From Loire to Dordogne & meeting new friends

Zagan is with several other motorhomes in the bus parking for the chateau at Rocamadour N44.79990, E1.61600. He’s done a lot of driving over the last few days and this afternoon finally reached crossed the Dordogne.

In Chenehutte we decided to explore the little town, despite the ominous black clouds on the horizon. The little information centre that we were parked next to had a map showing a guided walk, so off we went. The route took us past the ruin of windmill, a closed Manor house and to a view point, not the greatest sightseeing but it was  a good leg stretch. We got back to Zagan just as the heavens opened and our little car park turned into a big puddle.

View of the Loire

Here comes the rain!!

The next morning I woke refreshed after a night with my ear plugs in, Jay wasn’t so chipper. After the rain stopped a group of folks gathered on the bench in front of Zagan and had a Skype session for quite a while. A jog along the cycle path soon cleared the cobwebs though, and it was there that we found the official motorhome parking for the town, outside the Mayor’s office, about 1km along the road from where we were parked – ooops.

After recovering, our falling apart map was consulted, we weren’t get very far south very fast. Our plan, what little of one we had, had been to wander along the Pyrennees, but at this rate we weren’t going to get there before it was time to turn back north for the ferry. This called for drastic action; we worked out how far we could get by putting in a three hour stint (satnav time, not actual time) and were about to head for that when I remembered a message we had been sent the other day. Larry and Lorraine’s place was not that much further on from where we were planning to stop, so we got in touch to see if they were free. They were, so we set course for Sauvagnac.

We made a couple of stops, the first at a pretty disgusting service point, the facilities themselves were fine, but the loo waste chute had been locked shut, so some bright sparks had emptied their loo(s) down the grey water grate, I’ll just say certain solids clearly weren’t going to fit through the grate – grrr! (sorry I hope you aren’t eating your tea!). Our second stop was much more pleasant, a motorway services, only not the M&S, Burger King sort we have in the UK, this one had a petrol station at the front and behind tarmac roads through a wood with picnic benches and loos. Jay went looking for the sign to tell us if we’d be charged €80 if we stopped over two hours like you get at home, but there was nothing, so civilised.

Anything over 3.5t isn’t allowed to overtake – these convoys went on for miles.

After a good four hours of driving we were an hour early, so pulled in for a brew. As the kettle boiled another motorhome pulled in next to us, it was Larry and Lorraine on their way back from the shops. We followed them to their village and parked up at the Mayor’s office; Lorraine, who is on the town council, popped in to check it would be OK for us to stay there overnight.

Much easier than following satnav!

After a sudden downpour, we wandered across the road to their house, our necks craned to watch the phenomenon of several hundred cranes flying overhead on their migration south – gabbling to each other as they went.

Good formation

It all goes to pot when two V’s collide

After a look around their beautiful gardens, we settled down at the kitchen table while Lorraine cooked us up a fantastic meal four course meal which included some dangerously potent peaches in brandy. The humans chatted around the table, while Charlie and Bruce, their collie, chatted under the table. The evening flew by and we only headed off before I got too squiffy to remember where Zagan was (Jay had already reached that point!). The night was so still the only noise was the cows in the next field chewing – we both slept like logs.

This morning we headed back round for a quick coffee and a look at the maps, and came away with a big pile of books, some home-made jam and many recommendations of places to visit. We now have a big circle on our map around Sauvagnac as we can’t wait to see them both again.

Jay is in love with Larry’s woodstore

Bruce wanted his own photo!

Another big driving day was plotted into the satnav, the destination changed from Domme (Vicky and Barnie had been in touch to say it was great there) to Rocamadour, a recommendation from Lorraine. As it’s just a bit further east we figured Domme can be our next stop along the river. We stopped off at an aire just outside a closed campsite near Donzenac, as it had a free service point and we knew there were new services at Rocamadour. We grabbed a spot of lunch there and gave Charlie a quick leg stretch before another hour on the road.

About 30 minutes before we reached Rocamadour we crossed over the Dordogne and were instantly reminded why we love this part of France, especially at this time of the year.

We parked up just after 3.30pm and went for a short walk around. We’ll have a proper explore tomorrow, but it’s another beautiful place that we didn’t even know about – France never ceases to amaze.

Ju x