day 11 map

Saint Cirque Lapopie

From the aire at Saint Cirque Lapopie

saint cirque lapopie

Confusing layout of camping & aires

river view

River Lot at Puy-l'Évêque

Puy-l'Évêque

Puy-l'Évêque

Church Puy-l'Évêque

Puy-l'Évêque

River Lot from Saint Cirque Lapopie

River Lot from Saint Cirque Lapopie

Mauroux to Saint Cirque Lapopie via Puy-l'Évêque


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Day 11 & 12

The night is quiet, apart from the tremulous call of the tawny owl and the clunk of acorns on the roof of the Hymer, that's what you get when you are pitched amongst the oak trees. We sleep well. We are woken by the church bells chiming 7.00am, Alan gets up and makes coffee. We sit in bed, check email and think about the route we will take today.

After breakfast we walk into the village of Mauroux, it is small with a Maire, school and boulangerie (of course). Alan has several mosquito bites from his walk in the forest last night, otherwise it has been a great stop over. We fill up with water (slowly… the water pressure is very low) but it is free, so we do it anyway.

Then back on the road from Mauroux towards the Lot river and Puy L’Evêque. Here we find a good parking space under the trees, so park up. We walk up the steep cobbled hill, through the old quarter to the town square and Maire at the top. There is a fabulous view across the river Lot and the countryside below us. We walk down the steps and up again to the other side of the town and St Joseph’s church where we spend a quiet half hour inside.

Rebuilt in the late 14th century after it was severely damaged by ‘cannonball and gunpowder’ by Henry the Black Prince in c.1338 during the 100 year war (between France and England).

Back at the camper we lunch in the small car park under the shade of the trees, it is 31°C outside. As we leave, we see an Intermarche (with launderette, two washing machines and a dryer) about 100m further on. We call and buy milk and cheese for the weekend, then continue on our way eastward on the D811 to Praysac, another small bastide town where we stop at the Aire (4 spaces) to empty the toilet cassette (maybe it’s the hot weather but it smells). It is only small but a really nice Aire, much nicer than Fumelin the dirty little back street.

Back on the D 811 we follow the river Lot through a narrow gorge of bastides: Castelfranc, Labastide du Vert (spectacular bastide) and then over the top of the mountain through Espére, Mercués and drop down to the river again at Cahors. Here the countryside changes and there are acres and acres of vines, in rows thick with tight-packed, small black grapes… Malbec! Cahorts Malbec is well known for the quality of its wine, even in England.

We wonder about stopping at Cahors but decide to continue on our way past many Domains with Caves de degustation, no good to us when we have to drive. On to the D653 we follow the river Lot through the spectacular villages of Laroque des Arcs with its Maire perched impossibly high on the mountain side, Lamagdelaine and Vers (onto the D662). The road becomes progressively narrower as it twists through the narrow rocky gorges, tunnels cut in the rock and out-jutting rocks with low overhangs. Some places along the loops and turns of the Lot are very narrow, making passing coaches and trucks very tight indeed, especially at St Crêpin and St Gery!

We cross the Lot at a narrow bridge at Porte Roques (just wide enough for a truck wheel base) and follow the narrow road to the campsites (two) of Saint Cirque Lapope a traditional campsite with cabins and pitches, as well as the Aire with pitches arranged around the bend in the river, which is where we go. The layout of campsite and two aires can be confusing so it's worth describing exactly what is there.

The entry road passes a traditional campsite, you can see that as the pink area in the photo on the left. At the end of the road there are in fact TWO aires. If you turn RIGHT you are on the riverside municipal aire with a pay machine and disposal facilities. If you turn LEFT you will enter a private aire, it has nice pitches but no disposal facilities, so you must use the free facilities on the municipal aire anyway. Both sites charge the same price €7. The layout is VERY confusing and took some time to walk around and work our exactly what was there.

It is busy, not surprisingly as it is a lovely spot right on the banks of the river Lot and below the old bastide of St Cirq Lapopie. It is perhaps a little busier than we like, but as it is late afternoon we stop anyway.

Despite the busy-ness it is quiet, lots of people like us sitting and reading or enjoying the view across the river to the high rocks of the gorge. As we have had a busy day, we walk along the river to the weir and see that there is additional parking, a large grassy area for motorhomes, parking and overnight stays, but not overlooking the river. We decide to stay where we are as we have a nice pitch overlooking the river. We pay at the machine after 6.00pm (overnight stays are €7 from 18.00 – 17.59 the next day).

We get out the table and chairs and sit in the shade of the trees with a bottle of Cremant d’Bourgogne and eat stir fry again. Apart from the odd boat along the river is seems deserted, most of our neighbours (next door to us are Scots) walk the 1.5km to the bastide for their meal (most of that uphill) it is a fantastic environment. We sit outside.

As the evening darkens to night, the sky is completely cler, the bats swoop and circle in the dark and the stars come out in a black sky unspoilt by stray light.

In his novel CONQUEST, Stewart Binns writes about the period after 1066 when William of Normany defeated the English at Selnac Ridge, later to become know as the Battle of Hastings. Binns describes Hereward of Bourne (Hereward the Wake) and his life. It's a work of historical fiction really, especially as very few accurate records from that time actually exist. From an author's point of view that leaves great flexibility to weave a story and develop a character. Binns does that and actually sets part of the story in Saint Cirq Lapopie. In reality we have no way of knowing whether Hereward and his family actually visited the area, but it makes a really good story that we both enjoyed reading.

 

 

 

Summary of motorhome journey

Total
miles
mpg average
speed
mph
hours
driven
47.8 29.0 21 2;14

Totals for this journey

1126.8 29.6 31 35:20