Cahors: lovely day along twisty turny roads

Our journey through the rural countryside reminded Arnie of his boyhood, when his family would travel along tight turny roads to reach a relative or to get to the airforce base. It was not as exciting as yesterday when we crossed a one way rickety wooden bridge in our car, but today was lively in its own lushly green way. As we reached Cahors we checked into our hotel, "Hotel Terminus".



In the lobby is a photo of this hotel from 1895, with what must have been its proud owners out front. The facade is decorated with heavy Romanesque motifs and moldings. Inside I was surprised to see that nearly every window on the ground floor was stained glass. If you look there are indications that this old lady is fading in places but the furnishings are so quaint the this can be over looked. Our room is very large and comfortable, I was pleased to see it had air conditioning. Though I am not all together how or why you would need one, our bathroom is equipped with a bidet. All in all, there is an aura that hardens back to the 19th century.

Sitting here on the terrace, with Arnie, and the ginger colored hotel cat, and golden evening light filtering through the tall trees that line the street, I feel incredibly lucky to be here.

We were offered a walking tour map of the city and enjoyed all the points of interest, including Pont Vellandre, the bridge you see below.


Cahors secret gardens were a big delight. Each one had a different theme. We walked along, using the guide map and happened upon them in randomly located nooks and crannies and courtyards through the old city.








Cahors is not a city of block buster tourist sights, but we found this working class town to have a certain warmth and charm about it that welcomed us in. Also it's old town fed our love of medieval buildings.


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Location:Cahors, France

The Cathedral of Sarlat

A peaceful moment away from the hustle and bustle of Sarlat's Saturday Market. We wandered in through a back door not even knowing we were entering a church. This one, not as grand as some we have visited in the past, was very pleasant.


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Location:Avenue du Général Leclerc,Sarlat-la-Canéda,France

Sarlat Market

We have mentioned how Market day is one our favorite experiences as we travel through France, the whole of Europe for that matter. I just ate my way through this particular market and, now,"I am the Walrus koo-koo-kachoo..."
The Saturday market in Sarlat is a lot larger than most that have experienced in other locations. A huge portion of this one is made up of crafts people selling handmade goods as well as the usual produce vendors.
Scarves, baskets, shirts, in addition to the food, of course, are just a few of the items we found ourselves parting with our money for. There are so many small trinkets, and what not, that it is sometimes hard to pass them by.



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Location:Avenue Thiers,Sarlat-la-Canéda,France

Sarlat, Beynac, La Roque Gageac, and Castelnaud

Bleak skies didn't stop us from getting out early this morning to try and capter Sarlat before it was over run by tourists. Damn tourist getting in the way. The grey skies didn't stop us from getting out, but sure limited the photo opportunities.




The road was calling our names after we finished breakfast, so we headed to some of the nearby sights to see what we could see. First stop, Beynac et Ceznac, a remarkably beautiful town on the river, with an equally remarkable castle on the hill immediately above clinging to the top of the cliff.








This, and every other place on today's visits, transport you to another time and place. The most striking thing is the difference in the stone here versus the old villages that we have visited in the north of France. While in the north the buildings are all grey and cold, here they are all a golden hue, giving the towns a much warmer glow.

Beynac sent us on our way, after a few hours, to the tiny town of La Roque Gageac that has been carved from the cliffs that rise steeply from the river. There is still evidence of the more ancient dwellings built into the face of the cliff high above the town.

La Roque is embraced by those cliffs and the river, making this petite jewel well worth the time to visit.




Castelnaud stands sentry over the river valley on what used to be the English side of the river during the Hundred Years War. The castle at Beynac was the French equivalent. Castelnaud is one of the most interesting castles that we have ever visited, because they have taken the time to collect a variety of middle ages weapons, several trebuchets among these. Though replicas, they lend a real authenticity to the surroundings. This castle, and Beynac, have been restored so well that you are able to experience the way it must have really been almost 500 years ago.




An interesting side note is the difference in the stature of the people then compared to now. For me especially, these trips back in time can be a bit challenging as the doors are almost all about chin level to me, and when we climb the spiral stairs in the towers it is easier for me to ascend them using hands and feet as if I were climbing a ladder rather than standing upright to walk the stairs.

All on all, a very successful day in the Dordogne River Valley of France.




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Location:Avenue du Général Leclerc,Sarlat-la-Canéda,France

Chinon to Bellac to Sarlat

We started today with a lovely breakfast at the Diderot Hotel with many jam choices that are made on the premises. I was hoping to see the friendly German couple there that we met last night, but they were not down yet. Our first day at the Diderot we met with one group of bikers from England and another from Switzerland. They were all in high spirits and fun to talk to. I was almost talked me into cross country biking.

We checked out about 8:00 and took off down the road. After about 2 hours, we decided to stop and have a snack. For no apparent reason we chose Bellac for this pause in the trip. What we found was a sweet quiet town with a lot of simple charm.








We knew that it would be another 2 hours before we reached our destination so we took a long stroll around the town, picked up a couple of pain au chocolat, and Fantas. And, then back in the Twingo we hopped.

We were very ready to leave the A20 highway and starting to doubt our GPS when we finally saw the signs leading us to Sarlat. We were blasted with close to 90 degree temps. when at last we rolled into the square in front of our hotel, and threw open the car doors.

We dropped off the bags, freshened up a bit, and went out to find lunch since it was now about 2:30. We were immediately in love with Sarlat. We started snapping photos like crazy tourists. Oh, yea we are crazy tourists. ;)



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Sarlat features fois gras, so there are a lot of goose figures around. We are heading out again this evening.

Location:Sarlat, France

On to the Dordogne River Valley

In a few hours we'll be getting up to rocket down the road toward the Dordogne. Well, rocket is probably overstating it as our little rental is decidedly meager in the horsepower area. Our stay in the Loire has been fabulous, and we have enjoyed the sights and meeting people from various parts of Europe at our bed and breakfast slash hotel here in Chinon.
In pondering what to say about the next stop in our voyage, I came across an article in The Guardian about the Dordogne that says it pretty well.

"The countryside - a patchwork of fields of maize and tobacco interspersed with walnut groves and oak woods - is hypnotically beautiful. Sightseeing is first rate, with a plethora of caves, fairy-tale châteaux, and medieval towns and villages that are so picturesque they could be stage sets for Les Misérables."
We'll let you know what our impressions are over the next five days.
Maybe, I can go back to sleep for a few hours now. Waking at 3:00 while on vacation seems counter intuitive.

Location:Rue Lavoisier,Chinon,France