M & M - Is that you?

Morag's diary - abridged

Prelude - Edinburgh to Dordogne

We flew from Edinburgh to Paris on Thursday 20 Sept. The most notable thing about the flight was that once we'd landed we seemed to taxi almost as far as we had just flown. Over freeways and along the road we went, pilot must have picked the wrong runway.

We caught the RER (rail) into Paris, fortunately we'd been able to book a hotel near to the underground station so it wasn't far to wheel our suitcases. It was around 10pm by the time we got there.

Our hotel was Hotel des 3 Colleges, 16 rue Cujas, 75005 Paris (ph, 01 43 54 67 30). We had a good room as it overlooked the rooftops around the Sorbonne and the Pantheon.

On Friday morning we had a wander around the local food market and picked up some goodies for the train journey. We met Jonathon (Morag's brother) and Kate at the station at high-noon, ready for our 4 hour train journey to the Dordogne.

J&K were on their whirlwind tour of France, Britain and Thailand and the walk in the Dordogne was to be the first leg of the journey (so to speak). We'd over-catered for the picnic but managed to down all the bread, cheese, sausage and bottle of red while watching the French countryside whizz by.

At Souillac station we were met by father and son from the first hotel on the walk itinerary. We soon found ourselves in an ancient Audi zooming along small French country roads to the hotel, teeth (and buttocks) clenched. Our first hotel is in the wee village of Cales.

Prior to dinner we introduced J&K to our traditional "when in France" aperitif - Pastis (aniseed flavoured liqour). Oddly enough it wasn't well received - no accounting for taste.

Our first dinner of the trip was a gourmet feast over a two hour period. We all had the same things: mushroom omelette, trout in butter sauce, lamb with tomato and beans, chevre (goats cheese) and clafoutie tart (which is ?????). Kate's eyes were falling shut after the third course so she wandered off to bed, the rest of us soldiered on - as one must. A delicious feast.

Here are some photos from Paris. Click on any photo to see the full-size version

: Looking to Pantheon

: Paris Rooftops

: to Sorbonne

Walk day 1, Sat 22 Sept - Cales to l'Hospitalet via Rocamadour (13 kms)

Great night's sleep in a quiet wee village! The usual French breakfast (croissant, bread, jam, strong coffee and black tea). Went for a wander around the village before setting off, nice wee place, just a few houses and two 2-star hotels. Everything looked in tip-top condition though, a lot of the houses were grand affairs with turrets and towers.

The weather was cool and a bit damp, but good for walking as we set off, down the road past a farm with lots of ducks, chooks, geese, turkeys...they had everything. A farmer commented that we were "escargot" as we went past, but we're sure that was because of our day-packs and not the speed we were walking at.

Onto a forest path and downhill to the River Ouysse (weece), past a cute old watermill and onto the source, where the river comes up from underground. Watched some guys preparing to scuba-dive in the murky brown water, then set off uphill to a cross at the meeting of two tracks, great picnic spot - chicken, cheese, eggs, bread (and some cheese and fruit left over from yesterday's picnic). After lunch we wandered down the track, round some corners and past some cliffs to the foot of Rocamadour.

Rocamadour is a prime stopping place for the pilgrims on their way to Santiago, in the past the pilgrims would climb the 600 or so steps to the top on their knees. We wandered up the road in a leisurely fashion! It's a very busy place, the gates are 13th C but the tourist tat is definitely 21st C. Took lots of photos on our way through town, our hotel is at l'Hospitalet, about 1/4 mile on from Rocamadour and away from the tourist traps.

Got to the hotel about 4pm, probably should have headed back to town for more of a wander but feet were sore and it was more tempting to sit around the pool for a while - until it started to rain, then have a nap and hot bath before dinner.

Unlike last night's session dinner was a quick affair, with our three courses swished in front of us and away in an hour. Chevre on toast with salad, duck and tatties, and a fruit salad. Not nearly as good as the previous night's feast. Then back to our room for some port and chocolate.

Our hotel at l'Hospitalet was Hotel le Troubadour, Belveyre - 46500 Rocamadour, ph. 05 65 33 70 27.

