We wanted to catch the early morning sun on Rocamadour so we got up early (before 0700) on Tuesday, September 22 and we were rewarded with not only the sun but also we avoided the masses of tourists that flock there every day. After climbing a lot of steps, we visited the various chapels and the main Sanctuary. Apparently, pilgrims will often climb the 200 odd steps on their knees. It was hard enough upright! The fact that the place is cut out of the rock face is pretty impressive and so long ago in the 11th century.

We then caught the funicular up to the chateau that imperiously overlooks the church and the town to walk around its ramparts. It also made an easier walk back to the van along the top of the gorge.

We left around midday to drive to Cahors, the home of the Malbec grape and another medieval walled city. We parked up in a large car park just south of the old town with about twenty other vans (P4N#549143). It was not a pretty park up but it was near the centre and free! We walked to the Pont Valentre, one of the most famous of old bridges in France, as well as through the old town. Unusually, the cathedral has two domes, one plain and one painted with frescoes. There we purchased a couple of bottles of Malbec wine from a local producer. Leon Gambetta, founding Father of the 3rd French Republic, was born in the city.

Back to the van for a much needed shower before going back into town for a gorgeous meal at La Petit Auberge, which included a Parmesan crème brûlée starter.

The next morning we left early, again (!), as we wanted to use the nearby dump station and make our way to Carcassonne to meet up with friends. On the way we stopped at Saint Cirque Lapopie, voted the most preferred village in France. We arrived before the maddening crowds again so we’re feeling very pleased with ourselves and it was indeed a gorgeous village.

We drove onto another of the Beaux Villages, Najac, as well as Cordes-sur-Ciel. Both lovely.

However, on our way to Najac, Liz wanted to drive along the side of a gorge that she had heard about. This involved going down narrow roads with rock overhangs on one side and sheer drops on the other. Not for the faint hearted! It finished with a bridge crossing that was 2.2m wide. Dora is 2.05m excluding wing mirrors.

There was a large Toulouse-Lautrec exhibition in a town called Albi that was on the way to Carcassonne and we managed to park quite close to the old centre under a covered market. It was free parking when there wasn’t a market on and it was in the shade, which was great as it was 33°! Albi was a delightful surprise with the biggest brick cathedral in the world at over 70m tall and the exhibition was in the old bishopric palace next door. Toulouse-Lautrec was born in the town and so they had managed to acquire or been donated many paintings and drawings.

After a pleasant couple of hours there we drove onto Carcassonne where we got one of the last remaining places at the camping car aire by the campsite our friends were in (P4N#36930). We didn’t need electricity or facilities so the aire at half the price was perfect for us. We had a lovely evening catching up with our friends.

The following morning, we made the mistake of not getting into the old town until after 10.30 and the hordes had truly arrived. The old town was a pleasant 20 minute walk from the campsite along the river and has been inhabited for over 2,500 years. It has 52 towers and 3km of ramparts but after spending a couple of hours there we had had enough of the crowds so we hightailed it back to Dora for lunch.

In the afternoon, we decided we wanted to cycle over the Pont Vieux, built in the 14th century, to the Canal du Midi. The canal was one of the options we had considered when we wanted to take our previous boat, Nimrod, down to the Mediterranean. We opted to sail around the coast and across the Bay of Biscay in the end but wanted to see it for ourselves. It was all a bit underwhelming despite having been built in the 17th century to link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Back to the van for pizza with our friends.

Miles since last blog: 202

Total miles this trip 1,488