On to BOOK 2 of our excellent instructions from Emilie.
We had breakfast with Jean-Francois this morning since Dominique is away. We packed up, loaded the car and headed east to Martel - a little over an hour's drive. Today we will explore several villages along the Dordogne River in the Lot Region. We left Bechanou and traveled north then east then south to Martel.
This was like many of the roads we have traveled on - in fact this one was much WIDER!
The covered market in Martel
Old, interesting wood ceiling of the covered market in Martel
Quiet, quaint streets in Martel - most things were closed up
One of the many towers in Martel
The church tower in Martel
Inside the Martel cathedral
The Hotel de Ville and covered market in Martel
We decided to stop in Vayrac for lunch. But on the way, Emilie had suggested we drive to Puy d'Issolud for a panoramic view of the valley. We went there on a TEENY road and took a very short hike before it started to rain.
The road to Puy d'Issolud . . . The roads get narrower and narrower - the GPS is taking us to these!!!!
"James - Do you know where you are taking us?"
The view from Puy d'Issolud of the valley - an interesting off the beaten track stop - FUN.
We stopped in the small town of Vayrac for lunch. Tim had a pizza and I had the plat du jour for 12.50 which included soup, a starter, a main course, cheese and dessert. What a deal and it was really good.
Then we stopped in Carennac where there is an old abbey. Lot of history here with Fenelon who lived here. We saw his castle yesterday. We took a tour of the abbey and walked all around the city, but then it started to rain again, so we returned to the car and continued our way.
The town of Carennac
View of the Dordogne River from Carennac
Quaint streets in Carennac
Famous mise en tombe in the old abbey in Carennac
Inside the abbey of Carennac
The cloister at the abbey of Carennac
The tower where Fenelon lived in Carrenac
Interesting "crooked" house in Carennac
Carennac
We then headed to Chateau Castalnau-Bretenoux. It was a beautiful drive through many small villages. This castle was our least favorite as the "collection" of the things in the castle seemed very disjointed to us. An opera star from Paris bought the castle in the late 1800's and restored it, but one of the provisions was his "collection" must remain in tact. The tour was in French and he spoke quickly so we didn't understand much, but there was an abbreviated English card that had a brief description of the castle.
Water terrace at one of the towns leading to Castle Castlenaud
The castle as seen from the approach
Chateau Castlenaud
Chateau Castlenaud
The we left for Loubressac and it started to POUR rain. Of course the GPS decided to "treat" us to another back road . . .
The GPS does it again - another semi-paved road wide enough for one vehicle. James?
Loubressac as seen from the approach
Loubressac - raining all the time
The view of the valley from Loubressac
Tim contemplating the weather in Loubressac
Loubressac - scenic and quaint
Loubressac
Loubressac
Then we drove to Autour and walked through the city. It was raining so we made this a brief stop. I bought a bottle of local wine there. Wasn't that good! On the way outside of Autour we passed shear rock walls - there was a sign for a Cascade but we don't think we saw that!
Main street in Autour
Autour and the central fountain
Rock walls on the "little" roads taking us from Autour to Gramat
We reached Granat and went to our new B&B - Domaine du Cloucau (is this like Inspector Cloucau?). Francine Bougaret has 3 chamber d'hote and has had the property for 15 years. She and Alain are delightful. We have a large room with a huge patio off of the pool. A dressing room and large bathroom. Very comfortable. Francine recommended the Restaurant Les Gormands for dinner and she made a reservation for us. It was very close by. Julian was the owner's son and he took care of us. He liked using his English with us - but I was wanting to practice my French. We did both. Dinner was very good and reasonable.
We returned to Domaine du Cloucau and went to bed. Long day and tomorrow has more "Emilie adventures" in store for us - can't wait!
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