We headed from Moncrabeau to Cahors, a beautiful drive through the lower Tarn and Lot valleys. Finally the sun made a proper appearance and it got really hot. Cahors is a really beautiful town captured in a U of the river lot so as to make it almost an island and which allows for endless river frontage and beautiful views. Our hotel was a modern building on the opposite bank from the town, The Chartreuse. Nothing much to look at but then you don’t have to look at it from the inside and we had a huge window and a little balcony overlooking the river. It won the prize for the best facilities so far – a bath and a proper shower which is almost unheard of as you seem to only be able to have one or the other! The aforementioned balcony and view as well as air conditioning, a proper double bed and a fridge. We were very impressed, especially as it was also the cheapest at only 90 Euros a night. Had it had a mirror it would have been a full house – not that I have a check list or anything!
We really enjoyed wandering round the medieval town and admiring the incredible Pont Valentre which has been impressively restored. The Saturday market was also amazing and, having had a request for honey from Sue, J’s former PA, we were at last able to buy something, which was great. We went on a boat trip up the river to admire the town from the water and experience going through the lock. We also found a great restaurant for dinner on Saturday night – Le Marche, which offered an interesting set menu, including Foie Gras, since Quercy is very much Foie Gras country.
We were very glad of the excellent pool to cool off, though on the Saturday it had been rather taken over by a family party who were at the hotel for some occasion and all the children had decamped to the pool for the afternoon. Although the hotel reckoned it was only 22 degrees in the water it felt a lot warmer than Keith’s pool but maybe it was the sunshine!
On Sunday night we headed off to St Antonin Noble Val, another adorable medieval town, this time on the banks of the Aveyron. It took about 45 minutes to drive over and we met Pam, my Godmother and the two John’s who have a converted farmhouse and barn in a beautiful spot South of Cahors on a hillside with a pool and garden. We had a lovely dinner together and caught up on everyone’s news and answered lots of questions about life in Abu Dhabi. The restaurant was great, with super food and a terrace overlooking the river and the bridge. It was a very convivial evening though we had to drive back in the dark, which is rather tricky as we have been unable to alter our headlights, since the instruction manual gives us the method for a 5 Series. Having to switch to side lights every time a car came in the other direction was a bit nerve wracking! We also replenished our travel library when Pam kindly brought us a bag of books to borrow as we are getting a bit low on the ones we brought with us. It was great to see them again and it was a shame we had to move on without visiting them at home but they had been rather full of family visitors and we had something of an epic journey the next day.
Altogether we really enjoyed Cahors, though we didn’t try any of the black wine, which we didn’t fancy so much in the heat and after the incredible Clarets we’d been drinking at Keith’s. We did have a local rose though, which was very nice indeed. It’s certainly a part of the world I would be happy to spend more time in.
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