: Sheep in Cales

: Cales Hotel

: l'Ouysse

: Le Picnic

: Morag and Kate

: Rocamadour

: Rocamadour

: Rocamadour

: Rocamadour

: Rocamadour

: Rocamadour

Walk day 2, Sun 23 Sept - l'Hospitalet to Meyronne (15 kms)

It rained most of the night and continued to do so throughout breakfast - heavily. Breakfast was the usual. We ummed and ahhed about what to do today - press on with the scheduled walk or explore some caves.

We know from previous trips that walking in heavy rain is a bit pointless, even if your wet-weather gear keeps you dry you don't see much from under the hood, so we opted for the caves - les grottes de Lacave. First of all we caught a cab to the village of Lacave. During a break in the rain we had a small explore of the area, up to the banks of l'Ouysse where there used to be a bridge. Good scenery as there is a cliff rising up on the other side with chateau on top.

Handily the town had a good sized rotunda with toilets and a nice upper platform where we could sit and eat our picnic. We still had some time to kill as the caves didn't open again until 2pm, so three of us stayed in the dry while J ventured out into the rain to explore church, caves, coffee shop.

Eventually we all ventured out for a hot chocolate just opposite the caves, then got tickets for the caves. The tour starts with a small train ride into the cave followed by walk up and into a series of huge spaces full of amazing stalactites, stalacmites, rock pools - great reflections, good effects with ultra-violet light showing up little lime-water droplets. All very good.

The tour took about an hour and quarter, when we came out it was nearly 4pm and still raining, in fact, bucketing. It was about 3 or 4 kms to the next hotel so we just put our heads down and started walking...except J who found a cave and decided to explore. He caught up with us eventually and we were at our next hotel by 5pm, dripping wet.

The friendly lady at the hotel took our coats to the cellar and boots to the kitchen to dry near the stoves. Hot showers were good and spent a bit of time setting things out so they would dry.

This was to be our best dinner of the trip, the dining room was in the cellar of the 11th century building. We were offered the 150FF menu which consisted of 3 or 4 choices for each course. In addition there were little nibbles while we decided and a starter of "Gourmandise". We weren't sure what these gourrnandise were, little black things inside puff pastry scallops, we decided they must be local mushrooms, when we'd scoffed them Morag informed us she'd heard the waitress tell the next table that they were escargot - yep, the local specialty of escargot in puff pastry.

For entree the choices where: something with chestnuts, lamb sweetbread salad or goose-heart salad. Kate had the lamb while the rest of us had the goose (yep, real hearts, sliced in two, sounds disgusting but they were quite tasty). For main course three of us had sanglier (roasted wild boar) while Kate had salmon. The cheeseboard was fabby, choices from a dozen or so cheeses, mostly local. The local Rocamadour goats cheese was delicious, creamy but with real bite!

Dessert was a lime, egg & milk, caramelised thingy with prunes, which was pretty good.

Our hotel at Meyronne was Hotel la Terrasse, 46200 Meyronne, ph. 05 65 32 21 60.

: les Grottes des Lacave

: Meyronne (rear of hotel)

: Hotel La Terrasse Meyronne

: Meyronne

: Meyronne

: Meyronne (rear of hotel)

: Heading out of Meyronne

: Typical Dordogne boat

: Bridge on the Dordogne

: Bridge on the Dordogne

: Water pump in St.Sozy

: St.Sozy rooftops

: A tree

: Old hut

: J&K on the path

: View from Mt.Mercou

Walk day 3, Mon 24 Sept - Meyronne to Creysse (12 kms)

It wasn't raining! Breakfast had even more sugar than usual, as well as the bread and croissants we could choose from stewed fruit or fruit jubes! No thanks!

We started the morning with a walk around the village before heading down to the river and across the bridge. We soon came to another village called St. Sozy, a very picturesque little place. Unfortunately on the way out of that town we took a wrong turn and went the wrong way for about half-an-hour before we realised our mistake. Retracing our steps was very easy as the wrong path had been uphill, so it was only 10 mins back to the wrong turning, then we were on the right path.

This path took us through meadows and woods until we reached "Camping du Pit". This place was not the pits as it had nice clean toilets, but it didn't have a nice spot for a picnic, so we pressed on until we found an upraised verge between a road and an orchard. We sat on this verge and had our excellent picnic lunches.

