris, we took the TGV (train) from Paris to Tours to rent the vehicles.

Here I am with Laurent from Ride In Tours standing in front of the 1200 GS that RVsparky was to ride.



From there we made good time to our destination, Boisseuges a little village near Chavaniac Lafayette.

Our accommodation for the week



the garage where the bike was parked every night



Chavaniac Lafayette is named after Lafayette where he was born and raised, here is a small blurb from Wilkipedia about him:

" in the U.S. often known simply as Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer who fought for the United States in the American Revolutionary War. A close friend of George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson, Lafayette was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830.

Born in Chavaniac, in the province of Auvergne in south central France, Lafayette came from a wealthy landowning family. He followed its martial tradition, and was commissioned an officer at age 13. He became convinced that the American cause in its revolutionary war was noble, and travelled to the New World seeking glory in it. There, he was made a major general, though initially the 19-year-old was not given troops to command. Wounded during the Battle of Brandywine, he still managed to organize an orderly retreat. He served with distinction in the Battle of Rhode Island. In the middle of the war, he returned home to lobby for an increase in French support. He again sailed to America in 1780, and was given senior positions in the Continental Army. In 1781, troops in Virginia under his command blocked forces led by Cornwallis until other American and French forces could position themselves for the decisive Siege of Yorktown."

After a good night of rest, best night RVsparky said he had for a long time! (No wonder, we had left a day and half ago and I made him ride over 200 miles in a foreign country at speeds above 80 :evil) we went and had breakfast in a small cafe, coffee and hot chocolate hit the spot! I did not take a picture of it, but it was pretty close to this internet picture



Chatting with the waitress, we learnt that her son had spent 15 years in the North East of the US so she had quite a few stories to tell us about her and her husband travel to the US to go and see their grand kids.

After a quick grocery run, we headed to the small village of Jax and the even smaller village of Loubeyrat to enjoy the view. Unfortunately the weather was foggy so we went on to explore a forest road until we had to turn around.

We then headed to Ally to meet a couple of friends and have lunch. The village of Ally is pretty well known in the area for its windmills.



I was told that the roof entirely turn so that the wings can be oriented in the right direction facing the wind. Most of those have now fallen apart, but there are a few left and I believe they grind some wheat a few times year with them as a tourist attraction. If you are interested, one of them was refurbished as a love nest as per the sign in front of it and is for rent :evil

not this one though



Lunch was at the Auberge Paysanne, unfortunately we were too hungry that no pictures of the food were taken there The interesting/neat thing about this place is that it is manned and run by the local farmers. Way back in the 80s, I believe, during the pork crisis, the local farmers of the area facing declining commodity prices pulled time and resources together to create that restaurant and capture some of the value added out of their product. Food was plentiful and pretty typical of the local traditional cuisine.

Right in front of the Auberge


On the way back home, we made a small detour to go and visit the Mont Mouchet.



Because the area was so remote and rugged during world war II, there was an important resistance activity in the area. This site was the location of a battle that was pretty destructive to the locale communities. For those interested in more details, here is what wilkipedia says about it:

"The Maquis du Mont Mouchet were a group of French resistance fighters during the Second World War. Based at Mont Mouchet, its goal was to delay the convergence of German forces in the south of France with those in Normandy, in order to aid the Allies (World War II) in the reconquest of France.

The Germans, having discovered the maquis, made several attacks up until May 1944 with about 3,000 men and using aviation and armoured units. The maquisards fought back fiercely.

Little information is available on the German forces. Historians have identified some units:

The Jesser Brigade, formed from veterans of the eastern front (deployed in the Orléans-Pithiviers sector)
1,000 men from the Sicherungs Motorisierte regiment
1,000 men from the Aufklärungs Abteilung
These were reinforced from:

Regiment 2 of the 2 Ost Bataillon of the Freiwilligen Stamm:
The Volga Tatar legion stationed at Puy-en-Velay
The Azerbaidjan legion stationed at Rodez (former 804th battalion ?)
The 3rd Battalion of the SS Polizei Regiment 19
A battery of the artillery regiment 28 (189th reserve division)
Battalion of DCA 958
3 motorised response detachments of the Feldgendarmerie
An armored reconnaissance platoon originating from Paris
2 Luftwaffe squadrons from Aulnat airbase
After several days of combat, the final German attack forced the maquisards to fall back and disperse. Out of revenge for their previous losses, the Germans pillaged several of the surrounding villages, including Clavières.

