Table of contents

• Motorcycle corner swing in France Southwest of Lyon, around Loire and Allier
• 29 kilometers of green wave
• Vespa Museum in Auzon
• Freshly tarred for the Tour de France
• Final spurt of the tour
• Bathing places for water rats
• Info

Klaus H. Daams

20th pictures

Klaus H. Daams

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In the south-east of the Auvergne, on the upper reaches of the Loire, characterized by the Allier gorges and the crests of extinct volcanoes, curvy motorcycle lanes are fascinating.

Klaus H. Daams

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Down to Prades, the big letters testify to the Tour de France 2017.

Klaus H.. Daams

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The lavishly illuminated cathedral in Le Puy-en-Velay.

Klaus H. Daams

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The Cafe de la Tour in Lavoûte-Chilhac invites you to take a coffee break.

Klaus H. Daams

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Rest at the picturesque church forecourt in Goudet.

Klaus H. Daams

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The otherwise very winding D 40 runs here above the Allier.

Klaus H. Daams

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Tangled streets, each with a “D” in front of them for a permanent grin.

Klaus H. Daams

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Impressive panoramic view of the landmarks of Le Puy-en-Velay.

Klaus H. Daams

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The Lac d’Issarlès crater lake is ideal for water rats.

Klaus H. Daams

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

Klaus H. Daams

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

Klaus H. Daams

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

Klaus H. Daams

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

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Motorcycle curve swing in France

Klaus H. Daams

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Motorcycle curve swing in France

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

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Motorcycle corner swing in France

Klaus H. Daams

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Motorcycle curve swing in France

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Tour tips

Motorcycle tour in France: Lyon, Loire, Allier

Motorcycle corner swing in France
Southwest of Lyon, around Loire and Allier

To the southwest of Lyon, around the young Loire and the gorges-rich Allier, empty country lanes invite you to take turns. Right in the middle: the town of Le Puy-en-Velay, which lies between the cones of extinct volcanoes and whose old town streets invite you to après-moto.

Klaus H. Daams

06/06/2021

That started well. On this Saturday evening when we arrive in Le Puy-en-Velay, the space-time continuum means well for us. The lady at the hotel reception becomes a lucky fairy with the tip: Puy de Lumières, a spectacular light show in some of the most striking locations in this city of three volcanic cones, which is blessed with a heavenly skyline. Merci beaucoup, even if the night gets a little shorter. Swim with the stream of people who are drawn to the Notre-Dame de l’Annonciation cathedral through the alleys of the old town to watch football. Where high up, at the end of my outside staircase, the facade of “Our Lady of the Annunciation ”appears in ever new fantastic color clothes and always different motifs are projected onto the church walls, as if controlled by divine hand. If something like this had already existed in the Dark Ages – even the most unbelieving souls would have been converted. Or would have run away in fear of the devil’s work.

Days around Le Puy

The dual clutch transmission of the Honda Africa Twin takes us from the miracle of digital light shows to engineering technology in the land of the rising sun. Whether the DCT, which makes the left hand almost unemployed, is enlightenment or ballast, as with every question of faith, everyone can decide for themselves. In any case, it accompanies us very smoothly for the next few days around Le Puy.

The first destination of our trip is Polignac. Contrary to what the search engine suggests, this does not mean Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac; because she died shortly after the French Revolution. No, instead we headed for the old family seat of the Countess and Duchess: the village of Polignac, enthroned on a basalt plateau, with its imposing fortress. All that remains of this is the tower, below it the hotel and the inviting street cafe “Les Terrasses de Polignac ”. And what is on the speedometer? Less than ten kilometers today. On y va, let’s go! Over the Loire, which is still lovely here, and on the D 103, which hugs the river, to Château Lavoûte-Polignac, the more comfortable second home of the aristocratic family. But that, like the next little chateau, the Château de la Rochelambert, a little further to the west, turns out to be of suboptimal interest for motorcyclists who have grown together with their seats. The visit requires a sweaty walk.