It was 2pm before we headed off from the picnic spot to conquer Mt. Mercou. This was a very steep climb and it was starting to get pretty warm, it was worth it though as the views from up there were spectacular, down to the river, across the Creysse plain. There's a take-off spot for hang-gliders here - reckon they must forget to steer as they check-out the view instead.

Eventually we left the panorama behind and headed down the hill, through some corn fields and into Creysse. This is a lovelylittle village with an old covered market pavilion, and old church which we checked out (very plain inside) when J got the keys from the local Mayors office , and lots of stone walls with flowers hanging over - that kind of thing. Our hotel was well situated just next to a wee bridge over the river.

Rooms were not quite so great but would do the job. Morag and I headed down to the bar and sat next to the bridge with a glass of beer/cola, which went down very well. Dinner was nice with options like salad paysanne, smoked ham, cassoulet...it was J&K's first experience of cassoulet so thank goodness it was a good one, really scrummy. Desserts and the cheeseboard were good too.

Just a quick slurp of port before setting the alarm early for the 22km walk tomorrow. Our hotel in Creysse was Auburge du L'Ile ph. 05 65 32 22 01.

: Kate contemplates

: Creysse

: Creysse from viewpoint

: Creysse

: Creysse rooftops from church

: Our hotel in Creysse

Walk day 4, Tue 25 Sept - Creysse to Carennac (22 kms)

Breakfast was a buffet for a change, but still with bread and croissants. The extra stuff was some fruit and some sugar-laden cereal. Tried to set off a little earlier than usual as we have a longish day - but it was still 9:30 before we got away.

Our walk started out along the river - first time we've walked right alongside the banks, then through some forest and up onto a hill. At the top of the hill we had a great view of an example of a new tourist feature in France - a maize maze. It was quite spectacular to see from above.

The walk then took us along a road squeezed between cliffs and the corn maze, the road was single lane with passing places - all very picturesque. Narrowness of the road didn't seem to slow down the French drivers though. Eventually this road took us to the village of Gluges, crammed into the bottom of the cliffs. A very pretty little village.

After wading through some very muddy cornfields, we eventually came to the village of Floirac, which was a very quiet little place (OK, virtually deserted). We sat in the town square and opened up our picnics. Since there was a post office and phone box right there, stamps were bought and phone calls made.

However, black clouds were approaching so we decided to get moving, out of Floirac and through walnut groves then up a hill until we eventually came to another great panoramic viewing point - right on the edge of a cliff so no going too close to look at the village immediately at the foot of the cliff (don't want to drop in unannounced!). On the way down from this spot we came across about 15 school kids wheeling mountain bikes up the hill (with a few adults). Don't know if they intended riding down but they sure weren't happy about wheeling the bikes up!

Made it to Carennac about 5:30 - this is one of those quaint little villages that features in postcards, old stone bridge over the river, steep banks with stone building attached to them, fortified walls, 12th century priory, lots of wee curvy lanes.....

Our hotel is up the hill behind the priory, looks old from outside but rooms are nice and comfy and great showers (yeah!). Good views over town too. Dinner was at 7:30 so just time for showers and a pastis each (not for J&K of course) before dinner. No choices on the menu so we all had the melon with nut wine, sandre (perch or pike?) with hollandaise sauce. There was a choice for dessert, choc cake, choc ice-cream or pear tart (the choc cake and pear tart were v. nice).

Our hotel in Carennac was the Auberge du Vieux Quercy, ph 05 65 10 96 59.

: Amazing maize

: Kate exploring

: Jonathon investigates

: View from hotel in Carrenac

Walk day 5, Wed 26 Sept - Carennac to Loubressac (14 kms)

Had time this morning for a wander around town, which we hadn't had time for yesterday. Got into the cloisters and had a good look around at what was left after it had been used as a pig-sty in the 1920s. Also checked out some of the wee lanes and more of a look at the bridge.

Had two choices of route today, one of which went via the Gouffre de Padirac, an enormous subterranean chamber. Decided against that as we'd seen the caves earlier in the week. Headed out of Carennac into forest paths (uphill of course), chatted with an older couple near the village of Magnages, washing their carrots and leeks in the local water-trough. Headed into Magnages for a look but it was nothing special (just another old Quercy village!). Did however, pass a barn full of bleating sheep. Weren't sure why they were bleating so much until we saw a farming couple near the barn door, him with a huge pair of clippers and her with a bucket. I don't think it was shearing they had in mind!

