June Monday 28 Sarlat, La Roque Gageac, Rocomadour

We decided to tackle our biggest day trip today so headed south with our first stop Sarlat; bang smack in the middle of Foie Gras and walnut country and renowned for its concentration of Rennaissance and 17th Century architecture. As a destination Sarlat has itself very well organised to provide for and make the most of the millions of tourists who come here (apart from the rather dysfunctional toilet set up where out of four toilets in the toilet complex, only one would open its door!). It has a very good walking route with an excellent numbered brochure pointing out the interesting buildings and their features.
Nowhere here for a quick, light lunch, but nice to sit at a tablein the shade on the cobblestones outside a tiny café and order a Rose and a Heineken with something which turned out to be a fabulous “wholemeal crepe” with tasty vegetarian filling and a salad which I knew would have lettuce and tomato, but also had white asparagus, cucumber and heaps of lovely crisp radishes!
Leaving Sarlat the countryside here was once again farmed intensively (though always with forest groves) and now with tobacco, asparagus, sunflowers, lots of crops and now and again some fences and cattle! (Absolutely noteworthy!).
We were heading for a drive by of La Roque Gageac looking for cliff side troglodyte and medieval dwellings. Well, of course we didn’t just drive by, we were so amazed we stopped to look and next thing were aboard the boat for a cruise with commentary on the Dordogne. Fantastic.
Sadly we’d missed our chance to visit the nearby Chateax Marqueyssac with its 8 kms topiaries of box hedges, because we needed to get to the Cliffside village of Rocamadour. This village is unreal. Developed as a holy site after miracles happened, it clings to side of a massive gorge. Chateaux on the cliff top with ramparts which offer a panorama over the whole valley and then a sacred walk zig zagging down the cliff face with a shrine to each station of the cross in each zig and zag – really I think if you’re on a pilgrimage to you’re supposed to walk up the path rather than down, but wonderful Gretel had directed us to the top! At the end of the path, half way down the cliff is the sacred site of miracles where six varying sized chapels and churches cling to the rock face. A very impressive and memorable place. 274 steps further down is the village with quaint old buildings selling the usual tourist stuff and a lift to take us back to the top. Too late, the lift was closed.
We survived the ascent, fortified with a drink stop half way up, then homeward bound. A long journey, thunder, lightning, dark and again Gretel’s weird choice of roads, but we made it safe and sound and no counting sheep for sleep.