June 22 – St. Circ Lapopie and Cabrerets

We headed out first thing this morning to beat the heat.  The drive took us along the Lot River Valley…

which is lined with some very impressive white cliffs.

The first destination for the day is the Les Plus Beaux Village of St. Circ Lapopie.  This is perched on the side of one of the massive cliffs.  Very, very picturesque from the various viewpoints.

Unfortunately, there was no parking at the village.  The parking lots were up the hill from the village so we had a rather long walk down to the village.  We wandered a bit, very pretty and very picturesque.

With the heat and the very steep paths through town we ended up not doing as much exploring as we would have liked.  Paul walked back to the parking lot and drove down to pick up Mary.

We then headed off along the valley to the nearby town of Cabrerets.  

This town is on the small Célé River.  Part of the town runs along the waterfront.  This row of houses were torn down and rebuilt back from the river in the 1920’s so that the road could be put in.

This town had a most interesting and unusual castle called the English Castle of Bouzies (also called the Devil’s Castle).  It is called the English Castle because it was taken over by English raiders at the end of the 14^th century during the Hundred Hears’ War.  This castle is difficult to see as it is almost flush against the cliff wall, and it blends in so much that it looks almost like an extension of the cliffs.  It was built in the 12^th century.

There was also the New Bridge.   

We found the two mills.  This old mill is on the Sagne River…

where we saw a most interesting “fisherman” nearby.

This is the Moulin du Chateau on the Célé River.  It has been converted to hydroelectric power.  People were enjoying a dip in the cool waters.  It is very hot today.

We had lunch at a nice restaurant overlooking the river.  We wanted to eat on the terrace right above the water, but after a few minutes it was just too hot so we moved inside.

After lunch it was too hot to do more sightseeing, so we headed back to Cahors.  The drive along the Lot River Valley was lovely.  Lots of white cliffs along the river. 

 and spent the rest of the day at the hotel.