BRIAN REID PHOTOGRAPHER
France 2024 Day 9 Ups and Downs and Rocamadour
Sunday, 14 April 2024 20:25
After intensive sightseeing over the past three days, today was planned as an easy day with just two locations en route between Brive and Cahors, the heart of no-Tesla-Supercharger country. The two locations included one of the highlights Rocamadour and a quaint one near Brive a garden of the imagination. I should have been prepared as it did not start well. The garden showed ticket office open at 09:30, perfect but on arrival the very nice madame at the ticket office said the gardens opened at 10:00. This would not fit so I was bidding my farewell when she said “hold on let me open up for you”. What a helpful lady and so I got to spend about an hour wandering around this strange garden which includes a glass covered art gallery and water everywhere. Rocamadour went very well and, considering it was a sunny Sunday, was not too busy. I would not want to be here in the height of summer. I walked down the way of the cross from the chateau and took the lifts back up. I found a perfect sandwich place for lunch, made to order so all good so far. The country roads drive to Cahors was uneventful and I was in plenty of time so decided to check whether my Chargepoint card works by adding a little charge at a non-Tesla charger and run the car through a carwash. The third charger at two locations worked so issue number one was wasting about 20 minutes. It was also twice the price of Tesla for 66% of the charging rate. Ok in the end. The car wash automatic system was broken but they had a pressure washer stall. This worked fine but I noticed my second issue. Someone had bumped the front left corner of the car which must have been at Brive overnight. More a scrape than anything but will need a professional repair when I get home. These thing comes in threes, according to mum, and she was proved right yet again. At the Logis in Cahors the WiFi on my floor was in-operable. Fortunately the chap at reception was able to swap me for a room on the second floor where the WiFi works. Another wasted 20 minutes. A simple day indeed. Cahors most famous feature is the loop in the river Lot around the old town and the Pont Valendre. As the sun was shining, not forecast or tomorrow, I made a quick stop on the way to the hotel for a snap of the bridge. Lets start with the gardens of the imagination at Terrasson-Lavilledieu on the Vesere river.
Time for Rocamadour. I imagine the builder saying “You want what, up where?…. You’re having a laugh” (In French of course)
Finally Pont Valentre where it crosses the Lot in Cahors
Here is the view from my initial room window at Le Chartreuse
And I still have a view from my new room