Down the hill we went, then up the next one, down that one then up an even steeper one to the town of Taillefer. through that town and up more of a hill to a ruined old castle - Chateau le Bastit. This was the perfect spot for a picnic as there were bits of ruin to sit on, another panoramic view, and Jonathon could annoy Kate by climbing up on the walls of the ruins. Lunch was a bit light on, only one piece of bread each, but we made do (as one must!).

It was getting quite warm by the time we started off again, so more sun-screen required. Fairly flat roads and paths until we came close to Loubressac, at which point we had to go downhill so that we could then climb up an even steeper hill. Loubressac is perched up on the top of the steep hill which makes for great views from the town. Happily we didn't have to carry our bags up any hotel stairs, just along the corridor to the fairly basic rooms, but with showers (yes!). Headed straight back out to the terrace for a refreshing drink and look at the view (and a chat with a lady from California on a cycling holiday, who we'd chatted with as we had picnic at the cross on our first day).

Went for a wee bit of a walk to explore the village before the pre-dinner nap. Great views from the restaurant and an excellent meal too. Started with goats cheese salad or foie gras salad, then grilled lamb or duck with truffle, then an excellent cheese selection. Only the desserts were a letdown, no chocolate excesses, just sorbet. During this meal we managed to convince J&K that the vin de table (usually in a ceramic pitcher) would be quite potable - in fact they preferred it to the fairly heavy bottled stuff we'd been drinking!

Our hotel in Loubressac was the Hotel Lou Cantou, ph. 05 65 38 20 58.

: Carrenac

: Carrenac again

: Carrenac again

: Carrenac again

: Carrenac again

: Carrenac priory

: Carrenac priory

: Carrenac rooftops

: Carrenac hotel

: Old couple near Magnages

: Ruins at Chateau le Bastit

: View from ruins

: View of ruins from next hill

: Approaching Loubressac

: Approaching Loubressac

: Refreshing....

: Loubressac

: Loubressac

Walk day 6, Thu 27 Sept - Loubressac to Port de Gagnac (18 kms)

Had a bit more of a wander around the town to take some photos in the morning light, then - mon dieu! Cereal for breakfast! Corn flakes or Coco Pops. Also the obligatory bread and croissants with jam. Plenty of local colour in the breakfast room as there were some local builders in there having their pre-work coffees. Unfortunately they were also having their pre-work fags - cough cough, almost put Mal of his Coco Pops, but not quite.

First part of our walk today was to go down the hill we'd struggled up the previous day. In the distance we could see Castelnau, we'd been able to see it in the distance occasionally over the past few days, getting closer and closer. Today it was to be our picnic spot! Finally got down into the valley, amid corn fields, crossed some streams (with bridges), heading toward the castle. We must be important as we were being chased by some Mirage jets that kept buzzing overhead.

Got to the castle about noon and had some of our picnic as all the castle workers came out and headed home for their own lunch. Picnic was great, plenty of bread, sausages, ham, cheese, with some extra bread and cheese that J had bought in Loubressac.

Straight after picnic it was an uphill trail (of course) through some walnut groves and plantations of garden plants. After another descent on a rocky path we made it to the village of Cornac, and while J&K made some phone calls home we went to see if the local bar was open. No luck, damn, it was getting quite hot. So after a brief rest in the shade we headed off uphill along a wibbly wobbly road to Glanes. There is a winery here that our walking notes recommend visiting for a tasting - far too hot for that today so we carried on.

We had a choice of a longer forest track or shorter walk on the road - went for the short one. Happily, the road was shaded by chestnut trees, so not only was it cool but we could have a game of kick-a-chestnut-along. Through Gagnac we went, carrying along to Port de Gagnac on the banks of the River Cere. There is no port here so far as we can see, but there is a small weir creating a huge pond with a few ducks on it (and also housing lots of mosquitoes as we found later).

