Cahors Scenes, 2

More scenes from our walks around Cahors...June 26th-June 30th...

Main drag

Beautifully arbored cafe

Larry McMurtry is big here? And Pete Fromm?!

The Pont Valentre is Cahors' most famous site, a 14th century
fortified bridge over the lot; this one of my 2013 pix

On the bridge

Opening the lock for a boat to pass

Always underfoot

Beautiful town

In a park near our apartment; an art installation, reminiscent of a
Muslim cemetery

Cahors Scenes, 1

Scenes from our walks around Cahors...June 26th-June 30th...

Market day

Not that far from Spain, and the cork hats, purses, accessories are
at every market

Fishmonger

Contortionist chicken; interesting presentation

In the covered market

Typical historic center construction...huge portals,
mullioned windows...

Medieval alleys

Lavoir, old public laundry washing area

Ghost sign

Interesting construction...some stone, some brick,
some Roman or Toulouse brick...

We're resting in a square, when arrives a peregrino, asking us
directions; "buon Camino" is about all we can respond

The Camino shoppe was around the corner; I hope he found it

Local hero, Leon Gambetta, 19th century statesman

Automated butcher shop

Seriously

No kidding

What will they think of next?

Saint-Circ-Lapopie

Our first couple days in Cahors featured some local walks, some blogging, and some of the malaise we figured was the aftermath of COVID. On June 28th we drove over to Saint-Circ-Lapopie ("Lapoopie" as we termed it in 1989), one of the most popular of les plus beaux villages. SCL is perched on a cliff a hundred meters above the Lot, and, of course, is on the Camino Santiago. In this part of southwestern France, one sees plenty of tourists, almost entirely French, however, with a few Brits and very few Yanks. A great place to practice my incipient French, much to the amusement of the serveurs and serveuses and others.

Terrain and canyon of the Lot

Saint-Circ-Lapopie; I climbed the big rock...the back side has
steps and handrails, about all I am capable of these days

The view

Helpful map

Back down on terra firma, a street scene

Approaching the parish church

Of course, what Russia is doing to Ukraine makes Guernica look
like a common mugging...

Rustic book box

We had lunch at a restaurant at the top, the same resto
we ate at in 1989

My foie gras et frites; this is unprocessed foie gras, duck livers
sufficiently cooked so as not to count as sushi; rich and buttery
and delicate, as advertised; I ate the whole thing, but in the future
will probably stick with the processed versions, e.g. paté, contrary 
to nutritionists' warnings about processed foods...

Vicki's canard roti et frites; travel tip...if you don't like duck, then

either avoid French restaurants (!) or bring your own food when you

visit the Dordogne/Perigord/Lot; duck is pretty much on every

course of every menu, with few if any alternatives; and they don't do 

Beijing Duck

On To Cahors

Because of our extended stay in Sarlat, we had to book a new apartment in Cahors, in the Lot Valley, a base of operations for that region, an hour's drive south of Sarlat. Vicki did quite well under the circumstances, finding an updated two-bedroom unit in a 17th century building, a block or so from the cathedral and market square. We didn't realize how close-in it was until, unloading the car, I had to move it to make way for the tourist train! It was not our first visit to Cahors, a place we very much like, for its age, ambience, and Malbec wine. This is the Old World Malbec, full-bodied, complex and savory. (But I also like the more common New World version, more fruity, which I sampled extensively in Argentina a few years back). In any case, our previous visit to Cahors was in 2013: https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/05/six-flags-over-cahors.html and https://roadeveron.blogspot.com/2013/05/cahors-pont-valentre.html.

Tourist train passing by our building on Rue de
Chateau de Roi; actually a pedestrianized street

We were on the first (European) floor

The staircase looked its apparent age

But the appart was quite nice and roomy

Main bedroom

Yours truly, blogging

The street was hung with touristic banners

Except for tourists and trains occasionally ambling
by, it was a very quiet place

The quiet was nice, but the corollary was that we
had to park the car a couple blocks away, on the river,
in a public lot, free, but a hassle; pretty typical of
these historic center rentals, we've found

Main entry

Basis for claiming the thing is 17th century; compare

a similar photo from 2013 (see above)

Helpful map; Cahors hangs into a U-turn of the
river Lot

Thus; we are at the extreme right, a block or two from the 
cathedral and market and the river