Puy-l'Évêque to Cahors

May 20, 2019

A ride along a very twisty turny river

We started the day with very good breakfast served in the dining room beside a window with a superb view of the lower part of town and the Lot in the distance. The weather watch continued with a forecasted mix of cloudy, sunny and some shower activity in the area. But nothing to be too concerned about. The Presbytère is a great place to stay if you're ever in Puy-l'Évêque.

Today's ride continued to follow the Lot on a very well marked cycle path but we did deviate from the path here and there as the larger roads were not very busy and sometimes it just made sense to ride on them instead of the occasional crushed gravel surface. The cycle path also followed the Lot quite closely along large serpentine shaped meanders. For example, we rode the first nine kilometres of the cycle path and then saw a road sign that indicated we were only three kilometres on a direct road from where we had started! But it was a nice quiet road - riding past farms and vineyards dotted with small village and settlements with great views of the river. Overall, a very nice ride to Cahors but we completely failed to find a place to have our daily coffee stop. None of the small villages We rode through had a cafe or one that was open.

A derelict mansion at the side of the highway just above the Lot. I am always curious to know how they ended up in such a state after many years of being significant to the area.

The Lot has numerous power generating plants that are installed on the river but do not seem to impede the flow. This is one of the larger plants.

Riding across to Pont de Castelfranc. We hoped to find a place for a coffee here but no such luck.

More river views. The scenery along the Lot is beautiful.

Need more pictures of Scott. Here he is standing on the marked bike path - not always a wide and paved!!

Bridge crossing to Albas. You've probably figured out by now I really like bridges.

Reaching Cahors, the streets became busy with car traffic as it is a fairly large town with a population of 20k people. We stayed at Troisième Droite, another B&B located on the main street - Gambetta ave. It was easy to locate once we determined that mapsme had the apartment pinned to the back alley instead of the building's front street door! Inside we met our hosts and they led us up an all wood staircase to their beautiful third floor apartment. We had a self contained unit with a private entrance that also connected to their suite via an internal doorway. A really nice building if you do not mind the stairs. Our bikes were stored in the bike room on the ground floor.

We had some difficulty finding a restaurant as we wandered a bit aimlessly but did settle on a very busy one that offered a number of simple dishes. We shared an excellent fish and chips as well as a large salad. After dinner we walked through the towns main square and accross the historic Valentré bridge. The town was very quiet and we only saw one other person on the bridge. The bridge is the town's main attraction and it really is quite impressive. We wandered back home, up the long spiral staircase and into our suite.

Tomorrow's ride is to Saint Cirq Lapopie. We are very much looking forward to visiting this village as everytime it is mentioned people say how a wonderful it is.

The village of Albas. We have been told that the views from here are very good. Of course some hill climbing is required!

Albas has some wonderful old buildings but the one cafe was closed for the day. No coffee here either.

Lunch at Duelle. We had picked up some bread and cheese earlier which was a good idea as the patisserie across the street was closed from 1 to 4. Shopping must be very stratigically planned here or you will go hungry! And look at those clouds... We did get a bit of a shower but not too bad.

Riding across the bridge into Cahors and seeing the famous Pont Valentré bridge in the distance.

Pont Valentré bridge up close. A fortified bridge originally built in the 14th century and restored in the late 1800's. It is a great example of medieval architecture.

Heart

Comment

Link

Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 376 km (233 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	6
Comment on this entry	Comment	0