The hotel has some absolutely beautiful antique furniture in the public areas, but the rooms are pretty basic. We headed down to the terrace for some refreshment. Despite the fact that the hotel is right on the edge of a reasonably busy road, the terrace has lots of flowers and Morag was buzzed by a hummingbird. Bit of a disaster for Kate as the bar has no tonic, so no G&T today.

Dinner was pretty good, with a few choices available. We had some terrine to start, then guinea fowl or trout, cheeseboard left on our table for us to help ourselves, creme brulee for dessert. Dinner was accompanied by a bottle of the Glanes wine that we'd not felt up to tasting as we walked past the winery (very nice it was too).

During dinner one of the few other diners in the dining room introduced himself as a fellow Aussie, now living in Canada he was the Canadian agent for a fellow Aussie who has 6 houses for rent in the south of France. One of these houses was not far from Port de Gagnac. The owner of thehouses has a website at: http://www.fhills.starway.net.au/~frenchcottage/index.htm should anyone be interested. This website even has a photo of the dining room at the hotel.

Our hotel at Port de Gagnac was Auberge du Vieux Port.

: Loubressac photographers

: Loubressac

: Loubressac

: Loubressac

: Leaving Loubressac

: Leaving Loubressac

: Leaving Loubressac

: Figs

: On a country path

: Tower in Cornac

: Castelnau

: Grape picking

: Approaching Castelnau

: Picnic at Castelnau

Walk day 7, Fri 28 Sept - Port de Gagnac to Beaulieu (12 kms)

Our last day of walking, we're all pretty weary so are pleased that it's a fairly short walk today. Once again we went for a wee wander about town before brekky, not so much to see here though, it's a very small place.

So we headed off at 9am after the usual breakfast, hoping to get to Beaulieu in time for lunch - it's a much bigger town so we can spend the afternoon exploring there. At first we were on the busy road but then turned off onto a country lane. We passed a bit of nature, Kate stopped to chat with a black horse, then we came across a lilac bush covered in butterflies. There was also a hummingbird buzzing around it. We'd seen them before in Turkey but J&K have never seen them before and were most impressed.

Up a hill (of course) and through some fields. J gathered up some apples in case we came across another horse. Mad, we all thought, but of course we soon came to another horse - heavily pregnant - which enjoyed the apples J had with him.

From there it was a fairly gentle walk along the river to our destination. Once again there was a big weir across the river, just where we crossed to reach the town. We wandered along between some stone walls until we found our hotel, converted from an 11th century abbey, near the centre of town. We got our room on the first floor OK but J&K's room wasn't ready so they had to go up another set of stairs to a room on the second. Our room also had a wee balcony which was nice, so we could put our walking boots outside of the room.

Once we'd settled in we headed into the town centre and found a tree lines square where we could have our picnic - breadsticks with cheese, pork and terrine. After lunch we had a good wander around town, checked out the large romanesque church (complete with person practicing the organ), wandered around the wee lanes with medieval houses. We headed to the tourist office to ask about trains from Souillac to Figeac, which we needed to suss out for tomorrow. Eventually we decided to get some pastries and headed back to our rooms to scoff the pastries and have a wee nap.

We had a round of pre-dinner drinks - J&K had already got there before us and had also checked out the hotel-owners' new baby. No choices for dinner so it was the same all round - pumpkin soup, curried pork and rice (not exactly typical French), cheeseboard, and a nice nut-cake.

It'll be an early morning tomorrow as our cab is booked for 8am to get us to the Souillac station at 9am. It'll be the end of J&K's walking holiday, they're off to Paris for a week before heading to Edinburgh to visit us. We're off to Figeac for a few days, then Cahors, before returning home.

Our hotel in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne was the Hotel le Turenne, ph. 05 55 91 10 16

: Approaching Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne

: Beaulieu street

: Beaulieu street

: Mal in a Beaulieu street

: Beaulieu

: Beaulieu hotel

Sat 29 Sept - Beaulieu to Figeac

Up and out at 7:55am we were, waiting for the taxi. At 5 past 8 we asked the chap at reception to call the taxi and find out where the car was. The reply was "1 minute". At 8:15 the taxi finally arrives, obviously the phone call from the desk had got the driver out of bed.

