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squiz Member Member#: 6644 Location: Registered: 27-05-2007 Diary Entries: 2886 |
19th September 2016 Hiking - Walking: La Grotte des Maquisards Wind Direction: Wind Stength: Surf / Sea State: Air Temperature: Sea Temperature: Weather: sunny periods Max Speed: Distance Covered: Monday 19th September – Adventure hike + a couple of strolls ***** a few sunny periods A cloudy morning but not wet so that was a good start and we did our exercises outside looking out over the river and bridge – Pont du Chambon. There were next to no cars, all very quiet. We left our spot and headed back to a walk we saw yesterday, just up the road from where we parked. The board ‘invited’ you to do their walk to La Grotte des Maquisards where soldiers hid against the Vichy in the second world war. Strangely for a French walk they actually said it was ‘difficile’ and gave instructions about stout shoes etc.. We set off through beautiful oak, beech and chestnut woods and Mag was threading autumn coloured leaves on some wool to make a garland similar to one she had seen in her friend Mary’s posh magazine before we left. It was actually good fun, finding different, suitable leaves. The good path did last for quite a while then carried on with a different walk and we branched off to the usual French scramble over various roots, branches and rocks in quite a steep descent. At this point there was a really nice clearing with a seat to enjoy the wonderful view of the Dordogne far below in the gorge. As we got nearer to the cave it turned into a ridiculous rock climbing adventure with a rope to help at one point!! We did it though and then when we got to the cave had to do another death defying descent to actually enter it. We are so glad we did it as the path was an adventure in itself and it was hard to imagine the poor men who had to live in the small cave. The scramble back was easier than coming down and we were soon back at the seat and collecting leaves again. A great morning. We drove on down empty country roads, some we were on yesterday but then branching off towards the Barrage du Chastang which doubles up as a bridge across the river and there is then a road which actually follows the river which is quite rare around here. The Barrage was immense! It was quite scary to imagine how much water is actually being held back by this enormous construction – you could just imagine it bursting and the epic film which could be made about the disaster!! The small road provided some nice views of the river and led us past the Barrage du Sablier on the out skirts of Argentat. We have visited this quaint town briefly before to have a lunch stop on our way home. We parked where we parked before and walked through the town, bought some bread and headed for the quay to eat our lunch. The quay has some really quaint fishermen’s cottages which have all the living accommodation on a high level because of the frequent floods which occurred before all the barrages sorted the problem out. Had a nice break eating our lunch and watching the world go by. We went for a short walk up the river bank and saw the most ridiculous pig we have ever seen. Some other English speaking people were making a fuss of it too and we had a quick chat with them (we think they might have been South African). Back to the van to find somewhere to park up for the night with the idea of having a cycle along the river tomorrow. Down river didn’t find anything promising so we returned to the Barrage du Sablier above Argentat which although not ideal did give us the opportunity to walk across the barrage on the footpath and then come back and follow another walk up into the woods. There is a chateau on the river just behind us but we can’t quite see it as there are trees in the way! Photo Gallery here |
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