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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2886 |
22nd October 2012 Kayaking - Surf Skiing: Lac Castelnau Lassouts. Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny Max Speed: Distance Covered: Saturday 20th October 2012 – travelling – windy, cloudy and rain still :( Woke up to dark clouds and wind and then rain! Mag had a headache and felt really rough:( Attempted my exercises but had to give up after rain stopped play! Another late breakfast ! We packed up and left Salagou after saying goodbye to Rudy. We stopped at the Super U, filled up with Diesel and cake and drove up the free motorway. It is a really beautiful journey with lovely hills, cliffs and little towns. As we came into Millau we saw a huge flock of Vultures (Rudy had only said yesterday that he always sees them at Millau:)) so we stopped and had a look at them (in the rain:() Went to the bridge viewing point aire for our lunch and by now Mag was feeling a lot better and ate lots of bread and butter! Walked over to the centre just to have a wander and collect yet another brochure on the Aveyron area! As we drove away from Millau we saw a huge flock of birds and stopped on the hard shoulder to have a good look and they were mostly Red Kites a random selection of other hawks (once again difficult to identify) and a single vulture. Again amazing scenery:) Left the motorway and headed over towards the Lac Castelnau Lassouts. Really pretty road with lots of autumn colours in the trees and livestock in the fields. We went through two really interesting old towns - St. Geniez d’Olt and Ste Eulalie d’Olt which we may visit on the way back – both on the river Lot. We found the lake and drove miles along a track around the edge (had to get out and move a fallen tree out the way at one point!). There are lots of no camping car and camping savauge interdit signs! We crossed the 2 barrages and saw a sign to a closed campsite/restaurant at Aleuzet so decided to go and have a look because it sounded as if it might be a good place to stop – especially as it was getting dark! The road took us through a tiny village with its own castle :) Aleuzet turned out to be perfect – a nice picnic area right on the lake and there is another camper right up the other end so we are not the only ones here but they are far enough away not to be a pain:) We can’t even see them. It was virtually dark but we went and had a look at the map with a torch and are hoping for good weather tomorrow. It did brighten up after Millau so fingers crossed :) I am now 3 games of phase 10 ahead!! How did that happen :) Sunday 21st October - relax and sightsee – cloudy and rain to start brightening later Woke to a dry, cloudy morning but with beautiful views over the lake to the castle at Mandailles and the autumn colours in the trees :) There were a few fishermen but not many. Did exercises outside and had breakfast a lot earlier than the last couple of days. The weather looked ok so we thought we might take the canoe out on the lake and head towards the castle and the dams. No sooner had we had breakfast than it started to pour with rain :( Luckily we hadn’t started to pump the canoe up! Decided to have a wander round the two towns we came through yesterday. We drove around the lake on the track and went to Ste Eulalie d’Olt. It was a lovely place – lots of old houses and narrow streets dating back to the 1600s. Even managed to buy some bread on a Sunday! Ate our lunch sitting on the river bank as the weather had cheered up and we saw a kingfisher :) It has been a good bird watching day, started off with a nuthatch right next to the van then a woodpecker, 2 kingfishers and a dipper:) Went on to St. Geniez d’Olt which wasn’t quite so quaint or old but had a good walk there. The courtyard with the Marie and tourist information was lovely with plane trees providing lots of shade (good if the sun had been out!!). Walked along the river and then up to a statue up on the hill near the cemetery. They have a statue on the bridge of some children with a marmotte which seems to hold some significance for the town as they have a marmotte on everything, even their drain covers! Drove back along the river to another picnic area/slipway called Pont de Louis. We thought about staying here the night but after a cuppa, cake (too much of!!) and 2 games of phase 10 (both of which I won making it 18-13!!) we decided to come back to our little place at Aleuzet as it is quieter and if we canoe tomorrow it has more scope. However, getting here was a bit tricky – we came in on the main road instead of the track around the lake and the road through the village of Mandailles was horrendous! Scarily steep and narrow. If we had got stuck today I don’t know what we would have done because the van doesn’t like reversing backwards at all!!!! We were ok though and Mag even took a couple of photos (which don’t show how steep/narrow it was at all!) Monday 22nd October 2012 – canoe **** sunny periods Woke up a mixed sky – sun and blue over Mandailles and white cloud coming down the hills in front of us. We were just doing our exercises, enjoying the peace and quiet, watching nuthatches smash acorns to pieces on tree trunks right next to us and cormorants croaking and flying from their roost opposite, when 2 vans