At 7 am as we were packing. Absolute downpour outside the hotel as we gazed in alarm from our balcony. No coats and the car at least a street away! So we tiptoed down despite the fact that we were in the Hotel Marie Celeste, left the key at the empty desk and ran for it. Destination Marseillan for petit déj.There we discovered that the town was in the throes of roadworks and there was no parking to be had, Having made several passes round we found one space reasonably close to a bar, put on waterproofs and splashed our way in. Asked where nearest boulangerie was…of course miles away. So off I trots like Little Blue Riding Hood to gather goodies for my wolves.
Once I am returned with viennoiseries and sandwiches the three coffees are delivered and we settle down. Nice bar, clean, modernish. Until it all turns a touch Clochemerle. One by one locals appear, obviously driven inside by the weather. They greet each other with remarks about the rain being good for frogs, snails and the end of the mushroom season. One has a dog. It circles about and proceeds to poo on the floor. No one bats an eyelid, owner calmly clears it up and takes dog outside! I am in mid bite of a pain aux raisins and nearly choke. Owner and dog duly return and carry on as if nothing had happened.
We finished off our visit to the sea with the usual walk to the end of the quay. All now inexorably gentrified and smart but we like it. The rain eased off and we sadly made our departure north. Up the A75, over the Millau Viaduct and on and on swapping vines for pasture, cows and sheep. For some reason we detoured via that Queen of Tourist Traps, Rocamadour, perched on its river cliff. Not exactly heaving but there were goodness knows how many carparks which is an indication of the potential nightmare it must be!
Sarlat by three - into Ibis where we have a huge room with separate alcove for Adam. A bit of blue sky appears so we traipsed into town and hoped for the best. Harrumph…it rained, but only a short burst.
In the end it was a bit of a marathon complete with stops for tea and coffee until we could get into a restaurant. But that was very good and the walk back to the hotel strangely easy (downhill!).
