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A Wander around Cajarc - southern France

A Wander around Cajarc - southern France


Postby Mal Grey » Thu Jun 08, 2017 11:36 am

Date walked: 08/06/2017

Time taken: 4.5

Distance: 15 km

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So, I find myself in southern France with time on my hands. Having taken redundancy from work, (bit of a 50/50 thing!), I booked myself a one-way ticket on the Eurotunnel, put mountain bike, walking gear and camping stuff in the boot, strapped the canoe to the roof, and headed south. A long way south. Some good friends of mine live just outside Cajarc, a small town 50km from Cahors on the banks of the Lot. As it happens, they're currently in Yorkshire for a few months, and have given me free run of their place for as long as I want within reason. In theory, this means I'm sat here working out what next to do in life, with the luxury of a reasonable amount of time to do so. The reality is that, in the week since I've arrived, I've spent the whole time mountain biking, canoeing or walking. And when not doing that, I've been editing photos and writing up trips...

Which leads nicely on to the story of a walk I did last Sunday. At least I think it was Sunday, I'm really losing track of time down here!

Cajarc sits by the Lot in a deep valley surrounded by steep hills, the flanks of which are studded with rocky escarpments, for it is in limestone country. A bit like a more arid version of the Yorkshire Dales, I guess, or perhaps more White Peak as it lacks the Dales' distinct hills. To the north of the town lies a plateau region called The Causses de Quercy, a place of ancient historic significance as there are numerous pre-historic sites here. My walk planned to touch the fringes of this, crossing escarpment, walking on the plateau, then dropping into one of the many deep-cut valles, le Combe de Gironds, before re-crossing the hill and back to Cajarc.

I couldn't get the French version of OS maps to work, but hopefully this link gives you an idea of where I was: https://www.geoportail.gouv.fr/carte?c=1.8380911602049201,44.4914062517704&z=14&l0=ORTHOIMAGERY.ORTHOPHOTOS::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS(1)&l1=GEOGRAPHICALGRIDSYSTEMS.MAPS.SCAN-EXPRESS.STANDARD::GEOPORTAIL:OGC:WMTS(1)&permalink=yes


Just down the road from the house, perched on a hill above a meander of the river Lot, there is a fantastic view of the town lying in its valley, surrounded by hills.


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Its a lovely old place, very much in keeping with its surroundings, and we'll see more of it later in the walk.


I walked along the fringes of the town, heading northwest towards the escarpment. The ancient pilgrimage route, the Way of St James, passes through here, and I would use it to climb diagonally up below the towering limestone cliffs.


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Halfway up on the left, a cool Grotto offers respite from the sun. There are many of these around the bases of the cliffs in this region, places which have been used as shelter for countless millennia by human and animal alike.


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The climb continues, in part roughly cobbled. I was so taken by this route that I decided to come back with the bike a few days later. Downwards, of course!!


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The views back to town were lovely.


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At last I reached the top of the escarpment, and joined a lovely lane. There's something about the colour of the limestone here that just makes me think of warmth every time I see it.


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The lane was lined with wild flowers, as was much of the walk. Feel free to help me identify them as we go along, my knowledge doesn't get much further than "poppy"!


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Leaving the tarmac behind, a walled track crosses the start of the plateau heading northwards. This is the start of the Causses, characterised by scrubby birch and oak, thin arid soil and outcrops of loose limestone peeking through. Man has been here for thousands of years, leaving behind ruined homes, and what look like piles of stones but are often actually old crop storage chambers.


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In places the ground has been cleared, and fields have been cultivated.


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More flowers lined the rough lane, including wild roses and oxe-eye daisies. The air buzzed with insects, though fortunately not the biting or stinging kind.


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After a few kilometres (I've gone all metric!), I turned westwards and started to drop into a deep, green, valley, the Combe de Gironds. Here there is water and shade, and the woods are thick and lush. At times, springs have been widened out in to pools for animals, or humans, to drink from.


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The limestone still pokes through in places, though, and as I descended the Combe, the sides opened out into scree-covered slopes at times.


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All day I'd been hearing rustling in the leaves and grasses at the side of the track, but so quick were the creatures causing it that I got barely a glimpse. Just enough to know they were lizards, but not a chance of a photo. Suddenly, though, was a louder rustle, this one was a bit bigger. I saw the leaves move and stopped dead still, eyes scanning the slope trying to pick out the resting place of this one. It took maybe 2 minutes, but eventually I spotted him/her, sitting motionless between stalks of grass. Quietly I took out the camera and zoomed in on him, creeping forwards as he fixed me with his beady eye.