29 kilometers of green wave

We stay in the saddle and prefer to take the D 590 between Loudes and Langeac. 29 kilometers of green waves, oh, là, là. At most, the roof tiles of the few houses, the poppies and the tips of the demarcation posts at the edge of the country road shine red. The next cafe au lait is quickly found, the cozy one “Cafe de la Tour ”in Lavoûte-Chilhac is a great place to top up your caffeine level. Strategically placed between canoe rental and medieval stone arch bridge over the Allier, you can also calmly soak up the Sunday hustle and bustle, from family reunions to excursions on the local moped gang. It is no coincidence that we meet the next group of local Motards on the bridge over the Allier in Vieille-Brioude, after 20 more great kilometers, this time on the winding D 585. Well, free time is driving time, the two neighboring countries France and Germany tick very similarly.

Klaus H. Daams

The Cafe de la Tour in Lavoûte-Chilhac invites you to take a coffee break.

Vespa Museum in Auzon

Further to the west is Auzon and its small Vespa museum. The private collection of the iconic scooters is, unfortunately or logo, closed on Sunday afternoons. As a consolation, there is a view of a graceful Lancia Fulvia Coupe, a design gem from the early 1970s. We cover another 40 wonderful, you guessed it, winding kilometers, this time on the D 5 and D 588. Also with the DSG transmission, ensures a lot of driving pleasure. Whose heart beats for clerical art instead of beautiful sheet metal like that of the Italian two- and four-wheelers, will find what they are looking for in La Chaise-Dieu. Like a sacred UFO, literally fallen from the sky, the massive, well-fortified abbey church dominates the townscape. The most prominent inventory is that “Totentanz ”, a wall fresco on which representatives of all walks of life are taken by the hand of Gevatter Tod to dance. Liberte, egalite, Fraternite – Letalite. Liberty, equality, brotherhood and – lethality. If you are dreading it, you better eat in front of the church in the restaurant “Le p’tit creux ”in the evening. But what we resist, we are drawn back to Le Puy, on extremely lively rotating tires.

Freshly tarred for the Tour de France

On Monday morning, the first thing to do is groove in on the D 589 to Saint-Privat-d’Allier, then things really get going. “Route de la Bête ”is written on a sign and it truly is worth kneeling down. Pilgrims on the Way of St. James hike up to Rochegude to the Chapelle Saint-Jacques and an old fortified tower, enjoying the panoramic view of the Allier gorges. So do we, but via a mobile viewing platform. Viewed from further up, we shimmy along the D 301 like two colorful dots over the deeply cut river valley. Then curves down to Prades. Incidentally, this road, freshly paved for the Tour de France, was also a pulse accelerator for racing cyclist Marcel Kittel in 2017, whom the still legible, cheering graffiti was supposed to push to Paris. Then cool down on the banks of the Allier, a popular bathing area, lined with the Orgues basaltiques de Prades, which soar into the sky like petrified organ pipes.

Klaus H. Daams

Down to Prades, the big letters testify to the Tour de France 2017.

A hallelujah also for the next stage, which now does not lead up, but just above the Allier. While paddlers are having fun there with impact rocks, surfing waves and a lively boat lane, we navigate the bikes between rugged rock faces and quarry stone walls on the fidgety D 48 to Langeac. Here we dive deep into the wonderful world of, no, not Amelie, but the French super-hyper-inter markets. Yes, you miss them, the local gas station temples, where there is fuel and snacks almost everywhere and even in the deepest provinces. Here, on the other hand: endless curves through sparsely populated country, but full shelves on every corner – and so you just walk through endless supermarket aisles for a few quick bites in passing. As a reward, however, there are again delicacies like the D 590 to Pinols and the D 41 through the Forêt d’Auvers. On the other hand, the nearby monument to the fallen resistance fighters on Mont Mouchet is not that easy to digest.

