Date: 17-18th July 2023
Travelled: 80 kms from Vรฉzac to Cabrerets another 30 kms on the scooter
Visited: Grotte de Pech Merle and Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
Stayed: Cantal Camping, โฌ17, N44.50770, E01.66240
Budget: 57 days @ โฌ85 per day
After 4 days at Vรฉzac exploring the local tourist highlights and swimming in the pool 2-3 times a day itโs time to leave the Dordogne and continue east into the valley of the Lot.
Our guide book tells us the Lot is dryer and hotter than the Dordogne. Travelling east the country is noticeable dryer and less populated. We stop at Gourden for big supermarket shop as itโs been 4 days.
Our 10 year old Rough Guide highly recommend the Grotte du Pech Merle a cave system near Cabrerets. One of our beautiful French villages is only 10 kms further up the road so we should be able to knock over two birds with one stone.
We arrive at the Grotte about 2pm and book tickets for the 5pm tour. Then drive down to Cabrerets and find ourselves a spot at the campsite.
Having settled the Hymer under a tree in the shade we ride the scooter back up to the Grotte. The tour is in French as the English speaking tours are booked out well in advanced. The guide provides us with a folder in English telling us itโs verbatim to the tour.
Weโve done a few caves in our travels but Grotte du Pech Merle is special. Not just because the formations are quite beautiful but the cave has some of the most amazing pre-historic cave painting going back 29,000 years. No photos unfortunately, but visually the graffiti and artwork are fabulous. Check the link above for more photos.
These caves are amazingly popular with the French. As we walk away at 6pm more people are arriving. Back at the campsite itโs a bit rough and ready and weโre surprised by how many walk-in or cycle-in as campers arrive late.
Next morning we walk off to explore Cabreretsโฆ
We find houses built into the cliffs pictured above and โThe Devilโs Castleโ pictured below. Once 90m long and 30m high. It was considered impregnable, but the English knocked it over in the 100 year war. Today just another interesting ruin.
Cabrerets is not in our guide book and not amongst Frances most beautiful villages, but like so many other places weโve visited an interesting walk in the morning.
The weather app is telling us itโs a 35ยฐ + day, so we have a quick breakfast before pointing the scooter at Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. Itโs a 10 kms ride and another steep uphill climb.
From our guide book the Most Beautiful Villages in France youโll find Saint-Cirq-Lapopie on page 240. Lapopie overlooks the River Lot as it meanders its way through the valley. The views from the now ruined fortress are panoramic. Our guide book tells us Lapopie was an important trading point since Gallo-Roman times. Richard the Lion Heart failed to capture it, but its strategic position led to it being regularly sacked by the English during the Hundred Yearsโ War.
Lapopie was full of visitors mostly struggling to find a little shade during our visit. Itโs an uphill, downhill village, hence great for your cardio.
Thatโs the รglise Saint-Cirq-Lapopie standing high in the village in the picture above. Below the church portal and altar also from the รglise (couldnโt get a better picture up close).
So Lapopie is done we ride back to the Hymer and relax in the shade as the afternoon slips by. Itโs a chicken salad tonight as the sun slips behind the cliff. We turn the AC on and close up. We can only imagine it was a little less comfortable in nylon tents that surround us.
Michael + Pam
One thought on “Cabrerets, France ๐ซ๐ท 2023”
Wonderful, scenery this is an area we never got to what interesting history especially the caves lovely Photos
Safe travels โค๏ธ
Johannes