Castres and Granite

After a quiet night in Albi sandwiched between the graveyard and sewage works we emptied and filled before hitting the road.

First stop was Castres where, after coffee, we walked into town along the river to look at the rickety cantilevered houses hanging over the water. There weren’t many as the old part of the town was quite small. Fortunately we managed to get some photos avoiding the 1970’s concrete carbuncles built alongside. We returned to Kiki and headed eastward into the Haut Langdoc national park.

At lunchtime we stopped at the Maison de Sidobre which is a tourist information centre and small museum. Unfortunately, as it’s out of season, it was closed. All was not lost however as there was a very good map outside showing the location of the sights we had come to see. After lunch we took a short walk around an “interpretative trail” which explained (in French!) all the granite boulders which this area is famous for.

Moving on, we stopped a few km up the road and took a short walk by lake Merle - the lake edge seemed to be full of granite balls. It was quiet cold but there were a couple of French families picnicking complete with table cloths and proper wine glasses - very civilised.

A little further along the road we parked again and walked up Le Rivière de Roche. This small river valley is choked with hundreds of granite boulders. It was a pretty walk beside the river but as it deteriorated into a muddy track we turned round and returned to Kiki.

Our final “Rock of the Day” was the impressive Peyro Clabado. This massive bolder is precariously balanced atop another tiny bolder and looks about to fall at any moment!

Our stopping place for tonight is the tiny village of Vabre which has a small Aire de Camping Car right next to the river. We arrived quite early so we decided to take a walk along the river. After a while we came across some old telegraph poles and concluded that we were on the route of a disused railway line. After a km or so we came to a bridge across the river followed by long dark tunnel cut through the hillside. A nearby sign confirmed this to be the “Route de Petit Train”. We found another path which enabled us to return to Kiki on the opposite side of the river. We passed a trout farm which had lots of big fish in long “tanks” which the river water was diverted through. We crossed the impressive 50m high and beautifully constructed town bridge before descending to our parking place.