It was quite a race to Souillac and we got there at 8:55, our train due at 9:03. J&K already had a ticket to Paris but we had to buy tickets to Souillac. In the end it all worked out OK but we were not at all impressed with the driver. The trip up to Brive was only 30 minutes, where I took J&K across the platforms to get their Brive--> Paris train. Once J&K headed off to Paris, we went to buy tickets for Figeac, this is when we discovered that the train times we had were for weekdays only, not Saturdays. This is not a real problem except the lady at the hotel in Figeac was going to be there especially to open for us, so we had to call her and tell her we'd be an hour later.

The delay gave us time for Morag to have a wander into the streets of Brive to find some snacks for lunch on the train - wee pieces of pizza. Eventually we arrived in Figeac and the hotel is right across the road from the station. The lady zipped up in her car and opened for us (Sat afternoon and Sunday nights is their "time off"). We have quite a decent room for 290 FF night (plus 40 FF each for brekky if we want it).

We dumped our gear and put on our coats (looks like rain) and headed into town. Figeac is a fair sized place but not too big, quite a nice place with a pedestrian shopping area, nice covered market. It started to rain heavily so we headed to the small museum in honour of the local lad who figured out the hieroglyphics on the Rosetta stone in 1822 (Mr. Champollion).

Had a hot chocolate at the covered market and then headed back to the hotel for a kip and a hot bath before dinner. Headed down the the restaurant about 7:45 for our pastis. We both chose from the 160FF menu, after the niblles and the "mis en bouche" (vegetable soup) Mal had foie gras salad and Morag had lamb sweetbread salad (and wished she'd had the foie gras). Then we both had duck breast with lots of wood fungus and vegies. The meal took quite a while as the waitress (the lady who owns/runs the place) was covering about 10 tables with about 40 people. So we didn't have our cheese until about 10pm, loads of different choices and we had sampled three types each (just small pieces - honest), and then dessert of ice-cream with a sauce and fruit. We were stuffed to the gills as we waddled back upstairs.

Alarm will be turned off!

: A street in Figeac

: Another street in Figeac

: A building in Figeac

: Another street in Figeac

Sun 30 Sept - Figeac

Mal got up and had some brekky at about 9am, Morag peeped out from under the covers about 10. Wandered back into town to see the sights about 11am, but fate stepped in....it had to happen....Morag saw someone she knew. We were just about to cross the bridge over the River Cele (runs through town) when Morag spotted Charlie from her jewelry classes in Edinburgh. He (and Sarah) were doing a cycling trip in the Dordogne and were to head off to their next stop that day (St Cirq Lapopie). They were cycling with backpacks which sounded like hard work with all these hills around.

We had a good relaxed wander around the maze of narrow streets. There's quite a hill on the edge of town so there are great views from up there of the old rooftops. Very picturesque. An amusing experience was watching some boys from the fire-brigade practicing whizzing around the streets in a fire-engine that only just fitted between the buildings. Not so amusing was Morag stepping in a little time-bomb left behind by a French mutt. It was partly removed by wiping on grass and sand etc, but will take more work than that.

Brunch was some nice quiches bought at a local patisserie, yum. It was getting quite warm about 1pm so we headed back to the hotel for a siesta and for Morag to catch up on her diary. Sunday lunch was in full swing in the restaurant - and stayed that way until 6pm.

We decided to have a change from the full-blown French dinner tonight, especially since the hotel restaurant is closed, and headed to a Breton creperie in town. Dry cider to drink and crepes with egg, cheese and ham. Yum, especially the cider which was delicious. For dessert a small jug of sweet cider and for Morag a crepe with ice-cream and for Mal a crepe with banana and chocolate.

: Another street in Figeac

: Church tower

: Typical doorknocker

: Rooftops in Figeac

: More rooftops

: Rosetta stone replica

: And again!

Mon 1 Oct - Figeac to Cahors

Morag managed brekky this morning since we hadn't got chock-full of food the night before. Thoughtfully, a fellow breakfast diner didn't light up the Gitanes he'd brought to the breakfast table with him.

Headed into town for another quick walk around and buy some stamps and stuff before our bus to Cahors at 12noon. The journey of 70kms through the valleys of the Lot took an hour and 50 mins, along the windy roads and stopping a lot to pick-up and drop-off. The only trouble with the trip was that the driver didn't have the air-con working, which we could really have done with. The scenery was brilliant, hilltop villages, pleasure boats on the river, and cliffs rising up out of the fields. We whizzed past two cyclists at one stage - Charlie and Sarah.

