La Bourboule in the Auvergne - skiing, cycling, restaurants...

New flights to the Auvergne!

2011-01-25T01:42:00.000-08:00

The first time I visited the Auvergne (back in 2004) we flew Ryanair to St Etienne. It was a slow and difficult 3 hour drive to La Bourboule. And Ryanairs short lived route to Clermont Ferrand had already been cancelled. The St Etienne flights also bit the dust a year or so later.

But all was not lost. The completion of the N89 suddenly meant that Limoge airport was an easy, and pleasant, two hour drive.

And that's how things stayed for a while. We heard rumours about the construction of Brive airport but it seemed it would never be finished. There was even a rumour that the Ryanair flights to Clermont Ferrand would start again.

Then a month or so ago we heard some great news with not one but two new flight options to the region. Don't expect an overnight property bubble (that's not how things work in the Auvergne) but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

www.Flybe.com are launching summer flights (May to September) from Southampton or Manchester to Clermont Ferrand. And the airport is just 45 minutes drive from our house.

And the long awaited Brive-La-Gaillarde Laroche (90 minutes drive from our house) is also in action. Jet2.com is operating flights from Manchester. And there are also flights to Brive from London City Airport. See www.travelsupermarket.com to check times and prices

airport is also in action.

Bort-Les-Orgues

2010-11-15T05:50:00.000-08:00

I'm sorry to say that although we bought our house in Murat over 5 years ago we only visited Bort-Les-Orgues for the first time in August 2010. This is a shame because it's a scant 30 minutes drive from the house in Murat-le-Quaire and has a lot to offer.

For one thing it's a lot lower than Murat-le-Quaire temperatures and water temperatures tend to be higher. There is great swimming in the huge lake above the reservoir. There's also a large Aquapark which our kids loved. It's a kind of mini 'Total Wipeout' course with inflatable pontoons to slide down, run along and jump off. You can also hire canoes or pedaloes for trips around the lake. There's also a large boat offering guided tours around the lake and the picturesque Chateau de Val which overlooks the lake.

Highly recommended! See www.bort-artense.com for more information.

New Ventures

2010-11-15T05:38:00.000-08:00

Some people call it downshifting. Anyway we sold our house in London and moved to Dartington, Devon. We used some of the proceeds to buy a flat in Queens Park, London. This was partly as an escape valve (if it all goes Pete Tong in Devon we will still have a toe hold in London) but also so we have somewhere to stay in London. However to make it pay for itself we are also doing holiday lets there. See our website for the flat at www.queensparkflat.co.uk. So far it's going pretty well. There is certainly plenty of demand for quality holiday lets in London. So far we've had bookings from Denmark, Canada, Australia, France, Italy, Spain and Holland. Surprisingly we haven't had a single enquiry from the States.

Down in Devon I am working on a couple of new businesses. However to get some quick cash in, we are also opening the annexe on the side of our house as a B & B. Week Meadow B & B Dartington will open in January 2011. And to keep the cost down I'm installing the new bathroom myself.

New House Website

2009-11-28T09:38:00.000-08:00

I've finally got round to creating a website for the house. You'll find it at murat-le-quaire-gite.co.uk
. The total cost of putting it together was less than £50 but it remains to be seen if the bookings start pouring in! To get bookings from it I'll probably have to spend some time building up some links to it. And as the house is already quite well booked for 2010 it may not be my top priority. However I enjoyed putting the site together and it was surprisingly straightforward to do, mainly thanks to Eric's excellent widgets from holidaysitecentral.com

More Attractions in Murat-Le-Quaire

2009-11-19T04:46:00.000-08:00

One of our guests was asking what there is for children in the summer at Murat-Le-Quaire. I did a quick Internet trawl & found a couple of new sites that are worth mentioning.
The amazing Parc Fenestre in La Bourboule, 2km from the house now has its own website.
parcfenestre.com

And Murat-le-Quaires own museum also has its own website too - toinette.com

The local goat farm (Chevrerie) doesn't quite have a website of its own but does have its page with lots of information.

And don't forget to check out sancy.com which has lots of local information including festivals and special events.

And due to open in Summer 2010 is the new Swimming Pool in La Bourboule. The old one was demolished in autumn 2006 so it's been a long wait but the pool complex looks spectacular.

2010 flies out of the door

2009-11-19T04:35:00.000-08:00

Year 2 of our lettings are well up on our first year. I think when people see how booked up the house is they feel more inclined to crack on and book. If you look at our listing on holiday-rentals.co.uk/p410766 you'll see that most of the ski season & quite a lot of summer 2010 is already booked up. I'm sure adding things like Satellite TV and Wi-fi have helped too.

Pour-les-vacances is still the top performer for rentals closely followed by 1000gites.com. We dropped Chaletfinder.co.uk. I'm sure it works for Brit favourites like Val, Morzine & the Three Valleys just not for more obscure resorts.

