From The Rainy Hills of Parc du Pilat to Boulieu les Annonay

Zagan the motorhome has had a couple of days in the hills of the Naturel Regional Parc Du Pilat and is now tucked between hedges on a campsite-esque pitch in the motorhome aire at Boulieu les Annonay (N45.26921, E4.66979). A short walk past a well-equipped children’s play area takes us to the medieval centre of the village, which we’ve nipped out to explore during a break in the rain.

‘Be careful what you wish for’, some may say. After ducking into campsites to keep Charlie, the pampered pooch, from panting all day during the recent hot weather, we decided to head for the hills for some cooler air. Leaving the lovely aire at Roanne, we followed the nice free N7 before veering off towards St Etienne. Stopping at the cheapest place we could find for diesel we both winced as Zagan guzzled up numerous litres of the stuff at a princely €1.44 each. The prices are rising here in France, with most roadside places around the €1.50 mark – good job we aren’t going far these days.

Reaching St Etienne the road started to climb and drop, while the land around us was folded into ridges like a crumpled napkin. We didn’t actually get to see the town, just glimpses of high rise blocks between ridges, but when our satnav froze, we soon found ourselves driving around the streets with the obscure junctions and turns of a mountain resort. We tracked down the Lidl we were searching for, bought more stuff than would fit in the fridge (it happens most times we shop as the fridge is only little) and set off to climb up into the Parc du Pilat.

Now the name rang a bell, and it took me a while to remember where I had heard it before. It was the Dune du Pilat that we had climbed on the French coast a few years back. Looking up ‘Pilat’ to see how the two were connected I discovered ‘The name is believed to be derived by one of two tribes of Celtic peoples – the Séguisaves and Allobroges in whose language Pi- = mount and -lat = broad‘ – good old Wikipedia. Did that mean that Mont Pilat in the middle of the park was broad like the dune, we’ll have no idea as we didn’t get that far into the park.

The motorhome aire at Planfoy (N45.37482, E4.44852) was empty when we arrived, but there was a wonderful welcome waiting for us – I named her Dierdre. She reminded me of Wayne the Reindeer who we met roaming around a car park in Norway, but sadly Dierdre was a bit more timid, and as our main camera was out of action, I only managed to get one blurred photo on my phone.

We’ve had a minor leak in our ‘tech’ cupboard which sidelined our camera for a while as it dried. We think the source of the leak was where our solar panel cable comes into the van (and a kitchen roll test has confirmed this). We think that the severe rain we had in Roanne, plus a build-up of tree bits on the roof from the hailstorm the other day led to the roof not draining properly and a puddle building up. A trip to a Bricolage for some sealant and a climb onto the roof is due shortly.

Motorhome parking Planfoy France

The service point at the aire needed a token to use it, so after a rain shower we set off along the path to the town. When we got there pretty much everything was shut, and there wasn’t really much there to be shut. Only the cafe was open. As we were now at over 1000m, the air was much cooler, so we knew Charlie would be fine in the van on his own, so we set off for a walk, together – that hasn’t happened for a while.

We followed the signs to the Gouffre d’Enfer which is one of two (soon to be three) dams in the Furan Valley. The village in on the top of the hills, with a rocky path which went downhill for a couple of kilometres to reach the dam in the valley. Just as we got there, the wind picked up and the rain began. Fortunately it was just a shower and by the time we found shelter it had all but stopped.

Jay heading for shelter on the other side of the dam

Looking down from the Gouffre d’Enfer

With the sun reappearing we had time for a good look around. The dam was one of the first masonry-weighted dams in Europe and was designed and built under the reign of Napoleon III. It was supposed to supply water for, and prevent flooding of St Etienne, but just three years after it was finished it was decided that another dam 2km further upstream was needed. There are cranes visible today building a third dam even further up stream – St Etienne is clearly growing.

Jay is on the top of the world, or actually Roche Corbière, that some people call “The devil’s tooth”

Back in the town it was still shut, but we noticed that the cafe had a sign in the window saying they sold tokens (jetons) for the service point. €2.50 later, as we walked back up to the aire, the sun came out and I was thoroughly out of breath and sweaty by the time we reached Zagan (some 250m higher than the dam).

Yesterday morning Jay got out for a run down to the dam and back as part of his training for the Zermatt Half Marathon in July. He’s been out on several runs, and covered many miles, but after walking this one yesterday I have even more admiration for him and his dedication. About an hour after he got back it started to rain, and set in for the day, followed by thunder and lightning through the night.

So while we wished for cooler weather to keep Charlie comfortable, we didn’t want to spend days holed up in the van watching day time TV to kill some hours, so we packed up and headed off. That’s the beauty of motorhome life, you can go where the weather takes you. This time it has taken us just half an hour away to Boulieu les Annonay, which is at a lower altitude, so warmer and so far a little bit less rainy.

Less rainy, but that is still a very dark storm cloud over the town!

Between showers we nipped out for a look around and to look for somewhere for lunch tomorrow. The small medieval part of the town is sadly best viewed from the air, as shown in the poster by the service point, but it’s still a nice place to look around with a few shops and a couple of cafes for us to choose from.

We plan to stay here for a couple of days while the thunder storms pass, then maybe head for some more hills when it starts to heat up again. We need to get the map out again at some point. I can’t believe it will be June tomorrow, time flies when you are living the motorhome life.

Ju x

Bonus pic – looks like there may have been an alien invasion here in Boulieu les Annonay