Invisible Volcanoes

We're back from half a trip to the Parc des Volcans in Auvergne. The weather was so awful, we gave up and came home early! The forecast had got increasingly bad from the time we initially made the hotel bookings, but we were locked into a couple of the bookings so either had to turn up or lose the money.

We left on Thursday in brilliant sunshine and 20°C. By the time we'd ridden for an hour and were up on the plateau de Larzac at le Caylar service station it was 12°C and drizzling. It was also lunch time, but did we want to perch our lunch on the motorbike seat in a nasty drizzle and stand to slurp a soggy sarnie? No we did not, so we turned round and went back to Montpellier.

Wimps! Yes, we had to admit that although, in our heads, we are toughies ready to brave un-fair weather and foul in our search for adventure, in reality, we'd much rather go motorbiking in fine conditions only... So we had our picnic lunch outside on the terrace in warm sunshine, sitting at my garden table, not soggy at all.

Then we unpacked the bike, packed my car and drove to Auvergne instead!

While it was late spring in Montpellier, it was still winter in Auvergne. Even the Col du Pas de Peyrol/Puy Mary col was still closed so we had to take a lengthy detour via the north through Riom-ès-montagne to get to Salers, our first port of call. Could we see those famous volcanoes as we drove along? Not through the relentless rain and low clouds which shrouded everything in heavy mist, no. It was all too reminiscent of holidays in the Lake District...

Typical view of countryside, volcanoes somewhere about...

Salers is one of the Plus Beaux Villages de France, and is splendid in its dark lavastone Gothic glory. Turrets, nooks and crannies around every corner - it's one big photo opportunity.

Salers

Shame muggins here forgot to take her camera... or at least didn't look in the right pocket of her not overly huge handbag and only discovered its whereabouts once back home! Luckily my DB had his phone camera. Mine decided that its memory card was a frivolous irrelevance and refused to acknowledge its presence.

Salers

Half a view from Salers

We stayed at the Hotel Bailliage, in the centre (actually it's so small you're never far from the centre!) run by two brothers who inherited it from their parents. We were in the Audrey Hepburn room, snazzily decorated in yellow, white and black, with some nifty mood lighting. The bed was heavenly - so comfortable, and with snuggly bedlinen.

Audrey Hepburn room at Hotel Bailliage

Misty view from hotel window, temperature outside 5°C

We didn't eat in the restaurant as it was a bit pricey, so found a bar-brasserie and tried a couple of local specialties - pounti (see recipe here) and bourriol which is a buckwheat pancake with batter that's been left to rise overnight. The pounti came as a type of terrine made of pancake batter, ground pork, herbs and prunes, but no swiss chard to my knowledge even though the recipe often has it. My bourriol  was served with butter, as is traditional, and had an unusual smoky taste, presumably from being cooked over wood-smoke.

We washed it down with a red Côte d'Auvergne. Wine from Auvergne? Yes, we'd never heard of it either, but it has an interesting peppery note on the tongue, and the red was just right for the 5°C miserable weather!

Our decision to take the car was vindicated the next day too when the weather got even worse...