I had a selection of places of interest today from view points along the Dordogne to Medieval Towns, closed chateaux, a massive waterfall and a very big hole in the ground. I am not really a caves person but the highlight of the day was most certainly the Gouffre de Padirac. It is a 60 metre hole with a river running through caves accessed from the Gouffre. It is very well organised with a suitable audioguide telling the story of the discovery by Mr Martel and includes a couple of boat rides. Fortunately there is a series of lifts to get the lazy ones like me back to the daylight. It will take me a week to edit the photos when I get home so I have just picked a few at random, hopefully creating the right impression. I actually started the day at the medieval town of Martel, a coincidence. It was lovely to walk the streets in the earlyish morning while the temperature was still cool. That did not last! A couple of viewing points on the river followed and then I was denied at both Chateau Castlenaud and Chateau Montal as they both effectively could not be accessed between 11:30 and 14:00. I checked out the exterior and both are impressive. A lunch in St Cere got me ready for a little exercise at the Cascade de Autoire. It was hot and a bit of a climb but worth it. It was then into the pleasant all year 13ºC depth of the Gouffre before rolling back to Brive for a top off charge ready for tomorrow. I note that the aircon is both effective and efficient in the Tesla. After a less than fine dining experience in a pub last night I booked a table at a classic French restaurant for this evening and it was a fine meal with good wine but it took 1h45m for my three courses. I am not complaining as it was part of the experience shared with a cross section of diners but it means a late night to get my blog written, in fact the next day! The headline picture was taken during the descent into the lower reaches of the Gouffre de Padirac but I will start with the medieval town of Martel.

Time for another view of the Dordogne, this time at the Belvedere de Copeyre. It is quite a view

A quick stop in Floriac and a view of the Chateau Castelnau-Bretenoux Castle which was closed for lunch

Lunch in St Cere

Next was Chateau Montal, also closed for lunch

Time for a short hike to the Cascade d'Autoire

Finally the Gouffre de Padirac

The boat to carry 8 people help for scale