Today we set off on small country roads again. We are now in the Lot region of France, named after the Lot river, which we did follow for part of today’s route.

Our route took in the towns of Saint-Daunès, Bagat-en-Quercy, Sauzet, Saint Vincent Rive-d’Olt, Luzech, Dovelle, Cahors, Vers and finally Lauzès.

All the villages are very picturesque with narrow streets, flowers and trees. Kris and I were most taken with Saint Vincent and decided that we would come here if we ever move to France. It has a river and canal that run through part of it with fish and ducks in it and an old mill. It is immaculate with willow trees and beautiful gardens all around.

We stopped for a coffee at Luzech which we drank at a cafè overlooking the Lot river.

Our route followed the river to Cahors, a large town where the traffic picked up. It has a special old bridge called the Valentré Bridge – it has guard towers along it and a cobble stones – only cyclists or walkers on it.

After the bridge there are cliffs on the river and the road becomes very narrow. The route out of the city was very congested and we headed out at the first opportunity. We found ourselves on a busy road going in the wrong direction. As soon as we could we turned onto a small country road – that seemed to be going in the right direction. After this we took a series of country roads through a lot of wild undeveloped country. We rode for a long time on top of a ridge with little roads causing us to segway left and right. Eventually we found a small road that took us through a tunnel under the highway and down a very scenic hill pass, single lane only, with a cliff on one side and the river below on the other.

Getting to the bottom we crossed a bridge to the attractive town of Vers (also on the Lot with cliffs on one side). We planned to spend the night here, but there was only one (expensive) hotel in town. There was also a campsite without bungalows and a beautiful place advertised as a Chamb de Hotes, which only took women (we think it was a nunnery).

We still had the energy to go on so decided to try our luck in Lauzès, about 10km away. The route there was fairly easy, along a river valley of a tributary to the Lot.  Lauzès seemed like a large town on the tourist maps, but when we got there found it was really small. It only had one shop with few goods and high prices. No accommodation. A Chambres d’Hotes was advertised on sign posts and Kris got some directions to it from some old ladies in the town. It is on a farm a few km’s out of town. We got here at around 5.30pm. The farmhouse is situated amongst a set of dilapidated farm buildings. We were greeted by a sheep dog and a small elderly lady who could only speak French.

She led us to a large apartment with a separate entrance at the top of the house – kitchen, dining room, huge bedroom with single and double beds. Her price is very reasonable. Kris also managed to buy some tomatoes from her to go with the bread, cheese, salami and wine we had with us.