Anduze - Mauriac
Distance – 336km
Overview. Effectively the last
day that included the stunning Gorge du Tarn and Puy Mary . . . and some pretty
tricky roads!
Mauriac Snapshot
History – A place of dissidents and epiphanies. The daughter of a famous ruler reported that she had had a vision of the Virgin Mary carrying the infant Christ which led to the area becoming the centre of a considerable pilgrimage. Increasing wealth allowed the abbey to begin construction of a considerable Romanesque church in the 11th century which was completed in the 13th. It all fell apart in the French Wars of Religion and the French Revolution. The town became notable during the Revolutionary period for the work of Catherine Jarrige (1754–1836) of the Dominican Order, famous both for her works of charity and for concealing refractory priests who refused to compromise with state control of the Church. Mauriac remains a place of pilgrimage.
Elevation – 351 – 760mPopulation – 3,900
Coming to an End . . .
Sadly, today was always going to be effectively the end of the biking trip as we 'need' to be back in L'Isle Jourdain on Saturday to meet up with Jim and Cathy who are coming down from Lewes. As usual, I was up and about doing what I do . . . and then I went down the river with Tim and the dogs for a walk and to get some croissants and bread for breakfast and lunch.
Sadly, today was always going to be effectively the end of the biking trip as we 'need' to be back in L'Isle Jourdain on Saturday to meet up with Jim and Cathy who are coming down from Lewes. As usual, I was up and about doing what I do . . . and then I went down the river with Tim and the dogs for a walk and to get some croissants and bread for breakfast and lunch.
We managed to get away at a near record time of 9:50am
and fuelled up a few hundred metres down the road. There were two main objectives of the day - to
ride the famous Gorge du Tarn and to see if we could get near the top of Puy
Mary - the highest volcano in France.
Two of the three bikes achieved both.
Bucket List Road . . .
If someone was compiling a shortlist of 'must do' roads I would nominate the Gorge du Tarn as a likely contender. This biking Meca starts at Fuax and follows a deep gorge. And we were well ready for the Tarn's twisties because we got straight into it in the morning when we left Anduze . . . the good bits started about 2km from our friends' house and didn't stop all day! We pulled out of it (or should I say up out of it!) at St Enimie and climbed up to the surrounding tableland.
Bucket List Road . . .
If someone was compiling a shortlist of 'must do' roads I would nominate the Gorge du Tarn as a likely contender. This biking Meca starts at Fuax and follows a deep gorge. And we were well ready for the Tarn's twisties because we got straight into it in the morning when we left Anduze . . . the good bits started about 2km from our friends' house and didn't stop all day! We pulled out of it (or should I say up out of it!) at St Enimie and climbed up to the surrounding tableland.
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‘Parked up’ in St-Enimie
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Our route took us north along the D-907 past St Jean-du-Gard
(where we were yesterday) towards Florac (B) to enter the stunning Gorge du Tarn. This meant going through some lovely little
towns like St-Enimie (C), Le Massegros (D) and Severac-le-Chateau.
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Looking for some
evil to cure
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Heading for the
Tarn
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In the Tarn
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Put the friggin’
camera away!
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Top of the world
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Local Constabulary . . .
And we were stopped by the Gendarmerie - the local boys in blue! We still have no idea what they wanted, but they were very polite and waved us on after a cursory look at the two bikes. And when the man in charge realised we were Aussies he said 'Les champions rubis du monde' - which translates as something like 'the rugby champions of the word'. Of course I didn't disagree as I just wanted to get out of there. But I can now claim it as fact because I have it on very good authority!
Eventually we started heading a little to the north
towards Laissac (E), Espalion (F), Estang and Entraygues (G) where we stopped
for lunch. It was here that Chris
decided to remain on the ‘low roads’ while the rest of us went for broke to ascend
Puy Mary (H)!
Onwards and Upwards . . .
This meant taking some lovely roads through such towns as Mur-de-Barrez Paulmac and Vic-sur-Cere before making our ‘accent’. We probably weren’t on the ideal kinds of bikes for some pretty dodgy and twisty roads - but we can say we did it! We understand that Puy Mary is the highest volcano in all of France.
Finally we made our way through Salers (I) and into Mauriac to the hotel (eventually!) and met up with Chris – who arrived about an hour before us.
This meant taking some lovely roads through such towns as Mur-de-Barrez Paulmac and Vic-sur-Cere before making our ‘accent’. We probably weren’t on the ideal kinds of bikes for some pretty dodgy and twisty roads - but we can say we did it! We understand that Puy Mary is the highest volcano in all of France.
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We came in on this
road
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At Puy Mary
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Puy Mary itself
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Stunning valley
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Coming Down . . .
And so we made our way down the volcano and towards the end of this fabulous ride. Some of the slopes on the way down were 16% - the SV accelerated in second without brakes. The roads weren’t much better as we descended into the warmer air – and that Power Ranger John had a bug in his helmet and had to make an extra quick stop to extricate it!
And so we made our way down the volcano and towards the end of this fabulous ride. Some of the slopes on the way down were 16% - the SV accelerated in second without brakes. The roads weren’t much better as we descended into the warmer air – and that Power Ranger John had a bug in his helmet and had to make an extra quick stop to extricate it!
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| And down on this road |
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Another stunning
valley
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Debugging the Power Ranger's helmet!
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Finally we made our way through Salers (I) and into Mauriac to the hotel (eventually!) and met up with Chris – who arrived about an hour before us.
After taking off our Power Ranger gear for nearly the
last time on this ride we headed up the main street to find a lovely restaurant
for ‘end of ride’ dinner.
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Mauriac high
street – where is Garmin when you need him?
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Auv Hotel Mauriac
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| The bright lights of Mauriac |
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| The long of it . . . the ride is almost over! |
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