Never feel smug!
We left the comfort of Loubressac wishing we had another day there. It may have been something to do with the longest walk of the holiday ahead of us, including two steep climbs.
A taxi dropped us off in Carennac, a small medieval village on a cliff above the Dordogne. It was a pretty, historic village to start in but, worried about the length of the walk, we didn’t hang around.
We tackled a long ascent out of town before walking along a ridge, through woodland and past meadows. We were kept company, in equal measure, by many different varieties of butterflies, flies and a cow.
Never ones to miss an opportunity to grumble, we were deeply disappointed not to find the bar open in Floirac, the largest village en route, or a cafe in any shape or form. What we did find was shade under which to eat our lunch and beautifully kept public toilets.
The route out of town took us alongside a railway line and there was talk of completing the last half of the walk by rail. We persevered and crossed the Dordogne over a bridge barely wide enough for a car.
Just before we started up a long, steep climb towards Martel, we came across an interesting approach to improving the look of pampas grass. That morning, Madame thought it needed tidying and decided to plait it. It had taken her only 40 minutes and she’d been really careful not to be cut to shreds by the nasty, evil thing. She was very proud of the result.
Our climb was every bit as steep and long as we’d imagined. We turned corner after corner and the path kept climbing. Luckily everything has to come to an end and finally we descended into Martel.
Throughout the day, our path crossed with the other couple on the same holiday. At one point, we’d commiserated with them about entry into their hotel after 5pm, no such restriction for us! Exhausted and footsore, we arrived at our hotel at 4 to find it ferme until 5:30! They were very kind not to gloat when they caught up with us, gulping down ice cold Perrier in the main square!
Our home for the next two nights is above a bar and next to the restaurant kitchen but I think we’ll cope. A bit worried that tomorrow’s dinner is coming out of a wall though
braysabroad 