On 10th July 10 2020, the Tour de France will pass in front of Les Camélias. During the Châtel-Guyon to the Puy Mary (Pas de Peyrol) stage. It is the stage with the most meters of climbings during this edition of the Tour de France: 4,400.

The following day the Tour de France leaves from Clermont-Ferrand. Easily accessible by bike or car from Les Camélias.

Take note: we only still have 1 apartment available during this period! This is our Puy de l’Angle apartment. The minimum stay during this period is 4 days.

Interested? Contact us now!

Sunday 12 January 2020 the Trail Hivernal Oxsitis Sancy Mont-Dore ill again take place. Participants can choose between 20 kms with 900 meters of climbing or 30 kms with 1.500 meters of climbing.

Be quick, the maximum number of participants is limited.

Pre-registration as of 21 October 1 pm.

Below a foretaste with images of the 2018 edition of this really well organised event.

Book a stay (of at least 4 days) directly with us in September 2019 for the Spring half-term 2020 (14 February to 24 February) and enjoy a delicious breakfast the first morning!

Interested in this offer? Then contact us via our website. We only have very limited left availability for this period.

The offer is only valid when booking through this website in September 2019 for a minimum stay of 4 days in the period from 14 to 24 February 2020).

From September 26 up until September 29 the Volcanic Blues Festival will take place.

A great event with blues music in the many bars & restaurants in Le Mont-Dore. Below a sneak peek.

Why not combine a weekend of hiking or cycling with great concerts?

We only have limited availability as of Saturday left during this week-end.

We have no availability left during the holiday period. We can welcome again you as of August 31st.

Making a reservation is easy: fill out this from our phone us at: +33 (0)4 73 65 04 67.

For the picnic during the guided road cycling Tour d’Auvergne that we organised last week, we made these muffins. On request the recipe.

Ingredients
50 grams of oatmeal
3 ripe bananas
50 grams of pitted dates
3 eggs
100 grams of almond flour
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
2 hands of red (frozen) fruit

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees
2. Grind oatmeal in a blender to flour
3. Add bananas, dates and eggs and mix until smooth
4. Add almond flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt and mix again
5. Add and mix with a spoon the red fruit and distribute into muffin molds

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven.
 

In the right sidebar of this website you can see the latest Instagram photo that Margriet took.

Margriet's Instagram account is puymargriet. She will be out and about with 20 French cyclists next week. They cycle our Tour d'Auvergne. This certainly will lead to beautiful photos.
 

During the summer months you will find each day of the week a market close to Les Camélias. Click on the picture for an overview.

Horizons - Rencontres "Arts Nature" takes place up until September 22 around the Sancy massif. 11 landscape art objects can be visited. A great combination with the already beautiful surroundings.

The accompanying map shows how the artworks can be reached. For some object visitors will have to walk a bit, while other objects are very easy to visit.

3 objects are in the vicinity of Les Camélias; at the origin of the Dordogne river and on the Col de la Croix Saint Robert here in Le Mont-Dore and next to the Fenestre Park in La Bourboule.

Margriet already saw 1 object during the exploration of a walk for Hiking Auvergne.

The video below gives an impression of 5 of the 11 artworks.

E-mountain bikes can now be rented from Sport Mountain (Skiset) in Le Mont-Dore.

Recently a guest rented such an e-mountain bike. After 2 days she found it was a great shame that her holiday was over and that the bike had to be returned to Sport Mountain! It was a great experience to be able to conquer the cols around Les Camélias with pedal assistance.

On presentation of a voucher, our guests receive a 10% discount on the rental of an e-mountain bike at Sport Mountain (Skiset).

Together with Livia van Eijle from Le Relais de Voissières we organize walking holidays. This under the name Hiking Auvergne. These extremely flexible walking holidays are tailor-made. And sometimes a new route has to be explored. Like last Tuesday.

I explored the area between Pessade and Lac d’Aydat on my mountain bike. The Puy de Combegrasse is also located in this area. An old volcano that is easy to climb. And where you have great views. On the Chaîne des Puys, the Sancy Massif, the Livraidos-Forez and the Lac d’Aydat.

Visit our Facebook page for more photos.

Visit the Hiking Auvergne website if you feel like going on a flexible hiking holiday.

Or read all about walking from Les Camélias

Immediately after our own holiday (cycling on Gran Canary and a family weekend in the Netherlands) it was full house at Les Camélias. Including 5 mountain biking French. They reserved a welcome dinner.

We spoiled them with:

• Mustard-ginger soup
• Stuffed red pepper and stuffed eggplant with a mixed salad
• Strawberry trifle

During their stay they cycled 3 beautiful, very varied day trips.

It was by the way a nice home coming; the walls of the entrance and the stairwell were refurbished during our absence.

From Thursday July 25 up to Sunday July 28, the 9th Mont-Dore Retro Rockin' festival will take place. For 4 days Le Mont-Dore will be in the devoted to Fifties rock 'n roll concerts which will be held in the open air and in the many bars and restaurants of Le Mont-Dore. 

