Day 14 – Prehistory

Get up in the morning, pastries for breakfast,
Allons voir une site préhistorique,
Oh…
Oh…
The Troglodytes

Woke beside the river to glorious sunshine and a day that was clearly going to become very hot. A short walk to breakfast at the local épicerie.

Packed up camp and then explored the village some more. There was a chateau with a fantastic pointy gothic roofline – we’d seen the roofs from a distance. We managed to find it but for such a huge building it was amazingly secluded. We circumnavigated the plot and there was no good view available anywhere. It was a fun wild goose chase though.

Cycled over the bridge for some touristing: a visit to some Troglodyte caves. Parked our bikes, bought our tickets and set off on foot along a path through some woods. The first cave was distinctly underwhelming and set the bar very low. One of those tourist attractions built on very little of substance, dressed up to achieve a decent ticket price. Well, hush my cynical mouth! Everything from this point onwards was really good. Some amazing caves with plenty of evidence of the larger wooden structures that would also have been here at one point. By the end of the trip I was almost potholing. All in all well worth the entry fee and a morning well spent.

Only a few miles further on we ate lunch at Saint Christophe Le Roc. The country ham was delicious.

We continued our journey along a road beside a rock face that was littered with the remains of troglodyte dwellings.

Reached Sarlat Le Canéda. An enormous street market went on for 3/4 mile or so. Ate lunch #2 (gotta get it while you can!) in the town square. It felt odd being in such a big and busy place, rammed with tourists.

We had a lucky end to the day’s cycling, a Voie Verte (cycle track) built on an old railway line so almost level all the way. It had smooth tarmac too. Zoomy-zoom-zoom. And all in the shade of woodland which was a great relief on such a hot day.

Arrived at our destination of St Julien de Lampon. Had a beer in the town square. Checked out the municipal campsite which was not bad. Then looked at a family-run campsite right beside the river. It was lovely and no more expensive! A delicious dinner at the campsite snack bar saved us from travelling for food – and we really didn’t want to have to get back on our bikes! Jackie had giant prawns with linguine which looked amazing.

Bloody hell, we’ve been cycling for two weeks now! No wonder we’re tired. Bedtime.

Miles cycled: 34
Total miles: 53

Metres climbed: 57

Good things today: