Car Ferry port to Parking Paul Feval (Municipal Long Term Car Park, €3.3/day).
Diconnected car battery and promptly lost parking ticket.
Bus Parking Paul Feval to Old Town Port. First fight of many to get 2 Guide Dogs on a bus.
GR34 St. Malo to Avranches
GR22 Avranches to Allencon,
GR36 Allencon to Le Mans, Colonge
Car and train Solar charger stolen, so kind people in Colonge drove me to Chateau-du-Loire. Train to Tours and bought solar charger.
Train Tours to Saumur
GR36 Saumur, Parthenay, Niort, 7k North-East of Aulnay (Basses Vacheries)
Car Topsy’s foot and leg injured, so kind people at Basses Vacheries drove us the 7k into Aulnay
Bus The following morning (after much persuasion) we borded the 7AM school bus to St-Jean-d’Angely
Train We then caught the train to Cognac. Second solar charger stolen whilst recharging in toilettes
Train & Taxi Train to Cognac to Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure, and taxi east to a hamlet to a friend’s cottage.Rested Topsy’s foot.
Car & Train Car to Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure, then train to Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sureil
Train Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sureil to Mazimet
GR36 Mazimet to Portail de Nore, 1kNE of Pic de Nore (1211m)
GR7 Portail de Nore to Lac de Vezoles
GR77 Lac de Vezoles (980m) to Premian(243m). Needed to decend from the 1000m high ridge of the Massif Centrale to the valley below. A precipitous descent losing 300m in 0.5k, but the most stunning scenery in the trip, with steps cut into the rock.
Voie Verte From Premian, the route followed the route of l’Orb river valley along a disused railway (a Voie Verte) to Bedarieux. Motion sensors turning on lights in the tunnels.
Paths, Route Equestre From Bedareux, took a mixture of footpaths and horse trails to Liausson, on Lac Dalagou.
Paths, tracks minor roads From Lac Salagou, with Happy (Topsy was left behind nursing a sore leg in Liausson), headed due south. The route dictated by the need to replace bread that fell from my rucksack and obtain dog food. Arrived in Farinette, south of Vias, on the Mediteranean. A ghost town. Everything was fermed for the winter!
Car Driven by friend from Farinette to Vias
Train Vias to Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil. Then after a pause, on to St. Malo (via Perigeaux, Bordeaux, Paris (Montparnase) and Rennes.
Bus To Parking Paul Feval (usual argument to get dogs on bus). Reconnected battery and car started first time! Lost parking ticket problem resolved, and after problems paying for the parking (card rejected x4), payed €100!
Car Refuelled, then took dogs to vet, 2 day waiting period for medication to become effective before travel permitted, So drove up to Bagnoles sur l’Orme and stayed in the Gite at The Prieurrie. Next day drove to Oustraham, the port of Caen. Finally embarked onto the ship at 11.30PM
ENGLAND
Car Portsmouth to Stow-on-the-Wold