Only in France ....

Day 50 - Carcassonne to Figeac

Time to leave Carcassonne but K hasn't been feeling well, so we decided to head straight to Saint-Cirq Lapopie, apparently one of the most beautiful villages in France. 

Because we didn't take the scenic route via Albi it was tollways most of the way, driving through the outskirts of Toulouse before leaving the highway for the last 30 minutes of winding roads to the village.

We arrived and the car park was almost full. However K wasn't up to walking the sloping roads to the village so we settled for a couple of photos before jumping back in the car and driving along the Lot river valley to Cajarc a little further on.

We stopped for a coffee at a bistro, this was the first time on our trip that the staff knew no English at all, but M managed to navigate the ordering and payment process like a natural born Frenchman (with the speaking ability of a two year old). 

We continued along the Lot valley, through villages built rock walls on the left and the clear, still river on the right, it was a very pleasant and picturesque drive.

We arrived in Figeac and checked in to a hotel a couple of minutes walk from town. We had learnt that Figeac was part of the French section of the Camino de Santiago, which we'd done part of (Leon to Santiage de Compostela) in 2019, so M went exploring to find the route, but then decided to walk up to the Monument du Cingle on a hill overlooking the town.

On the way to dinner we passed a baguette vending machine (only in France ....). It was Friday night but Figeac was quieter than other places we'd visited, it was a nice change to stay in a place that's not so tourist focused.