Chaos de Montpellier

Monday 26 August 2013
Early start on the quiet road other side of the Tarn River. The road on the other side is slightly more undulating but far less used. At the outskirts of Millau we stop for coffee in the sun at camp les Duex Rivieres before turning left up the hair pinned road to the Causse Noir and the mountain where the parapenters take off. At this point we are on the top of the plateau pretty much, which then undulates through the forests of the Causse Noir.

We turn off to visit the Chaos de Montpellier, stopping at an auberge to sit on the balcony for lunch before taking a train ride through the Chaos. The driver points out all the different stones, my favourite is the one with a perfectly round hole through which you can see the sky – the Moon Stone. Then we visit Les Busseroles; the campsite with gites where we had thought of staying, in a lovely old settlement of farm building high up above Peyreleau.

Jim later retrieved his recalcitrant rucksack and all was present and correct inside including the sausage, the bread and the camera. We check out the canoes down by the river and sit outside for a bit and go to watch the pumpkins on the banks of the Jonte before trying the Doussiere for tea. It is a beautiful evening as we watch the bats come out hunting in the Jonte willows, the lights illuminating the tower and cliffs of Peyreleau gradually increasing in intensity.