Getting away - eventually!

Have we lost the ability to just get up and go?  Now we check the weather forecast endlessly, research places to stay, pack some food – in the past we just went and took our chances and it always turned out well.  So on Friday, after a day of procrastinating when we decided that the Pyrenees were going to be too wet, the coast too busy and Spain too far for a weekend, we opted to stay closer to home.  One thing was certain, we had enjoyed our previous camping trip so much that we fancied another night or two under canvas.  We had, of course(!), done some research on the internet for suitable campsites and narrowed it down to two, both on the banks of the River Lot in the Northern Aveyron.  When we arrived at the first campsite the pitches were tiny and everything looked desolate.  The nearby town didn’t look any better, so we carried on up the valley towards the border with Cantal.  What a beautiful place it is.  The second campsite, Camping La Plaine, close to the pretty village of Saint Parthem, looked perfect.  The Dutch owner, told us to choose our pitch – things are very quiet at this time of year.   He also told us about a fabulous walk, the Sentier des Buissieres, (more on that in my next post).    

We pitched our tent overlooking the river and ate our picnic lunch in the sun.    The River Lot here is so different from the broad deep river we know further downstream.  We definitely had a room with a view and the sound of the river rushing by was soporific.  In the morning a family of wild boar were spotted on the opposite bank, but unfortunately we missed them - in the rush to get away we had forgotten to pack our binoculars!  

The Lot Valley

Last weekend we did a wonderful walk in the Lot valley.  It is from the book Au Coeur de la Vallée du Lot, Collection les belles balades de l’Aveyron : 22 balades à faire à pied, à cheval ou en VTT (walk number 14).  We’ve got several of these books and they have some beautiful walks in them as well as listing some interesting historical facts about the area.  They are of course in French.  The books are available from Tourist Offices.  This one cost about 6 Euros.    

12kms in length, the walk starts and finishes in the town of Bouillac.    The walk begins with an ascent (about 300 metres in total).  There are some perfect places for a picnic en route with sweeping vistas over the river and beyond.  After reaching the top, the path stays on the plateau for a while.  We were lucky to see a new-born calf take his first unsteady steps.   The path then descends over a rocky path towards a road – again the views were stunning.  The wild flowers that dotted the hillside gave splashes of colour.   There is a short stretch along the main road and then you cross a bridge over the river before taking a shady path on the right that runs next to the river over level ground.   After about an hour you take another bridge back over the river to Bouillac.  

Everywhere seemed shut, but then we spotted a bar that was open so we were able to reward ourselves with a cold beer.