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This green lizard was about 20-25cm in length, including his long, tapering tail. We watched each other for several minutes, each of us perfectly still, until I backed away and continued my journey.


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This part of the walk was following a marked trail, yellow paint on trees. I turned left up a side valley, and climbed steadily. Near the top, a meadow was too tempting, and I sat in the grass and had a bite to eat.


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As I sat there, I watched the insects dancing around me. Some danced annoyingly in my face, but a larger one flew into view and hovered over the tall spikes of flowers just in front of me. A Hummingbird Hawk Moth, a fascinating creature with a long proboscis that takes the nectar out of flowers just like its avian namesake.


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There were also orchids in the field, pyramid ones, I think.


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I continued around the head of this side valley, and picked up a path contouring the top of the Combe.


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I passed another "font" (spring), this one much larger.


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Eventually I dropped back down into the COmbe, before turning left and climbing steadily up a tunnel-like trail, where I came across a couple of "busy" snails.


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The sides of this branch of the Combe were much rockier, very like parts of the Dales.


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The map was marked "Roc de Trauquat", though it was unclear what this was until I got there. A huge overhang offers shade and shelter.


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I came out onto more open hillside, with views across the valleys.


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Once again, a few fields clung to the plateau, brief fertile patches in this arid land.


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Crossing a watershed, a junction was marked by a "Cazelle", another storage barn. Inside it was lined, clean and dry, obviously still in regular use.


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I carried on around the lip of another steep valley, once again stopping for a break at a lovely viewpoint surrounded by flowers.


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I was nearing the last part of the walk now, and a green, shady lane sloped gently down towards the top of the escarpment I would descend.


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Reaching the lip, Cajarc was again spread out before me.


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The path was steep and winding, dropping down between cliffs, before eventually re-joining the trail I had climbed at the start of the walk.


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I diverted into town on the way back, wandering the back streets in the ancient centre. The old town feels pretty much unchanged, narrow alleys winding between overhanging buildings, with the church as the centre point.


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I took the riverside back towards the house, the final kilometre out of town being a little hard work on tired legs.


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This had been a lovely walk. In the height of summer, it would be brown, and the heat can be overbearing, but in late spring, the temperature was still in the twenties, the grass and trees were lush green, and the flowers delightful. A lovely start to a couple of weeks down here. Assuming I can ever be bothered to go home, that one-way ticket is somewhat liberating....


(If anybody is interested in the canoeing part of the trip, here are a couple of links to trips so far;
http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/53684-The-V%C3%A9z%C3%A8re
http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/53687-The-Lot-at-St-Cirq-Lapopie )
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Mal Grey
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Location: Surrey, probably in a canoe! www.wildernessisastateofmind.co.uk

Re: A Wander around Cajarc - southern France

Postby dav2930 » Sat Jun 10, 2017 10:22 am

Looks a very beautiful part of the world. That was an enjoyable read and I love your shots of the flora & fauna - especially of the lizard and the hummingbird hawkmoth. Can't help you with the flower ID's though :lol: Those limestone crags look wonderful too. :D :clap:

Being so close to France must be some compensation for being so far from the Highlands!? Enjoy your time out from the world of work (much overrated IMO :lol: ).
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dav2930
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Location: Cumbria

Re: A Wander around Cajarc - southern France

Postby Mal Grey » Sun Jun 11, 2017 8:14 pm

dav2930 wrote:Looks a very beautiful part of the world. That was an enjoyable read and I love your shots of the flora & fauna - especially of the lizard and the hummingbird hawkmoth. Can't help you with the flower ID's though :lol: Those limestone crags look wonderful too. :D :clap:

Being so close to France must be some compensation for being so far from the Highlands!? Enjoy your time out from the world of work (much overrated IMO :lol: ).


Thanks mate, wasn't really expecting replies, its a long way off being either "Highlands" or "Hillwalking", but I enjoyed it so much I had to share.

Also, thanks for the good wishes. So far, so blissful, but I do have to buckle down and sort myself out reasonably soon! Trip to the Gorges du Tarn first though.... :D
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Mal Grey
Wanderer
 
Posts: 4617
Munros:113   Corbetts:23
Fionas:12   
Sub 2000:9   Hewitts:116
Wainwrights:71   Islands:6
Joined: Dec 1, 2011
Location: Surrey, probably in a canoe! www.wildernessisastateofmind.co.uk

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