Day 25 -Rocamadour 63 km's - "Detour by Way of the Beynac Swimming pool" !

In terms of coups this one was actually quite bloodless ! Somehow between going to bed and waking up Columbus Coxhill had been overthrown by his young upstart apprentice Noel "Navman" Wolstencroft (sometimes referred to as Vasco or Wrong Way!)

Ever the sceptic, i have to say that I was pretty impressed with Noel's first 400 metres in charge before he instructed us to turn off into something that looked suspiciously like a camping  ground  (Maybe the sign gave it away!)! "I'm sure there's a road in here following the river" said "Navman" as we scoured the camping ground looking for exits without luck. Noel even took us up a path that lead to the camping grounds swimming pool which he momentarily mistook for the river before he finally admitted defeat and lead us back on to the main road with none of us game to say a single word !

It was cold as a Mother in Laws kiss (as Henley would say) as we set off on a freezing foggy morning from Beynac. After we finally found our way out of the Beynac camping ground we navigated our way to the hauntingly lovely (of what we could see) La Rogue Gageac one of France's designated beautiful villages. Gageac had numerous beautiful Perigord style buildings built into its steep cliff face overhang. It provided a spectacular sight in the lifting fog viewed by ourselves and a couple of early morning tourists plying the Dordogne in period style boats.

La Rogue Gageac

Leaving Gageac our route passed the lovely Chateaux village of Montfort where we had a quick look round before taking a beautiful cycle along the river valley to Souilliac now in the warming sun !

After a great section on a beautiful rail trail we had coffee in the delightful town of St Julian de Lampon so quintessentially French. The boulongerie owner too busy gossiping to serve us, the cafe waiter who argued the toss with H about whether a cafe au lait was the same as a cafe creme, the huge b-double lorry trying to get past us (seated) and through the impossibly small centre of town ! This was France at its best we thought as we drunk our coffee alfresco watching life go by !

Its facade though belies a dark past. During WW2 the nearby cliffs were used by the locals and the resistance. In one village Roufillac, a group of retreating SS in 1944 burned 15 people alive in the towns bakery after the proprietor refused to serve them !

Having reached Souilliac we sent out both Kev and Rick to find Boulangeries. As both were unusually successful we decided to go with Kev's choice as punishment for Ricks ongoing mispronunciation of the word boulangerie which ranges from "balangerie" to "bool and gerry" often leaving locals completely flummoxed by his request for food !

It was difficult to move on again after sitting out in the sun but somehow we did climbing out for views again of the Dordogne before a descent took us to La Cave a village with a famous grotto cave first opened in 1905. We made it just in time for Rick and Kev to take the electric train to the attractions while Noel and I (a little claustrophobic) chewed the fat with no nearby coffee shops open

The boys eventually returned talking enthusiastically about their experience until we reminded them that we still had 10kms to go complete with a steeply marked climb out of town !

Battling away we finally made the hill top out of La Cave marked at 315 metres barely the height of the Dandenongs ! But a Cols a Col so we duly took photographic evidence hoping that no one would read the signs height and moved on !

Our last 5kms were downhill to our accommodation on the outskirts of Rocamadour a stunning medieval village that attracts over 1 million tourists per year.

Rocamadour is the spiritual heart of France with pilgrammages to here going back over 1, 000 years.

Beautiful Rocamadour 

We provided a little leniency on check in to Rick and Noel allowing them to score a large room with a balcony that took up 3/4 of the entire hotel with fabulous views of the nearby cemetry !!!

Tired and a little excited we journied into Rocamadour proper down its original steep road, took photos, climbed the steps to the church retracing the footsteps of medieval kings and queens then headed back the way we came after we couldn't find anything on the local restaurant menus except 27 varieties of duck and goose gizzards !

Back where we started on the rim overlooking Rocamadour we split force heading to 2 different restaurants. Rick and Noel taking the romantic setting overlooking the lights of Rocamadour while Kev and I settled for the more practical  Lamb and much needed Vegetables at an alternate restaurant in the main street giving Noel and Rick some much needed alone time !

Rocamadour by night ! 

Another magical day in France !

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