With the variable weather now starting with the onset of Autumn, it was no great surprise to find that it was sunny again today. So after doing some necessary work to silicone-seal around the shower drainhole, we went over to the Capitainerie to give Iain back his sealant gun, and talk about a variety of issues arising out of the Fetes de Plaisanciers.

Then we decided to take a trip to a town I had been wanting to visit for a while - Cordes-sur-Ciel. I had originally learnt about this town when I read a book entitled “Tales from the Hilltop” by Tony Lewis, about a couple who had spent a summer running a bicycle tour business from the town in the south of France near Albi. His descriptions of the town and surrounding areas had got me intrigued, so I was keen to visit. We had come close a few weeks ago when we visited St Antonin, but now we would see the real thing.

We were certainly not disappointed by the town -  indeed we both fell in love with it, and started thinking about how, on our next band tour, we would have to arrange to play there. As the name of the book suggests, the town is perched on a hilltop. The town name also gives a clue in that many towns in France have the addendum of “sur” indicating that they are near a river e.g. Buzet-sur-Baise, while this town name says Cordes “near the sky”. But what you don’t appreciate until you are there is that this hilltop is located in the centre of a giant horseshoe-shaped ampitheatre. The views from the town are spectacular, while the scenes within the town were impressive, yet charming at the same time. We stopped for lunch at Le Panoramique Restaurant - the name says it all.

Somewhat surprisingly, one of the things we noticed in Cordes-sur-Ciel was that, while dogs are very popular in most of France, this town seemed to have a love affair with cats, or vice versa. Everywhere you looked, you could find a cute and friendly cat.

One thing we didn’t see, because we were there at the wrong time of day, was the famous island in the clouds, so I stole this picture to show what it would have looked like if we had been there at the right time - something for the next trip.

In the late afternoon, we reluctantly dragged ourselves away from Cordes-sur-Ciel and made our way over to St Antonin for coffee. We had visited here a few weeks earlier, and were keen to check it out again. Is was just as pretty as before, but with less people around, so we really got the chance to relax and take our time. The view of the bridge and the moon rising above the ridge was stunning.

Finally, we headed home to Moissac via Molieres at the end of a very rewarding day.