Our Moveable Feats

September 24 & 25, 2024

Cajarc-> Calvignac -> Saint Cirq Lapopie

We’ve now chosen the path less-taken! Off the official chemin, not by design, but our booked accommodation in the usual next stop, Limogne-en-Quercy, flooded this summer 😞 So, what to do, but look on a map and pick another nearby scenic spot, and while we’re at it, follow along to a fourth PBV^TM?

But, first, au revoir to Paris Cajarc with a tour of it’s peculiarities:

One drag about this plan is it meant sidling along too-quiet roads, with only an occasional vista or river of tillage.

We were salivating at the prospect of Calvignac’s well-reviewed bistro fare… deep rural travel tip – be wary of online info! After walking the 100m length of this perched village, we saw the sign:

The lower notice declares an urgent need for servers but we didn’t think T’s French would pass muster and S is just too awkward to volunteer! Adding to our anxieties was that our room had a communal kitchen and no mention of dinner provided 🤤, and not one store, or person, for that matter, in this place!

So we wandered the ghost town, wind whistling through the tortuous lanes, into the creaky church (considered ringing the bell!) and munched on some of our emergency rations.

Well, French hospitalité is alive and well – after a slight scolding for our naiveté, Mme Isabelle, who is a weaver by profession (!), scrounged us up a lovely casserole and hunger was suppressed for another day.

Our gratitude drove us to buy a pichet of rouge, breakfasts and a rattan-wrapped rock souvenir.

A second backroad march was broken up by a visit to the Château de Cénevières. It’s the first castle we’ve come across and we had to deviate to see it. The Pilgrim Way links many stunning religious buildings – abbeys, churches, convents, chapels, shrines – but it’s clear that the route avoided the conflict areas! This château has the distinction of having never been conquered, by English, Protestants or revolutionaries, so it’s a mish-mash of styles and eras from the past 1000 yrs, reflecting its piece-meal expansion.

Some rooms were interesting:

It was all downhill, in every way, from there – a sketchy tramp into an outskirt of Saint Cirq Lapopie, in time for a brazier-roasted lamb burger as e-bikers and caravans negotiated the nearby traffic circle.

A T nap and an S pool dip and we’re ready for our last rest day.