After a Maps.me inspired Sophie size country walk, we said our goodbyes to Jacqui, who was planning to stay another night, and headed back up to the town to use their motorhome services. I’d not been able to locate them the previous afternoon, which was down to dodgy coordinates, but with the help of Park4night’s satellite view, I tracked them down to a set-back spot in the main square.

After the required tipping out and topping up, we were on our way. Whilst not a “pretty” village in the conventional sense, quite a number of its buildings retained their original painted names on their facades, generally cafes, hotels, civic buildings, shops etc, which definitely took you back to somewhere in the mid 20th century and beyond.

This wasn’t likely to be a long drive, as I was aiming for the spot I’d earmarked for the previous night. En route we came across the picturesque town of Saint Julien Chapteuil, and found some handy streetside parking outside the tourist office, suitable for a more modest motorhome, and ideal for a good old look around, and some exercise. Some lovely historic buildings here and we were pleased we’d stopped.

The route to our potential stop took us through the little village of Saint-Pierre-Eynac, which had width warning signs, but we had no problem, and even saw a massive coach on the other side of the town centre.

The Park4night was a picnic spot, just off the road, but with generous solid, grassy parking sufficiently away from the main road. The narrowness of the village’s roads indicated to me that there wouldn’t be much through traffic to disturb us.

We like to think that the majority of our overnight stops will have great views, or at least an open aspect. This one, we knew immediately, would go down as one of our best views, ever. 180 degree far-reaching views across the amazing volcanic Auvergne countryside, dominated by so many of the typical small domed hills, that I’m told are each the magma chambers of ancient volcanoes. Stunning, and so worth the detour if you’re in the area.

We’d kept in touch with Jacqui back in Fay sur Lignon, and our enthusiasm about this great find got her attention and she was soon on her way. So we had Jacqui and Lucy’s company for another night. You can only imagine how amazing the sunset and dusk looked across this dramatic scenery. We only had one more neighbour that night, so a peaceful Friday night was in store.

*** Just to mention that our blogs can be up to a few weeks behind reality, as we’re always in catch-up mode ***