The sad day came and we had to leave. All the flowers are repotted and packed illegally. We closed up and departed at 7.45 in grey but promising weather and by 9.30 were the other side of Montpellier for breakfast. A rather scruffy village but the world’s best croissants and a pain aux raisins with apricots lurking within! Then up onto the Causses and across the viaduct.
It was like returning to early spring - leafless trees, wild daffodils, vast swathes of cowslips and the vines had given way to pastoral slopes.
We went off piste along one of my detours and got some great views back across to the viaduct.
The sky was full of vultures but they don’t photograph well in haze! Here are cowslips instead.
Somewhere before Villefranche I hijacked the route again and we twisted and turned our way down to the Aveyron. Outside La Bastide L’Evêque, a small village, we came upon this
delightful spot by a fast flowing stream.
It’s a restored copper working complex, all laid out with explanations but not manned so far as we could tell. A volunteer organisation owns it and it seems it’s an educational visits centre. Wild plants all named. Good place for our copiously filled
chicken salad sandwiches.
The road soon crossed the Aveyron - not a big river here but pretty impressive running through wooded gorges along the side of which were loads of buildings that looked like former water mills. Mostly private houses now. But one had this big canal taking off water with a weir and fish run alongside. Closer to Villefranche there were many more that had been textile mills of some kind. Very interesting!
Even more astonishing were the veritable forests of feral wisteria in full bloom clothing whole riversides of trees. So much for them requiring forensic pruning to flower.
And talking of flowers, our violas were pumping out perfume in the back of the car - quite intoxicating.
Now in Cahors where it’s warm. Bit overcast. Big news is that the clapped out Kyriad across the road is being transformed into an Ibis Complex - Ibis Ibis and a Budget. Yeah! Louvre Hotels are obviously using the money from the sale to tart up our Campanile (not before time) and we have van loads of chaps hammering and painting in adjacent rooms. They’ll be off for their tea soon so not a problem.
