DAY 131 FRIDAY AUGUST 3 ANOTHER GORGE

Yesterday we picked up a brochure at the local Tourist Office for a tourist train ride through the Allier gorge which sounded more interesting than the trip to Arlanc we did on Wednesday. But strangely there were no trips scheduled for Friday, Saturday or Sunday. So Malcolm googled the trains from Clermont Ferrand to Nimes and return and found that if we started a train trip at Langogne south of Le Puy en Verlay and travelled through the gorge up to Brioude, we would be able to get a return trip back to Lagogne. There are only two trains each way per day on this line so we were lucky this worked out. So we drove south or an hour plus and showed our Eurail Passes at Langogne Ticket Office where no one spoke English and received return tickets for no charge. The tourist train would have charged over 100€. It was a two carriage diesel train with a small first class section similar to this one parked at the station.

 and it passed through spectacular scenery along the Allier River which falls 400 metres during our two hour trip.

 Left the train at Brioude

 and explored the old town for an hour. As usual there were many old churches and a large Basilica. This had been renovated recently and they had painted the interior stonework white which we had not seen elsewhere. Some of the windows contained modern looking bright colours.

One of the streets featured a date which may have marked liberation in this town.

We got on the returning train at 13.39 and it was a three carriage but more crowded.

We got a different perspective on the gorge on the way back.

Arriving at Lagogne a crowd of people made it difficult for us to get off. The train was going to Marseille on a Friday afternoon so was filling up. As we got in the rental car Ken noticed that someone had opened their car door next to us and left a scrape on our rear door panel. We drove to Pradelles which is classified as one of the four most beautiful towns in France. It is perched on a hillside with spectacular views across the river valley. The houses and lanes are beautifully cared for.

WHERE DID THE WISE MAN BUILD?

WHY DID THIS ONE CRACK?

Then we went to the Pradelles Station which was 3km away and saw the VeloRail facility which was widely advertised. This is a means of transporting four people on a trolley with two pedalling seats and two canvas seats in between.

 A great way to use a discarded rail track. Next we drove back along the road that goes through the Allier gorges and enjoyed seeing some sections for the third time today. The road passes through some of the little villages along the river where our train stopped and climbs over the top sometimes to avoid the steep gorge walls. We were able to look down on the railway and its viaducts.

 It has more than fifty tunnels. This trip was up there with the famous ones in Switzerland for scenery and we saw it from three different perspectives in one day. We claim that as a record. On the way back we saw a statue of La Bete which had killed women and children in the 18thC and we had read about it at Langogne Station where a display was mounted. It is now assumed that it was a wolf or wolves.

Nearing home we passed Allegre where we saw a huge arch fortress which seemed even bigger than the Arc de Triomphe and was built in the 15thC.

 Home at 7.30 for a dinner of scrambled eggs tomato amd onion cooked up in record time by Pam and Lyn.