Thursday, 5th, Friday, 6th and Saturday, 7th June Rocamadour to Argentat and on to Saignes.

Rocamadour

The day before yesterday we visited the cliffside village of Rocamadour, with its medieval citadel and spent a large part of the day walking around it. Or, should I say down and up it, as it is vertiginous. We parked at the top overlooking the valley, so decided we would walk down to the valley below, via parts of the citadel. There are two lifts, but we avoided them, on the way down.

There are a number of chapels in the sanctuary built into the rocks, one contains the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Rocamadour. She has purportedly performed many miracles, often at sea. A bell hangs from the ceiling and is said to spontaneously toll every time a miracle happens.

Rocamadour became a place of pilgrimage in the early Middle Ages with many English and French nobles climbing the 216 steps to the sanctuary, on their knees! It is now the most visited pilgrimage site in France after Lourdes.

The village has a population of approximately 650 and as it is such a popular tourist spot, has many cafes, restaurants and handicraft shops. Like most villages in the Dordogne area it is very pretty. Roses and honeysuckle climbing everywhere, hollyhocks and pots of every description filled with petunias and geraniums decorate steps, windows and anywhere there is room to put them.

We chickened out on the return and took one lift half way back up. After the still steep walk back up to the car park we were very appreciative of our rather late lunch. A baguette and assorted cheeses with pain au raisins and tea.

Autoire

Our next stop was another very pretty village, Autoire. After a walk around admiring the architecture and flowers, we spent more time walking today than driving, we stopped at a popular cafe for some liquid refreshment.

A shop selling 37 varieties of mushroom

Loubressac

We continued a few kilometres to the next lovely village of Loubressac. Here we found a pleasant 3 star camp and after dinner in Poki set off for another walk into the countryside on the outskirts of the village.

Yesterday morning we drove into the village and started the morning in another lovely cafe for coffee, overlooking ancient stone cottages bedecked with yet more roses and honeysuckle. Today we haven’t gone far again. The countryside and villages are so pretty, one just wants to amble along.

Leaving Loubressac the Sat-Nav took us down a track, which according to the sign, was for residents only. It became narrower and narrower and more overgrown. Almost more adventurous than being in South America. Eventually it brought us to a tarmac road. We passed no habitation, so I don’t know what residents were supposed to use it!

Castlenau en route to Beaulieu sur Dordogne

As we drove towards our next planned stopping point, Beaulieu sur Dordogne, we passed the enormous Chateau of Castelnau. There are chateaux or grand Manor Houses around practically every corner, but Castelnau really stands out.

Parking in the main square in Beaulieu, where the remains of a market were just packing up, we wandered around the town. Another very pretty place. Moving on, we climbed out of the town and at a viewpoint looking down on forests and the river at the bottom of the valley, we stopped for lunch.

Argentat

Onwards to Argentat, we parked in the town centre and walked down to the river. All morning it had been overcast, but the sun came out and so we sat for a while overlooking the river. some of the things I love about France are the bells which chime on the hour, half hour etc and the chattering of swooping swallows, swifts and martins. They are everywhere, but I never see them in the UK now.

This part of the river in Argentat had been a port in earlier times. In the mid nineteenth century, single use barges called courpets were rowed down the Dordogne to Argentat. Here many were dismantled to use as firewood or for construction. Usually they were constructed from beech, aspen, alder or birch. More sturdy courpets carried staves for use as stakes in the vineyards and oak for barrel building in Bordeaux.

Returning to Poki we headed to the nearby Camping Municipal. A nice quiet site. It’s become very warm and humid with some ominous looking black clouds. Perhaps a thunderstorm is brewing.

Upside down signs

Throughout France we have been noticing upside down road signs. I asked our friend, Wendy, what this meant. Was it a protest aimed at tourists, or even the English, or just pranksters. The answer surprised us. It is apparently being perpetrated by farmers protesting about various gripes they have with the government.

Barrage de Chastang, Barrage de l’Aigle, Mauriac to Saignes.

Today was a completely different day. It started wet again and was pretty miserable and overcast all day. We were, however, away from the main tourist route and followed some very rural, tiny lanes through thick forests. Occasionally there was some farm land or a small hamlet, but most of the time we were either climbing via hairpins or descending in the same way through dense woods.

The tail enders of a veteran car rally we passed in the lanes.

We passed the two barrages (dams) on the upper reaches of the Dordogne river, and stopped for lunch at a very isolated restaurant overlooking the river. We had a good lunch, but I over ordered on the wine front. There were three prices for wine, so I thought, from the prices, these were small, medium and large glasses. Ordering a medium I was shocked when a half litre carafe of rose turned up. Dennis helped me out with a tiny amount, but I was somewhat the worse for wear after lunch.

Being away from the tourist area, camping was a bit of a lottery. The first 2 municipal sites we found were both not functioning. We are now located at the third in Saignes. It’s very quiet. We are the only campers here, but a couple of cabins are occupied. The facilities are spotless and it suits us just fine.

Views: 11