SARLAT….Dorgogne Region

Sunday, May 13, 2012

A wonderful breakfast at the Hotel Pasteliers in Albi and then on the road by 9 am heading north on country roads into the heart of the Dorgogne River Valley to find some of the rock sculpted villages.  The roads were narrow two lane and sometimes single lane; one way bridges and sharp curves.  But, we saw some wonderful old ruins dating back for centuries that were clinging to the sides of the hills

On the way we plowed through town after town that were having their Market Days; main roads blocked with stalls of foods, clothes, furniture and everything else imaginable.  Our first stop was in Cordes-sur-Ciel.  Then on to Penne and finally St. Cirq Lapopie; one of the best according to our tour book by Rick Steves.   It was after 2 pm by the time we headed towards our last town so we found the Autoroute, paid the fee, and saved at least an hour or more of driving time.

We arrived in Rocamadour just before 3 pm and enjoyed our stroll down the side of the mountain on a zig zag path that was also the “Stations of the Cross” for the religious.  At the bottom we found the church with the Black Madonna Statue and then felt we’d earned an ice cream cone for the remainder of our walk down the hill past all of the shops.



 When we reached the ascender we took advantage and rode the elevator and then the funicular back up to the top where we had parked our car.   We found a faster route to Sarlat but it was still nearly 5 pm when we arrived at our hotel for the next two nights:  Hotel la Couleuvrine, a very nice hotel in a very old building.  Jim and I have fond memories of our first stay here many years ago.  It’s nice to be back.  A bit funky but classic…. we checked in and then walked around the corner to the centuries old medieval city to find some familiar places.

At 7:15 pm we all entered the very formal dining room in our dressy clothes for a four star dinner.  We didn’t finish until after 9 pm and then walked back into the old city for some night photos before heading back for our rooms.  Such a wonderful day and did I mention…sunshine all day long!  Tomorrow we’ll do more exploring around Sarlat.   Yes…the internet is wifi and wonderful…I’m a happy camper tonight.