The Lot Valley

Travelled : 125km
Stay: Laguiole- free parking in town N44.68338 E2.84863, services at camp ground
Visited: several pretty villages of France along the Lot River.

Today it did not stop raining.  We either experienced light rain or heavy rain but it did not deter us from getting out and  having a look at no less than 7 villages! (Albeit some visits may have been brief ). So our first stop in Laissac was enspired by our stomachs..a patisserie is what we were looking for to partake in a croissant for breakfast. We are in France after all so we must emerse ourselves and indulge in the local delicacies. Although our waistlines are suffering a little. As we drove into town we noticed lots of cars parked which could only mean one thing...the market was on. But it was not just any ordinary market (although that was on too in the streets of course), every Tuesday morning the 2nd largest animal sales in France takes place. We had a quick look around, fortified ourselves and then took to the road. 

Must be good garlic...

Our next stop was St.Geniez d'Olt,  a lovely town on the Lot River. 

People from the town are named marmot after the legend of 2 children being saved from the flood waters due to them chasing after a marmot.

Mark might be biting off more than he can chew!

Interesting parking meter which counts down 20mins and then counts in the red...

Mark loves these thick slates and the very organised wood pile.

We enjoyed our walk, admiring the stone buildings before setting off to St.Eulalie d'Olt, classified as one of the beautiful villages of France. It was our favourite. Most of the buildings had been renovated and it had a great atmosphere.  We watched the glass blower demonstration and followed the interpretation signs around the village. 

Then it was off to another classified village, St.Come d'Olt. We noticed a few Compestela walkers that were very wet. 

After our brief visit we were thankful to have Bluey and enjoyed a hot lunch before we did a little detour to Bozouls.  We once again donned our raincoats and with our umbrellas went to have a look at the interesting canyon formation with the buildings on the edge of the cliff.  

If it had been a sunny day we would have liked to explore this town further but the rain drove us on to Estaing,  another classified village on the Lot. It looked great with its imposing castle over the village and the river. We drove over the ancient bridge and went for another quick visit. 

The last leg of the day was to Laguiole, a town famous for its knives. We had a little look in a couple of shops before they closed but we hope to visit the forge tomorrow to see how the knives are made. Tonight we have no risk off getting caught in a flood as we are at 1020m alt. But it could snow!

Total length opened 4.75m. It took 300hours to make.