Trip Diary Part V - Loubressac/Carrenac

France 9/29-30/05

We had to walk through a bit of Loubressac to get to our next destination, Carrenac. However, we were taking the detour to the Geoff di Padirac, a series of underground caves. The walk from the hotel was around an hour and a half.
When we got the caves, Kerrin decided she didn't want to go since is a bit claustrophobic. To get to the caves, you had to take 2 elevators and walk down 2 flights of stairs and down a walkway to a dock. Then you take a big rowboat down an underground river, past stalactites (or stalagmites, whichever come down from the ceiling), all the while hearing some sort of lecture from the French boatman. When we disembarked, we were taken on a tour through the caves, up a series of stairs, past little pools created by calcium deposits and past a huge formation. Since I don't understand French, I kept my own version of the narration in my head. It involved underwear gnomes a la South Park. After the tour we headed back to the boats and to the first dock. God bless the elevators which took us back up because by that time, I was limping nicely.
When we got out, we chucked the lunch the hotel had given us, and got sandwiches at a local cafe. The entire area was catering to the tourists going to the caves. We started on to Carennac and after 10 minutes I realized that I would never make it on the blisters I had. So, yet again, I had to take a cab for the second half of the walk. And again, I couldn't really talk to the cabdriver, so it was another fun ride.
We got to Carennac and I went up to our rooms. Everyone arrived right before Shabbos and after we had all changed and freshened up, we headed down to dinner:
-artichoke hearts stuffed with cheese and bacon and deep fried (Jack had an omelet and Kerrin and Debbie had very pretty salads)
-faux fillet in a wine and shallot sauce with a stuffed tomato and potatoes au gratin (Jack had some sort of fish and Debbie had a whole trout)
-dessert was an apple tartin with vanilla ice cream, probably the best dessert on the trip (the others had profiteroles with ice cream) And we all had infusion tea.
We chatted for a bit in the lounge area and then went up to our rooms to read.
In the morning we had breakfast and when Kerrin decided that she wasn't going to do the circuit walk that day, she and I decided to take a cab to Rocamadour, a nearby city built into a cliff. Jack and Debbie left for the walk and Kerrin and I headed off in our cab.
Rocamadour is actually Roc or Rock Amadour, the rock of St. Amadour who was found there in 1166, his dead body fully preserved. The top of the cliff had the ramparts, with a lift down to the next level where the church was located. The church contained the famed Chappelle de Notre Dame, which contained the apparently famous Black Madonna statue. From the church courtyard, we went down a very long flight of stairs to the main road which was a bit touristy, with lots of little shops selling souvenirs; but they also had several shops selling local food and wine, including a foie gras specialty store. There were also a few stores selling the work of local artisans, and I saw a really amazing grandfather clock made out of one block of wood. Kerrin and I had lunch. Wandered around a bit more, and headed back to the hotel.
When Jack and Debbie came back from their walk, they were wet. It had rained for most of the end of their walk. But they got changed and warmed up enough to go down to dinner:
-terrine de foie gras de canard with sauteed peppers and the normal accoutrements
-duck breast with vegetables
-since it was so good the first night, I had the apple tart again
Everyone else had almost the exact same thing they had the night before; Debbie did have the exact same thing as a matter of fact. We all split a nice Bergerac wine which was my favorite wine of the trip and Kerrin and Debbie had a local dessert wine (which I thought tasted like feet). It was our last dinner together and we had a good time; times things got even funnier when Debbie ate everything else on her plate except for the trout. We all hung out in our room for a while - I packed while everyone else lounged - then we headed off to sleep.
In the morning we started out early, since we got picked up from the hotel at 11 am and taken to Soulliac for the train back to Toulouse.