Thursday 25 August - drive to Cahors, then on to Rocamadour for the night


With the weather still not the best, we decided to jump in the car and go do a bit of exploring. The first place we wanted to go was Cahors. We knew this was on the River Lot and that there was a hire boat depot there, but that the upper parts of the Lot could not be reached from the Garonne. We just wanted to see what it was like. So off we took in our trusty little hire car.

We travelled the back roads which, even though a lot slower than the highway, were much more interesting. We had travelled the A20 enough in our trips to and from Moissac!

The marina on the Lot was your typical hire-boat place, but the river itself looked very enticing.

The town itself was interesting, with very distinct older and newer quarters. The old area had lots of wood & stone buildings, and the cathedral was huge. In honour of Dick, we also took several pictures of beautifully carved doors!

Having spent several hours exploring Cahors, and realising that we could spend much more time there on future trips, we decided to explore a bit further afield. One place we had read a lot about, and now saw that it was not too far from Cahors was Rocamadour (or so it appeared on the map).

So we headed north from Cahors, on the back roads again, until we reached Payrac, then turned to the east towards Rocamadour. The many villages and the winding roads through the National Park surrounding Rocamadour meant that it was a fairly slow trip, but very satisfying.

Rocamadour itself is a spectacular town built onto the face of a towering cliff, with village down below, churches half-way up and castle at the top.

While the town was, naturally, very popular with tourists, it has managed to retain a lot of its original charm. Because we had arrived so late in the day, we decided on the spot to stay there overnight. Some enquiries at the Tourism Office secured us a room at the Best Western in the middle of the old town in a beautifully renovated building that had retained much of its character. We wandered around the old village for a while, then realised we were getting hungry. While it was only about 6pm, and hence too early for French dining, Rita wisely decided to enquire at one of the restaurants overlooking the valley, and managed to get the last unreserved table on the balcony. The smile on her face reading the menu says everything! Looking up from our table gave a great view of the cliff and the castle on top. When night fell and the spotlights went on, the view was even more fantastic!