Another hot day was forecast for the region, so we decided to get into a cool car and drive to somewhere where we might be able to stay cool. We made an early start for Bruniquel and Ste Antonin Noble Val, hoping to get things done before it got too hot. Since Stuart and Christine had not seen either of these two towns, they decided to come along with us. Rita and I started to feel like tour guides, since this was our third trip to this region this year.

When we got to Bruniquel, we realised that the climb up to the castle would be too much for Frank, so we asked around and found a way to drive up and park near the castle. As always when we go there, we keep finding new things that we hadn’t noticed, or paid attention to, on previous visits. We also found that Christine was not scared of heights, since she just walked out onto the balcony to take a photo, whereas Stuart and I both reached for the railing as we stepped onto the balcony.

In one of the halls currently undergoing renovations, we were surprised to find a whole dressing room full of period clothing, complete with sewing machines, seamstresses and hairdressers. These were all preparing for a performance that would be held in one of the courtyards, where a stage and seating had already been erected.

When we had seen enough of Bruniquel (actually when Frank had seen enough), we went down to the cafe on the main road for drinks (because that was the one we could get to by car for Frank). It was a very “rural” cafe, as was the proprietor. Stuart and Christine judged the coffee to be one of the worst they had had in France, and I think I might have agreed with them. But a very entertaining interlude, nonetheless.

Then it was on to Ste Antonin Noble Val, further along the Aveyron River. This was rapidly becoming one of our favourite towns. Every visit has produced something different. This time it was a team of donkeys crossing the bridge over the Aveyron, and an installation on the front of the shop belonging to the Australian artist, Gary Yelin. We had tried to find Gary on previous visits, but this time we were successful. He hails from North-East Victoria, and has established an Artist-in-Residence Program in Ste Antonin. An array of artists stay in his gite rooms on the top floor and then create various artistic works in his studios. In this case, an Australian-Japanese artist was creating a colourful sculpture using bamboo and string on the front of his shop - very impressive.

Since it was now early afternoon, we decided it was time for lunch, and were lucky to get a table at "a la Bonne Franquette" - the food was good and the staff were fabulous. Despite it being a very hot day, and having to service restaurants on both sides of the laneway, they maintained a great attitude with lots of jokes between themselves and customers, and even climbed up on chairs to use Stuart’s fancy camera to get this overhead shot of us at the table. If you’re ever in Ste Antonin, I can highly recommend this restaurant.

But all good things must come to an end, and so after a very enjoyable 90 minutes, we had to leave the cool restaurant and venture back out into the heat. It was too hot for Frank to walk far, so I went ahead to retrieve the car (on the way I saw that the Pharmacy sign said it was 42 degrees), and then drove back into the central area (down some one-way streets the wrong way!) to pick him up. We then drove back to Moissac in a cool car, and hid in the cooler parts of the house for the rest of the day. In the meantime, Stuart and Christine ventured on to Cordes sur Ciel, which they had also not seen. But given that it is perched on top of a hill, and that the temparature was now well over 40, they did not quite make it to the top before they stopped for a drink, and then came back down!

During the afternoon, I followed the 2nd Cricket Test in England where Australia and England were playing for the Ashes (the premier trophy, for non-cricket-followers). After England won the first test, Australia came back to win the second test easily, and go to the top of the international rankings for test cricket teams.

In the evening there was a bit of thunder and lightning, which raised our hopes of a cool change, but it was all show with hardly a drop of rain.