Day 6 - Aubusson to Le Mont Dore

After a very comfortable night a Hotel La Beauze...thank you Eric and Lissette for the hospitality, we gathered for the morning's briefing.  Today was basically up, there would be some downs thrown in for good measure but the profile showed pretty much up!

We set out at a nice leisurely pace this morning, the sun was shining again and a hot day was forecast.  The cycling was easy to navigate today and the climbs gentle through the forests and then beside the cow pastures, there were many beautiful Limousin cows to admire.

The brew van seemed to be there within no time and we all enjoyed our tea and coffee with lots of fresh fruit and madeleines thanks to the lovely Isabelle.  We continued to gently climb and were then cycling along beautiful rolling roads until our lunch stop at Verneugheol.  We were a little early for lunch so took the opportunity to relax over a coke or a coffee and watch the world go by...Becky even managed 40 winks on a lounger.  We had a lovely lunch at the restaurant and then set off for the afternoon where the climbs promised to increase and take us over the 1000m altitude mark.

I cycled alone for a good few miles after lunch, taking photos every now and again, the Massif Central was beginning to rise in the distance.  After a quick afternoon brew stop 4 of us set off together for the final climbing of the day and the descent into Le Mont Dore.

The final climb was up the Col de Guery, oh I love a good col!  And this was a good one, with an amazing lookout over the Auvergne...such beautiful countryside.
After the obligatory Col sign photo we descended into Le Mont Dore a spa and ski town and found the very lovely Grand Hotel, the ski room was the home of the bikes for the night.

I had a wander round town when I was showered, it was lovely.  The River Dordogne flows through the town, quite a small stream at this point in its journey before it reaches the Atlantic as part of the Garonne.

I went for pizza for dinner with Sue, Sharon, Helen and Helen and enjoyed a couple of cold beers.  The weather has been amazing so far and looks to continue.

https://www.strava.com/activities/362546928

Miles - 60
Ascent - 1650m
Rode with - most people and solo, afternoon finished with Becky, Jen, Rhys and Bob
Cols - Col de Guery 1268m
Weather -  Beautiful, hot and sunny around 39 degrees at the top mark
Extra interesting bits - The scenery around us changing from rolling countryside to hills and rock faces, a very beautiful part of the world.