A little throwback to our family road trip around France last week. I still have one moment to share with you. One of those you keep in a corner of your mind. A memory that plays on repeat, because it feels good.
The day before yesterday, I told you about our stop at my grandmother’s, in Dijon. After leaving her, @altheana and I headed to Auvergne, to visit my grandfather in the retirement home. The house where he used to live hasn’t been sold yet, so we dropped off our stuff there and spent the night.
The next day at noon, we had lunch with him, took the time to talk. Really talk… before he took his nap. These moments are priceless because they’re so rare.
Then we hit the road again. Destination: the Creuse region, to visit another part of my family. Over there, the landscape slowly starts to fold, to undulate. Hills, forests, meadows, a foretaste of mountains. And precisely, @altheana and I have been talking about it for months. We need some relief. Some height. To take a big breath of fresh air.
A few years ago, we went on a road trip in a car we had fitted out. Digging through old photos, we stumbled upon a village: Mont-Dore. A thermal resort nestled in the mountains. Only 2 hours' drive from where we were.
So, we spent one night with my family in the Creuse, and the next morning, we headed for Mont-Dore. We knew we wanted to hike, but we hadn’t decided on a trail yet. We just wanted to be up there. Just to see. Just to breathe.
I’ll take you with me.
It was Friday morning, last week. I say “morning,” but it was more like late morning.
We took our time because we had breakfast with this part of my Creuse family that we only see once every two years. Time to talk about our lives, take some photos, share some experiences.
To set the scene: when we hit the road, it was already 28 degrees. The air was hot and dry. A preview of summer. We knew it wouldn’t last, as thunderstorms were expected at the end of the week across the country (and that turned out to be true).
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After only 50 minutes of driving, we saw the very first small mountains. Finally! We’re getting there!
Auvergne is volcanic. Almost every mountain is a volcano. They’re just not very active anymore. They’re not extinct. Just in a deep sleep phase.
The last eruption was 7,000 years ago. Which is, from what I understood, very recent on a geological scale.
In my photo, you can see a little part of a volcano, and even though it looked close in the first pictures, we kept seeing it for many kilometers without actually getting much closer.
It was 1:00 p.m. when we arrived at the thermal resort. We hadn’t planned anything to eat, and we were starting to get hungry.
Since we were planning to hike, we thought it would be smarter to eat first. The thing is, all the shops in the town were closed. Which surprised us, as it was the Ascension long weekend.
So we got back in the car for about twenty minutes, looking for an open store. We eventually found a small shop where we bought strawberries, an avocado, wraps, salmon, and cream cheese.
While removing the avocado pit, @altheana stabbed her hand with my knife. Deeply.
At first, she didn’t want to show me the wound. She didn’t even dare look at it herself, for fear of what she’d see. When I finally got a look, I almost fainted. It was really deep.
I thought we would have to change our plans and head to the emergency room. But I made a bandage with whatever we had on hand. She gritted her teeth. We put the wraps in a backpack. Then… we went hiking.
Looking back, I’m still amazed by her mental strength. Or madness, I’m not sure. Especially since she didn’t feel part of her hand until the next morning.
Today, a week later, the wound still looks nasty, but it’s healed well.
In the meantime, on the Visorando app, I had found a not-too-long loop. The day was already quite advanced, so we needed a hike that was accessible, but still nice. Something worthwhile.
I must admit, I was a bit disappointed not to have arrived earlier. I really wanted to climb to a summit and walk along the ridge. To be up there, with a clear view that puts you back in your place.
But despite that, I was happy to be there. We were in the middle of nature, far from everything. In a place I really love. That was already a lot. And we had been wanting to see mountains for a long time. Even low mountains. Some relief.
While crossing the Mont-Dore resort, @altheana kept repeating that we had already done this hike a few years ago.
I didn’t remember a thing. No memory. I knew we had already passed through here to go to the Puy de Sancy, but not that we had hiked starting from Mont-Dore. It’s funny how sometimes, memory chooses what it keeps.
In the photo above, you can see the very beginning of the Dordogne. This little stream, surprisingly shy for the season, flows down from the slopes of the Puy de Sancy. A bit further on, it will become a 483-kilometer river.
The closer we got to the starting point, the more something came back to me. A feeling of déjà vu.
