The Dordogne, Part 2

24th September, 1999 

After another rain-disturbed night, we set off for the fabled Rocamadour, one of the usual stopping places on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.    The route takes you along a winding road with breathtaking views and precipitous drops.  

Our Henry II had visited, as did his son - but not as a pilgrim.  We took much film of this remarkable place, but the view right sums it up.  At the top is a chateau, in the middle is the Religious Sanctuary with seven churches and below is the town itself.    Pilgrims, including our Henry II, are said to have climbed the long staircase from the town to the Sanctuary on their knees.  One picture scarcely does justice to the place, but like Venice the town is still a complete surprise if you had seen a hundred pictures.

We set off back to camp via a different route and, by chance, stopped at Martel, which has a special place in history as it is where the second son of Henry II became ill and died, so paving the way for Richard Coeur de Lion to inherit the crown.    The son, known as Henry Short Coat, had fallen out with his father (it happened even in those days) and had just plundered the treasury of Rocamadour.    We wonder how anyone could hope to be taken seriously with a name like that.   

We finished what turned out to be a long day by a visit to the remarkable gardens at the Manoir d'Eyrignac, which we show some view of above.   Though relatively recently remodelled, they are supposed to be the finest examples of French gardens anywhere, being composed almost entirely of topiary.  

We left the gardens by a different route than we had arrived and found ourselves on a very narrow road (a bit like Wright's Lane) that meandered for about ten miles through beautiful countryside as shown below.    This is surely the reason that the area is so popular with us Brits.

25th September, 1999

We set off in somewhat poor weather with a view to seeing the prehistoric caves for which this area is known, but even late in September one has to book or wait a very long time and then be corralled on a guided tour.   We decided not to wait and returned to begin writing our journal and, after an early dinner, retired to the bar.   

We never expected that our venture was unique and, sure enough, a couple we talked to in the bar were going a stage further and had sold up and were heading for the sun in Spain.   We gained a few pointers for likely camp sites and retired for yet another rainy night.   It has to be said at this point that most of Europe is experiencing poor weather as the remnants of the American hurricane come ashore in waves.   

26th September, 1999

Being a race day, we did not plan to go out but busied ourselves preparing to depart the next day until it was time to watch the race - and a most exciting one it was.    It was also one of the best days for weather and we had sat inside through the best of it.   However, our awning was almost dry and we were able to complete the packing ready for an early start for Bordeaux.

Last updated: 18/03/01