{"id":19126,"date":"2015-12-05T18:12:21","date_gmt":"2015-12-05T18:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/?p=19126"},"modified":"2019-04-02T12:39:31","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T11:39:31","slug":"sleeping-on-yet-another-volcano-puy-de-dome-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/sleeping-on-yet-another-volcano-puy-de-dome-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleeping on yet another Volcano \u2013 Puy de D\u00f4me, France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zagan the motorhome is spending the night on his first volcano, his predecessor Dave slept on Vesuvius and Etna \u2013 so he\u2019s got a little way to go to catch him up. He\u2019s parked up in the car park of the Puy de D\u00f4me (N45.76934, E2.98439) part of the Chaine des Puy, the youngest string of volcanoes in France.<\/p>\n

We cruised up the motorway for three hours in thick fog, not expecting to be able to see the volcano when we got here, but as we entered Clermont-Ferrand the skies cleared and our target came into view.<\/p>\n

\"No<\/a>

No chance of seeing the viewpoint today!<\/p><\/div>\n

\"DSC07783<\/a> \"DSC07784<\/a><\/p>\n

A bit of wiggling around the edges of the town and we made it to the car park. Our plan was to stay here and climb it tomorrow, but as the weather was so good we grabbed a quick spot of lunch then set off.<\/p>\n

\"DSC07790<\/a> \"DSC07793<\/a><\/p>\n

Having not done much reading up on this place we assumed the walk to the top would take around 40 mins \u2013 which it did, from the car park that was on the other side of the volcano! We\u2019d parked in the one that the train goes from, so 6 kilometres and a breathless couple of hours later we submitted and vowed to get the train back down.<\/p>\n

\"Not<\/a>

Not enjoying the climb up<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Pooch<\/a>

Pooch cools off during the climb!<\/p><\/div>\n

Train tickets bought (Charlie\u2019s was \u20ac3.30, Jay and I were \u20ac6 each, but it was worth every cent) and we could relax and wander around the broad summit area. Information boards told of the history; an ancient temple, the first radio transmissions, the first flight to here from Paris as part of a competition. But it was the views out across the other craters in the chain (there are 80 in total spanning just under 20 miles) and Clermont-Ferrand at our feet that took our attention. That and the non-stop stream of para-punters leaping off the top (see below for all the photos!).<\/p>\n