That said, in this area, there are so many trails, forests, and paths that I kept being skeptical.
Then we arrived at the steps marking the beginning of the hike:
And indeed, @altheana was right. We had done it before.
In my mind, we had just stopped at Mont-Dore at the time to fill our water bottles and jugs. But apparently, we had also gone for a hike.
It’s not a big deal. If I chose it twice, it’s because it’s worth it!
The start is quite steep. Fortunately, it’s shaded. But we had drunk a lot of alcohol the night before and also eaten a lot. All of that didn’t help.
We then arrived at a crossroads. We followed the path to the Grande Cascade. A much nicer path. It was much less steep, so we could chat and listen to the surrounding nature.
Along the mountainside, we climbed quietly.
On our right, we could still see the last buildings of the Mont-Dore resort, climbing with us. A bit further in the photo, we spotted a summer sledding track. At least, we saw the climb and could guess the descent snaking down the slope, into the small forest.
We said that if we got down early enough, we might give it a try. But we didn’t really feel like rushing. The hike came before the sled.
Then, we reached a road, which we simply crossed to change trails and finally leave Mont-Dore. The path went up a bit steeper, but nothing too difficult.
Finally, after an hour of walking, we saw the first signs of a waterfall.
Given the number of fallen trees across the stream and the rocks scattered all over, we thought it would be better not to hang around here in case of a storm or during snowmelt.
At this point, we only had about twenty minutes of walking left. But still 200 meters of elevation to climb. So yes, it was going to be steep.
The air had become much heavier. We were walking alongside a stream, and with all the moisture evaporating, it was stifling.
Finally, we reached the Grand Cascade. Here’s what the sign says:
Born from the “ruisseau de l’Enfer,” the Grand Cascade springs from 1450 meters above sea level at the confluence of the Durbise plateau and the Roc de Cuzeau before falling some thirty meters along the walls of ancient lava flows. As such, the Grand Cascade is one of the highest in Auvergne. The resulting stream, called Couze Saurins, eventually joins the tumultuous waters of the Dordogne… The story has continued for 300,000 years!
We ate our wraps here. But since there were a lot of people, we preferred to keep going. On Visorando, I saw that we could climb even higher to reach the GR4 (a much larger trail).
Climbing higher, we had a much more impressive view of the little Mont-Dore resort. This time, it looked much farther away.
We also had another angle on the waterfall. Then came a few steps to climb. I would have preferred to scramble. I hate steps. Especially when they have holes, like here.
The view was much more interesting up there. I love this region; it's stunning. It’s not high mountain, but it’s more than enough.
In the distance, you can see the Puy de Sancy. That one is much higher. We went to its summit a few years ago.
So we decided to continue along this small trail.
We clearly weren’t equipped for a big hike, but it made me want to come back. One day, when we're better prepared, I’d really like to hike the entire Chaîne des Puys. It takes several days. But it must be incredible!
From where we were, we still had the option of climbing to the summit in this photo.
At the time, we didn’t fully realize, but there were still 200 meters of elevation to climb. And above all, we didn’t have a drop of water left. So we decided to turn back here.
It was the wisest choice. We had no equipment, no preparation, and it was nearly 7 p.m. On top of that, we didn’t even know where we’d sleep that night.
In our minds, the plan was to go back down, eat a nice meal in a restaurant, and then hit the road again. We had more than a two-hour drive to get back to my grandfather’s old house, so we couldn’t afford to arrive exhausted.
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This little fir tree was quite funny: 20250530_171005.jpg (https://img.leopedia.io/DQmWwPtcfrUUdDvjSHtDiYqLJFFoHApVvb5oEE3ZbgnGfjA/20250530_171005.jpg)
Before taking the stairs back down to the Grand Cascade, we made a quick detour to its source.
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We took the opportunity to dip our feet in the stream and refill our water bottles.
So yes, normally, you shouldn’t drink water from a stream. Even less so in a grazing area. But what I haven’t told you since the beginning is that we set out with very little water. And for two days, apart from alcohol, we hadn’t drunk much else.
Let’s just say it was that or nothing.
Travel shapes the youth.
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A bit further, we saw that it was the beginning of the waterfall. We were just five minutes away. So of course, we went to see.
