With just Lothar and his family (including Janek and Steph) at the house, we decided to show them a bit of the regional area by taking them to two of our favourite places; Bonaguil and Lauzerte. So in the early afternoon, we headed off to Bonaguil in two vehicles. When we got there, Lothar’s kids took off in all directions to explore the castle.

As usual, the underground tunnels, stairs and walkways were stunning.

After several hours, we decided to leave if we were going to get to Lauzerte in time for the Night Market. But as we were doing a head count, we realised we were two short, until we looked up and saw Janek and Steph still at the top of the highest part of the castle. We yelled at them to come down, while we started to stroll down to the village.

On the way down, Rita and I ducked into a small Arts & Crafts store that we had noticed on previous visits, but which had always been closed. As we strolled around inside, we met up with the owner, who told us that most of the stuff in the shop had been made by her late husband, who had died a couple of years ago. She had initially closed the store, but had now decided to reopen as a tribute to him. He was certainly a talented artisan, with a wide range of skills. We particularly liked a collection of earrings, necklaces and bracelets, using very everyday items, such as buttons, paperclips, toothbrush heads, thimbles, zippers and pencil erasers. A very interesting collection indeed.

Once we got down to the village below the castle, everyone decided that they would like an ice-cream. So, another 40 minutes later we got into the cars to head for Lauzerte. However, when we got there for the Lauzerte Night Market, the place was packed (as we had expected). We did three loops of the hill looking for a parking space, and eventually squeezed into a rather precarious spot on the edge of the road near a cliff, with just enough room to get out of the passenger’s doors. We then walked to the top of the hill to the market square, hoping (against hope) to find 10 spare places at one of the tables (who were we kidding?). We found 4 spaces at one table, and looked for something better. But eventually we gave up, and left without having a meal. As we left our table with the 4 spaces, a family of four that had just arrived couldn’t believe their luck in getting a table so easily. Lucky them!

So we decided to head back to Moissac and see what we could find there. When we got there, all the restaurants in the Abbey Square were fairly busy, so Rita decided to test her friendship with the proprietor of L’Abbaye (our favourite restaurant on the corner next to the side of the Abbey). As on previous occasions, he was able to rearrange some tables of patrons who had just finished, and created a table for ten. We were very grateful for his kindness and even more pleased when the excellent food arrived 30 minutes later. One of Lothar's daughters was especially pleased with her lobster dish!