Friday 19 July 2013

Warm and sunny start, only delayed by another motor-homer pratting about at the service point! Amateurs!

Today our plan is to commence following the route of the Dordogne. Obviously we won’t be able to stay with it all the way but the idea is to keep to it wherever it is reasonably possible, trying to stick to reasonable roads. But first to provision up at the nearest Aldi. Right, that’s done.

Our map showed roads of special tourist interest so we followed one which had us winding around and up and down through beautiful forested hills, trying to follow the course of the river. At this point it is small, really just an overgrown stream, however at various places dams have been built to generate hydro-electricity, resulting in large lakes. This is at Bort les Orgues.

Barrage at Bort les Orgues

Sticking with a main road for a while, we then turned off at Mauriac on narrow winding roads towards the Barrage de L’Aigle, another small hydroelectric scheme but this time in quite a narrow valley. Just below the dam we crossed the Dordogne at a lovely spot.

The river widens 

As it was starting to get late, we decided to stop at the municipal campsite at Spontour sur Dordogne which, you might guess, was right alongside the river. Cuppa and bit of relax time then as it cooled, “tea on the patio”.

It’s now 10.00pm and we’re sitting outside the van enjoying the cooling evening (and listening to a quite voluble Frenchman! Hope he shuts up soon).