Monday 23rd October 2023

Beynac to Domme

Without mishaps today should have been about 14 Kms, with a deadly last 1 km to the top of the hill into Domme.

Pretty clear skies greeted us as we headed off along the over, whose only companion was two canoeist heading down with the flow.

It was another morning under the watchful eye of castles as we left RTL to his own devices and fell under the scrutiny of the much smaller chateau at ground level on the other side of the river.

We meandered along, against the flow, on a tree covered path passing the camping area, with its sole customer, before reaching the double bridges.

What we hadn’t seen the previous night was a newer bridge under construction which meant a kilometer diversion around the construction area to gain 50 metres.

Whilst calling it a construction area not much activity had taken place for a few years. This area was badly affected several years ago by floods.

On the diversion we went through one of three more large camping areas , again empty, but you can imagine how busy it must be in the high season.

The riverside track gave filtered views across to the chateau on the other side of a river which changed character as it wound its way down the valley. It was a strange place to spot a few swans on an island in the middle of the river.

Farms, again with unharvested corn crops, were on the other side of the path. The path was littered with streamers ‘intersport’ , pink dots and signs CAB, which suggested a race of some sort had taken place recently. – perhaps it was part of Cancer awareness month. We got caught up with following them and missed a turnoff, but thankfully a local farmer redirected we two bemused travellers back onto a track.

It was a track but not the right one and it had us negotiating a water crossing which we managed with relatively dry feet.

We broke out of the forest then popped under a bridge below another chateau under renovation and could see our next destination La Roque Gageac – another riverside town built below the limestone hills.

After some traipsing through more paddocks our track and the main route came together and we headed into town.

Some beautiful buildings sat below the cliff faces, with large boulders in the backyard.

It had a much more vibrant feel than Beynac and the river had 3 cruising boats, not full but at least active. Being Monday not many shops were open and lunch was a coffee in the only bar open.

The town was also home to more, unpopulated camping grounds and a selection of canoe hire kiosks. The “lunch” stop did us no favours weather wise with rain squalls belting down as we took off.

Reading paper maps and instructions in wet weather is no joy, even with a protective cover, and we were soon soaked, asking a passer by for directions.

No luck, she was a tourist and further up the road we struck 2 American’s who accidentally pointed us in the right direction.

Finally on a wet and rocky track we were enjoying progress through a mossy forest looking back down on some beautiful homes in the valley.

We popped out onto a gravel road and came across the first walkers of the day- a similarly wet UK couple heading in the opposite direction. Was a virtual crowd when we then met two inappropriately dressed French ladies and their dog just down the road looking for directions. Given our misfortune we smiled and pointed towards the road sign below and hoped it might help.

We glided down the hill with great views all around and turned a corner to get a glimpse of Domme , our home for the night, sitting proudly on the hilltop.

Followed a main road and popped back over the river into Cenac which was at the bottom of the kilometre climb to the top. We went into the French equivalent of a PubTab and had the menu of the day – roast rooster and chips, washed down with a little beer and wine to help propel us up the hill.

The way up was on a tarmac road and the beautiful view took away the pain in the legs. Reached town, again a fairytale city from the 12th century , and entered through the gate which formed part of the old ramparts around the town. The climb up continued through the town with its beautiful medieval buildings until we reached our lifeless hotel perched on a cliff mtop overlooking the river and valley- it was postcard stuff.

Greeted by the matriarch of the family, in her mid to late 80’s, who beckoned the next in line to the throne to process registration . Room allocation was fine but she had no idea where bags were, which meant us sitting around wet until it arrived. The view out the window did make it more bearable.

No call to say it arrived, so after 90 minutes I popped back downstairs and there it was sitting next to the Queen who was folding table napkins, oblivious to its arrival.

Finally got into clean dry clothes before heading off for dinner on the other side of town. It was a League of Nations given it was the only restaurant open in town. A few loud Saffies boasting about rugby and a Kiwi lady sitting with us smiling in anticipation of spoiling their party.

Had a nice pizza before heading home, with a day wandering around the city in store tomorrow. Fine weather tomorrow and then about 2 inches of rain predicted for the final 2 days of walking.