October 18, 2022
Vayrac to Souillac
Today felt like summer. By the time we were packed up and leaving Vayrac, the sun was hot and the sky was that bright blue that says this is going to be a great day. The chief navigator must have been so enthralled with the weather that he led us off in the wrong direction, but only for about 1km before realizing his mistake. Once on the right road, we shared the highway for a few km then were on back farm lanes, then jumped onto the busy D803 up to the ridge (2km at 7%). We could see for miles in all directions and some of the strength we gained in the Pyrenees must have still been there as we were actually feeling pretty good at the top. Rides w GPS directed us back onto a network of small roads, past farms and groves of walnuts, all the way down and up into our first destination of the day: Martel.
Martel was on the crossroads of important trade routes going both South-North and West-East back as far as the 11th Century. The town also capitalized on the business from pilgrims to Rocamadour and grew into a wealthy and important centre in the 12th and 13th Century when the walls, towers and church were first built. We bought the walking tour map for 80¢ and led ourselves around the town, being amazed at what was done so long ago and how much is still standing.
Lunch at the Petit Moulin was fabulous, crispy langoustines to start, followed by buratta on squash for madame and pintade with a foie gras polenta for monsieur. Dessert was politely declined. Good thing we still had 20km to work off those calories! Eventually we peeled ourselves from the table, got back on the bikes and continued on to Souillac.
The unknowns of travel. We had decided to stay in Souillac as a compromise; everyone said that Martel and Sarlat are lovely towns, but Martel was not really enough of a ride, yet Sarlat was too far for one day. As we came into the outskirts of Souillac, passing a cement plant and truck repair facilities, the signpost said Sarlat was only another 30km. I remarked that perhaps we should have decided to press on to Sarlat which would have been nicer, and then we could have had another night without having to pack. However, the hotels were booked and so we were committed. Five minutes later we were riding through the narrow alleys of the old town, and another five minutes we were at our hotel, which may be the most charming place we have stayed on this trip. The perspective had changed: ah what a good decision to stay over in Souillac!
Tomorrow we follow the Dordogne river, downstream a ways on a reasonably short ride to Sarlat-la-Canéda.
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Today's ride: 30 km (19 miles)
Total: 1,292 km (802 miles)
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