During this festival we still have availability (although very limited). 

More information can be found on the website of the festival.

Up until our departure for France, Erwin was treasurer of the Vajra Foundation. We wanted to continue to support this foundation and did therefore decide to donate € 1,= of each Les Camélias invoice to this foundation. In 2018 we got to a record number of no less than 350 invoices, and therefore we did recently donate € 350.

In November 2017 we had the privilege to visit one of the Vajra foundation's projects:  the Vajra Academy. A school at which all the ideals of the Vajra Foundation come together: quality education, solidarity and sustainability. We enjoyed the extensive tour and lunch made with vegetables from their own school garden and cooked on biogas and solar energy!

About the Vajra Foundation: The Vajra Foundation is an organisation which is contributing to the welfare of the poorest in Nepal through several projects. With the help of many volunteers, donors and sponsors the Vajra Foundation is able to build and finance hospitals, schools and water projects.

The Vajra Foundation strives to have the projects run independently after their launch. The Vajra Foundation does not only offer real help, but also likes to contribute in the field of information provision about the problems in developing countries.

Le Mont-Dore and its direct surroundings are not only great for (snow shoe) walking, road cycling, mountain biking and (cross country) skiing but also for trail running.

No less than 9 signposted trail run circuits start in Le Mont-Dore.

Below a video to get in the mood for a bit of trail running. Moreover, the video is also worth watching for non-trail runners!

The oldest funicular (cable train) of France (1898) is located in Le Mont-Dore. From the village this funicular takes users in 10 minutes 250 meter higher. This way the steep walking paths going out of Le Mont-Dore are being avoided and at the top one can choose from a very wide, less steep network of walking paths in the Pic du Capucin area.

With the so-called "Ticket Duo" one can - from June to September - with a discount once use the funicular and once the téléphérique (gondola lift to / from the Puy de Sancy).
 

In June 2018 we organised a road cycling trip for the Dutch cycling holiday company Vasa Sport; the Tour d'Auvergne. Below we show you the aftermovie.

Interested in doing a similar cycling trip in this year? For groups of more than 10 cyclists look for more information on our Guided road cycling tour in the Auvergne as of 10 cyclists page. For groups up to 10 persons we have a similar trip. Read all about this trip on our Road cycling round trip in the Auvergne page!

Please feel free to visit our guestbook to read what our guests think of Les Camélias and of us.

Together with Livia van Eijle of Le Relais de Voissieres we organise self-guided walking holidays where flexibility is paramount. For example, one can choose from:

• the number of days
• the start date
• the daily distances
• rest days or no rest days – for which you yourself can choose the location. You yourself can decide what to do on this rest day: a stroll, lounge about or another activity
• with or without luggage transport

More information about these hiking holidays can be found on the Hiking in the Auvergne website.

After this weekend the ski slopes will close for this season. The snow is slowly melting and the skis are being changed for bicycles. There are not only endless possibilities over here for road bikes, but also for mountain bikes. The video below testifies to this. There are actually more challenging trails than those that can be seen in the video ;)

One day since the registration for the Trails du Sancy Mont-Dore (21 & 22 September 2019). Not only are there no places left for the 33 km, we also have no availability left!

The registration for the Trails du Sancy starts on April 1st at midnight.

The organisations website.

On 21 and 22 September 2019 the Trails du Sancy Mont-Dore will take place. During these 2 days the following 5 races are being organised:

• La Dorée Trail: 12,5 km and 550 meters of climbing
• Le Chemin des Crêtes: 18 km and 1090 meters of climbing
• Trail du Sancy: 34 km with 2400 meters of climbing
• Grand Trail du Sancy: 60 km with 3350 meters of climbing. This is a qualification race for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (2 points).

The video below gives a good impression of what participants can expect.

Because our breakfast guests highly appreciate these pancakes, herewith the recipe.

For 4 persons:

• 100 ml milk
• 75 grams of oatmeal
• 1 egg
• 1 banana
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Mix all the ingredients in a blender. Bake the pancakes (I always take a ladle per pancake) on both sides in butter.

Les Camélias is a partner of the Grands Thermes de La Bourboule. Because of this, our guests get a 10% discount on all wellness treatments at the Espace Bien-Etre. If you would like to benefit of this discount you will only need to take the voucher which you will find in your apartment.

More (French) information can be found on the website of the Grands Thermes de La Bourboule.

The video below shows that you can do a lot in Le Mont-Dore in wintertime::

• skiing and sledding - the ski slopes are open until 7 April
• a visit to the thermal baths
• eat truffade - regional dish of potato slices with melted cheese, salad and raw ham
• ice fishing on the Lac de Guéry - the 1st weekend of March
• a sled dog ride

Do you feel like spending a weekend (or longer) in Le Mont-Dore? Please do not hesitate to contact us.