The other excitement on the journey was the gendarmes stopping the bus for an identity check. Locals had to get out their identity cards, we had to flash our passports. Then we were on our way again.

Once again we'd booked a hotel near the station, but our rooms wouldn't be ready until 3pm so we dumped bags and headed to a shady spot by the river (next to the fortified bridge "Pont Valentre") for a picnic lunch. It was quite hot for us so after picnic we headed to the hotel and collapsed for a while, we have quite a nice room but it's a bit noisier as there's a busy road outside, and it's a bit more expensive at 378FF per night (and 42FF each for brekky).

At 5:30 it was still quite warm as we wandered into town, got maps from the tourist office and then wandered around the edge of town for a ways, along the river bank. Cahors is much bigger than Figeac, the town is almost circular and almost completely surrounded by a loop in the River Lot. After that wander we went back to the hotel for showers and then thought about dinner. We fancied Vietnamese but the Vietnamese joint just along from the hotel was closed down, the lass at reception recommended two other so we headed up to the top of town to one of them but the menu was your stock-standard chinese, so we wandered along to the other Vietnamese only to find that it was standard Chinese as well. Didn't really feel like that - there was a wee pizza place across the road so we zipped into there and had a pizza and a couple of cokes each.

: Old laundry

: Cahors

Tue 2 Oct - Cahors

Another hot day coming up, newspaper at the brekky room forecasts 30c (as it was yesterday). Brekky was a nice change, a buffet with boiled eggs, cereals, yoghurts etc, as well as the bread and croissants. There was a big crowd of Danes in the brekky room, and a big bus parked out the front, seems like this hotel is a favourite with bus tours.

Due to the expected heat our plan was to get out early and explore, then come back to the room for a midday siesta then head out again early evening. Into town at 9:30 had a good wander around the narrow streets of the old town. Like Figeac a lot of the houses here have and open "attic" - a open space between the top floor and the roof, except here a lot of them have been windowed up. Originally they were used for drying clothes, cloth, food, etc, now they provide more living space.

Had a wander around the indoor food market. lots of "interesting" food. At one counter they'd been sensitive enough to cover the heads of their (skinned) bunnies in foil, so that the eyes didn't stare at you as you walked past. Wine was available from large vats like petrol pumps, at 12FF a litre. Nearby we found a creperie where we plan to eat this evening.

Came across a wonderful wee courtyard with a musical fountain. It has little jets of water spurting up at the sides and you can play tunes by covering each jet of water with fingers. Also had some nice murals on the walls, eg Mona Lisa looking out the window and knitting. After that it was back to the hotel for a small picnic in the room.

After a siesta we headed back for a proper look at Pont Valentre. It's quite an impressive structure with defensive three towers over the bridge. There's some folk tale about its construction taking longer than expected, and the architect sold his soul to the devil to get it finished, so there a wee carved devil attached to the top corner of one of the towers.

Headed to the creperie for dinner, radical crepes, not folded like usual (sharp intake of breath). Tasted OK though, the usual with ham, cheese and egg, washed down with cider and followed by crepes with pears and ice-cream or bananas and chocolate.

: Pont Valentre, Cahors

: Street in Cahors

: Old building in Cahors

: Old devil on the bridge

: More of the bridge

: Market in Cahors

: Local characters

: Musical fountain

: Mural

: Pont Valentre, Cahors

Wed 3 Oct - Cahors

Another full day in Cahors, market day! Brekky was quieter (bus-tour up and out already?) and it doesn't promise to be so hot. Infact there were dark clouds about as we headed into explore themarket. Loads of interesting foodstuffs to look at, also plants,baskets etc. Also the obligatory busking pan-pipe band.

After the market we went into the cathedral for a look, the most interesting bit was watching some workers restore one of the murals. Couldn't find the door for entry to the cloisters. After that we went fora wander around the back of the cathedral, some interesting little squaresthere. Went to the tourist office and the lady behind the desk saidshe'd be opening the cloisters at 3pm.

Ended up buying some cans of foie gras (86FF for 300g) at a shop nextto the market and some quiches for lunch from a stall at the market. After siesta we headed for the cloisters, which has plenty of interestingstone carvings amongst the details.

