The
cycling holiday with my Australian triathlete friend, Gypsy, was amazing. We
first met swimming in the Nile on a trip in 1992, and since then have had adventures in various parts of the world. This time we got together in Bordeaux
where it was cold and wet mid May, but we explored the city with its impressive
majestic buildings from the 18th century. From there we took the bus, since the
trains were on strike, to Sarlat-la-Caneda, a medieval town. There was more
rain so after we had checked out the shops, we spent many hours in various
cafes and bars. The man we rented our bikes from
(Aquitainebike.com) delivered them in the rain along with the panniers, maps and
trip notes, and he provided valuable information about the Dordogne area where
we would be cycling. The bikes were excellent 21 speed Trek bikes. We started
off the next day and it was dry - all 8 days were dry until we returned to
Sarlat where there was a quick downpour after we arrived.
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| Outside country home of friends, Souillac |
We
rode mostly on small peaceful country roads without a lot of traffic; the
French, however, are polite and aware of cyclists. We rode on rolling hills
through agricultural areas with small farms; a few hills were challenging and I
admit I walked up some of them, but there were also some magnificent downhills
that went on and on and on for miles. We averaged about 50 kilometers or 31
miles a day except for one day which was a day of rest in the lovely country
home of friends.
Along
the roads there were some beautiful stately country homes, some hundreds of
years old, and some new. Some were in ruins, others on their way to ruin. All
buildings were of stone with red tile roofs, although some roofs were of black
slate and very old buildings might have stone shingles. We passed through
picturesque small villages.There were fields where brown cows grazed, some
horses and some sheep, and people worked out in the fields. Besides cultivated
fields of field corn and wheat, there were vineyards and walnut groves. There
were many wooded areas and sometimes tall trees created a canopy over the road,
and wildflowers were along the roads.The last day of our trip returning to
Sarlat from Souillac, there was an actual bike path most of the way near the
Dordogne River.
Our first destination was Les Eyzies where we
stayed four nights and from where we took side trips. We stayed at a hotel for
one night and then a 12th century farmhouse filled with antiques. High
limestone cliffs surround the town and the Vezere River runs through it. This
area has been inhabited for 50,000 years; we learned all about Cro-Magnon man
at the Cro-Magnon rock shelter where a grave from about 28,000 years ago was
discovered in 1868. In the small museum there was information about Neanderthal
man (25,000 to 40,000 years ago) and Cro-Magnon man (40,000 to 10,000 years
ago). I found this quote interesting, “Cro-Magnon man had exactly the same
intelligence as us, with a different cultural knowledge.”
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| Outside Prehistory Museum, Les Eyzies |
We
rode off and on near the Vezere River and we also canoed a 12 mile (19
kilometer) stretch of it, passing under 5 bridges; most of the time there was a
good current. From the river, we had a good view of the Fort of
Madeleine, a 19th century troglodytic (cave dweller) fort built into the side
of the cliff. The Magdalenian culture was here 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. The
cultures used bones for spear heads, harpoon heads, hooks, and needles. They
were hunter gatherers and moved about.
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| Canoeing on the Vezere River |
One
of the prehistoric caves we explored was the Grotte de Rouffignac that we biked
to, and then entered the cave on a mini electric train. We rode one kilometer
into the the cave and saw engravings of five animals: mammoths, horses, ibex,
bison, rhinoceros from 14,000 years ago. The artists used the contours of the cave
to give shape and a three dimensional effect to the animals. The Great Room had
65 different animal figures. The height of the ceiling had originally been one
meter before it had been dug out. The artist must have worked on his back
making it difficult to gain perspective of what he was doing. There is a lot of
graffiti on the walls of the caves since people would enter the caves and write
on the wall in charcoal, sometimes on top of the paintings. Bear scratchings
were on the walls and many many bear beds where bears had apparently
hibernated. The bears were there before the people.
We
also visited La Roque St. Christophe, a troglodytic town shelter for
Neanderthal man (50,000 years ago) and Cro-Magnon man (25,000 years ago). It is
an overhanging shelter on a cliff above the Vezere River that a whole village
occupied for 50,000 years, right up to the Middle Ages when the houses were
built into the cliff. The town consisted of over 100 houses on five levels and
had a population of about 1000. They had designed elaborate wooden machines,
winches, scaffolding, cranes, and pulleys to lift supplies from below. The
village was destroyed in 1588 during the Wars of Religion.
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| Entrance to La Roque St. Christophe |
Another
day we visited the prehistoric cave of Font-ce-Gaume with paintings in black,
red, and brown of bison, horses, mammoths, and reindeer from 14,000 years ago.
Only 80 people are allowed to visit the cave each day. We lined up at 8:00 am
and were in the first group to go into the cave at 10:00. We were impressed,
and again the shapes of the walls were incorporated into the shapes of the
animals.
We
cycled to the medieval town of Limeuil, a beautiful old trade and fortress
village at the confluence of the two rivers, the Vezere and the Dordogne. It
was a very peaceful place with a lovely shady picnic area by the rivers. As we
were leaving the town, we saw groups of school children wearing neon vests and
biking along the highway probably on their way home from school. There were
perhaps 5 groups of 10 to 12 children with adults at the head and in the
rear.The children were all very orderly.
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| Limeuil |
On
our way to La Roque Gageac we visited the Chateau des Milandes where Josephine
Baker (1906-1975), an African American dancer and singer in Paris in the
20’s and 30’s lived with her 12 adopted children. Many of her rather risque
gowns were on display. She was involved in the French Resistance and also was a
Civil Rights activist.The bathrooms were perhaps the most impressive with
floor to ceiling tiles which matched the boxes of her favorite perfumes. We
stayed in La Roque Gageac right on the Dordogne River and built into the cliff,
steps and winding narrow cobblestone streets led up into the medieval town. The
next day we cycled to Souillac, a long hard ride, first climbing up to Domme, a
fortress town on top of a hill for spectacular views of the winding Dordogne
River and the valley with fields that stretched on and on. It was a long ride
because we went the wrong direction for a time, and then there was a really
nasty incline that went on and on. Outside of Souillac, we had to go up a very
steep road to the lovely 1698 country home of friends, Erica and Sam.The walls
of their home are extremely thick and there are beautiful stone patterned
floors. It was lovely being able to stay in their home and relax. Erica took us
by car to Rocamadour, a famous fortified town built on several levels where the
church with several chapels is the site of a pilgrimage; pilgrims may choose to
go up the 224 steps on their knees.
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| Chateau des Milandes |
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| Dordogne River |
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| Rocamadour |
It
was a great trip with lots of different activities.The French people were very
nice and very helpful. Along the roadsides the wild flowers were stunning:
bright red poppies, pink orchids, purple columbine, yellow buttercups, small
pink and white petaled flowers. In gardens the rose bushes and climbing roses
were incredible. We ate some wonderful French food, especially some delicious
desserts with strawberries. We stopped often for coffee, and of course we
drank plenty of French wine.
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