Left Madeleine’s about 9.30 we really enjoyed spending time with her again. She recommended that we called at Rocamadour and Sarlat on the way up to Limoges. We duly followed her instructions and we were not disappointed. Rocamadour is similar to Cuenca in that houses literally look as if they are clinging onto rock faces. There was a beautiful chapel near the top and a service was in progress when we arrived which was being broadcast throughout the town. It is evidently a place of pilgrimage and is famous because well over 100 miracles are said to have happened there.

Sarlat was a surprise, it has a large medieval section which comprises of tall, sandstone buildings with gorgeous arches and carvings it really is a beautiful place and somewhere I would definitely like to revisit. There are lots of narrow streets and art shops, I could imagine many artists wiling away hours sketching and painting. We got to our Campanile hotel in Limoges at about 7.30 and didn’t go out again as we were pretty tired at that point.

Today we felt we should see a little of Limoges before we head up to our next port of call, Tours. Unfortunately nearly everything seems to be closed on a Monday in Limoges, the weather is rather dull and overcast today so we are getting used to cooler days. The main place we wanted to visit in Limoges was the museum dedicated to porcelaine, which is what the town is famous for (due to large deposits of kaolin in the soil in these parts evidently). The problem was that by the time we found the said museum, housed in a beautiful building it was nearly closing time so we would have only had half an hour before they shut for a 2 hour midday break. All the literature tells you it takes hours to see all they have in there so I think that visit will have to wait for another time.

Although I have had nearly everything out of the car countless times I can’t find my camera! The last time I remember having it was at the restaurant near Denia with Cynthia and Terry. I really hope it turns up as I shall be lost without it. It’s hard to remember where anything is anymore as the car is crammed with bags and I’m hoping at some point I will unearth the camera but I am getting less hopeful all the time.

We are now driving to Tours and I am sorry to say we have chickened out again and booked ahead to stay in another reasonably priced hotel. It really is a bit chilly now and I don’t think either of us relish the thoughts of sleeping under canvas now. I just wish we weren’t carting about so much gear which is not being put to any good use. Only 2 days now and we will be getting on the ferry in Zeebrugge for our return trip to the UK. We feel as if we have been away ages and without this blog for reference I would never remember all the places we have visited over the last 4 weeks.

Bill: Well we are sort of camping – it’s turned so cold that we’ve pushed our beds together and put our quilt over us both. The splendid receptionist raised an eyebrow as we hauled that in!

Tours has certainly made up for the disappointments of Limoges. The Hotel is just a cheapy – Balladins – in the Comfort group mainly frequented by the white van man of France – but comfortable and friendly for all that. We have as much as we need and all the coffee/tea/hot chocolate we can manage plus free breakfast cereals and fruit juice in the communal lounge. We took the bus into Tours – so our tour of Tours showed us how wonderfully the city centre is situated on an island in the Loire. Having walked around the centre we visited the cathedral of Sainte Gatin (?) and Val lit a candle to St. Anthony (as recommended by Madeleine) to locate her lost camera.

We walked down the rue De Foch then had a fantastic Japanese?Korean/Chinese buffet at the “Resto Wok –up” . I may have got some of that in the wrong order! We almost missed the last bus back to Hotel Balladins watching and listening to the fantastic Son et Lumiere projected onto the huge and ornate Hotel de Ville. They’d turned the lights off at the Auchan hypermarket which was our landmark so missed our stop – but the bus driver kindly let us off between stops right outside the hotel. Can’t imagine that happening in West Yorks!