It rained last night. The temperature dropped, so Chips turned on the heat By morning it was dry, but still overcast and windy. We slept late, so it was close to lunch before we set out on the road to Cahors, but we never made it. We got part of the way and then turned around and headed back towards Sarlat. We passed some really nice towns. Gourdon was especially nice. We also saw a grotto you could visit, but it looked like a lot of walking, so we passed on it.
I'd been wanting to see the Chateau Puymartin, so we drove there. It was closed for lunch! So we backtracked to Chateau Commarque. This was a ruined chateau. We ran into some Brits there and asked them about it, because you couldn't see it from the parking lot. The guy said his wife thought it was worth visiting, but he would have passed. You have to hike a long trail to get there, and then it's ruins, which may also require good shoes. We passed.
On the way to Commarque, I saw a sign for some Cabanes, the same ones I'd seen near Puymartin. So we took the road to the Cabanes, cabins on a hill, and continued past and came out near Puymartin.
Chateau Puymartin was great! We got there just after they opened for the afternoon. It was funny, because they thought we were German. Our car has a big D on it, for Germany, and we've been joking all week that whenever we cause a problem or drive slow, the French are probably saying "Those damn German tourists!"
This chateau has a guided tour, and they had an English translation available to look at. The lady giving the tour was very nice. I also got the student discount with my UA ID. We started the tour, and the place is beautiful. This is one of those that's more like a museum, with some roped off areas to look at, and some areas that you walk through. Since there were several English speakers, at the end of her French spiel, the tour guide would say a few words in English too.
This site is supposed to be haunted. The lord came home and found his lady in bed with her lover, so he killed the lover and kept her captive in a small tower for 15 years. She was fed through a trap door in the ceiling. We got to visit the tower, and I took pics. I was leaning against the wall while the guide explained that after she died, her body was walled up in the tower, where the ochre colored stone is. I looked back, and there I was, leaning against the ochre stone!
We walked and walked! You had to go up about 20 stone steps in the main courtyard. Then there were 93 steps up the stone spiral staircase, to the top of the tower. I know this because my English translation said so. Mom and I were both worried about our knees by the time we finished. This was really a great place to visit though. I took a ton of photos, which I'll post on my website once I get home.
Afterwards, we headed back and passed by some gardens and chateaus, but decided not to stop. We had done enough for the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment