Nut groves and cherry orchards: The Dordogne

This is the glorious green countryside of the Dordogne valleys!

To the North of Toulouse, after driving in little twingo for no more than two hours we arrived in this really pretty region. The narrow road wound along, following the course of the Dordogne river and eventually we reached our farm camp site. A field on a farm. A field full of ripening cherry trees and no other camper insight! I don't think I have ever seen so many trees in France. Majestic oaks carpeting the hills, opening out only for the many nut groves. The region is known for it's nut produce and you can find a delicious l'eau de vie made from the leaves! (almost as good as the wine!)
Not far from Lacave (above) are various caves. Some are famous for their prehistoric paintings but we visited the huge cave at Padirac, famous for it's massive stalactites and underground lakes! We really felt the temperature drop as we descended by 300 steps and103m into the abyss to reach the opening. We passed pools and streams to reach a boat where we were then rowed across pools full of crystal clear water to reach the largest of the caves....and it was HUGE! It must have been such an amazing discovery for the first man to venture in this far, led only by his flickering candles!

Rather than heading back to the tent we made a little tour of the area, stopping off at a very pretty town called Martel.

The Lot department of the Midi-Pyrenees Province is littered with medieval villages and towns. We visited Rocamadour the following morning. This place was rather touristy. The main high street has been rather taken over by gift shops, but if you can ignore the consumer traps you can still appreciate the beauty of the place and if you let your imagination wander, be sent back centuries to when pilgrims used to come here and climb the steps of penance to the monastery perched on the rocks above the towns cobbled streets. There are lovely walks in the area and if you have kids it's full of things to do. The food is rather pricey. I'd head off to the little town of Gourdon, where Oli and I found a great place to eat. We had planned on just scoffing a sarnie but when we had the choice of steak and a half pitcher of wine for about a fiver we kind of just fell into the restaurant!! After eating at a slow French, lunchtime pace we explored a bit to work off the grub. We couldn't believe the amount of old empty houses just waiting either to crumble or be renovated. Several properties had recently been done. In fact there must be some kind of government scheme to restore old property as most seemed like they had just been finished. Including this rather lovely little home that got Oli drooling!

Having been teased enough we set off in the car to find the Dordogne river. It's a huge meandering river that's well used by canoeists, you can hire them out for day trips. We got a bit lost around the single track lanes. Though every now and again we came across a pleasant discovery like this rather grand chateau. Not long after we arrived back at the Auberge to laze in the late afternoon sun munching olives and sipping wine while the buzzards and swallows flew overhead. Of course we soon felt hungry after all this touring about and set off to the Auberge for our evening meal. One thing is for sure the French know how to deliver food like perhaps they did back in the days of knights and medieval banquets. Specially in Auberge that are situated out in the countryside. We managed to eat ALL of the following. Country vegetable soup with bread floaters, served in a massive bowl that was left on the table so we might replenish our dishes several times. After declining a refill we are presented with a charcuterie platter of rillettes, a kind of soft goose pate and slithers of smoked meat. Refill of bread basket. Arrival of pitcher of red wine. The next course consisted of goose, roasted and some kind of potato/garlic patty topped with mushrooms. More bread. Delicious cheese selection. Vanilla flottante for dessert. Boy, I didn't want to eat for days after!!! All that on top of the steak we had had for lunch!!!!
Before snuggling into our sleeping bags we took a wander around the dark lanes with hooting owls for company!

One of the benefits of camping is being awoken by the chorus of bird song. Much more pleasant than a radio alarm! The next morning is sounded as though there were thousands of the blighters. They even took to perching on out tent! This was our last day as we were heading back to Toulouse in time for mothers day which is in May here. How ever we took our time, after a bit of pre 9am sun bathing we set off via a really lovely village called St Cirque Lapopie. There had been a wedding in the village and the church aisle was still littered with ivy and corn sheaves. The view from the top over looking the river below was fantastic and I was again impressed by the well preserved streets and cottages.