May 24, 2023 to May 25, 2023
Sarlat
Market day and a Cycling Circuit.
Market day Wednesday seems to involve the whole day one way or another. Firstly there’s the purchases and the exploration of what’s on sale, then in the afternoon there’s the consumption of some of the purchases and the somnambulant state into which this renders us before a late afternoon walk sightseeing.
We buy some chèvre cheese, olives, saucisson and tapenade among other things. The young woman selling the tapenade tells us the she and her boyfriend worked all night making it.
There are plenty of salad vegetables going but not a lot of variety this early in the season. The young chap with the saucisson stall is set up directly beneath our second story window, and we are witness to his daylong line of patter, which involves singing, as well as addressing passers to build up custom.
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We also have a look at the cathedral. It has the flying buttresses off of the gothic style, but looks more chunky. In reality it’s a mix of Roman Gothic. The old organ, built in 1762, has it’s own special, tongue in cheek, sign.
There are a number of other beautiful buildings that we note on our walk.
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On Thursday we plot a route that will allow us to do a circuit that takes in some of the sights and places near Sarlat.
We set off on the local cycle route to Domme through Vitrac. The first few kilometres are quite steep for first thing in the morning, but the landscape soon flattens out and at Vitrac we take a break.
From Vitrac we cross the Dordogne River and head up the hill to Domme. On the river there are canoes being rowed with vigour, and the river banks have areas where hundreds of canoes are waiting for a busy summer.
The climb up to Domme is very gradual with a particularly benign gradient. At the top, we enter the town through the ancient gate.
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We cycle up through the narrow streets, having to move aside for a band of Aussie motorcyclists who roar by. At the top it’s all pretty touristy but not tacky. No overtly garish signs or fast food billboards. That’s not to say fast food isn’t available- it is. We know, because we sit at a sandwich place and enjoy two filled rolls. They’re very nice. Maybe someone should put up a billboard …
The views of the river and countryside below are nothing short of sensational. It’s a carefully manicured landscape, no doubt, but its beauty lies in the various shades of colour - especially greens, and the shapes formed by walnut orchards and vineyards. Then there are the buildings of honey coloured stone and their tiled roofs dotted about the place. We’ve noticed lots of work on gardens and landscaping while cycling in the area. Tomatoes being staked out, lettuces and other vegetables planted, and one hotel was even having a row of Cypress trees planted.
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From Domme we head down to La Roque Gageac. This spot on the river is the one that often features in images of the Dordogne. It is pretty, with buildings seemingly right on the river; the river is much wider than I’d been led to believe from publicity photographs. There are a number of canoes on the river, as well as a couple of wide bottomed craft filled with waterborne sightseers. We sit on a rock and munch on a couple of apples before setting off back to Sarlat.
Our route back is a breeze because we discover a cycle path which avoids the main road, D703, and is a gentle easy ride.
It eventually reaches the main road at Montfort but then this has another turn off and continues to provide an easy ride back to Sarlat. Sarlat has a piste cyclable that delivers us almost to our back door. On the main thoroughfare we find an ice cream seller and sit enjoying the sights about us in the warm 4:00 sun.
Today's ride: 41 km (25 miles)
Total: 1,255 km (779 miles)
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