Final spurt of the tour

The final spurt of our tour takes us back to Le Puy. Something for tinkerers. The road map resembles a circuit diagram, full of green, yellow, white and blue lines – the red ones don’t count for now. Everything damn twisted. But that’s exactly what it’s about to pin down the curviest connection. We choose the D 589 via Saugues and Monistrol-d’Allier to Saint-Privat-d’Allier again, getting to know the on the way “Bestie (la Bête) des Gevaudan ”, a snarling monumental sculpture, erected in memory of a predator that is said to have mauled around 100 people from the area at the end of the 18th century. We turn onto the cute D 40 to Alleyras, where we greet one or the other supposed villager, life-size figures lovingly made out of rags. We swing further on the D 33 through a fine network of meadows to Cayres, where two top-of-the-range church towers cause a sensation, and finally end up on a red line, the N 88, and back in Le Puy for the last few kilometers. Phew, made it.

Bathing places for water rats

We have long since got used to the DCT of the Africa Twin, instead of the gears we only change the direction of the compass ourselves. And with it the landscape. After the plateaus and gorges of the Allier in the west of Le Puy, now roughly east. To volcanic mountain ranges, from the morning sun to the auspicious “Molehill Country ”modeled. Before Chadron, first a short liaison between D 27 and Loire, which sway close to each other through the botany, then a dejà vu: Isn’t that Bob Marley’s hat, the green-yellow-red ringelding that in front of the church tower in Goudet Protected Peter’s whims? No, we didn’t smoke anything. But they can take a nap under a linden tree on the church forecourt without being scared away as clochards. And dream in the beautiful village “plus beau” Arlempdes, with just under twelve dozen residents, from an escalator. Steep, better: if you go up to a rugged rock plateau with the ruins of the first castle on the Loire, which rises 30 kilometers further. From up there, the bird’s eye view should be phenomenal. A few turns of the crankshaft further at the bathing area next to the D 54 in the direction of Vielprat is the frog’s eye view.

Klaus H. Daams

The Cafe de la Tour in Lavoûte-Chilhac invites you to take a coffee break.

The crater lake Lac d’Issarlès, a turquoise-blue jewel, is even more ideal for water lovers “in the Ardeche Mountains ”, with a sandy beach and campsite, gastronomic infrastructure and even a delicatessen butcher shop. Pack your swimming trunks, take your fine moped and then nothing like going out to Issarlès – based on Conny Froboess. An evergreen too, between Le Beage and Les Estables, around the “Upper molehills” Mont Gerbier-de-Jonc and Mont Mezenc, tangled little streets that dance pogo with us, cheered on by a lot of green on the map. In numbers: 122, 631, 36, 378, 237, 215, 278, 410, 262 – in front of each one “D.”, that could also stand for a permanent grin. To rave about (t) we are drawn to the old town of Le Puy, to the Bermuda Triangle between Place Cadelade, Place des Tables and Place du Plot. Above all is the triumvirate of the statue of the Madonna Notre-Dame de France, Saint-Michel church and Notre-Dame de l’Annonciation cathedral, enthroned on extinct volcanic chimneys. Which brings us back to the beginning of the story. And at the same time also at the end.

Info

• How to get there: From Cologne Cathedral, for example, it’s around 850 kilometers to the peaks of the former volcanoes in Le Puy-en-Velay via Luxembourg, Lyon and Saint-etienne.
• Spend the night: There are three ibis hotels in Le Puy-en-Velay. All are centrally located and with parking, but of different standards and price levels; in Polignac below the castle ruins the charming “La Gourmantine ”; in La Chaise-Dieu opposite the abbey church “Hôtel Restaurant Le Lion d’Or”; in Arlempdes, one of the most beautiful villages in France, the “Hotel du Manoir”; at the Lac d’Issarlès bathing lake “Logis Hôtel le Panoramic”; in Le Beage, not far from Mont Gerbier-de-Jonc, the family “Hotel Restaurant Beausejour en Ardèche”.
• literature & Maps: the travel guide “Limousin & Auvergne” from Michael Muller Verlag for 20.90 euros dedicates at least 40 pages to the Haute-Loire department with the capital Le Puy-en-Velay. The map 522 from Michelin is recommended as a road map “Auvergne, Limousin”, Scale 1: 200,000, 8.99 euros.

Le Puy-en-Velay

• Location: in south-east France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
• Official language: French
• Currency: Euro
• Next larger towns: Lyon, Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-etienne

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