France Part 8 - And The CL Final

Did you know that smoke alarms don’t like deodorant or fly spray? That is something we have learned on the trips in our small, more restricted home. Just a thought?

And it’s now the evening of day 26 since leaving Shropshire, some 2,100 miles ago and about 1,800 miles in France. I’m saying ‘about’ because I had planned to do it all from my speedometer each night; however, because I got off to a bad start and forgot, I go backwards each night using my map app and add a bit on if we get diverted, as we were today and yesterday, so unfortunately it will never be 100% accurate – a pity really.

For me it’s ‘breaking news’ we have found rolling hills as we drive down the Dordogne Valley and into the Rhone Alps, and more, and it is beautiful, not only uphill and down dale, but with the Rhone Alp mountains we are up winding and curving roads to descend on the other side. Oh, how I wish I had brought my bike. I would have happily gotten off at the top and freewheeled for miles - if only, and if only the co-pilot would have let me!

You will need to excuse my chopping and changing. But with restricted Wi-Fi, I can’t post as often as I would like. For some reason I can’t connect my laptop to my roaming data as I have done before, and so I start writing, then move on to write more, and so on! We are actually on a free pitch up near the village of Montpeyroux, as you can see from the photos. Well, we were last night, and now we are in the beautiful village of Alba-la-Romaine. It’s not the best site by far, but it is shower time!

We are having mixed weather. When we left our campsite at Comblat, near Aurillac, yesterday morning, it just rained and rained, and there were times it was wipers on fast mode; it was that bad!

A touch wet

I may have mentioned I cycle quite a lot when I am home, and I try to do a minimum of 50 miles each week, and there will be stories to follow about one of my favourite pastimes later.

But we drove up through the town of Beynat on Monday, and we believed the Tour de France would come this way, as there were ‘tour’ flags along the route, but after researching the route, it doesn’t look like it. The reason I say this is because I was sure it would be one of the mountain stages.

Maybe not!

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If you like cycling, I need to ask if you have cycled ‘Fish Hill’ near Broadway in the Cotswolds; at 2.10 miles, it’s a long climb. But when your brother-in-law, who lives close by and who is also a cyclist, challenges you to complete the route as he reckons he couldn’t manage it, and to get one over on him, once you have said ‘yes’ to the challenge, you have to do it, which I can happily say I did. So back to you, Paul!

On the first hill we drove up towards Beynat, and it must have been at least twice as long as Fish Hill, though not overly steep, and on reflection I believe I could have done it; however, we will never know. Had my bike been with me instead of in the garage in Shropshire, I think I would have tried.

Of course, what goes up and all that, and the cycle down would have been great, a five-mile or so freewheel, just what you want. However, the second climb would have been impossible for me; I simply wouldn't have managed it. My cycling buddies Gerry and Malcolm would probably have cycled off into the distance with their hands waving, and the whirr of their motor audible for everyone to hear. It was longer and steeper than the first, and I was sweating just thinking about it!

And I say fair play to my two mates; I have already made my mind up, and I will invest in an e-bike rather than not cycle if and when the day comes. I have written about physical exercise and mental health issues and the relationship between the two; whilst an e-bike helps you, I know from my mates that it is still good for them mentally, and an e-bike doesn’t do everything; you still need to make the effort.

There will always be many lovely places to stop and see, and it’s finding that right mix of seeing them and getting around; you will always miss somewhere of interest, but two places we have stopped at are the smaller Chateaux of PuyMartin and the amazing old rock settlement of La Roque Saint Christophe, and I believe this is a site whereby you can combine one ticket but see about three and save money. But worth checking out https://www.roque-st-christophe.com/en/ Below are a selection of photos, and I won’t insult your intelligence by pointing out which is which; however, as you will see from the Chateaux photos, my wife is carrying our little dog ‘Winnie,’ and you can only take dogs in if you can carry them. Times like this I’m glad we have terriers and not Great Danes!

But the road up and over the town of Mayres would have been impossible for me, and maybe even my e-bike buddies. The hills were long, steep, and winding and absolutely beautiful. With lovely different green forest colours and with sprinklings of yellow gorse bushes, helped by the natural sunlight and shade, it was an amazing drive.

