Lac Chambon, Le Tour & Mankini Monsieurs

The drive from Clermont-Ferrand towards the campsite took us past the elevated chateau at Murol, then along the shores of Lac Chambon in the Puy-de-Dome area, of the Massif Central mountains.

Arriving at a little town dominated by a lake, sitting 877m above sea level, the lake sits in the Chaudefour valley surrounded by higher ground all around, including peaks being climbed as part of the 10th Stage of le Tour De France, the main reason we had decided to visit this destination.

Created 16,000 years ago as a result of volcanic eruption from the eastern slopes of the Sancy massif, surrounded by trees with 2 little beaches at either end, Lac Chambon covers around 60 hectares yet is just 4m deep. Above it sits the top of the volcano Puy-De-Sancy (1,793m) and the peak of Mont Dore (1,883m) amongst others.

Along the road and outside the campsite - there were loads of other campervans pitched up and making the side of the road their home for a day or two awaiting Le Tour, it became apparent a day or so later that the "wild campers" were perhaps taking advantage of the campsite facilities!! Cheeky!!

Back to our arrival - Jill had arrived about 30 minutes ahead of us and despite alerting reception to our impending arrival, we somehow managed to be given pitches at opposite ends of the campsite.... that's high altitude french hospitality I guess ... however more of our other pitch neighbours later!!

Just as we had settled in, a little bit of a dispute occurred behind us with raised voices being hear, earlier someone had taken our electric cable out of the power socket and put theirs in... we then took out the offending cable and replaced ours back in the same socket..... shortly afterwards a "discussion" took place with two different neighbours, resulting in one of them moving his cable to another power point.... a little bit of evening light entertainment!

Once settled in, and as the sun was shining we caught up on what we had been up to on our travels, Jill having been on both the north and south coasts since being in France, we chatted over a chilled beverage or two and some nibbles... a couple of hours later the BBQ came out.

After dinner, at the communal wash up area, I got chatting to a group of chaps who had set up camp not far from us ... they were in party mood.

It suggested a group of 20 or so men of all ages, staying in mostly 2 man tents with a larger marquee set up for their meals and entertainment.

I was informed that they meet up every year to watch Le Tour, the last 10 years of locations proudly displayed on the back of their tour T-shirts.

The wash up area was all very amicable, I was given a run down of their menus for the duration of their stay, the mass catering veered towards mostly pasta, and despite waiting a while until they had cleaned a whole canteen worth of crockery and utensils, I could then use a sink.

Back at Tassie, french fizzy and non fizzy vin had been consumed .. and around midnight we waved Jill off as she ambled her way back in the dark to "Billy" (her van which is from the same company as Tassie). We would arrange a rendezvous the following day.

The following morning... it was another hot one... and our only thought would be to take a wander into the town area to see if we could find a good spot to watch Le Tour the following day. It would also be the only available time to drive out of the camp site before road closures took effect the following day.

Leaving Jill on her laundry and domestic duties, and arranging to catch up later, Jo and I took a drive up to the village of Mont Dore via Murol, to have a quick look at the route the cyclists would be taking around 24 hours later.

After each hairpin bend up towards the peak of Mont Dore we saw individual and groups of people spilling out of every shape and size of camper van, cramming themselves and their vehicles into every available space without encroaching on the roadside, some looked like they had recently arrived, others looked like they had been there for some time - all enjoying the ambience with a midday wine or beer in hand.

The roads were narrow and thankfully we were following a couple of other vehicles, it was a comfort to know that any down hill traffic would be slowed down on their approach towards us, coupled with lots of amateur cyclists of all sizes, ages and colours of lycra sharing the same road up and down, it was quite a circus, a little hairy at times due to the narrow roads and volume of traffic squeezed into the bottleneck towards the summit of the town of Mont Dore. {Fun Fact... Mont Dore is close to the source of the Dordogne River}

It took a lot longer to navigate around the course than planned, that said it was definitely worth going up the hill to witness the spectacle of the event, the level of fanaticism, banners, road markings, fancy dress it had it all, we were left with the thought we may follow their lead and get a good spot along a hilly route if we follow Le Tour again, the vibe felt an anticipatory party was being planned and everyone was invited.

Mont Dore looked an interesting french ski type village, a summer hiker's paradise, a winter skier's playground. We could not stop for a quick wander as it was so busy, but managed to get a decent look at the places as driving was at a crawling pace due to the high volume of visitors.

A short time later we were back at the campsite, so Jill, Jo and I took a walk down the pathways towards the lake, the plan was to find a favoured spot along the main road to watch Le Tour go by the following day.

After what we thought was the most direct way through winding paths and a swampy board walk, we finally reached the lake's beach and promenade.

It was like emerging into a seaside resort with the beach buzzing with sun worshippers and families, the lake buoyant with paddle boarders, kayakers and a few braver swimmers.

We wandered alongside the lake towards the chateau at Murol, thinking we may see it again (Jill had missed it on her way in- but probably due to driving on the right - in a left driver vehicle).

Le Tour and Bastille Day coincided the following day, we hoped to see the chateau hosting a firework display (as confirmed by Jill's chatty English campsite neighbour who was a regular to the area over many years).

Walking past a local cheese maker meant 2 things, buy cheese and / or get some air conditioning cooling for a few minutes - we did both as Jo bought some cheese, and hovering in the shop for a short time seemed a good bargain.

