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Saturday July 9 the Tour de France comes through 'our' village. All information about the route, access and closure of roads is available on the website of the Tourist Office of the Sancy Massif.

The summer holiday have begun! Until September 10, Les Camelias has limited availability. Planning to stay with us during this period? Book now!

From July 2 to 5 the Art’Air Festival will take place. A 4 day walk around the Puy de Sancy will be organised. During and after the walks, there are performances, craft demonstrations and exhibitions to visit.

For instance, on July 3 at 7.30 pm a tango evening with meal will take place in the Salle Polyvalente in Le Mont-Dore. One can walk all stages but each stage and / or event can also be book separately.

More (French) information can be found on the website of the Art’Air Festival.

As of June 145 miles of signposted mountain bike routes will be available in the Sancy-massif. Spread out over 26 routes and close to seven municipalities, including Le Mont-Dore.

Out of Le Mont-Dore the following signposted routes can be cycled: Le Capucin (green): 2 miles / 92 meters of climbing, Les Artistes (blue): 4 miles / 276 meters of climbing, Descente du Rigolet (blue): 5,5 miles / 401 meters of climbing and Chamablanc (red): 10 miles / 685 meters of climbing.

Obviously, the different routes can be combined. There is also a connection with the routes from La Stèle and La Bourboule.

More (French) information can be found on the website of the Sancy-massif.

From now bicycles can be rented in La Bourboule, at 6 km from Les Camélias. Not only mountain bikes for adults and children but also city bikes, tandems, trailer bikes, bicycle trailers and child seats are available. Of course Les Camélias can take care of the rental for you.

The Les Camélias website is ready for summer; summer activities are shown more at the top of the menu, the winter logo has been replaced by our summer logo and winter pictures have been replaced by more sunny ones. The calendar has also been updated.

Although winter is not yet over, below a preview of a Auvergnat summer.

Vanaf dit voorjaar bieden wij via Vasa Sport een racefietsrondreis aan. Tijdens deze reis worden er in 6 etappes 3 middelgebergtegebieden aangedaan; het Massif du Sancy, de Livradois-Forez en de Cantal.

De cols gaan tot 1.589 meter. Het te overbruggen hoogteverschil is gemiddeld zo’n 300 à 400 meter en zal maximaal tot zo’n 700 m gaan. Dit lijkt allemaal niet zo heftig, maar er moet rekening gehouden worden met het feit dat er geen meter vlak in de tochten zal zitten!

Meer informatie is te vinden op de website van Vasa Sport.

As of today some great movies can been seen on the pages below on the Sancy Massif and the activities that can be done:

• Activities close to Les Camélias
• Cycling in the Auvergne
• Mountainbiken in the Auvergne
• Hiking in the Puy de Dôme
• Outdoor activities

Up until our departure for France, Erwin was treasurer of the Vajra Foundation. We would like continue to support this foundation and have therefore decided to donate € 1,= of each Les Camélias invoice to this foundation. In 2010 we got to a total of 113 invoices, and therefore we donated today € 113.

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.

Today some decoration has been done in the kitchens of our Puy Ferrand and Puy Baladou apartments. Besides the picture below, the result can also be seen in the photo albums of these two apartments.

Our new comfortable sofa beds can also been seen in these photo albums.

Photo album Puy Ferrand apartment.
Photo album Puy de Baladou apartment.

The outside of Les Camélias is undergoing a metamorphosis; the shutters have been restored and given a new color.

From now on it is possible to order order your ski passes on-line via Easy Sancy website. Payment via Mastercard and Visa.

We want to wish everyone a fantastic 2011! We hope to welcome you in 2011 at Les Camélias.

As of this week our Puy de Baladou apartment has a completely renovated kitchen and bathroom. The outer wall of the kitchen is equipped with an insulated wall and there are new cupboards, a new gas cooker with oven, new flooring and a sofa bed with a good quality mattress.

The bathroom is also well taken care of and now includes a walk-in shower and a (towel) radiator. More pictures can be seen in the photo album of this apartment.

Don't forget to bring your swimwear this winter. Recently a really nice swimming pool with sauna and Turkish bath has opened in La Bourboule (at 4 mile of Les Camélias).

In our Puy Ferrand apartment we have recently installed a similar great shower cabin as we already had installed in our Puy de la Vache apartment. Meanwhile we are busy renovating the bathroom and kitchen of the Puy de Baladou apartment.

The last couple of day it has been snowing most of the time. The ski and cross country ski areas of Le Mont-Dore and Super-Besse will open Friday December 3.

At about 8 km from Les Camélias there is the cross country and snowshoeing paradise of the Lac de Guéry. As of December 19 fun winter activities are organized at this great location. A reason for Les Camélias to include these activities into our calendar of activities.

From May 21st 2011 up until September 20th 2011 Flybe will fly between Southampton and Clermont-Ferrand v.v. 3x weekly: Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

Les Camélias donates € 1,= of each invoice to the Vajra foundation. In 2009 we got to a total of 116 invoices, and therefore we donated € 116,=. Today we prepared the 100th invoice of 2010.

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.

The Tour de France will pass through Le Mont-Dore on July 9 2011. From Le Mont-Dore, the Col de Croix St. Robert will be climbed. The finish of the stage will be at Super-Besse. But one of the two Etape du Tour cyclosportives will also take place in the Auvergne in 2011. It is the stage from Issoire to Saint-Flour. This cyclosportive will be held on Sunday July 17 2011.

The route leads through the Gorges de l'Alagnon in the direction of the Monts du Cantal: Col du Pas de Peyrol (Le Puy Mary), Col du Perthus and the Col de Prat de Bouc (Plomb du Cantal). The start in Issoire is on a small hour's drive from Les Camélias. You can register via the Internet on www.letapedutour.com as from Tuesday November 16 from noon (CET).

It was announced today that the Tour de France will pass through Le Mont-Dore on July 9 2011. From Le Mont-Dore, the Col de Croix St. Robert will be climbed. The finish of the stage will be at Super-Besse.

The snow canons on the Le Mont-Dore ski slopes were tested this afternoon.