It’s not every day you get the chance to see the start of a waterfall. We’re used to admiring them from below, but never where it all begins.
I’m really afraid of heights, and it was very slippery. But I still tried to get close. 20250530_174855.jpg (https://img.leopedia.io/DQmUNqSs8oQ4SfX7wmpA6JS99vhyucDF6YFRNRsoD3ofV8y/20250530_174855.jpg) 20250530_180347.jpg (https://img.leopedia.io/DQmWXvecHJ39RP55YTfRafqLdhimWLndFvXH4Dz8mjkBw4Q/20250530_180347.jpg)
And finally, we went back down to the Grande Cascade. This time, there was almost no one left.
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Some reckless people dared to go directly under the waterfall. But the water was falling with tremendous force, and the rocks were really treacherous. Too slippery.
As for us, we settled for the little water streams running along the cliffs. Less impressive, for sure, but more than enough to take a high-pressure, and very refreshing, shower.
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Quietly, we began the descent. At the bottom, we passed by the thermal baths. One day, I’ll take @altheana there and we’ll do a cure.
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People were already starting to have dinner. We didn’t want a touristy restaurant. So we looked for a more intimate place, higher up in the mountain. And we found it. But that’s another story.
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Version Française
Petit retour sur notre tour de France familial de la semaine dernière. Il me reste un moment à vous partager. Un de ceux qu’on garde dans un coin de la tête. Un souvenir qui revient en boucle, parce qu’il fait du bien.
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Avant-hier, je vous parlais de notre passage chez ma grand-mère, à Dijon. Après l’avoir quittée, @altheana et moi avons mis le cap sur l’Auvergne, pour voir mon grand-père en maison de retraite. La maison où il a vécu n'est pas encore vendue, nous y avons donc déposé nos affaires et y avons passé la nuit.
Le lendemain midi, on a mangé avec lui, pris le temps de discuter. Vraiment discuter... avant qu'il ne fasse sa sieste. Ces moments-là n’ont pas de prix tant ils sont rares.
Puis on a repris la route. Direction la Creuse, pour aller voir une autre partie de ma famille. Là-bas, le paysage commence doucement à se plier, à onduler. Des collines, des forêts, des prairies, un avant-goût de montagne. Et justement, avec @altheana, ça fait des mois qu’on en parle. On a besoin de relief. De hauteur. De prendre un grand bol d'air frais.
Il y a quelques années, nous avons fait un road trip dans une voiture que nous avions aménagé. En fouillant un peu dans nos anciennes photos, on retombe sur une village : Mont-Dore. Une station thermale nichée dans les montagnes. A seulement 2h de route d’où on est.
Ainsi, on dort une nuit chez ma famille dans la Creuse, et le lendemain matin, on file vers le Mont-Dore. On sait qu'on a envie de marcher, mais nous n'avons pas encore défini de tracé à suivre. Nous avons juste l’envie d’être là-haut. Juste pour voir. Juste pour respirer.
Je vous emmène. 20250530_121224.jpg (https://img.leopedia.io/DQmUfroL7YfyueSKfWR6KpqQr4Cy28ydVwn7f8N7XaoZpsP/20250530_121224.jpg)
C’était vendredi matin, la semaine dernière. Je dis "matin", mais c'était plutôt fin de matinée.
On a traîné un peu puisqu'on a pris le temps de partager le petit déjeuner avec ce bout de famille creusoise qu’on ne voit qu’une fois tous les deux ans. Le temps de discuter de nos vies, de prendre quelques photos, d'échanger des expériences.
Pour vous dresser le tableau, lorsque nous avons pris la route, il faisait déjà 28 degrés. L’air était chaud et sec. Un avant-goût d’été. On savait que ça serait temporaire puisque la fin de semaine s'annonçait orageuse sur le pays (et ça n'a pas loupé).
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Au bout de seulement 50 minutes de route, nous avons aperçu les toutes première petites montagnes. Enfin ! On y arrive !
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L'Auvergne est volcanique. Chaque montagne ou presque est un volcan. Simplement, ils ne sont plus très actifs. Ils ne sont pas éteints. Simplement dans une phase de sommeil profond.
La dernière éruption date d'il y a 7 000 ans. Ce qui est, de