Lettings progress

2009-03-21T06:05:00.000-07:00

Letting the house has gone very well. I think there's a shortage of larger houses in the area. Certainly the local tourist board website sancy.fr doesn't list anywhere else that sleeps 14 people and many of the local rental properties look a bit tired and dated in photographs. We're now booked up until early May and most of the summer is booked too!
For up-to-date availability see pour-les-vacances.com/site/planning.php?id=4678. Incidentally Pour-les-vacances is also our top performing website by some distance! If you find this blog and want to enquire about availability & prices just email bentisdall1 at gmail.com. I can't put in an email link for fear of the spam-bots!

And the house is finished

2009-01-02T12:30:00.000-08:00

There are times over the last three years when we thought we'd never finish the house. In true Grand Designs style the house went hugely over budget. Thankfully we did most of the work before the pound went into freefall but even so the house cost us almost double what we'd guesstimated to renovate. However on the plus side we are incredibly pleased with how it's turned out & have ended up with a bigger & nicer house than we ever imagined at the beginning.

The two things we did right were to choose a brilliant location to start with (right in the centre of the village with a south facing garden & wonderful views) and to find a real perfectionist (Tim) to do most of the work including the immaculate carpentry - oak floors, doors and staircase.

Getting to La Bourboule

2008-06-30T05:29:00.000-07:00

Looking around the web there seems to be a lot of information about getting here that's just plain wrong. So here is up-to-date info on getting to La Bourboule or Le Mont Dore

By Train
Get the Eurostar to Paris. From there you can get a train to Clermont Ferrand (about 3 1/2 hours - a good train but not a TGV). From Clermont you can get the very picturesque branchline all the way to Le Mont Dore via La Bourboule. If you're planning to hire a car it's best to pick it up in Clermont and drive from there. There used to be trains in the summer that went all the way from Paris to Le Mont Dore. Unfortunately these stopped operating in 2005.

By Train for the weekend
I have looked into ways of getting to La Bourboule for a long weekend (if there's a big dump of snow for instance) Although I haven't tried it yet it does look perfectly feasible to get, say, the 6pm Eurostar to Paris and then drive the 4 hours or so from Gare du Nord to La Bourboule in a hire car.

By Plane
There are currently no low-cost flights to Clermont Ferrand. So in practice the nearest useful airport is Limoges (about 2 hours drive) which is served by regular Ryanair flights. From Limoges you can hire a car.

If you don't want to hire a car it's better to fly to Lyon on Easyjet and then get a train to La Bourboule (or Le Mont Dore) after changing at Clermont Ferrand. Trains from Limoges to La Bourboule take forever & require several changes!

Future airport plans
Ryanair used to fly to Clermont Ferrand in the past but was squeezed out apparently after a dispute with Air France. There is talk of Ryanair flights to Clermont resuming. We also have high hopes of the new Brive airport which will only be about 90 minutes drive from La Bourboule. However work on it seems to be slow & there is no confirmed date for when flights will start.

By Road
Driving is surprisingly easy. From Le Havre the drive is under six hours or only about 7 1/2 hours from Calais. And bear in mind that a 6 or 7 hour drive in France is a hell of a lot easier than a six hour flog up the M1 in the UK! The best route is quite complicated so I'll be posting the exact details. In brief it's Rouen, Evreux, Dreux, Chartres which avoids a lot of toll roads but is still almost entirely on dual carriageway or better.

Restaurants in La Bourboule & Le Mont Dore

2008-06-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

L'Amuse Bouche
15 Rue des Frères Roziers 63150
La Bourboule, 0033 4 73 21 68 85
Now by some way the best restaurant in the area for more elaborate, beautifully, cooked and presented French food. This was recently opened by a charming young French couple trained in the restaurants of Paris and has, as the French say a ‘bon rapport qualité prix’. Booking recommended.

Le Relais de la Toinette

MURAT
63150 MURAT LE QUAIRE
Tél: 04 73 81 10 68
This restaurant has changed hands again about a year ago. The new owners are very friendly. They do the local specialities of course but some other excellent dishes too. The decor is tasteful, the service is excellent & the food is pretty good too.

Restaurant Auberge du Vergne Noir
Vergne Noire
63150 Bourboule (La)
Tél. 0473811880
Sadly this restaurant has now shut up shop. Not due to lack of interest but because the owners were getting older and wanted to retire. Will let you know if starts operating again.

This is a hidden gem tucked away between La Bourboule and Murat Le Quaire. In fact it's so hard to find that i'm including this link to a map to help you find it. I think the couple who run it make it deliberately hard to find. You'll need to be within a hundred metres before you see the faded, battered sign pointing you in the right direction.
Here you get huge helpings of home made local specialities served by the proprietor while his wife cooks. Start with pate, bread and a salad with walnuts. For your main choose from three or four meat dishes served with a delicious Truffade (the local cheese & potato dish). Next you'll tuck into local cheeses finishing off with various home made tarts. The restaurant itself is an amazingly warm and comfortable living room filled with beautiful traditional furniture.