In the course of the battles, the French Forces of the Interior sustained severe losses: 238 killed and 180 wounded as well as about 100 hostages executed by the Nazis."

Around the monument we went for a small hike enjoying the smell and the sound of the local forest.



On that hike we saw some remnants of some structure put in place to collect rain fall water when the area was covered of prairies and used to raise livestock.

The next day the plan was to follow the "Vallee du Haut Allier" and then meandered our way back home.

Our first stop was Chanteuges and its Abbaye. The earliest written pieces found about the place date from 936 so it is fair to believe that it was founded sometimes before that date.

We parked the vehicles on the main street and started walking the small street to get to the Abbaye.







Once to the top we quickly toured the buildings and enjoyed the view









RVsparky loves old doors, here is one we saw on the way up

Following the valley, we then got to Saint Arcons d'Allier


In the 70s, like most of the villages in the area, after having lost so many people moving to larger cities, a lot of houses were falling apart and its future was looking pretty bleak. Under the impulsion of a few local people who wanted to turn things around, they were able to source some funds and invested a lot of time to restore the castle and buying out houses and restoring them in order to transform the village in a hotel where each room would be a small house in the village.

As RVsparky and I walked the street of the village, we saw a few signs saying that some houses were for sale so I am not quite sure what happened to that neat idea.

Fishermen in the river:



Some people did a tremendous job in transforming this old mill

From there we followed the road and drove by this church in the middle of nowhere beside the river.



Then the fun begun, there were signs that the road was closed ahead but I thought that we could make it to the turn we wanted. When we got to Prades, the bridge on the Seuges river was closed. The local tried to convinced RVsparky to go on on a couple of planks but he did not want to leave his guide and we turn around to find a different way to make it to Notre Dame D'estours.

here is RVsparky looking at 2 different layers of Lava by Prades



Here he is coming back as he missed that I stopped on the side of the road to take a picture.




RVsparky scouting our way down to the church.




I have always loved coming here, it is beautiful just quiet, listening to the river down below and the riding on an enduro bike down through the river and up the other side is absolutely amazing!




Here is a picture from way back when, kind of amazing to see how the vegetation has changed...This part of France is definitely getting less farmed and more and more wooded



Can you spot the white cross accross the valley in a patch of yellow flowers




Looking down at the river



From there we headed to Saugues for some quick lunch then went through a few small towns before heading home for a small hike in the country side around the village.

Here a few pictures of that afternoon, the weather was great but it was about to change








Taking a short break





Lavoir where they used to wash clothes before running water.

The next day, we decided to head out and follow the Senouire river going down hill. The first stop is in Paulhaguet. The town is barely awake and we find minimal traffic going through it.



Reliving the past, I came to that house numerous times growing up, this is where my Dad grew up and where my grand ma used to live. One of those places where you rarely go to, but that triggers lot of memories just being there again.



We pick up the main road to head down to our next stop Domeyrat. The castle is unfortunately closed so we snapped a few pictures from outside the walls. Probably a good thing it was closed as we took the small road leading to it going the wrong way :rofl








From there we head to Lavaudieu, with it small bridge over the river



Its truncated steeple dating from way back from the french revolution. If I remember right the local people to save their church went ahead and cut the steeple so that the revolution militants did not tear it down.




This village has won several awards for being a "village fleuri", too bad it was kind of grey outside as the pictures are not making it justice.





From there we rode all the way to Auzon following the Senouire and stop in this little village to buy some water.



We climbed up the mountain on a pretty small road to enjoy the view and the fresh smell of pine trees.



Next stop was the local KTM dealer as RVSparky wanted to buy some KTM gear (he is a KTM guy at heart ;-0 ).



After dodging the rain, we arrive in Boudes to go and take a look at the Vallee des Saints. I have always been fascinated by this place as it offers a very atypical landscape for Auvergne. It is some geological formations reminiscent if when Auvergne used to be under a tropical climate.





