We thought we would enjoy spending our last week in a medium sized city so returned to Bordeaux.
We stayed in a centrally located Airbnb in a third floor walk-up, known as the 2nd floor in France.
At least two protests took place beneath our balcony. We relied on various forms of public transportation: the SNCF train network; Blabla Cars; and Bordeaux’s trams and BATO’s to get around.
Things were hopping. Bordeaux is a vibrant city overflowing with young people, built on its history dating back to at least the 11th century. It had its seedy side as well. I saw someone blatantly steal meat at the grocery. I haven’t even seen that in NYC.
France is very advanced in addressing climate change. There was very little plastic, many people rode bikes, and mass transit was efficient. The bikes were a little much, everyone rode as if they were a NYC messenger. You had to look 3 ways, twice, before crossing.
We explored the Saint André Cathedral where Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis VII in 1137 and became Queen of France shortly thereafter.
The best views were from the bell tower. We climbed 233 very narrow steps to reach the top and the view was worth it.
The gargoyles were a hoot.
The tower is topped by Our Lady of Aquitaine, who looks a little creepy from this angle.
I went to the Bourse a few times to try to get a good reflection. The first day it was too windy and grey.
There is artwork, sanctioned or not, throughout the city.
The urban French are devoted swimmers. We swam in a municipal pool and are lucky we survived to talk about it. I should have remembered this from when we swam in Montpellier on an earlier trip. There were 10-12 people to a lane and I couldn’t swim at a pace I enjoyed. First I tried to swim too fast to keep up. Then I moved to a slower lane but it was too slow and people, including me, were passing left and right, sometimes with collisions in the middle. Tim is a better swimmer than me, as in most of our athletic endeavors, and he hated it as well. Lesson learned: only swim in rural France.
Tim beat me with injuries this time. He fell on an uneven sidewalk, with his high-heel Hokas and banged himself up pretty well. I documented the color changes of his black eye.
It didn’t slow him down though.
We visited museums and then went to a luminaire version of Le Petit Prince for my pedestrian taste. It was very dark with kids chasing the lights as they moved along the floor but the music was good.
We saw people transporting pets in all sorts of carriers: baby carriages; crates tied to bike racks; and this frontpack with a little cat window.
It was a fine way to finish a great trip to France and a good time was had by all.
The walking tour was a lovely, fairly easy introduction to the Dordogne region of France and was labelled as hilltop walking. We had a chance to speak French and in many rural villages it was the only option.
Things got real with the bike trip. It was rated easy to moderate. I figured I rode 500 miles through Alaska in 5 days, piece of cake. But that was 24 years ago, I trained more and the uphill grades were easier.
Souillac
When the bikes were dropped off in Souillac, there was a mistake; they thought we had requested e-bikes. Tim was adamant and I was, sort of, that we wanted road bikes. All that changed for me after our first day.
I was hankering for pizza, after all the three course meals we had. I googled pizza and found a place about a mile away. When we got there, this is what we found at a gas station.
I was game but Tim passed. Instead we had duck.
We rode from Souillac to Sarlat-le-Canéda , my favorite city on the tour. We extended our first ride by visiting Chateau Fenelon, and added some elevation gain.
Château Fenlon
When we arrived at the castle at noon, they were closing for two hours and we weren’t even allowed to walk the grounds. Castles are often situated on hills. We rode up this hill and couldn’t even visit. I was discouraged.
Then when we stopped to enjoy the view over the Dordogne River, an elevated bridge that we nearly missed the approach to, my magnetic helmet light fell off and splashed in the river way below us. This was a feature I loved from my Thousand helmet and it added to the day’s frustration. (Happily I contacted the company and they replaced it but I didn’t know it at the time).
While we continued to pedal to Sarlat, I shed a few tears of exhaustion and hatched a plan. The tour company had thought we wanted e-bikes and now I did. We had a layover in Sarlat and there would be time for a swap. When I looked at the last day’s itinerary, that clinched it: 35 miles and 1800 feet elevation gain. I made the call and they agreed.
Sarlat is a medieval town that developed around an Abbey in 1081! Much of its architecture dates back to the 1400’s. We stayed at the Hotel Couleuvrine, which is an old rampart tower from the 15th century that has been renovated beautifully. We had to walk up 20 stairs, along a hall and then down 17 stairs to get out our room. Very cool.
The town was buzzing with restaurants and markets, cobbled streets, street musicians, and sculptures, some headless.
We used our rest day to swim. We found a beautiful outdoor pool, where we each had a lane to ourselves. Very different from our experience later in the trip, in Bordeaux. That night my e-bike arrived. I gave it a test spin up a hill and shrieked with joy. Now I knew I would finish and enjoy the ride.
I was sad to say goodbye to Sarlat but the next morning we headed out to Les Eyzies, 26 miles and 1200 ft elevation gain. I was barely even looking at the numbers anymore, with my trusty e- bike. To my credit, I only used it up the hills but it made a world of difference.
We stopped at the Chateau Beynac along the way and were glad we did.
