On Saturday we packed up camp (in the dry which is always good) and travelled about 30 miles directly south from Saint Cirq Lapopie via Beauregard, Saint Projet, Caylus and the Bonnette river valley to our next destination – Saint Antonin Noble Val. We’re now on a different river – the Aveyron – and in a different department, Tarn-et-Garonne, which borders the Lot and Lot-et-Garonne departments.
So why this place? Well, when I (Claire) was working in Singapore a few years ago, I saw the film ‘The Hundred Foot Journey’, a lightweight feel-good film with Helen Mirren. It featured a beautiful town in France that made me feel a little homesick for Europe, sitting as I was in a very over-air conditioned Asian cinema. I looked up the location once the film ended and found it was filmed in Saint Antonin Noble Val. It’s always remained in my memory and, when we were nearby last year, we had a quick peek on a day out and later planned it in as part of our trip. The town also features in the film ‘Charlotte Gray’ with Cate Blanchett so it’s a photogenic place.
Our current home is a campsite a few minutes cycle along the river from the town. It’s right on the river and we have a riverside spot with direct access for swimming. The riverbank also seems to be popular with the fishermen staying here, although no catches seen yet despite numerous carp bait balls launched into in the river using a tool similar to those seen in parks for throwing balls to dogs. Each fisherman seems to have about 4 rods set up so odds should be good. Our outlook onto the river is also framed by towering limestone cliffs both in front of us and behind us.
We were well secured for some overnight rain on our first night and low cloud on the Sunday kept drizzle in the air. The town is renowned for its Sunday market which extends throughout the streets and the drizzle didn’t keep people away, so face masks are obligatory throughout the town and we must have had sanitising liquid poured on our hands about 10 times as we wandered around. It was certainly an interesting market, with similar products to those we’ve already seen, but the stalls and awnings hide a lot of the medieval buildings in the historic part of the town, so they remain to be discovered on another day. We also explored routes along the river from the campsite that we’ll use for the morning runs and cycles that we’re still trying to keep up with.
On Monday we set out for a walk to Roc d’Anglars, the limestone cliff behind the campsite with a viewing point about 380m above us. It was quite a steady climb up there via a path winding through an oak tree forest and the first viewpoint was a take-off area for hang-gliders and paragliders, although there was no activity up there. We climbed a little further to the top of the cliff where we found sign boards for a Via Ferrata – wires, chains, rope bridges and zip wires along the cliff face. These are available for public use, with no formal surveillance, just advice on the boards about the route and the correct equipment to use. We saw some people setting off to follow the path, but didn’t actually see them on the cliff face. We arrived at the Roc d’ Anglars viewpoint and the views were truly magnificent, with Saint Antonin nestling below us. The landscape is different again here – much more forested and no other towns visible, but they may be hidden in various valleys. It was very clear from our viewing platform that any walks in this area, other than along the river bank, are going to involve serious hills. Our route took steeply back down to the town where we were able to enjoy lunch by the river.
