Europe France Part 7

Its Wednesday the 7th of June and we leave our lovely spot and drive to Albi where we park up in a free motorhome stop about 20 minutes from the town. Its a big area and there are quite a number of vans parked up but it serves the purpose and they have all the services of water and emptying as well. We certainly appreciate that they make motor homers welcome, its not always the case and we wonder why as they all spend money in the main village. Our hats off to the city of Albi. Its a nice walk into the centre, across a lovely bridge with views of the old bridge as you cross…

   

Theres a lot of history in France and Albi has its fair share with a lovely old port side where the ships would have unloaded or loaded their stock and the streets windup towards the main fortification and church. The old fort has been added to and demolished in parts over the years by the governing lot at the time, but remains impressive with a nice garden in the courtyard..

   

Albi lays claim to the largest brick built church in the world, and as an old builder I cant help to be impressed by the the size and actual quantity of bricks on view. Stunning and impressive, until you walk inside and view the one of the most incredible churches we have ever seen for artwork on the ceilings and walls, there does not seem to be one spare area left…

  

 

Its a magic spot Albi, especially the river and church, well worth a visit if your in the area. We spend a quiet night and head off next morning to Najac, another stunning French village. We park up just outside the village and walk in, its quiet and very nice. A walk up the main street has camera’s clicking, its that sort of place and being very quiet, hardly a tourist in site. There is a castle on the hill that dominates the area, we don’t head inside, too tight and seen plenty inside. The main square is very attractive, and the baker has so far received the highest rating from Vic for their quiche.

      

Great spot Najac but nowhere for us to really stay so we head off to small village called Monteils where we park up in a small camping car park next to a bubbling brook and parkland. Nice and quiet here and we head off for a walk around the area, not much happening here apart from a senior’s gathering, some high school sports and a few campers setting up their tents. We enjoy a quiet evening, just another couple of vans here. Next morning after a walk up through the hills and paddocks we set off to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, another stunning French village. I feel I need to explain that when you visit these villages it always become apparent that they are all different in some way or with some particular highlight and to me that is what makes France so unique. We park below the village, its a hill top town so we make our way up through the forest and past some exquisite gates and homes. The rain is starting but we continue and climb the stone road towards the peak, the road winds up and around past stone houses on a slippery stone path. Its busier here than previous towns over the last few days, plenty of walkers with their backpacks and walking sticks. Pottery is popular and we purchase some salad bowls for the van as they have been on the list for a while. Definitely put this one on your list..

      

We don’t stay as its not that convenient for overnight stops and make our way to Cabrerets where we park up in a small carpark near the village. A massive chateau is at the entrance and perches above on a the rocks, unfortunately its private so we don’t get a look apart from gazing up. We spend a quiet night and enjoy a long walk through the forest in the morning before heading off to visit another French starred village in Rocamadour.

  

We manage to park in a free car park just outside the village and make our way towards the centre. From where we parked its a bit odd as we walk towards a group of restaurants, roundabout and some old Roman ruins, but as we emerge along the escarpment we spy the village below as it flows down the mountain. Its a fair walk down at a steep incline, we make our way down and encounter the village church that has been built into the side of the mountain. Its quite stunning even before you enter the chapel area, organ music is coming from inside and after a couple of attempts we manage to enter. This is church music but not if you can understand? The sound is stunning, the acoustics just perfect and to me the sound is uplifting and makes you smile. Further down the steps the village emerges, its busy with a lot of people, mostly tourists like us, plenty from the old USA, its a bit too touristy as we walk along so we continue the steep climb back up to the parking area. Having said that, the church is well worth the visit, the construction inside is bare bones so you can imagine the whole construction as you gaze at the individual blocks used to build it. Simply superb to an old builder, I did spend quite a long time gazing at the arches and columns and imagining the construction process. With that and the music its been a good day.

      

We leave Rocamadour and make our way to Carennac, another stunning village. We find a quiet park up under the trees not far from the village centre. After a bite to eat we manage a walk around the village centre…

     

We enjoy a peaceful night, take another walk around the village and along the river, its a lovely spot here. We leave and make our way to Grolejac and a free camper spot under the trees. Not much here but walks, and we partake on long walks through the forest over the river and beyond, we do enjoy the quiet solitude with only the occasional bike rider passing, its a lovely spot. After another long walk in the morning we make our way to Domme, another stunning French village. We park up next to the soccer grounds and make our way up to Domme central, its a steep climb but well worth it. Just for interest Domme was a central point the English and French fought over for a hundred years, and when you reach the pinnacle with the views you can see why. Its a bit touristy here, but the  view at the top is what its all about, just amazing for miles, bring binoculars.

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The walk back down is a lot easier, we don’t pass too many walkers. We drive off and head further around the Dordogne area, before stopping at a spot behind some Gites and a small store selling local goods. As long as you spend some money in the store you can stay here for free, easy. The owner is lovely guy and its not to busy so we are basically on our own. We have a bit of a walk around but the road is busy so we need to do some research before we head off in the morning. Which we do, along a busy road for a kilometre or so before we manage to find a small track through the fields, along the river up across the road through a small back road and down to the amazing village of La Roque-Gageac set on the Dordogne river, its stunning and best early in the morning before the crowds.

     

 

After that long walk we clean up and make our way further along the Dordogne stopping at a small village called Tremolat, a small camper stop with space and emptying area. Lovely and quiet here, we really enjoy long walks here, not much traffic and plenty to see along the roads. Its nice and quiet, a small but attractive village and we enjoy walks either way along quiet roads. We do tend to find these days that generally if you look for somewhere to stay rather than a highlighted stop you tend to be surprised what you find most of the time. Its a bit like a chocolate box, you never know what you get, not sure where I heard that 😜. Anyway we are having fun. From here we head to Aubeterre-sur-Dronne and another camper spot near the river. Its nice, under large trees and a free filling/emptying spot opposite. Once parked up we do a tiki tour of the village ( thats for you Wazza!) and find a small village with plenty of cafes and restaurants, Im sure its very busy in July/August. There is also a small underground church here, really a small chapel in the hillside. We find it but don’t venture through the pay gates.

Next morning we venture further through the village, across fields and through forests, its spectacular scenery as you walk, very difficult to really explain but its just perfect. We come across to old fellas walking and we see one younger one as well as we approach, they stop and the younger one starts shoulder massage so we realise its a physio taking his clients out for a walk. We do try to get a massage but don’t succeed, these fellas are in their 90’s for sure and we have a quick chat with them as we pass. Its “ you will be very lucky if you get to my age “ its all very funny and we agree with him and walk on thinking about that. I think we both wished we could have stopped and talked to them for a while. We leave and continue our journey through France before stopping at Juac, another camper stop. Its a big open area surrounded by fields, the river is not far away and we head off along the pathway after setting camp. We walk along the Charente river through open fields, an old mill and town, just ideal really. 

  

Today we stop at a chateau carpark, its pretty quiet and we park up under a tree for some shade. Later we take a long walk through the fields and after dinner once its closed we manage to find a way into the gardens and have a nice look around.

  

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