After goodbyes from Seb and family our Air BnB host for the past three days. They are a busy lovely family that made us feel very welcome. Au revoir   

We set off on the 4-hour drive south from Amboise to Rocamadour. The drive was uneventful and the weather is amazing it just couldn’t be more perfect.

After some confusion finding the hotel as it was through a very narrow archway and down a mostly pedestrian street. Mum walked in and checked about bringing in the car. The parking was located directly in front of the hotel

Rocamadour…the vertical village Overlooking the Alzou canyon, the medieval village of Rocamadour is a marvellous balancing act. The first shock is the place itself – in reality, a tiny village with a world-wide reputation – Built into the cliffside on successive levels, 120 metres in length, it clings high above a canyon through which flows the Alzou. Its houses, roofs and churches seem to be part of the rock itself. 

What genius conceived Rocamadour and built it? As early as the Middle Ages, Rocamadour excited people’s admiration. In the 12th C., pilgrims crossed the whole of Europe to come and pray here. The village housed the relics of Saint-Amadour (a famous hermit who sought solitude in Rocamadour). It was also the much-venerated sanctuary of the Black Virgin.

We checked in and rested for a while before dinner. Dinner was in the hotel restaurant our first restaurant dinner for this trip and it was very good I had ‘the duck’ mum settled on the lamb.

Hors d’ oeuvres, soup, main and cheese plate/dessert was too much but was all delicious. Tomorrow we will explore Rocamadour and then drive on to Carcassonne via Cahors which is an hour and half away.