Wednesday morning dawned both grey and chilly. Spirits were fairly low until JB suggested a jaunt in the car through the Lot Valley, following the river. It was a chance to get out and marvel at some nature and so, obviously, I agreed.
With a hastily packed picnic (baguette, some dodgy pate and a really smelly cheese) we jumped in the car and began to tour.
Like real tourists.
Let me say upfront that the scenery is magnificent. Soaring cliffs on one side and glimpses therough the trees of the River Lot on the other.
Somewhat wistfully, JB said it reminded him of Cheedale in the Peak District.
We stopped at the first village we came to (Vers) and touristed about for a bit. Very nice little village with a river, and weir, some quaint looking houses and a boulanger which proclaimed itself 'Authentique' ( more of this in the next post.......
Next stop was the Grotte du Pech Merle, a cave containing paintings allegedly done some 29000 years ago.
This was too good an opportunity to miss for art-lovers such as us and we raced to the ticket office, filled with nervous anticipation.
Oh dear. The ticket office was closed for the customary 2 hour lunch break. Of course it was.
In any case,it turned out that you had to book in advance and the next available slot was 3 days away.
Downcast, we stumbled into the small museum attached to the (closed) ticket office.
And there in front of us, was a facsimile of the cave painting itself!
There were also some scattered bits of a skeleton (probably an artist who didn't make the grade) and a woolly mammoth tusk plus lots of other old stuff.
Cock-a-hoop at dodging the 18 euros each entrance fee, we skipped back to the car and on to our final stop of the day.
The village of St.Cirq-Lapopie is built into the cliffside and is absolutely fabulous. They've managed to keep the medieval houses and streets with 'Disneyfying' them.
Really, really well done, you town planners.
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