It was starting to drizzle so we headed to the Musee de Resistance,which honours the local people who stayed in France and resisted theGerman invasion during WW2 (unlike de Gaulle who was nice and safe inLondon). A very interesting experience but a bit difficult as it'sall in French. Pouring rain outside as we were about to leavethe museum, luckily not far to the hotel and the rain had stopped by 7:30- back to the same creperie for much the same meal as the previous night.

: Market day

: Market day

: Market day

: Market day

: Market day

: Cahors cloisters

: Cahors cloisters

: Cahors cloisters

: Cahors cloisters

Thu 4 Oct - Cahors to Paris

Our train this morning is at 8:30, so we headed down for brekky at 7am (in case we got delayed by one of the bus tour mobs). As it happens the brekky room was fairly empty and we were able to have a big brekky and use the bread rolls to make up some lunch.

On the train at 8:30, we were worried because there was a heap of French teenagers getting on the same train, luckily they were in a different carriage. Our journey was 4 and a half hours, but it was OK as the French trains are extremely comfortable. Good scenery on the way too, including an intriguing thing off to the right of the train. It looked like a mono-rail or something, a long row of big concrete towers with some sort of rail or something running along the top. It went for miles, across fields, through woods, past a power station, had graffiti painted on it, and then suddenly stops...stops in mid-air. Bizarre.

Arrived in Paris about 1pm and caught the tube around to our hotel - same one that we stayed in at the beginning of the trip. We have a different room this time, 2nd floor and it's tiny, only just enough room to get the cases open on the floor.

Headed straight out again to the markets nearby to get some provisions for tonight when it will be a Medwin clan get-together. Back for showers and then headed out toward the Seine where J&K have their apartment for the 5pm rendevous. Found Alison and John out the front of the apartments wondering how to get in, luckily a lady who lived there came along and told us that although the apartments have the same street number they are along the road a bit. So along we went and found the apartments and found J&K. Quite a nice little room they have, room for the 6 of us to sit around sipping bubbles and nibbling nibbles.

After a couple of hours of that we headed out to look for a restaurant, all the ones near the apartment were pretty touristy looking, so we talked them all into heading back toward our hotel, where we found a nice little street with a few restaurants in a row and one of the waiters convinced us we should eat at his place, so we sat down at the outdoor tables.

Now what did we all have, Mal started with a black-sausage salad, then had the cassoulet and finished with the huge chocolate tart, Morag had foiegras and the wonderful casoulet. Can't entirely remember what everyone else had except that John had a cheek of beef for mains (yep, cattle cheek).

It was well after 10pm before we stood up and wandered back toward our various hotels. Took a few self-timing group photos on the steps ofsome building near the Sorbonne... and didnae get the camerasnicked!! We had a good night's sleep as our room doesn't face onto any street, so it was nice and quiet.

Fri 5 Oct - Paris to Edinburgh

We have plenty of time so we decided to pack up our cases and leave them downstairs while we have a wander about. Didn't have brekky at the hotel as it hadn't been great last time, bought some pastries at a shop, went back toward the Seine, and ate them on a park bench near the river.

Had a look around the Notre Dame. Wandered across the river and down the road a while to a "hidden gem", one of the first ever "squares" - buildings constructed in 18th century with a nice little park in the middle -- Place des Vosges.. Nice apartments, cost a fortune I bet.

After that we headed back to the hotel, picked up our bags and headed for the RER station to catch a train to the airport. It was a quick trip out as we got an express train (bit of a panic for a while as we hadn't realised it was an express and wondered for a while if it was going to the airport). Got there though, had plenty of time for a good look round the shops - gotta spend those francs as they'll be worth zip next year (once the Euro comes in). Check-in pastic-bagged Morag's case, as the lock hadbeen broken on the flight on our outward journey, and it couldn't belocked.

Boarded the plane about 3pm and arrived in Edinburgh about 5pm (1 hour time difference). Luckily the Friday peak-hour in Edinburgh was OK so we were home fairly quickly, unpacked, got the washing-machine going, looking forward to sleeping in our own bed tonight.

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Aye, that's us: Sept 2001 a walk in the Dordogne