full of English fishermen who leapt out of their vans, cooked bacon, chatted really loudly and then left! I was most put out!! After breakfast we got organised and launched the canoe from the jetty – this is easier said than done because the steps down to the jetty are deadly – broken, slippery and very steep! – and the whole thing moves all the time! Mag is useless and very clumsy getting into the canoe at the best of times but luckily we managed and even got a photo on timer without tipping up! We canoed towards Mandailles really close to the bank then further on until we were as near as you could get to the dam. Turned round, came back along the opposite bank and stopped for lunch directly opposite where we are parked. The lake is just like a very deep river really – it is fairly narrow and meanders so we followed it along for another hour or so. We were thrilled to see some huge carp in the shallows and especially in the inlets we canoed into :) We also saw a dead catfish which was about 3’ long! We were out nearly 6 hours and travelled about 6 miles in total. When we got back there were a couple of old boys fishing on the jetty which complicated the procedure of getting out and back to the van even more but it was fine:) We left the canoe on the jetty to dry, came back to the van, sat in the sun for a cuppa and to finish the cake from yesterday. We read our books and played cards then went down to pack the canoe up. There was only one fisherman left as his mate had gone back to fish near his car – he nodded to the canoe and gestured that it was brilliant how it folded up so small. Back at the van I had just said I don’t know why he is bothering to fish from that jetty it looks bloomin uncomfortable when the old boy scrambled about to try and get his landing net and was reeling in! I rushed down and helped him to land an enormous cat fish! Poor old thing. Mag didn’t go to see it but the fisherman was really keen for me to take his picture and kept saying photo, thank you :) Hopefully it died for a reason and he is going to eat it otherwise it will be an even bigger waste! Photo Gallery here Tuesday 23rd October – travelling - sunny Dan’s 22nd Birthday so texted him Happy Birthday and told him his pressie should be in his bank :) Also 2 years today since Mag’s poor old Dad died – miss him every single day :( We woke up to a very foggy lake and it was quite chilly too! Still did exercises and had breakfast outside as it seemed wrong not to. We watched the cloud clear over the water and the lovely autumn colours appearing through the mist :) Packed up and left our spot, driving around the lake to St. Geniez d’Olt. Lovely dew covered cobwebs in the trees :) We saw the English fishermen, they had split up into two groups a little distance apart on our side of the lake, a little competition going on we think! Visited the tourist information just before it closed and got the information on the town and lake. We also just got through the doors of the intermarche when they locked them so were able to whiz round and get the bare essentials before they closed for lunch :) Drove out of the beautiful Lot valley and onto the free motorway to Clermont Ferrand. The scenery was spectacular, very hilly with gorgeous colours. Stopped at the Garrabit Bridge for our lunch which was a lovely spot apart from the boxer dog who decided to adopt us for a while drooling everywhere! We decided to treat ourselves to a run on the toll motorway to Orleans because the alternatives are very time consuming and we are trying to save the brakes as they sound terrible every time we use them now! It cost 24 Euros but was worth it :) Arrived at Combleux where we stayed in June at about 7, jumped out and went for a quick walk to the River Loire and back before it got dark. Wednesday 24th October - travelling Woke to a cool and misty morning but we still went for a walk round Combleux before heading to Le Clerc to buy an axe!!! (For firewood at home :)) and fill up with cheap diesel. Drove to Pont de L’Arche for lunch by the river. We made such good time we were able to stop at Boulogne where we parked by the walled town and went for a walk round the ramparts. We bought Jay a beret – we thought about it ages ago but couldn’t find one anywhere else in France! We knew they had them in the walled city - a surprising 3 euro bargain :) Went to Ambletouse for a cuppa and our last cake about 4.30 and the sun was out :) We parked right by the beach near the fort and where the fisherman came ashore :) It is a lovely little place (we walked here from the Dunes de la Slack last year but couldn’t get across the river which runs out onto the beach to visit the actual place. We went for a lovely walk on the beach and did some rock pooling seeing lots of little crabs burying themselves in the sand when Mag moved the rocks and some little stripy fish. It was really nice to see so many young couples with small children walking and playing on the beach as the sun was going down. The sun set was beautiful and had everyone watching and taking photos. Arrived at our usual night before departure spot at Escalles - in the Cap Blanc car park. We finished the phase 10 tournament and although Mag did get another game back I reign Supreme and it ended 20-17 and 2 draws. |
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