After a while and in the heat, we opted to give up on walking much further, especially as the road layout was not that helpful to pedestrians, and it was unlikely to see the chateau as it was much further on, so on the way back towards camp we opted to grab a drink, a sunshine beer and crépe was quickly scoffed! ...not least as we were the only customers left and the cafe was about to close for their late afternoon siesta!

Back at camp we pottered about for a bit, Jill then rejoined us for another night of enjoyable chat, however just before 'BBQ O'Clock' the "entertainment" commenced....

After a few glitches to get it going, a sound system had been set up, which got our attention, and what looked like all of our neighbouring man group of Le Tour fans walking across the open field, each one in a lime green mankini!

All heights and body shapes on display, most in rather ill fitting garments... many had left little to the imagination, some chaps would have benefitted from a bigger size or some extra elasticity to maintain a degree of modesty. P.S manscaping does not seem to be a thing for french guys of a certain age!

Our phone cameras came out.. we stepped forward to have a better view 🤣... the kids came out of their tents, parents put the dinner cooking duties on hold, and we all witnessed one of the funniest campsite acts ever... the Mankini Monsieurs.

The group all started to "dance" - not particularly in unison but some with gusto and others not knowing their left or right, singing along to a track (Femme que j'aime by Jean-Luc Lahaye) which was now pumping out of their large speaker system ... there was a very enthusiastic ringleader out front leading the moves - he was more sumo wrestler than a Wayne Sleep! (See video for evidence).. the fun was brought to an end by the camp staff turning up on their quad bike.....guessing the noise was the issue not the mankini movers.

Back to Tassie for dinner and before long it was dark and another evening of waving Jill off back to Billy, our plan was an easy morning and head over to the Lac area early afternoon, as the pre cyclist caravan would be coming through around 2.30pm ish.

Armed with our camp seats, drinks, snacks, and sun cream we headed out to find our spot to cheer on the spectacle, and instead of taking the same route as we had walked the previous day, we opted to go along the main road... which by this point in the day had seen a huge number of other Le Tour fans arrive and pitch up on the verge and pavement... we walked along stopping at the official merch stand (obligatory!) and then found a spot with the lake to our back.

It was an easy wait, there seemed to be much activity with people arriving and setting up, at one point we through the official Skoda cars had run out of electric as they stopped directly in front of us... with some mutterings from us thinking how odd this was, and what would they have to do??

Turns out it was deliberate, after moving some people off the opposite grass verge their cars and van bumped onto it, promo staff dressed uniformly in branded green came out to put up banners whilst others set up their tent box cars, they then started to hand out free merch....to help reduce their burden we took some gear off of their hands.... resulting in a new Skoda branded bucket hat, t-shirt, shopping bag (or 2) and a rain poncho all round.

Our little area had turned into Skoda central... many people getting their freebie t shirt and hat on... it was fun to watch the area turn green!

The crazy caravan came through shortly after throwing out various items... Jill became the proud owner of the little nutty sausages!

Another 30 minutes of hilarity ensued ... the Orangina bottle, the leeks, and all of the other vehicles, music blaring ... the crowd enthusiastic to each one that passed.

Jo had been tracking the cyclists but her phone signal was intermittent, we knew the cyclists had already completed one big hill and had been in the saddle for more than 3 hours, so it was likely to have a leading group, as well as some back markers (the sprinters) ... so the cyclists would likely come through in groups... we were not disappointed... Jill and I were also on the lookout for the Kelso rider Oscar Onley (he was sitting 4th in the GC).

The speed at which they passed us was in the high 30 km /hr, it was a great spectacle... the crowd lifting the riders to pedal on...the various groups went by over a 25 minute window...it was hard to make out any of them except the leading coloured jerseys.

Before long it was over, all supporting vehicles had departed, the helicopters moved further into the distance following the race leaders up the tree lined roads going towards Mont Dore.

We started to head back to camp .. stopping by the beach at a Le Tour event tent complete with a huge screen showing the live feed of the race, which was coming to the top of the mountain at Mont Dore within the next 10 minutes or so.

We watched as Simon Yates (GB) got himself into the lead after a decisive attack up the gruelling mountain.... with about 2 minutes to the finish line... the big screen connection was lost..... the crowd sighed.....some french seemed less interested as they went back to their beach activities - others crowded around those that were streaming from their phone... the organisers apologising by PA, and trying without much success to reconnect.. it was a bit of an anti climax... however a Brit won the stage on Bastille Day ... the stage that all french riders want to win.

When the live feed returned the race had been won, just remaining riders seen crossing the line... who knows how much we may have cheered if we had seen the win in full big screen glory!!.......we decided to take the slightly shorter route back.

Back at camp - it was our last night ... no men's dancing troupe, no one fighting over the electrics... just a lot of people looking a little weary from being out in the sun for longer than most had planned..... freebie t shirts and hats still worn .... dinner and an earlier night rounded off the day.

The thought of a walk (or cycle) back to find a vantage point to see the Murol chateau fireworks which were scheduled to start at 22.00 was losing its appeal as the evening continued, around 22.40 we finally heard the bangs and whizzes of the pyros.... a little later than planned, but we were all fairly glad not to have made the trek back to see them.

Tomorrow we leave camp, say goodbye to Jill, and head north ... we are on the home leg to Caen!Read more