Return to L'Escala: 20th June to 6th July

A bit glum...

We all felt a little tired and a tiny bit glum this morning, with Sophie saying she heard loads of cars leaving the rave (if that's what it was) at 1am. We sat outside with a coffee, and it was so much cooler! Oh, and quieter! Bliss!

We had a short drive to Rocamadour today and couldn't check in until 3:30 pm, giving us time to explore the village. After doing the usual morning ablutions and packing the car, we drove the short distance to the Chateau. Alain Fournier wrote Le Grand Meaulnes, and it was published in 1913. It's a beautiful story, full of yearning for a lost love and a mysterious chateau by a lake. Fournier used the chateau in La Chapelle d'Angillon as the inspiration for the castle in the novel, and he was born in the village in 1886. I read the book for my French A-level course and I've been entranced by it ever since.

There is a small museum in the grounds of the chateau, but it was closed (as was the castle itself) today. We were able to drive up to it, though, and have a walk around.

The last time I was here, I was bitterly disappointed to find the chateau had been turned into a Wild West theme park. Now, it's open to visitors and specialises in weddings. Parts of it looked to be crumbling away, and I can only imagine what the cost of the upkeep is!

Eating away the miles

We tore ourselves away from the village and set the map for Rocamadour, taking the A20 once past the long, straight, lonely, wooded roads again. It was an easy and fast journey with no tolls, so that was a bonus! The weather was grey and the temperature didn't rise above 21c. I had looked at the forecast and Rocamadour was supposed to be 34c today!

Once into the Dordogne, the scenery was stunning with wooded hills on either side of the road. We turned off the autoroute and took a different road to Rocamadour this time, passing through the gorgeous village of Martel, where people were out eating and drinking. It was definitely worth another look one day in the future!

Lunch with a large side order of flies...

We eventually arrived at L'Hospitalet, but we were too early to check in, so we found a parking space and decided to have lunch. The bar where we had a drink the last time we were here was serving lunch, so we took a seat and asked for the menu. It was very hot! By now, the sun had appeared, and the cloud had burned off. We looked at the menu, but we were a bit perturbed to see so many flies everywhere. We decided to eat on the upper, grassy level, hoping that they wouldn't be so prevalent.

Everything we originally ordered was "off", which was annoying! The waiter was very apologetic, but we didn't blame him. Keith chose lamb chops, I (reluctantly) ordered a cheeseburger, and Sophie's sandwich had also run out, so she settled for a punnet of chips. The waiter had warned us that a party of seven had just ordered, and there would be a delay, but we were fine with that as we weren't in any hurry!

When the food arrived, we were besieged by flies. In a vain attempt to distract them, I put a chip and some bits of burger to one side on the opposite side of the table, but no, that wasn't good enough. They wanted the food on our plates!

It was horrible. We were constantly swatting them away, and in the end, I gave up and left my meal. I had shared half my burger with Sophie, and it was suspiciously undercooked in the middle. I just hoped I wouldn't be ill...

We certainly weren't tempted by dessert, so Keith and I went inside and paid the bill. Inside was just as bad, with flies everywhere... ugh!! Sophie and I had a look in the lovely shop next door and I treated us to a couple of local wines. I had never heard of the red!

As it was so hot, we returned to the car and made our way to Le Troubadour. Reception opened at 3.30pm, so we sat in the shade of some trees and Sophie and I played cards. Mathieu appeared and said he recognised us. How lovely! He said our room was ready, so Sophie and I went over to the apartment we'd stayed in before, which was blissfully cool. I went back to get the car, and we unpacked, which was very unpleasant. It was blisteringly hot!

I fetched Keith, and we changed into our swimsuits, more than ready to make use of the hotel's beautiful pool. One other couple were already cooling off in the azure water, and it was bliss to get straight in and feel the cool! Bliss!

We swam about and then dried off in the heat of the sun, gazing out over the sun-baked fields. Even here, the flies never left us alone, so we lazed about for a while before going back to the apartment.

Sun-baked fields

A table with a view...

After a nap and cool showers, we made our way over to the hotel building for a cocktail before dinner. We'd made a reservation for dinner tonight at a restaurant called Au Panorama, so we had time for a drink before dinner. To escape the flies, we sat inside, in air-conditioned cool. Sophie and I had an Aperol Spritz, while Keith drank the Ratz beer he'd had before. We chatted to Mathieu and asked why there were so many flies about? He thinks it's down to the sheep in the surrounding fields and was as exasperated as we were, despite doing all he could to get rid of them.

While we were enjoying our drinks, another British family arrived, and they looked like they'd been travelling all day. They looked hot and tired! They came back down to the bar and ordered cocktails - they obviously needed them!

We had a brief rain shower while enjoying our drinks

We finished our drinks and drove to L'Hospitalet, where we parked the car. It was still hot and sultry. We walked to Au Panorama and waited with another couple for our table reservation. However, the two waiters ignored us, and we waited for ten minutes before giving up. We had tins of soup in the car and they were looking increasingly tempting!

We decided to try Le Belvedere opposite, and I honestly didn't think we had a chance of getting a table, but the waiter said he could accommodate us and led us to a table with a view over to Rocamadour... how fabulous! It was perfect!

I ordered a bottle of Rosé, and Keith chose a beer while we perused the menu. Sophie and I chose hummus with vegetables and crackers, followed by chicken (Sophie) and cod (me). Keith opted for lamb again, and we settled back to enjoy the view and ambience. I was fascinated by a group at the table in front of us who looked most out of place. I suspected one of the men was the DJ at the rave last night!

The food was delicious, and we passed on dessert. It was lovely to sit and relax and take in the views, especially as sunset beckoned at about 9.45pm. People gathered to watch on a balcony overlooking the medieval town built into the escarpment. 

We walked slowly back to the car, and once at the hotel, Sophie and I went to dip our toes in the pool. Well, she did, I sat and relaxed, loving the cool and the night sky.

We sat and chatted and watched the bats flit back and forth, sometimes dipping into the pool for a drink of water. It was bliss! In the distance, we could hear the herds of sheep make a right racket! They sounded like they were having a good old moan!