Cantal—have you heard of it?

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We’re getting there via a different route.



This is Faillitoux Waterfall, cascading down from the top of a basalt flow:





From below or above, you can clearly see this formation—known as basaltic organs:





I hadn’t mentioned it yet, but we’re in the Auvergne volcano region (classified as temporarily dormant, by the way!)



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And in the distance (of the valley) flows a river... !! [;)]



To be continued...

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- Thursday, May 29:

It’s departure day. We’re leaving le Cantal and heading toward the Arcachon Basin via small roads. Tonight, we’ll stop for the night in Marmande.

But first, I really want to get a closer look and bring back some photos of...

- Château de Pesteil in Vic-sur-Cère (a listed historic monument).



We’d spotted it from afar on our way back from Aurillac that day.









Goodbye, le Cantal—we’ll probably be back someday! We really enjoyed discovering everything this region has to offer...

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Thanks Alain for this very green trip (at least at this time of year) and apparently sunnier towards the end than at the beginning. Several names rang a bell, but I think it was more from the slideshows my dad used to comment on back then than from real memories .

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Thanks, Muriel, for your commented passages on this photo travel journal!

Childhood memories can sometimes be blurry or influenced by different things, like TV reports, quite often. I sometimes have huge memory gaps....!! Keep up the good work.

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On the route between Aurillac and Marmande, we’re making two detours to see some sites we didn’t know about but were recommended to us...



First, the famous village of St Cirq-Lapopie:







It’s so famous that it’s packed with people, and all the parking lots are full... especially since it’s a public holiday on May 29, making for a great long weekend! I just grab a few photos and a coffee by the Lot River.

Further on, we stop at Château de Bonaguil, which I’d heard a lot about from a former colleague who’s from the area.





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My account of our stay in le CANTAL is now complete.

Thanks to all the visitors and commenters.

Next trip planned for early October: It’ll be a bit farther afield… Kenya, exclusively for wildlife photo safaris.

Best regards,

Puma2A

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Thanks for this travel journal about a French department that rarely gets the spotlight! [:)]

Thanks Agnès [:)]

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Thanks for this super interesting travel journal—it’s made me want to go back to this region, which I visited about twenty years ago. The photos are awesome.

This travel journal made me want to go back to that region, which I visited about twenty years ago.

Thank you so much, Gérard, for sharing this story and leaving a review. I think you won’t regret it if you go back. On the other hand, I think we were pretty lucky with the landscape in bloom. But I’m already planning to go back too, combining it with a few days on the Aubrac plateau...

All the best.

Puma2A

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Hi Alain, Thanks for this report on a region I knew a little about, but where I discovered lots of surprising and interesting places. I’d just like to make a small correction about the cows—they’re not Salers (which you see later in the report, near Salers itself) but Aubrac, often called "made-up cows" because of the white around their black eyelashes and eyelids.

Hi Eric,

Thanks for your message and for the correction about identifying the cows we came across at the end of the hike in the Bèz Gorges. Someone had already pointed it out to me in a PM, and I’d forgotten to fix it—done now! After that, the other cows we saw were Salers... I’m a bit more of an expert on African wildlife, though...!! Cheers, Puma2A

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Hello,

The rest of this trip took place in my native Aquitaine. If you're interested, you'll find 3 pages of images, "beyond the Cantal," at the bottom of the link below: https://spottingaviation.forumactif.com/t15798p50-le-cantal-vous-connaissez-et-l-aquitaine

I just want to add that we loved discovering (everything we saw...) the Cantal. This time in May was ideal for us. I wonder what autumn is like?? Especially for the colors of the landscapes. I think we’ll be back in this region. [;)]

Cheers,

Puma2A

(Next departure imminent for East Africa...)

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(next departure imminent for East Africa...)

Done!!! In Kenya! and it's RIGHT HERE:

https://voyageforum.com/forum/milieu-faune-kenya-en-octobre-2025-d11077532/

[;)]

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Thanks for this Cantal adventure!

The Mars Valley and the Jordanne Valley are truly stunning. And Salers makes a great base for exploring:









I also highly recommend the beautiful village of Tournemire and its Château d'Anjony:





And why not visit the Château d'Auzers:



For hikes, there’s plenty to choose from around Salers (Jordanne springs, Puy Violent, Col de Néronne...), but I also have a soft spot for the Cézallier pastures (to the north, near Puy de Dôme around La Godivelle) or to the south toward Pradiers. A sea of green that makes the Salers cows (pronounced "Sal-air" here) very happy.