Lot's a lovely view

On Monday, before leaving our parking spot in Domme, we went for a wander around the village.  We had to be back at Dora by 10 am and we discovered that was around the time that most of the shops opened, so we almost had the place to ourselves!  It’s a lovely little fortified town above the banks of the Dordogne, which dates from the 13^th century.

As we were short on time, a few photos taken and a Powell walked, we were back on the road.

One of the pretty little streets in Domme

A former 14th century Knights Templar prison

Next stop, Cahors, for some more laundry (another car park laundrette – this time I took a picture!) 

and some shopping – at Netto; the first one we’ve been in since we left Germany.  It felt like home J

Once our administration was done, we had a quick wander through Cahors; it claimed to be a town of some touristic interest according to our map, so it would have been rude not to have a look. 

Alleyway in Cahors historic quarter

Cahors

Although pleasant in parts, with some lovely views and a free aire, it wasn’t for us, so we were soon back on the road en route to St Cirq Lapopie.  We arrived mid afternoon and promptly turned Dora into the weekly Chinese laundry because, despite having put €3 in the dryer, it didn’t do a particularly good job of drying anything.

When we arrived at the aire, the servicing point had been switched off for winter and cordoned off with tape to stop people from attempting to use it.  We were slightly disappointed as we’d seen a sign saying that it was going to cost us €7.50 to stay here, but we weren’t going to be able to empty or top up.  Luckily we topped up in Cahors so we didn’t need any water, but we still questioned the cost despite the lack of services.  There were also supposed to be loos here, but unsurprisingly, they were locked too.  Having already decided we wanted to spend a couple of nights here, we resigned ourselves to paying the fee.  However, we couldn’t find anywhere to pay and so far (I’m typing this on night 2), no one has come to collect.  It would appear at St Cirq Lapopie, they don’t take your money out of season – winner!!

So having decided that we were staying for two nights here, Monday was spent drying clothes, walking Powell and trying to claim back Dora from the weeks of sand and other bits of the outdoors that had accumulated in her crevasses.  We do sweep on a daily basis, but as we have a Powell, you wouldn’t think so to look in here!  Living full time in a box, it doesn’t take much for her to look messy!  After the housework was done, we settled in for the night, me with my knitting (I’m making myself a bag...) and Pete with his book.  An early night ensued and we slept like the old married couple we appear to have turned into!!

This morning, we were up early (for us), to try and beat any potential crowds to the village.  We needn’t have rushed at all as when we arrived, there were barely a dozen people including us, wandering around.  We headed to tourist information in the hope that we could pick up a map and some info on the local area, only to find that they only open Wed to Sat from November until March!  It was then that we also discovered that Armistice Day is actually a public holiday in France and only a handful of souvenir shops and restaurants were open.  It was probably a blessing in disguise as it stopped us spending any money and it meant that again, we had no crowds to contend with.

St Cirq Lapopie is a beautiful medieval village perched 100m above the river Lot.  Its buildings date between the 12^th and 16^th centuries, the majority of which have been painstakingly restored to their former glory, it’s almost like stepping back in time.  There’s a constant smell of wood smoke in the air, which just adds to the ‘olde worlde’ atmosphere that we both love.  It is by far the loveliest village we have visited so far.  Unsurprisingly it features on the website of the French association ‘Les Plus Beaux Villages de France’ – the most beautiful villages in France and the locals refer to it as the pearl of the Lot Valley; I’m inclined to agree from what we’ve seen so far.  As is always the case, pictures don’t really do it justice, but I’ll post some anyway.

We went back to Dora for lunch, followed by a lazy couple of hours, then a late afternoon bike ride with the puppy.  Pete was glad to be able to take in the sights for a change; it’s much easier to look around when you’re on a bike than when driving a 3.5 ton motorhome as the roads round here are pretty narrow and require a good deal of concentration.

We’re now back at Dora, having a celebratory drink now that Pete has reached the new 30...well, that’s what he’s telling himself anyway!  The bigger celebration is just over two weeks away, when we’ll be popping the champagne cork somewhere in Spain!

We’re feeling better after a couple of days of being stationary.  We’ve been going a month now, but we’re still finding our feet.  We’ve both decided that it’s going to take a bit longer than we thought to get used to full timing.  I still feel like we’re on holiday so I’m constantly trying to plan and find the next tourist attraction before we run out of time, but like I’ve already mentioned, we’re not on holiday, so I think I need to relax into just being and doing and accept that not every destination will be like St Cirq Lapopie.  Sometimes you just need to go where the wind takes you.

Tomorrow, we depart for pastures new; we haven’t decided where yet, we agreed we wouldn’t look at the map until morning.