Redon was our closing point for the biking this year and from there we travelled by train to visit family and friends and return our bikes for wintering-over. First back to Nantes, then through to Orléans. We met up with our close friend from neighbouring Ngaio, Warwick, in three different locations - Orléans, Clermont-Ferrand and Lyon. We climbed up the Puy-de-Dôme near Clermont-Ferrand.
For those of you who like photos, here is a small selection.
Nantes
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| Eglise St-Nicolas |
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| Place Royale |
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| Play on words - 'beautician' for dogs |
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| Entry to Chateau des ducs de Bretagne (with moat) |
Orléans
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| One of the older houses |
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| And another |
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| Kitties have grown! |
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| Cathedral by night |
Lyon
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| We ate at the bouchon on the right. (Rodney in blue T-shirt) |
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| Four different stuffed vegetables |
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| Jacquard loom for silk - 19th century |
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| Extremely fine silk weaving picture of silk workshop 19th C |
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| Au revoir, bikes! |
Clermont-Ferrand region
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| Local volcanic dome at Cournon, with Warwick |
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| Wooden sabots, traditionally made (by hand) |
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| Super-Besse ski field is used for mountain biking in summer |
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| And also has a 'Tyrolean' cable, 1600 m long, 240m descent Person is attached to the cable like a delta plane. |
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| Sheepkins for sale in Besse |
Clermont-Ferrand and Puy-de-Dôme
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| Puy de Dome from Clermont-Ferrand |
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| Lots of open spaces |
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| The cathedral is made of black basalt |
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| Happy walkers at Puy-de-Dôme - summit behind us |
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| The train we didn't take... |
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| Many paragliders jumped off the slopes |
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| The ruins of the Roman Temple of Mercury are being worked on |
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| The path up (and down) is wide, though steep in places |
