Mon: 2nd June, 2014. The wifi signal was not strong enough at the aire to do the internet work we needed to do so we strolled up into town, only a couple of hundred metres away, found a café open (the town is closed on Mondays and only a handful of shops were open), sat down and ordered coffee while we did our ‘homework’. It was lovely sitting in the sunshine and it was quiet for obvious reasons so we didn’t rush but sat relaxing for the best part of some time. Then a quick trip to the small supermarket nearby which was open, a chat to an English lady who’d retired to St Cyprien 20 years ago and was out walking with her little dog, and we were off on our way to visit another lovely old hillside town, Belves.
not very French but very enjoyable and on the way back to the car park, bought a couple of f.a. cream cakes for later consumption.
Our next stop was at Limeuil, situated at the confluence of the Dordogne and Vezeres Rivers.
A very pretty place, worth the climb up the steep hill to explore and with wonderful views of the rivers and valley below.
We encountered a problem at the aire in le Bugue where we’d chosen to stay tonight. According to our Camperstop book, which I hasten to add is last year’s edition, the camp is free for overnight stays, with charges for water etc., but on arrival we found that there is now a charge of 7,50 euros per night…this was not the problem.…the problem for us was that the parking machine does not accept coins, only the French ‘carte bleue’, a visa card which we don’t have. We usually identify and avoid the aires where payment can only be made with this card, but this one is not marked in our 2013 book…I guess we will have to buy a new book for next year!
Our next choice was only 10 minutes away in Les Eyzies, on the Vezeres River and a lovely place to stay…in fact, we decided shortly after arriving that we would have tomorrow ‘off’, have a day of R&R and stay two nights. It’s very peaceful here, there is a laundry to be visited in the morning and if the sun shines, the washing will dry in one day!
Tues : 3rd June, 2014. The morning visit to the laundry revealed that it was not open until 2.30p.m. so to while away some time, we visited Patisserie Margot where we had coffee and pastries while doing some internet work, as there was a wifi signal there, after which we explored the small town before returning to the aire. A little after 2.15p.m. we cycled back to the laundry with towels, sheets etc., loaded and started the machines and rode to the ice cream shop for a couple of scoops each while the machines did the work. The washing should have been almost finished when we went back to the laundry but no, one of the machines was not working well and wouldn’t spin properly, so it took another half hour before the towels were spun dry.
Wed : 4th June, 2014. We had a busy day today, although in the beginning it looked as though we may stay a 3rd night in Les Eyzes. Early this morning the rain came, and continued to come, threatening to turn our camp site into a swamp but by about 11.00 a.m. it was easing, so we left to drive the short distance to La Madeleine, a ‘village’ built into the cliffs, one of the best examples of the long tradition of human occupation in the Vazere Valley and home to troglodytes of 17,000 years ago!
We felt quite at home there and wandered through the on/off drizzle for an hour or so before heading off to see La Maison Forte de Reignac,
a similar ‘village’ though we only took a photo, opting not to climb up the steep hill to explore. From there it was just up the road to La Roque St Christophe, a spectacular looking fort and city of the troglodytes, also built into the cliffs. After stopping to have a look and take photos, we proceeded along the narrow road
until we were confronted by a tour bus whose driver wasn’t prepared to give way at all, so we were forced to reverse about 100 metres until the road widened and the bus could pass. Continuing on, we could see that had the bus driver reversed 20 metres or less, we’d have been able to pass quite comfortably, but he was bigger than us so I guess that gave him the right of way!
Crossing a narrow bridge over the Vezere River, we came to our next stop, one of the ‘beautiful villages’ of France. A very pretty village and very quiet, with one restaurant and a delicatessen the only shops/businesses open.
After a stroll through,we had lunch at the aire where we’d parked and headed off to our next, and last stop for the day. This was at the Chateau and Gardens de Losse, an historical house overlooking the Vezere, a fortress with a defensive apparel dating back to the fifteenth century. We wandered around the outside of the chateau
until a bell was rung to indicate that the tour, in French, was about to begin so joined the group and used the descriptive booklets printed in English to learn about the interior of the chateau, including the furnishings, paintings, tapestries etc. A stroll through the gardens completed our visit and from there we drove to Nailhac where we are staying tonight at an aire on a farm
not far from Chateau de Hautefort which we will visit tomorrow.
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