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Much cooler this morning after the predicted showers last night. The cycling campers have struck and gone before we wake. We use the service point and set off for Rocamadour.
The first section retraces our route through Gourdon, Le Vigan and Payrac before we head into the hills to exercise the steering wheel. The D673 is narrow and twisty with a very uneven surface and physically it is our hardest route yet, including the Aupen Alps and Guadalest. There are spectacular views over gorges and woodlands until the final climb to L'Hospitalet above Rocamadour and stop for photos before parking in the aire.
Rocamadour is built in two stages clinging to the sheer cliffs of a massive gorge. Ignoring the castle at the top we get tickets for the funicular to the first stage. €2.40 return but free for wheelchairs the wide 30 person car falls through its tunnel at some speed. A short path and a pedestrian tunnel lead to the historic, religious part. Rising on three sides of a small courtyard are the church, sacristies, former dungeons, Bishops' Palace and staircases. Most of it is built into rock overhangs where the eroded limestone merges wth neatly cut and dressed building materials. Some of the stonework has been restored to starkly fresh 'as new' condition, and although criticised in guidebooks as over-restored it it difficult to imagine how it could not be this way. The new shows how it would have looked to those who conceived and constructed it, the old is weathered as monuments are. A souvenir shop is full of chrome Christianity; tacky Madonnas and crucifixes, overpriced books and magnets. Apparently Rocamadour is France's second most visited shrine after Mont St Michel, and its appetite for your cash is unbounded. The place is heaving with visitors but unlike previous tours we notice there are no Japanese tourist anywhere. Whether the recent terrorist activities have deterred them, we don't know, but they are certainly noticeable by their absence.
A conventional lift €3.10/free for Nick takes us down into the village. It would be charming out of season, but even with hoardes of dawdlers and pushchairs it is an attractive place. A narrow central street falls downhill through various archways. Every so often there is a vantage point to look down or up the gorge, or watch tiny distant cars thread along the ledged roadways. Products of nuts, truffles, honey and leather are all on offer, as are various snacks, drinks and food.
We go into a bar and out onto their terrace which hangs over the gorge. The views are tremendous and it's a great place to watch swallows as they twist and tumble and soar past at eye level, while we drink a glass of local Cahors red wine which is served chilled.
The forecast of showers was right and it's just enough to get eveyone without a coat wet, including us.
Just outside the village traffic is mayhem as two wardens operate an impromtu stop/go system on the tight hairpin bend.
Later we find a coffee bar where we are offered paper towels to dry off as we try to name some of the film star portraits hung around the walls; Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Bogart & Bacall, Greta Garbo and so on.
Back up in the lift we look in the courtyard again, much clearer now with the rain sending people home and thence the funicular to the top.
The rain has stopped so we wander along to L'Hospitalet and the viewpoint. From here it's clear to see the magnitude of the gorge and the apparent impossibilty of building such structures on a cliff face. From here it is also possible to forget its touristy nature and realise why it is such an attraction.
L'Hospitalet has a number of bars and restaurants so we select L'Esplanade, a creperie/brasserie, and sit on the covered patio with views back to Rocamadour. Service doesn't start for twenty minutes, but we're given menus until then. At 19:00 business starts. Diners arrive and the middle aged proprietress literally runs around taking orders and serving drinks. The food arrives quickly and is really very good, for starters Ali has pate; Nick egg mayonnaise. We both have superb ribeye steak, washed down with a convenient 50cl bottle of Buzet, again served chilled.
A slow walk back to the van and a peaceful evening rounds off a very good day.
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