Went to reception to see if
we could stay another night, we could have but would have had to move again so
after more faffing we chose to leave as we felt like we were paying premium
rates but not getting the benefits of having our tent up and relaxing. Tough for the kids as they’d have loved to
have been in the pool today – one of the hottest days of the year, paid 33€ for
the night. Before we left we drove up to the medieval village on top of the cliff above the campsite, there were amazing views across the valley.
We chose to go to a village called La Roque Gageac with an aire again right by the river Dordogne. We stopped at Castlenaud – la –Chapelle on the way and again got out to admire the stunning chateau on the cliff and we also went down to the river access where people were canoeing and kayaking downstream. Saw lots of fish close to the bank which the kids loved – the river can’t be more than 1 metre deep.
The aire at La Roque is at the end of the car park but right on the river again and we were lucky to get a front row spot which backed onto grass for the kids. When we arrived it was a boiling 38C hot, thankfully there was a tree for the kids to play under. On our left was a British couple – super friendly, and a French couple to the right who we managed to converse with, again very friendly!
We decided
to quickly go for a walk to (hopefully) buy bread (knowing we had some from
yesterday for Rennie) to make lunch, saw that boat trips were running and the
next was in 40 mins time. So, march on
to find boulangerie – I request 2 baguettes and then march kids back to make
lunch in time to be on jetty for 1.30. We made it. We’re given
headphones and receptor by a woman who is neurotic about the order we return
the devices and how we operate them. The
boat goes 7km up the Dordogne river to Castlenaud where we were this
morning. Commentary is actually rubbish
and mine and Evan’s stop working 1/3 of the way through.
At this point the woman has a go at us for
messing with the channels even though I know we haven’t touched them – it worked
for about another 15mins and then packed in again so we left it. Trip was beautiful the river and really fun to watch all the
canoes and kayaks. Kids loved it. Scenery was stunning.
Came back to van and chatted with British couple,
they recommended a Passion site near Bordeaux which is an abandoned chateau and
sounds really cool. They live in Spain
and tour France during July and August to get away from the heat – they were
actually finding this heatwave a relief!!!
Kids played great in the heat with toys and fuzzy felt etc. Chatted to another British couple before bed whilst
the village had a boules competition late into the night - classic French!
Enjoyed a nice local French red and (chilled
after I requested it) rose wine for the evening. 3€ for the day and 7€ for the night.
