This is the top of the Lot!

Wednesday, 22^nd May

Well today we woke up to warmer weather although it was still overcast all day and now we are back home at 5pm and the sun has finally shown itself and it is 22 degrees. We had another big day of driving, walking many steps and taking in magnificent views. The plan was to go to a market this morning but it wasn’t on so we ended up at a place called Rocamadour.

We are so pleased that we fell upon this place as it was so fantastic to see. It is well over one thousand years old and it clings to the mountains on sheer limestone cliffs. It goes back to the Palaeolithic ages and was a destination for pilgrims in the middle ages which enabled the town to grow to such prosperity known today.

We followed in the steps of the pilgrims and climbed the steps to the highest places and wandered through the magnificent church and even took it one step further and caught a mini train and went into all the tourist shops.

From the bottom of the village we noticed people waving to us from a rampart of a Chateau high up on the top of the cliff so we decided this was our next destination. We wound our way up the steep incline and I lost count of the number of steps we took to get there, the last part of the climb required a two Euros so after paying for this we realised it was well worth it! At the end of the rampant Gary looked over the edge and nearly sunk to his knees and said “He felt ill!”  He was also a little grey at the time, some Dutch people mentioned it was like a place in Holland called “Madura dam” (probably spelt wrong) miniature village replica in Holland.  The bottom of the cliff was so far away that it looked like we were in a low flying aircraft, you will see from the pictures. I felt like a princess kept high up in her castle standing on the edge calling for Rupunzel!  I don’t think anyone would have hair this long.

We are back at our cabin now and we are enjoying sitting our on our deck for the first time as it is sunny. I am sipping beer which is only about 47c here and Gary is once again on the good stuff, Cream Liqueur.

Well cheers to the end of another lovely day in France from the beautiful Dordogne.    A bientot – (see you soon) only a week or so to go…..

Love Chel

PS We just got the confirmation that we can go on an all day bike ride tomorrow in a region above the Lot not far from here following the Dordogne River  so we are really excited. I will let you know how it went tomorrow xx

As Gary couldn't eat cakes he said you can't visit France without going to a Boulangerie so it was up to  me!

 At  Martel Markets, small local produce

The start of the climb.

At Rocamadour - the Castle is on the top where we climbed to the best lookout.

From the top!

Another view from the top!

Gary in the tourist streets down below.