In La Bourboule itself
All the restaurants on the main boulevarde are worth trying. I particularly like the Petit Crème which does excellent Raclette. Although this has recently changed hands (Summer 2011) and latest reports are not so favourable. Also worth trying Galapagos with it's over the top decor (very child friendly although the service can be slow) & Le Comptoir Cyrano. The only place I've found a little disappointing is the Café Francais. Everywhere else is probably worth a try if you're there for a week or two.

Le Mont Dore Restaurants
Le Mont Dore Le Bougnat (towards the top of Le Mont Dore on the left (on the street you come down on if you’re following the one way system) is excellent. It’s not expensive but it is in the Michelin guide so it’s advisable to book Tel 0473 652 819. I've found a great pizza restaurant but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called. It begins with 't' so I'll update next time I'm over there in July. Also good (and a few kms up the road) is the Auberge du lac de Guery Tel 0473 65 02 76 - great food & fabulous views across the lake.

Mountain biking (aka VTT) & Cycling in the Auvergne

2008-06-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

Cycling & mountain biking overview
If you thought reliable, up-to-date english language information about skiing in the area was hard to come by, you obviously haven't tried finding out about mountain biking. You can't even pop into to the local mountain bike shop to find things out because there isn't one. Bessac Sports in Le Mont Dore rents out a few very basic hardtails but their main concern is definitely the winter ski rental market.
About the mountain biking
I'd say the area is right up there with the best mountain biking you can find in the UK. There are tracks to suit all abilities. And although there isn't a system of linked lifts like you'll find in somewhere like Morzine, there is a cable car in La Bourboule, a funicular in Le Mont Dore and a cable car at the ski station all of which can be used to cut down the amount of climbing you need to do. The other amazing thing about the area is that outside peak holiday periods you can ride for miles without seeing a soul.
I'll be adding more information about the area's mountain biking soon so watch this space.

Skiing in the Auvergne

2008-06-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Skiing in the Auvergne
Probably the most detailed English language information in skiing in the Auvergne is on the website HorsPiste. But as the name suggests it is devoted to the off-piste possibilities of the Le Mont Dore, which are considerable, but has much less in the way of general information.

Skiing Overview
There are two three main resorts: Le Mont Dore, Superbesse & Le Lioran plus a few subsidiary areas such as Chastreix. I even found one English guide book that listed Murat le Quaire as a ski resort. There is one very rusty draglift there but I’ve never seen it working. There are some good cross-country possibilities though.

Downhill Skiing
Well let’s start with the downhill skiing which is what most Brits are interested in and is likely to continue throughout the season no matter how fickle the cross country conditions are.
Le Mont Dore and Superbesse are two linked resorts. Unfortunately they’re not linked in quite the way Tignes & Val D’Isere are linked into one Espace Killy area. It’s more like two separate resorts with a link between them. From the top of Le Mont Dore you can ski straight down to Superbesse. On the way back you ski down from the Superbesse gondola or from a draglift and then rely on a long drag lift to return you to the top of Le Mont Dore. The link is not always open however and strong winds, bad weather and lack of snow can all lead to its closure.
Le Mont Dore is North facing. It holds its snow well under normal conditions. It offers plenty of green runs for beginners – 13 in total. However most of the green runs are low on the mountain and the first to suffer if conditions are poor.
For intermediates there are a smattering of blues & reds plus quite a few areas just off the pistes where you can play around if snow conditions are good.
Le Mont Dore only has two official blacks, both quite short and positioned so that snow cover can be thin. However the’unofficial blacks’ add considerably to the official skiing. First there is the itinerary marked as a dotted black line on the piste map. It’s a short, but very sweet with the right snow conditions and cuts off the blue on the left of the resort (as you face the mountain), crosses a stream, traverses a hillside and then offers a great run down.
However the real meat of the ‘unofficial blacks’ are Le Mont Dore’s famous couloirs. The first and easiest of these is at the far left of the main face (as you look at the mountain from the bottom) It was marked as a black on the old piste map. My friends did it around Feb 18 2008 and found it difficult & and a bit frightening with poor snow conditions and very compacted snow. Although the run out is fairly safe it would have been a long bruising bumpy slide in the event of a fall.
I skied it a month later over Easter 2008 when the snow conditions were superb – around 8 inches of fresh snow. It was great fun and surprisingly long. One of the local instructors told me there are a total of 15 different ways down the main face of Le Mont Dore ranging from the one I did to the truly desperate, although most have a fairly safe run out if there is enough snow.

Why write this blog

2008-04-24T13:55:00.000-07:00

In November 2005 we bought a house in Murat Le Quaire one mile from La Bourboule in the Auvergne region of France. It's a beautiful area just 3 1/2 hours drive from Paris with a landscape not unlike the English Lake District (only volcanic) and with lots to do and see. However it's almost unknown to the British. This blog will hopefully tell people a little more about what the region has to offer.