Day 6 Saturday 28th September 2013
After a fairly leisurely breakfast of fresh croissant & summer flower honey washed down by some pretty strong coffee, it was time to move on after setting the GPS for Castelnaud la Chapelle on the river Dordogne.
Today's drive took us well away from the main roads opting instead for country lanes that passed through the perfectly preserved ancient villages of Sarges & Cubjac, through acres & acres of broad leaved woodland & passing elderly French gentlemen on the hunt for wild mushrooms.
Being Saturday we called in at the Carrefour supermarket in Thenon, for supplies & fuel - no Sunday opening in this part of the world,with the car park having the most amazing views across rolling patchwork of small fields & wooded countryside.
Our journey continued on via Montignac, on to the Vallee de l'homme. We have visited this area before back in 1976 & again in 2002, but this time decided to stop for a lunch of freshly baked, crusty artisan bread topped with sun-ripened tomatoes, a rather pungent soft cheese & a brawn pate with pistachios, in the empty car park below the ancient fortified rock dwelling near Tursac.
The afternoon was very warm however once inside the Maison Forte de Reignac [this link does contain sound!] it was deliciously cool. The house was fascinating if a little spooky, seemingly unchanged since the 17C & was not full of tourists, l guess most head for Lascaux?
After the culture stop, our route continued past farms producing foie gras with large flocks of geese enjoying the afternoon shade. All the farms had some sort of farm shop selling their produce which were fairly busy with people buying this luxury but controversial delicacy.
After some interesting tight turns in various villages, we rejoined the main Bergerac to Sarlat road at St Cyprien. The main road hugged the river Dordogne, passing the cliff hugging village of Beynac en Cazenac & its chateau, made famous as one of the locations for the 2000 film, Chocolat staring Johnny Depp & Juliette Binoche. This tourist village was a serious honey pot of a place, immaculate & full of visitors.
By mid-afternoon, we left the main road crossing the Dordogne into Castelnaud de Chapelle under the watchful eye of its Chateau.
The site for the night was just the other side of the village, Camping Maisonneuve, set on a lush, flat pasture with a 10 minute bike ride via a cycle track back to the river. The site itself was pretty quiet with only a few vans, English, visiting. When we arrived there was no one 'official' about, so we were kindly shown around & pointed in the right direction by a couple from the Lake District who had been regular visitors here for the past 40 years. We finally parked up close to the small river Ceou, giving us views across the valley to the cliffs opposite.
Miles travelled = 71
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