Sunday 29th October 2023

Rocamadour

Woke up with a slight time dilemma, due to us not realising DLS was over and the clocks had gone back an hour, so we were an hour early for breakfast.

Nobody could complain about what was on offer at the breakfast buffet, it had all nations covered. With no walking planned I tried to be a bit circumspect with food intake – I thought not having a croissant was a suitable sacrifice.

After breakfast we headed downhill to follow the Pilgrims route out of town and take in the scenery.

It was another neck craning exercise looking up the hill to the chateau and sanctuary where again you got a different perspective. It was the same on the other side where the road which climbed the mountain was supported by viaduct looking structures.

The bottom of valley was home to an old mill and an artisan’s home who dabbled with steel sculptures.

Along the Camino trail was the famous fountain, which was used by ancient Pilgrims for drinking and bathing. It was a whole lot bigger than expected.

Whilst we thought the trail might follow the valley floor, within 300 metres it was climbing steeply up the mountain, so in our sneakers we decided to retreat to tourist duties.

Getting back into town was a bit easier and I don’t think a shop went unvisited, as the crowd started to thicken.

Another walk halfway up to the church to buy a souvenir for home, which hopefully fits in the case and survives the baggage handler shot put.

Ventured up further for more pictures in church, but it was closed for mass, so it was down and more Main Street shopping or at least looking and some photo snapping.

We had an early lunch and then headed to the top of the hill to research where train station was, after mixed reports of being able to walk or alternatively catch a cab for about 3kms and for around 40€.

Irrespective of the distance, the first 1km up hill with luggage and a backpack , proved it was a hill too far to consider, so organising a taxi later was the obvious decision.

Being at the top we decided to try and find the animal park where they are working on a program to grow the dwindling population of the Barbary macaques.

It was another kilometre out of town, but the walk was really worthwhile. It was one of the few zoo type places I walked away from not feeling sorry for the animals – it was marvellously managed and had acres of space.

It was an up close and personal experience with animals roaming about uncaged and within touching distance. That said you were under strict instruction not to touch.

Unlike monkeys they have no tail, but there behaviour is very similar. There was a mix of fully grown and babies, interestingly the males look after the young. It wasn’t unusual to see two adults nurturing a young one.

The young are just like kids, climbmg up trees, performing death defying leaps and teasing the hell out of each other.

We saw two separate feeding sessions and there was some fierce competition for the fruit, vegetables and grain on offer. How they differentiate between pebbles and pieces of grain is baffling.

The park is huge and there is a tall boundary fence to keep them in – with how they are treated it’s hard to imagine them wanting to escape.

On the way out we struck a few giving themselves and a mate a good going over looking for lice, which is apparently a favourite food.

After a couple of hours wandering around we headed off back home taking the high road back and getting a different perspective of town as the sun started to go down.

It being Sunday and last day of the school holidays, the crowds thinned quickly and the shops were quickly preparing for a winter break.

By 700 there were very few people and only 3 eating oportunities. By the time we finished dinner and wandered home we had the streets to ourselves with only the floodlit hillside as a companion.

Back home we confirmed our 720am taxi for the morning , with a cost of between 30€- 50€ , depending on what rate he wanted to charge. Also got news our friendly desk man had not been able to negotiate an early breakfast – given our recent food intake a missed meal will be good for us.

Packed up ready for a 3 train trip to Orleans as we get into our last week in France.