“How can you govern a country where there 258 cheese varieties ?” Charles de Gaulle

Finally the air of freedom, we leave Monteils Wednesday noon to roll to the gorges of the Aveyron, where we have lunch after Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val, in a hilltop village which I forgot the name. We spend the afternoon through various villages : Arnac (!), Cornusson and its castle, Bagnac and its medieval bridge, Figeac, etc.. ; sometimes localities with strange names like The Booth or Burned Wood Rabbits ; and several departments : Tarn et Garonne, Tarn, Lot, Cantal, to stop in the small town of Salers, built with black lava rocks of the region. It is also the name of a breed of cows and Auvergne cheese far from being bad !

Ronald on a place of Salers

Cows Auvergne

The next day found us through new villages to Puy-de-Dôme, the area is really nice from ruins, castles, cows and volcanoes looming on the horizon. At the foot of one of the most famous ancient volcanoes of Auvergne, which bears the name of the department, we decide to climb its 300 vertical meters. Hard, hard, but the effort is worth it : atop a breathtaking view over the Chaîne des Puys and Clermont-Ferrand, meteorology laboratory is near the ruins of a temple dedicated to Mercury, built in the first or second century on the site of an ancient Gallic temple. Insured sensations and free entertainment during the summer.

Puy de Dome

Ruins of the Temple of Mercury

We descend into the valley for a brief stint in Clermont-Ferrand, looking for a sign Gergovie. Although the site is said that three kilometers before, we succeeded in passing through the villages of Romagnat and Opme. And it is on the plain where Vercingetorix and the Gauls kicked ass Julius Caesar and the Romans that we spend the night, rocked by the wind and surrounded by sheep.

Gergovie

Lamb Gergovie

Always higher, we roll this time to Bourges, where luckily we found a place in the city center. The city is crowded, music to all corners of streets : is the festival Printemps de Bourges. Without us make inside the festival – paying course, we walk in groups that will fill the cobbled streets. The city is nice and we return to our household gods that after midnight, after attending a string of concerts reposted France 4.

No photographs to the next step, where I write – well almost, je poste avec trois jours de retard 😮 – the capital of France where we are greeted by rain and hail : Welcome to Paris ! Week-end vinyles et bonne bouffe chez un ami, until our next trip to new countries.

Welcome to Paris !