Visiting Puy de Dôme, France

I have been in a weird mood these days. I don't know whether it's the moving to another country finally hitting me or something completely different. I have been feeling dry, emotionally and spiritually. I think that's ok. It is about accepting myself as I come, and striving to be better at every step.

Either way, to help me conquer my thoughts and get out of my own head, I thought it would be a good idea to go on a trek. I have been wanting to do this one for such a long time but did not get the opportunity till last week. Puy de Dôme was created 10,7000 years ago by a volcanic eruption back when the Earth was still hot.

It is also the highest of the Chaîne de Puys mountain range. To be writing very honestly would be telling my readers that this was a super easy trek. I am used to the height of the Himalayas or even the difficult terrain of the Sahyadris back in my home state, Maharashtra. Compared to all of that, this was nothing at all. It takes approximately 1-ish hour for the climb up and 3-ish hours for the descend (we took 2 different paths). It is definitely worth the trip though, for the views! 

You have two ways to go up. The first one is the goat's path that is long and extensive but also has the best views. The second one is the Mule's path which is not long and is a straight climb up (around 45 mins). If you do not want to do either of these then you can also take a train up the volcano. There are a lot of facilities and you cannot get lost! Although, having a car will serve you well over there as it is not that accessible by public transport in winter. 

We started the climb on the Mule's path and found it to be like any hill in Pune, quite an easy and short climb. The views on the way up were amazing, though!

On the top we were greeted by the trekkers rock pile, something I have seen at the top of literally every mountain I have summited here. It is so cute. People carry a rock which they collect on the bottom of the mountain and take it along with them to the top. Then they make a mountain on the top of the mountain. Is this only a french thing or have you seen it elsewhere?

We were also greeted by the most magnificent views that were unbelievably stunning!

We saw many snowy mountains in the distance and there was quite a lot of snow on the way. All the exercise made us warm and kept us that way till the winds at the summit embraced us, first gently and then rather violently. 

So we dressed up nice and snug and visited the museum at the top talking about the Gallo-roman period. We saw a restaurant, a place to do a picnic, a paragliding location with many paragliders and a railway station up there.

There was also an antenna. The museum is really interesting and it is built alongside the ruins of an old mercury temple. Lord mercury was really venerated at the time. I think about the effort it took with the minimum technology at that era and the brain power it took to make such majestic constructions. Just wow.

The inside of the museum is snug and small. It talks about the place of this structure at the epoch of the Roman empire. I found this museum to be really cool as a history buff. Although, it is a bit small and does not cover much. 

While coming down, we saw a lot of caves and also realised that the goat's path was a much prettier way. Although, the path was longer and so we were grateful to not have taken that on the climb up but rather for the descent and if you are planning a trip here, that is what I recommend. Go up by the Mule's path and down by the goat's.

 

That's all I have to say about my trip. It was definitely worth the climb and I am looking forward to more treks to come!

Aditi's recommendations

• Carry light snacks with you. I carried many fruits and they helped
• Have only a bottle of water with you. There are free fountains everywhere!
• Get ready to pee outside (in winter) because toilets are often dysfunctional in winter as they were when I visited. They close them to not burst the pipes when they freeze. 
• Take the mule's path up and the goat's path down
• Park at Col de Ceyssat and trek from there but reach early as the parking is quite small and does not accommodate many cars. 

Have a lovely day folks! Until next time!