First of all, it was open for touring. It is perched high on a cliff overlooking the Dordogne, perfect for defending against intruders. It was built in the 12th century and has been beautifully preserved.
It changed hands several times but was inherited at one point by Richard the Lion Hearted, the Duke of Aquitaine. His mother was Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was married at 14 to Louis VII and became Queen of France, that year. When they did not produce a male heir (we know that was the King’s issue, since they had two daughters) the marriage was annulled and she then married Henry II and became Queen of England! What a life! She was possibly the most powerful woman in 12th century Europe. She was later jailed by King Henry when she and their sons plotted against him. This is depicted in the film, “The Lion in Winter” with Richard Burton and Katherine Hepburn. Several films have been shot here, most notably Ridley Scott’s “The Last Duel” and Joan of Arc, who rallied the hundred years war, which led to a French victory and expulsion of the English from the land.
During our castle visit, I tripped on a medieval stone. I scraped my leg and bled pretty well. Luckily, I had my Orion travel first aid kit with me and it had everything I needed to clean and patch my leg. When I was sure I hadn’t broken anything (credit that to lots of milk as a kid) we carried on. At our next destination, I found honey infused bandages.
Off to Les Eyezies, which is a beautiful town set among rocks and cliffs. It is known for cave paintings and is where Cro-Magnon man was found in the 1800’s, dating its cliff dwelling inhabitants back to 10,000 – 40,000 years ago.
We didn’t get to the Caves but local graffiti gave us an idea of what we missed.
This was in the back of the train station where we also found a pristine Morgan, complete with leather driving cap and straps.
We spent two days here while Tim geared up his courage for our final day’s ride. I just made sure my battery was charged.
From here we went on to Montignac, known especially for Les Caux, caves. Along the way, I had to remove my contacts and was a bit at a loss, I missed town signs and had to concentrate to see the road surface. When we stopped for lunch, I lost Tim in town! I was almost in tears and didn’t think my well known whistle, which my kids still respond to, was appropriate. He showed up eventually.
We stopped along the way at another castle, not as rugged as Chateau Beynac, since it was privately owned for many years. It had beautiful gardens and an impressive dungeon.
We spent a good part of our day in Montignac planning the next day’s ride, the big one. Our host prepared an early breakfast. But first she was very happy to put a pin of our home town on a map on the wall. Voila!
We got an early start and picked up lunch in the market. The first hills were long and steep. And then that was it! At the halfway mark, we completed our big climbs, OK Tim completed them, I pushed a button. The best part was when we passed a field of horses and one actually raced us- and won. It was beautiful to watch it gallop.
And then, just like that, we were back in our starting point in Souillac. A good time was had by all. Total mileage, 110; elevation gain: 5084 ft; number of times brought to tears (Lynne only): 2; injuries: 1.
We just spent a few glorious weeks in France. We started and ended in Bordeaux, where we saw a rainbow and I tried escargot for the first time. Not bad. For the next two weeks, I ate so much duck, I may start quacking.
During the first week, we hiked through the rural Dordogne hilltops. Our walk began in the village of Meyssac, where we walked a roundabout loop in the hills, in the pouring rain, to the adjacent town of Colognes au Rouge.
Many of the towns we visited were considered “Les plus beaux villages de France”. The most beautiful French villages, which is an official status. It is a tourism scheme to attract visitors to what are some of the most beautiful villages I have ever seen. Some seem real. Others, not so much, more like Disneyland, according to my partner in crime, Tim. To qualify, towns must be rural, with less than 2000 inhabitants, have at least two historic sites, and agree to some marketing terms.
The buildings in the the Colognes au Rouge, are red, just like the name implies; built from the local red sandstone. We walked through an apple orchard, to get to it, which provided a tasty snack.
The fuzzy image is because we used a high tech baggie to keep the camera, which was also our GPS, dry. Remarkably, this was our only day it rained steadily our whole trip.
We were looking forward to lots of baguettes and pastries, but didn’t expect to find them Automat style, in a vending machine. We passed.
This was not the only food we found in vending machines. A few towns sold pizza this way. Again we passed.
Next we had a whirlwind ride to another Plus Beau Village, Curemont. We spent an hour walking around the town, where it seemed more inhabited and real. Then we headed off to Beaulieu sur Dordogne, beautiful place on the Dordogne River.
We followed a cattle drive for a small portion of our walk.
We arrived at the village from an old cobble path in the woods. I imagined a cobblestone street but it was now merely a rocky path.
We were excited to see there was a municipal pool along the river, but when we got there, we found it closed. C’est la vie. The river was lovely, people were fly fishing and we watched a swarm of something for a while. Made me think of home and hope that my bees did not swarm while we travelled.
Then we were off to Carennac, we walked through walnut and plum orchards on the way. Good snacking.
This was another beautiful village which felt lived in, there was an art exhibit, a lovely church and bridges over the town and river.
After a swim in the pool and a relaxing evening, we headed out to our final walking destination, Loubressac. It took us a while to adjust to store and restaurant hours in France and we had a few walks without lunch because we would arrive in a village at just the wrong time.
