Day 35 - journée touristique

Tourist day.

Today we are going to do the tourist thing and go round the medieval town of Rocamadour just down the road from the site. But first, jobs to do. Thanks to the campsite being in the middle of extending its toilet block, I was able to borrow a set of ladders from an electrician and clamber up onto the hot van roof and run sealant around everything I could reach to try and stop the leak in the wet room.

 Time will tell.

Rocamadour, "Citadel of Faith", sits 450 feet above the deep valley of the Alzou river and has been a renowned place of pilgrimage since the 12th century, frequented by such famous people as Henry II of England and Louis IX of France. The medieval town, with its winding streets, tunnels and caves into the hillside, is guarded by a series of fortified gates. A monumental staircase, which pilgrims climbed (and sometimes still climb) on their knees, leads to the sanctuaries and various chapels and church's, of which there are many.

      Since medieval times the town has existed on 3 levels built in to the hillside;  they decided the three orders of society back in the day: the knights above, linked to the religious clergymen  in the middle and the workers below near the river. The town is overshadowed by the chateau which was shut just for the day we visited; typical 🤨.

To get down and explore you can either walk down the twisty bits or get 2 lifts; hot sunny day so of course you walk 😉

The twisty path has a small shrine at each bend which, starting at the bottom, depicts a different event in Christs carrying of the cross to his crucification.

Eventually you come to the 'middle' level with the church's and chapels.

There is even a chapel dedicated to various local and national French rugby teams 🙄

More steps take you down further to the next levels but not before a spot of lunch on the terrace looking down the valley. A  warm duck salad with the local, white, creamy, ooo so nice, goats cheese washed down with a craft beer was the order of the day.

Now you are down into the shopping and hotel area. Still very nice, on the whole; keeping as much of the medieval as possible. Apart from the cheese, walnuts are the other local speciality although I cant imaging many tourists lugging a sack of those home with them.

When its time to head back to the car parks you can either walk all the way back up in the heat or....

As usual, the weather was on the turn; storms were coming as we headed north into a small stretch of mountains and our little deserted 25 pitch site at Vayrac. Jill was well used to the roads (and the road signs) by now and we no longer got the familiar... "narrow ! how much ###### narrower can it get" 😅