The Dordorgne - Les Eyzies de Tayac

Monday 25^th August

Knowing that we were only moving ‘down the road’, we had a slow start this morning. The traffic noise was greater – this being a Monday, and there were quite a few vans moving off, whilst others arrived looking for spaces. I put the solar panel out for a bit to see if it helped charge the battery. The sun wasn’t very strong, and so the charge wasn’t great. It was working though. I was emptying the toilet cassette when a van pulled up and the driver got out and started talking to me in French. I got the gist of what he was saying and told him that he could stay the night for seven Euros, or two for fourteen, but that was it. He seemed content with that and went to park up. He could have just read the signs on the way in.

We headed off for an aire at Les Eyzies de Tayac, about half an hour away. We drove past some dramatic rock formations en route. Arriving there we found that it was market day. Not only that, but the market was held in the street which provided access to the aire. I realised this only moments after I had pulled into the street (!!). K got out and bravely held up traffic on the main street whilst I reversed out and carried on out of the town. We parked up in a field which formed the car park for a canoe business whilst we thought what to do.

We noticed a few others vans moving around – obviously having encountered the same problem as us. We drove back to reassess the street as we passed – no, still no way down. We stopped again – having gone through the town the other way this time – pulling in to what was, in effect, someone’s driveway. I consulted the ASCI camp book, the map, and the sat nav. In the end we decided to go far a camp site – and ended up with the one that I had originally chosen for us in this area when I was back in the UK (and they say that no planning goes into these trips…). As I was pulling away another van pulled in to the space where I had been – obviously they had no idea what to do either.

We went back through the town, again, over the bridge and arrived at La Riviere a few minutes later – after working which was the main entrance. It is a camp site built around and old Château – very picturesque. It was hot, and the sun was beating down. The time was about 12.30pm as I sought out the office. I got there just as they were shutting for lunch, and ‘Madam’ asked me to choose a space and come back in the afternoon. We did just that, choosing a pitch which was not too shady. We explored the site before having lunch. It has spacious flat pitches, separated by low hedges. There is electricity and plenty of places for water. It has a very nice looking swimming pool. The shower block looks very new, and the showers are clean, hot and free. Gravel paths lead through the site and there are also rooms to rent in the château. There are two shower blocks with the usuals plus dish washing, laundry sinks, chemical toilet disposal and there is also a camping car service area. It is a very nice site. As well as all of the above, there is a small shop and a restaurant. Free WiFi is to be had around the reception area and bar.

After we had lunch and I had signed in we got the bikes down and went for a ride into town. It took less than ten minutes on the bikes, and would have taken only about fifteen if we had walked. No cycle paths, so it meant riding on the narrow roads in the main – this can be a pain when you have quite a lot of traffic and you just know that they can’t wait to get past you. Especially worrying if the person is British guy who obviously has no concept of speed limits and/or road manners – yes Mr Nissan Shogun – I’m talking about you! We rode past the aire that we had originally hoped to stay in – it looked very good, with hedge marked boundaries, waste disposal facilities and a toilet. The market was gone by this time. We chained up the bikes in the centre of town and did some exploring, starting with a climb up some steps to a higher level where we were walking along below one of the overhanging outcrops of rock. Heading for the museum of prehistory.

A bit of walking and two delicious local ice creams later we made it back to the bikes and rode about a bit more – but there wasn’t much to see that wasn’t cro-magnon related. We rode back to the site, passing several canoe hire places that seem to be good value – five Euros for an hour seems to be about the going rate.

Arriving back we tie the bikes up and I cover them as it seems likely we will be using them the following day. We decide to have a go at the swimming pool and both change, wander over and gain access through the trick gate. All the sunbeds are lined up and occupied down one side catching the evening sun. We drop the towels and jump in. We almost jump straight back out again! The water should be twenty degrees – doesn’t feel like it is. We do some rapid swimming around and then get out and go for a nice hot shower.

Back to the van and I cook some salmon with slim potato wedges and red onion and yellow peppers. Whilst cooking I listen to a radio play adaption of Raymond Chandler’s ‘The Lady in the Lake’ (again). Bordeaux with the meal, and a listen to another audio story – this time an adaptation of ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ by Irving Washington. It’s not at all what I expected.