Tim was so dismayed when we found a 1950’s style expensive tourist trap for lunch, it brought a tear to his eyes. I didn’t care, I wasn’t missing another lunch on a long walk!
Loubressac may have been my favorite stop on the walk. It was a bustling old village. School was in session. In session may be used loosely. There is either no school or only half a day on Wednesdays and the kids always seemed to be in recess. I read that the cafeteria serves a three course hot lunch, just like many of the restaurants.
It was here Tim became a little obsessed with the architecture of rural french toilettes.
You can see why. It was also here we started to notice how people travel and transport their pets. We were in a 3 star hotel and each night a couple would walk in with their two dogs, armed also with dog beds and proceed to set them up for dinner, complete with scraps from the table. And they barked! We saw pets pushed in strollers, pulled behind bikes in crates and worn like backpacks. Hmmm.
I was drawn to this house because it looked like a face and then I saw the basketball hoop. While we were away, my bird camera caught subtle northern lights in the Adirondacks.
Subtle, but I confirmed it was pitch black on other nights at this time. We’re further south in France at 40 degrees latitude and haven’t been in the path of the light display.
All told we hiked about 44 miles through the hilltop villages of the Dordogne and a good time was had by all. Our bags were transferred every day and we only had to carry a day pack. The only way I will go these days. Then we had another whirlwind transfer from Loubressac to Souillac, where we picked up bikes and headed off for the next part of our adventure.
I’ll score this the way I do my golf game, which includes strokes, lost balls and broken tees. Mileage covered:45; injuries: none; lost items: 1 bra left draped over a lamp (merely to dry, not for ambience). Overall a great trip.
We had quite the outing planned today. We boarded an early bus to St. Guilhem le Desert to hike. I saw this snail at the bus stop and took it as a sign to go slow and steady.
St. Guilhem may be one of the prettiest cities in France. It has an Abbey from the 7th century with, reportedly, a relic from Christ’s cross.
The Abbey is surrounded by stunning cliffs. On the way to our walk I heard a swarm of bees in a tree. They were gone by the time we finished.
The path joined one of the pilgrim paths to Compostello. We even saw a couple of pilgrims busking in the square with a donkey! We walked up the river valley and around the back of a gigantic rock formation.
I recalled from our last trip a bridge, which I thought harked back centuries. Tim poo pooed me until we came upon the bridge.
The path was well maintained and made it easy to rise above the valley.
We were surprised to come upon burnt forest and learned there was a fire in April.
My phone kept track of our progress. Slow and steady. We missed our bus home so we finished the hike with lunch in the swuare by the Abbey under the 150 year old Plane tree.
Then we hitchhiked home and were picked up by a lovely couple who only spoke french and I was delighted I was able to make small talk, even if I had to repeat myself a couple of times.
The rain abated and we headed out for another walk on a mountain that overlooks a manmade lake. Our first mistake was not bringing lunch and the town, Liausson, had no restaurant or market. Off we went to Octon to a creperie for a bowl of cider (lap it up) and crepes. Then back we came and headed into the hills.
All was well for so much of the hike. When we teached the top, we could see another lilliputian town on the other side of the mountain, the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. Why, we could even see Spain from our backyard.
Look at that smile. So happy.
Until…we reached a shaded, canted, steep, slippery section on our descent. Let’s just say I didn’t like it one bit. In fact I had a “little” panic attack and Tim had to talk me off the cliff, so to speak, with me gripping his arm as I slipslided away.
But descend we did with only a little butt sliding on my part.
I shouldn’t have complained about toilets lacking seats since we encountered this one.
In full disclosure we also found one with a padded seat. Not too bad when there’s no central heat.
Then we were invited to a friend of our proprietors’ to settle up our bill, after 7. So we ate a hearty soup I made with fresh veggies from the market and headed out. Only to find appetizers, local wine and a seafood stew bubbling in the pressure cooker. Oops. Who knew?
We’ve traveled to a country where I don’t speak the language. Keeps things interesting. Tim’s more fluent in French than I expected. Or at least he looks like he is.
We’re staying in a renovated Medieval tannery in Aniane, France, built in the 14th century.
Our host is a weaver! There’s a gigantic 4-shaft counterbalance loom, numerous spinning wheels, swifts and textiles around. Heaven. But sadly, I couldn’t get my thoughts across. Just some pantomiming of spinning and weaving.
More later on our amazing apartment. Here are some scenes of the town I saw during my run.
There seems to be a colony of black and white cats.
We have to drive the car on this “road” next to the stream that runs through town to get to our ancient apt. Grafitti abounds.
There’s an abbey from the 8th(?!) century we hope to get to see. And we have to find the local wineries. So far we found the butcher (delicious sausage, we have to wait until next Sunday for our roast chicken), boulangerie for fresh bread and croissants, gourmet shop for local veggies and cheese. Tomorrow’s quest is the pharmacy since the Dutch TSA confiscated Tim’s contact lens solution. Silly us, it was 118 ml-only 100 ml allowed!!! But my scissors, crochet hooks and other personal items sailed through with nairy a glance. Feeling secure.
Island and North Country Life 