After waiting for the sheep herd to cross in front of us



We arrive at this site:



I do oblige and take a sip



This is pretty much bubling water loaded with iron. But that is only part of the interesting story about this source. This area of Auvergne has a lot of vine for wine production. At the beginning of the 19th century, the local farmer dug up this wet spot in his field and discovered that concrete formation. It had been buried by a land slide a long time ago. But the more interesting story is that at the bottom of this vasque, he found some coins showing romans emperors from the first and third century. This would suggest that this was built prior to those dates.

It was then time for a quick lunch in the small town of Saint Germain Lembron





It was good to get some food as we had a long afternoon ahead of us...

The next day, we decided to head out and follow the Senouire river going down hill. The first stop is in Paulhaguet. The town is barely awake and we find minimal traffic going through it.



Reliving the past, I came to that house numerous times growing up, this is where my Dad grew up and where my grand ma used to live. One of those places where you rarely go to, but that triggers lot of memories just being there again.



We pick up the main road to head down to our next stop Domeyrat. The castle is unfortunately closed so we snapped a few pictures from outside the walls. Probably a good thing it was closed as we took the small road leading to it going the wrong way :rofl








From there we head to Lavaudieu, with it small bridge over the river



Its truncated steeple dating from way back from the french revolution. If I remember right the local people to save their church went ahead and cut the steeple so that the revolution militants did not tear it down.




This village has won several awards for being a "village fleuri", too bad it was kind of grey outside as the pictures are not making it justice.





From there we rode all the way to Auzon following the Senouire and stop in this little village to buy some water.



We climbed up the mountain on a pretty small road to enjoy the view and the fresh smell of pine trees.



Next stop was the local KTM dealer as RVSparky wanted to buy some KTM gear (he is a KTM guy at heart ;-0 ).



After dodging the rain, we arrive in Boudes to go and take a look at the Vallee des Saints. I have always been fascinated by this place as it offers a very atypical landscape for Auvergne. It is some geological formations reminiscent if when Auvergne used to be under a tropical climate.





After waiting for the sheep herd to cross in front of us



We arrive at this site:



I do oblige and take a sip



This is pretty much bubling water loaded with iron. But that is only part of the interesting story about this source. This area of Auvergne has a lot of vine for wine production. At the beginning of the 19th century, the local farmer dug up this wet spot in his field and discovered that concrete formation. It had been buried by a land slide a long time ago. But the more interesting story is that at the bottom of this vasque, he found some coins showing romans emperors from the first and third century. This would suggest that this was built prior to those dates.

It was then time for a quick lunch in the small town of Saint Germain Lembron





It was good to get some food as we had a long afternoon ahead of us...

The plus side of staying in the same place every night especially on a bike is that you do not have to pack and unpack everyday. Which means you can go to bed sooner in the evening and leave way faster in the morning.

This was a good thing as we had a long day ahead of us and I dragged RVsparky out of the house early that morning and he was complaining about being cold. I was perfectly toasty in the cage, what was he talking about :evil

Today was going to take us the furthest away from the house, not that far only 45 miles by the crow flies but still as far as we will get. We were heading to Les Monts du Cantal to enjoy the spring colors and the views.

Going through Saint Flour, RVsparky spotted a motorcycle dealer and could not resist to stop and check it out. From the outside it looked promising.



But once you got inside you were shocked by how much inventory the guy had! I doubt he knew exactly what he had either, but he got RVsparky fixed up with a pair of gloves and we headed down the road toward the Garabit viaduc.






By the time we got to the viaduc, we had gone up quite a bit in altitude and it was time for a break. So we stopped and hot a hot cocoa from the local hotel. I think it hit the spot as RV sparky felt much better afterwards.



If you have ever been to the Eiffel tower, you are probably pretty familiar with the architecture of the bridge, it was built by the same man, Gustave Eiffel!




We stopped at the barrage de Grandval to snap a few pictures










Roads were beautiful, curves all over the place and best of all, we had the road for ourselves!





We kept climbing and finally made it up to Col de Prat de bouc



We had lunch in that small Auberge and it was delicious!



