Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Woody woodpecker
Day 7, 8 & 9. Woodlands, lakes & gorges in the Haute Dordogne.
Secluded & tranquil, shady & slightly eerie woodland camping at the almost deserted Gimel-les-Cascades - only the froglets in the showers & depressed proprietaire (even the Dutch haven't come this year!).
Lac de la Triouzoune at Neuvic gives us a tres agreable lunch & afternoon swim spot at this local recreational lake. Maybe its the arguments about which of the 15 beautiful lakeside emplacements we should choose, but something doesn't feel right.
We press on, and a lucky "deviation" takes us down a precarious wee road clinging to the Gorges de la Dordogne, with EDF's functional but impressive barrage d'aigle - a mini Hoover damn.
Big rolling countryside with great views over to the Volcan Mountains around Mauriac, then its climb climb up to another Barrage & the fabulous lac above Bort.
At Aubazine we pitch on a terrace just by the lake with a perfect GnT vista down to Chateau de Val. Very hot - best part of 40° - so we're melting during the day! Take a 14km spin on the bike early evening sweating buckets, lucky we've got the lake & swim platform to ourselves to cool down.
Plenty of wildlife, kites, buzzards ... Best of all great spotted woodpeckers at Domme campsite & near Neuvic, then green woodpecker at Aubazine.
Secluded & tranquil, shady & slightly eerie woodland camping at the almost deserted Gimel-les-Cascades - only the froglets in the showers & depressed proprietaire (even the Dutch haven't come this year!).
Lac de la Triouzoune at Neuvic gives us a tres agreable lunch & afternoon swim spot at this local recreational lake. Maybe its the arguments about which of the 15 beautiful lakeside emplacements we should choose, but something doesn't feel right.
We press on, and a lucky "deviation" takes us down a precarious wee road clinging to the Gorges de la Dordogne, with EDF's functional but impressive barrage d'aigle - a mini Hoover damn.
Big rolling countryside with great views over to the Volcan Mountains around Mauriac, then its climb climb up to another Barrage & the fabulous lac above Bort.
At Aubazine we pitch on a terrace just by the lake with a perfect GnT vista down to Chateau de Val. Very hot - best part of 40° - so we're melting during the day! Take a 14km spin on the bike early evening sweating buckets, lucky we've got the lake & swim platform to ourselves to cool down.
Plenty of wildlife, kites, buzzards ... Best of all great spotted woodpeckers at Domme campsite & near Neuvic, then green woodpecker at Aubazine.
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Villages de vallee de Dordogne ...
Day 5 & 6. Sight-seeing les jolis villages!
Stacks of impossibly pretty villages with drop dead gorgeous views. Highlights were cathedral & gorgoyles in old Beaulieu, dramatic Roque Gageac clinging to the sandstone cliff above the river, and the incredible views over miles of the Dordogne from Domme sitting stolidly on its ancient hilltop. Not to mention local caves full of Cahors Malbec. And a curious old brummie at the campsite who'd been on the road in his old landcruiser for 3yrs & 750,000 miles!! That is a road trek.
Stacks of impossibly pretty villages with drop dead gorgeous views. Highlights were cathedral & gorgoyles in old Beaulieu, dramatic Roque Gageac clinging to the sandstone cliff above the river, and the incredible views over miles of the Dordogne from Domme sitting stolidly on its ancient hilltop. Not to mention local caves full of Cahors Malbec. And a curious old brummie at the campsite who'd been on the road in his old landcruiser for 3yrs & 750,000 miles!! That is a road trek.
Shitty Shitty bang bang !
Unfortunate shower of shit in morning due to exploding hose during "vidange". One cannot overemphasise how unpleasant this is. Argentat, at least, was still looking fresh & pretty, where we stopped for Gallettes on a roasting hot day (35°).
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Man nearly eaten by hippo in Dordogne
This fisherman had a lucky escape today, when a hippo didn't break out from a local zoo, nor wreak carniverous carnage on the river.
Back to the studio, Bob.
And, relax ...
Day 2. On arrive sur la Dordogne. La riviere a camping du Salou est belle et tranquille, beaucoup d'oiseaux, les swifts, les swallows, les pied wagtails, et les noisy chaffinches. Pas de personnes, mais plein du vin. Tres agreable, comme ils disent.
Sunday, 21 June 2009
Haut cinq !!
I like !!
Friday, 19 June 2009
Time for a break...
... is about 3 weeks I reckon... less is a waste, more is indulgent...
I'll be in France, or the back garden or thereabouts ... you can see
my location on the Latitude map embedded.
A bientot !
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