At one stage as the two lanes went into one, I was overtaken by an articulated tanker lorry, and I didn’t even try to keep up with it. The driver obviously knew the road and their vehicle as they just got further and further away. Mary McHarg was definitely not racing that beastie, and I'm not sure I would have liked to have been a passenger. Following them in our little two-seater sports car and definitely another road to try out. Maybe a good job I didn’t bring it!

The straight roads and agricultural land have been replaced by those winding roads with lovely views and wooded areas, although we are seeing more livestock in fields and mainly cattle farming, and if my guess is right, more beef than dairy

Back to Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere, we went to a small café bar, and I asked for two small bottles of beer, and as the barman (owner) poured the second, my wife pointed out the ‘cash only’ sign, and of course we didn’t have any with us; it is such a rare occurrence these days! I apologised and he told me not to worry and to have the drinks, which I must admit confused me some, but all was good. When I asked where I could get some cash out to pay the bill, he told me to follow him.

We went to the restaurant across the road, which he also owned and where he had a card machine, and so we paid for 4. Went back to the café and had another couple before moving on! But a must-see if you are ever down this way. Don’t let me forget about the walk along by the river where you will find a couple of bars and cafes, a beautiful little village.

Yesterday morning (Monday, 1st June,) we walked along the river to the café for breakfast, and we had the biggest croissant I think I have ever seen, certainly eaten; once again by using the app and some broken English and dodgy French, we communicated well enough to get to the end result!

But let’s go back a bit and talk about the Champions League final on Saturday, 30th May, when we were in Sarlat-le-Caneda. Another beautiful little town that has the most amazing markets on a Saturday morning that you will probably ever see. It just goes on for hundreds of metres after hundreds of metres selling everything, from food and wine to clothes and souvenirs, and unfortunately, as you can see, a stall that sells knuckle dusters and flick knife sets. In today’s society - really?

This is not good - anywhere in the world!

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Anyway, not our problem, so we went out late afternoon and got a seat in plenty of time for the final, and after moving tables three times, we were seated in front of a giant 80” TV, and not bad for a United fan but mainly a football fan, who, unfortunately for me, had the worst climax to a CL final ever. Except maybe with the exception of George Best in 1999, if the stories are true. There we were surrounded by French fans, and obviously I was in the minority, but the French fans, as always, were in good spirits and very friendly and chatty.

However, it meant asking two French ladies to move after they sat down in front of us and others without a care in the world at half time. They were getting grief; the tones are the same in French and English with some backchat too! But no TV blocking for us, French or not.

Our view for over two hours - sorry!!

I was even congratulated by some French fans for asking them to move using my translation app and basically telling the ladies politely they were out of order; they couldn’t just plonk themselves down and block people’s views after we had been sitting there for two hours or more; it was rude!! People clapped and cheered as they left and the guy behind me patted me on the shoulder. The guy beside me asked what I had said; when I showed him my app, he just laughed and shook my hand! Us Scots come in handy sometimes!

And so, a bit tense for some of the fans and onto penalties, it was at this stage we realised that another bar some 60/70 metres away was on a slightly different time schedule, because when PSG scored their first penalty, the cheer from the other bar went up a few seconds before ours.

So, sitting where we were, I just plugged my ears so I couldn’t hear the result of a penalty being taken. Cheers for PSG scoring and groans for Arsenal. That was fine until Declan Rice scored to make it 2-2 after three penalties each, and our TV went off, and we lost transmission.

We waited, assuming it was soon to come back on, and it did, but back at the beginning of the game when the captains were shaking hands and exchanging pendants! We waited, and then we heard Hakimi’s penalty being scored from the other bar; we still waited, still assuming the picture would come back on live. By the time we heard the groans of Martinelli’s equaliser, we grabbed our drinks and the dogs and made our way across the square to the other bar as everyone else had done, just as Beraldo scored, and the game was pretty much over, and we missed the last penalty, not because we couldn’t find a clear spot, but because at my viewing point some 6’ giant walked in front of me just as Gabiel took his penalty, and I missed the last kick. All that after having front-row seats in front of a clear 80” TV for about four hours!

The French crowd went mad, running around the square cheering, and that will be my lasting memory of the 2026 CL final – and that, my friends, is a true story, but a funny one! And all part of this wonderful French trip!

Thanks for reading

DJ