Welcome to Transeurotrek.com - 3rd Trek: France
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Germany Munsterland to Brandenburg
France Aveyron to Haute Provence
ENGLISH CHANNEL TO MEDITERRANEAN
France - Limousin: Creuse to Correze
FIFTH SECTION 7 to 21 MAY 2011. Boussac (Creuse) to Brive-la-Guillarde (Correze) by GR 3 & 46 - 284Km = 183miles.
Beautiful countryside basking in two weeks of sunny spring weather. Constant sound of crickets day and night and chirping of birds nesting for the year. Cuckoos heard and seen several times, the occasional deer and rabbit and even a ferret. A feature, particularly of Creuse, were granite crosses at junctions. We started at Boussac high above the River Creuse and went southwards to the Pierres Jaumâtres, smoothly worn rocks on a hill of uncertain date and probably left after the latest ice-age. Fairly flat terrain with lots of beetles, some lizards and flowers of many colours: gorse, meadowsweet, campion, hawthorn, roses, our first of many meetings with demoiselles as well as stoats, butterflies, buzzards and kites. Visited hilltop village Toulx Sainte Croix which has a very old feel with very old church buildings at a meeting of several tracks and roads. Charming church in the hamlet Bord St Georges with an unusual and moving photographic tribute to lives lost in WW2. Lots of quite striking granite crosses said to be waymarks later adapted as crosses. Many avenues of acacia trees in full flower and alive with bees. Poplar seeds falling and accumulating in fluffy cushions. Huge Abbey church of St Valerie dominated Chambon sur Vouieze where we crossed the rivers Vouieze and Tardes. Pretty little town now rather run-down (as is Auzances). Left the GR46 along small roads and green paths for a couple of days to reach accommodation at Auzances on the banks of the river Cher and in Les Vergnes. Followed glorious little streams alive with dragon flies and demoiselles. Saw a hare and contrastingly a WW2 bomber by the Chateau de Villemoleix, the home of the Legrands, and a disused airfield. Undulating countryside with streams in deep valleys and rising to 700m. Dallied in Sermur, a village built on a hill alongside an Oratoire to St Roch. Lots of foals, calves and lambs in the now rather steep fields with rocky outcrops and dry-stone walling. Followed the River Tardes in a pretty narrow valley to re-join the GR46 through Aubusson, which, although known for its history of tapestry making, is an unimpressive town, and we did not stay. We crossed the Creuse to Blessac and the quiet and mixed, lovely countryside of the Plateau de Millevaches. Spent time in an old chapel with beautiful stained-glass windows at la Borne. Crossed the hill peaking at 728m north of the Lac de la Vaud Gelade and across a remarkable wild, wet and wide valley of the river Thaurion. Here the GR46 is signposted to detour northwards away from the original southerly path. We ignored this and continued southwards only to find that the path is hemmed in on both sides with high fences and then completely collapses into an impassable muddy morass. Hikers had forced through the fence into the forest. We did the same. Walkers beware - if you are not up to this, follow the new GR signs. However the map does not show the new route and I do not know where it goes. From Faux la Montagne - where, astonishingly, there was a shop selling fresh fruit and vegetables - along quiet roads through deserted country into mountain terrain to Puy de la Meule. Walking on ridges mostly with wonderful views across valleys and other ridges. Through Lacelle and up to Puy Chabana at 677m down to Etang de St Hilaire and up to Puy de Laune before reaching Treignac, a pretty little town with a big central square and a spectacular patisserie/confisserie and a roman bridge. The French slalom championships had just taken place in the River Vezère. Swallows swooped over the river from the town high above. Long slow climb to the Pierre des Druides sited in a clearing on the mountain top (732m). Steeply down to Etang du Peuch which was alive with dragon flies, demoiselles and swallows. Came off the GR46 and a dirt track took us to Madranges - a well appointed village with both a catholic and protestant church, as in Treignac - a rarity in Limousin. Lanes ran into a series of into deep valleys and over ridges and got us to Chamboulive past ripe cherry trees and lovely mixed flower meadows. Long stretch now along the old Paris-Orleans-Correze rail line, now a recreational path into Uzerche, an old town on the River Vezère now rather touristy. Lovely path southwards on the bank close to the Vezère to Vigeois, a much prettier town with an enormous cemetery. Ate local strawberries from the street market. Down into the deep valley of River Brézou then up across farmland with lots of ripe wild cherries plus a kilo given us by the farmer as he had too many - delicious. Through a depressed dark-stone Allàsac to stay at a terrific small hotel at la Plaine de Garavet on the bank of the Vezère. Finally, now on low-lying farmland through well populated but pretty country through varetz, nice village to the A89 where we turned along roads, some quite busy to finish in Brive.
Two weeks of dry and unseasonably mild autumn weather across regularly changing terrain and many rivers. Deep valleys and heavily wooded hills mixed with open limestone plateaux - Causses. Lots of cattle and sheep, good food, local wines and accommodation.
DISTANCE FROM ENGLISH CHANNEL (LA MANCHE) – 1286Km = 803miles
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