24 hours after an impromptu decision to go camping we headed South, not knowing where we would arrive. Sarlat looked inviting and given the evening hour we looked for a campsite to discover that we were only one of the two tenting occupants with the river Dordogne at the edge of the grassy poplar lined site. We visited about five of "les plus beaux villages de France" and walked and climbed and admired the beautiful golden stone of the valley. We also went to Rocamadour! This village is sadly dominated by tourists. Unfortunately, the Stations of the Cross and the reasons behind why the village is famous were sadly neglected and in disrepair! I was horrified. The panel above the arched tunnel invited the "pilgrims" to contemplate, admire and pray". Seeing the shops in the light at the end of the Reanaissance constructed tunnel I wondered why they had not added "to buy" or "to shop", these being the gloriously labelled"national vocation". I wondered this even more when it became apparent that some of the profits from the sale of 'tat' merchandise is perhaps not being collected by the Mairie and obviously not being invested in the repair of the fabric of the village. That's tourism for you!!!!We had problems with our camera, having dropped it some time ago and without battery recharging facilities we were cautious with our happy snappy habitude, hence we have only a few photos!
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