The continuation of adventure.
The fourth day I stepped out into the cooler air of the morning at 7:00. Even 22° Celsius felt cool compared to the +30° Celsius in the afternoon and evenings.
This day I decided to look up some more history in a west to southwest direction. It was a route past beautiful castles, picturesque villages and various other objects that aroused my curiosity. The turning point of the route was at Pont de Menat. Here I rode with Lazuli first over a medieval bridge, then turned back over an original Roman bridge and then under the medieval bridge into the beautiful Gorges de la Sioule.
It was the first real canyon that Lazuli and I rode through on this adventure. The beautiful rock walls and rock formations towered high above us. Created by the clear river along which the road wound through the gorge.
What you may also encounter are a kind of industrial washing drums, slowly decaying into oblivion over time. These have often been used within the Massif Central of France for washing out gemstones and gold.
After intensively studying such a washing drum, I rode to Vichy. The micro SD cards I was using were quickly filling up, so I decided to look for a few extra ones. It took a while, but I finally managed to score a number of them at a Leclerc specialized in electronics, in the historic city of Vichy.
In Vichy, however, I soon saw Lazuli's temperature meter indicate 40° Celsius. Due to the traffic, it took a while before I could escape the heat in the city, which at a certain point started to bother me a lot. Even constantly drinking water from the Camel bag on my back while riding did not provide me with sufficient support.
After riding almost 250 kilometers, I finally managed to find some refreshment at Domaine Barreaux before we found a table at a restaurant together for a pleasant end to the day.
Because of the heat I decided to ride early the next morning. So around 7:00 I left with Lazuli. This time in a southerly direction to some higher roads in the mountains. The Monts du Forez. Hoping to find a little bit of relief of the heat here.
In general, the temperature fluctuated between 29° and 33° Celsius. Compared to the higher temperatures the day before, this felt almost like a cooling down.
The area is truly beautiful. Beautiful forests, rivers, rock formations and wildlife. For example, I was fortunate to encounter a beautiful young deer walking in front of me and a large bird of prey that flew along for a long distance a few meters above me before it chose to go in a different direction. This is also part of an adventure!
The literal highlight was Col du Béal with a pass height of 1,390 meters. A mountain pass located in the middle of the Hautes Chaumes. Extensive open plateaus with mainly heather vegetation. The roads are fantastic. Regularly narrow and technical. It was therefore quite a challenge to complete the 330 kilometer route. I therefore concluded that it would be wise to adjust the route to a shorter variant for 2024.
The sixth day arrived again. A somewhat shorter route of approximately 225 kilometers was planned. A nice playful route in a southeasterly direction. Once again past beautiful rock formations in sometimes even more beautiful forest areas. It was a route with everything. It also provided time to take a little more time at sightseeing. Such as the Eglise Notre-Dame de Châtel-Montagne and the beautiful castle of La Palice in Lapalisse.
Unfortunately, for me the afternoon did not end in the cooling swimming pool of Domaine Barreaux, but mainly with a lot of calling around and consultations for my work. Sometimes it happens that other things take precedence, and in this case I also had such a situation. Fortunately, I was able to find the solutions and I was able to enjoy Rita and Luc's fantastic cooking skills again with a lower stress level. A very welcome moment of rest and enjoying a beautiful sunset.
continued in part 1.3!
EN 
NL