Saturday 20 July 2013

The Frenchman did eventually shut up and we passed a peaceful, if warm, night. Tried for an earlier start as it ought to be cooler and were partially successful. However this camp-site is not very good when it comes to servicing facilities and the young girl who was the “guardienne” was useless. No water and no waste disposal? Not good mademoiselle.

Looking down the Gorge

Never mind. There are plenty of others so off again to follow the river. Initially we used the back roads which were deserted even though marked on the map as of special interest. More up/down/round and round made us think of the French Alpes last year. On the way we passed through tiny villages and also several “barrages” where EDF had installed hydro-electricity plants.

Above the dam

Hydro-electricity generator

Then onto the attractive town of Argental, again on the Dordogne, where a lunch stop was in order. We had thought to have a stroll around the town but on stepping out of the van……

Browsing through old saved articles from the magazines, the town of Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne featured a couple of times, together with its campsite situated on an island in the river. Although not very far, we thought we might have a look and found an attractive, if busy, place with pool, bar, shady and full facilities. This’ll do us for a couple of days!

The temperature touched 37 deg in the shade of the awning and trees during the afternoon so not much done. We sort of promised ourselves a walk into the town when it got cooler but I’m sitting here at 8.00pm with the van air-con going and that looks like a no-no for today.