Bassin D’Orage De La Vallèe Du Bèdat

Last night, at 10pm the distant sound of drumming started and it got louder and closer. We looked out the window laying on the bed and it looked like the whole town had come through the car park following a procession of drummers. Hundreds and hundreds of people marched and chanted through the car park, down a path and then after some announcement of a loud speaker system the music and fireworks started. Ellie and I quickly got dressed and ran outside in our pyjamas and coats and stood in the car park watching a huge fireworks display that lasted a good 20 minutes.
This morning, when we woke up at 7am, it was a chilly 9°c in Wanda and just 3°c outside. It was so cold we had to light the fire. By 8:30am we were ready to roll and stopped on the way out to empty the toilet,grey water and refill the fresh water.
The town was holding the second of it’s festivals today and in France they start early so at 8am the roads were closed, stalls came out and tents had been erected.
Fortunately we found someone that spoke English and he in turn found someone that spoke French who jumped in Wanda to give us directions.
He guided us through the barriers and to the top of the high street and then proceeded to give us further directions to our destination which was 170 miles all in french. We didn’t understand a word except for the last bit when he said he was very glad that we had decided to stay in his village and thank you for visiting France.
We felt abit overwhelmed with emotion at that point. Sometimes we’re just not sure if we really are welcome when we turn up in the places.
This was one of the nicest villages with the most welcoming people we have stayed in.
We pushed on, stopping at a nice quiet motorway airè for a late breakfast at 11am and then stopping to top the diesel off when we passed an intermarchè as it was cheap, and getting fuel is becoming a problem because of the refinery strikes. The queue’s are bonkers at the fuel stations.
At 2:30pm we finally arrived at our camp spot and it looked beautiful. We’re parked right next to a lake on a big gravel track and there are trails everywhere with hikers and bikers using them. Ellie had a quick nap while I got changed into my biking gear. Then I downloaded a route. Ellie decided she would go for a walk which left me to go biking.
The route I downloaded took me through the National Parks of a volcano and it was a 635m climb at 12% on loose gravel then a 15% decent on granite blocks. It was the most technical biking I’d ever done and at one point I did nearly turn back because I didn’t think I’d be back before dark but fortunately I continued and at the end I had a real sense of achievement.
I arrived back at Wanda at 6:30pm and luckily for me Ellie had made a great dinner of Chinese chicken and noodles, it was well needed. Then we both had our first Wanda showers before settling in for the night and getting in bed at 9:30pm.Read more