We then took off and went from one pass to another I tried to take some pictures but I was having a hard time to get RVsparky to stop riding :rofl





Notice the icycle on the tree beside the road, it was pretty chilly brrr...:eek1





Puy Mary in the background

Very Cool Luc! Merci d'avoir partagé. Dommage pour le pouce. We will be in Paris in awhile and ces images sont grandes. My wife has forbidden me from riding any rough stuff until we are back for the same reason as your thumb. I wasting the rest of the last TKC80 rear on 435 commutes and Olathe gravel roads.

Rester en sécurité mais amusant

Google translator works ok I guess. Thought it was needed! I only know Spanish a bit, no French.

Au Revoir!

Cool pics Luc! I don't know what else to say because I know nothing about France. I'm curious what that food is. The one that looks like some sort of a ham loaf baked inside bread?

Creekside wrote:Very Cool Luc! Merci d'avoir partagé. Dommage pour le pouce. We will be in Paris in awhile and ces images sont grandes. My wife has forbidden me from riding any rough stuff until we are back for the same reason as your thumb. I wasting the rest of the last TKC80 rear on 435 commutes and Olathe gravel roads.

Rester en sécurité mais amusant

Google translator works ok I guess. Thought it was needed! I only know Spanish a bit, no French.

Au Revoir!

Enjoy your trip! Paris is a pretty cool city but it is still a city

How long will you be there? Are you on your own or is it some kind of an organized tour?

Luc

Savage wrote:Cool pics Luc! I don't know what else to say because I know nothing about France. I'm curious what that food is. The one that looks like some sort of a ham loaf baked inside bread?

It is called "Pate en croute" it is actually probably pretty good

We are on our own, gang of four, chasing down pastries, art, food and wine. I don't like organized tours, if I want to spend hours in the Louvre or crypt tours, I am doing it. Yeah its a city, and no two wheeled activity planned. Probably take a day or two off to Palace of Versailles and the country side. Week there then Bavaria be interesting to compare the countries.

The next day we are off to visit the Livradois-Forez area. We start by following the Senouire river towards La Chaise Dieu.



Lots of small roads, small bridges, in an out of the trees.








We finally make it to La Chaise Dieu and take a pick in the salle des echos



The accoustic of the room are in such a fashion that you can hear each other like if you are standing by each other in each opposite corner. It was believed that it was used for the monks to go to confession and the priest not knowing who they were.

After a quick stop in a chocolaterie we step in the church







Some 600 years old seats...



RV sparky did not feel like he could say he had been in France if he did not bring back this picture :rolf



From there we headed to Ambert where we wanted to check out the Moulin Richard de Bas





At this point our GPS routed us a different way so quite ironically I took the dirt road RV sparky is on and he took pavement to come to that point :huh



The mill was closed but we could not visit it, we were over lunch hour. We took a few pictures in front of it







The pictures below are from a previous trip, so you can see what it looks like inside. They are using the water from the local river to turn a wheel that animates some hammers that mash down soem whote cotton clothes in small particles. they then take that mix of water and small part of cotton and form paper sheets out of it. they ahve to press the water out and dry them. In the summer time they include flowers in the mix to decorate the paper.









We were then back on the road for the rest of our adventures







WE decide to stop for a small break. Note the trees that have been recently cut and stacked up



This piece of information is relevant as after a few kms RVsparky stop because his low tire light is coming on. We soon discover he had a small piece of wood lodged in his tire.




To make a long story short, we tried to fixed it that night unsuccessfully and had to leave the bike here until morning to come back and fix it for good.

Getting the bike out of the grass



The plug



Cut and ready to go again




Not a bad place to have broke down. As RVspparky is doing the work, I admire the local landscape.

Great pictures and story. It is another place I now want to ride.

ajayhawkfan wrote:Great pictures and story. It is another place I now want to ride.

let me know when :deal

gagnaou wrote:

ajayhawkfan wrote:Great pictures and story. It is another place I now want to ride.

let me know when :deal

The drawback of me going: I would have to take my wife.

Can you actually ride a US bike in Europe? I'd imagine there are forms and paperwork, fees...emissions bs

Unless your riding up Utah beach! Just don't get stuck in the sand. Steal a plate in Cherbourg.

Cool. Enjoyed it. My wife is French so we go back to visit her family each year and I try to rent a bike for at least a few days each time. She is from the Alsace area. Tons of killer riding in the area. Just went in April.
Jim