And then we have to leave the Dordogne region as we try to reach our next destination a small, supposedly pictoresque village in the Midi-Pyrénées region called Saint Cirq Lapopie. And for this we have to get on the interstate. How difficult can it be to get on the interstate? It is plenty as we discover as even large roads do not have access to the interstate or they have exits but no entrances.
So we arrive in a nice old village close to the interstate but the road just passes under it – we start to drive on a parallel road lured by the fact that the GPS is telling us that the next road that intersects the interstate might have an entrance. The road we are driving on becomes dirt and narrow but it is still good so we continue through the beautiful coutryside and finally get to the new road and it has an interstate entrance – yoopee.
We do not stay long on the interstate though as we are not sure if the road closest to the village has an exit and therefore we exit a bit early and then drive through what almost appear to be abandoned villages and roads. Everything looks rustic, it feels sometimes that we went back in time a few decades. As we approach Saint Cirq it becomes more trafficked however even though the road is still a narrow two lane winding besides a river with tunnels and rock overhangs from time to time.
And then we catch the first glimpse of Saint Cirq – it almost looks pasted into the scenery, really impressive. It is really difficult however to find the correct parking area we pass it twice before deciding that it is the closest to the city centre – there are 2 more that are further out and due to the mountainous terrain it would have taken quite a bit of effort to get to the city from those parking lots.
Even from the chosen parking lot we expand some effort as we first descend through narrow streets exploring nooks and corners before starting to climb towards the former site of the castle and church.
The streets are really scenic and we can really get lost as we explore the different side alleys and small shops on the way.
At the highest point of the cliff, the popie (from the Occitan “popa”, breast-shaped promontory) supported the first castle on the site, built in the 10th century and rebuilt in the 12th century. Very little is left however he top of the rock and the belvedere set up below offer great views over the entire valley as we discover after we catch our breath.
We then descend towards the church enjoying the great views along the way.
The Church of Saint Cirq Lapopie as dedicated to Saint Cyr and Sainte Juliette, his mother. The Gothic church, which was built from 1522, included the old Romanesque parish church and it can be entered, which we do. It is quite austere for a Catholic church but still interesting.
And then it is time to drive relatively straight toward Aigues Mortes where we will stay for the night. We have to arrive at a certain time and we don’t have much margin for error so we don’t have other stops planned.
Still we do one more stop on the way which is unexpected and unplanned as we see a large, impressive bridge in the distance and we stop at a nearby rest area and climb to the top of a hill for a great view of the Millau Viaduct, the highest suspension bridge in the world, as we found out afterwards. We also really really hated the surprise toll for crossing it, we had no idea about it as we were approaching it.
We get just in time to our hotel before it is closing the parking door for the night and we go to sleep, tired after a long and exciting day, of course after eating dinner from provisions bought in Paris.
