Autumn Adventures by Motorhome ’23 : Part 8 – Arcachon to another French gem, Rocamadour

A very warm welcome once again to our channel. Thankyou to our new and existing subscribers and fasten your seatbelts for our Autumn Adventure, it’s great to have you along !! 🙂

We’re off again and this trip will take you to Atlantic coastlines, stunning French towns and villages, the beauty of the French Alps and everything in between!

In Part 8 we travelled East, about 170 miles, to the incredible settlement of Rocamadour. We found Rocamadour on a cycling holiday in the mid 1980’s and hadn’t been back since. Rocamadour has an enormous amount of ancient history and is seemingly carved out of the rock face in this beautiful area of France.
We stayed at Camping Koawa Les Cigales which once again offers great value for money for a very well equipped site and a lovely pool complex that was very welcome in the mid 30’s temperature when we were there in October 2023.

We are on a mission to avoid toll roads for this trip – the routes give you a chance to see a lot more of France and some of their lovely towns and villages :))

This series of films follows our 2023 6 week trip to France in our A Class 2021 Mobilvetta K-Yacht 79 Teknoline, towing a small trailer on which we now have ‘Peggy’, a 2023 Lexmoto Pegasus 300cc scooter 🙂

Camping Koawa Les Cigales is here:
https://www.camping-les-cigales.com/en

Some information about Rocamadour is here:
https://www.visit-dordogne-valley.co.uk/discover/cultural-heritage/villages-to-visit/rocamadour

Or here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocamadour

Hi guys welcome back to the channel we’re off to rock andador in the doo area this morning I’m really looking forward to seeing ramador we were there back in the 19 mid yes a long time ago mid 80s m8s something like that yeah yeah we went on

A cycle tour there with some friends and we haven’t been back since so we’re really looking forward to yeah exploring the area again I remember it was absolutely amazing nearly 30 OD years ago it must be 30 OD years how come we we’re not even that old are we well I’m

Not no no can’t be surely 30 years ago but yes Rock andador about 170 odd miles it is Jew East got a skirt around the edge of Bordeaux um cross no doubt the gon and the do um a few times I’m sure um but uh enjoy the scen guys and we

Will see you at the campsite at Rock andador which of course we’ll show you around trees are in green the ocean is gray sky is a vague blue come my way my room is a m it could use a hand my favorite TV shows to capture in I know must get it

Right must get back in the fight this can’t be a surprise I think I let it slide I’m sleep walking through all of my problems I know I can’t make it through every night it’s the same I keep running fast left and right wondering where my head’s

Going now I’m sleep walking through all of my problems Know all of my problems where did it go the feeling of thirst desire to be or rocking my heels I’m numbers of poison Flows In My Veins cuz I got used to avoiding the pain I know must get it right must get back in the fight this can’t be a

Surprise I think I let it slide I’m sleep walking through all my problems I know I can’t make it through every night it’s the same I keep running fast left and right wondering where my head going now I’m sleep walking through all of my problems I Know all of my problems and maybe I need a break maybe that’s why fade into this bit of taste I think I let it be trees are in green the ocean is gray sky is a vague blue come my way my room is a mess it

Could use a hand my favorite TV shows to capture in I know must get it right it must get back in the fight this can’t be a surprise I think I let a slide I’m sleep walking through all of my problems I know I can’t make it through every night

It’s the same I keep running fast left and right wondering where my head going now I’m sleep walking through all of my problems Know all of my problems ready to go the feeling of thirst desire to be or rocking my heels I’m numbers a poison Flows In My Veins cuz I got used to avoiding the pain I know must get ride must get back in the fight this can’t be a

Surprise I think I let it slide I sleep walking through all of my problems I know I can’t make it through every night it’s the same I keep running fast left and right wondering where my head going now I’m sleep get through all of my problems I Know all of my problems maybe I need a break maybe that’s why I fade into this bit of taste I think I let it be We’re just coming in to Rock onad door where are we going to stay for the night just got to find our campsite now well that was our run in from uh Rock andador sort of over that direction the old town which we’ll show you butth let’s have a quick look around the site

That’s where we are hoping through to November from April camping ka ka Lal you can see it’s quite a good site the uh all the little green pitches are the motor home sites couple of swimming pools little sort of Spar area electric was included less than 20 quid a

Night which again is fantastic Valley for some lovely facilities and this was the entrance uh that we’ve just come in park just on the right here and go and see reception and the uh tiled building just ahead there we had actually booked this one ahead um because uh it was forecast to

Be 30 odd fact 33° and therefore uh I wanted to try and find one with a pull cuz after a stroll round Inland France very nice to have a pool automatic number Plate Reader so once you’re logged in it um opens the gate nice little play area there for the little

Ones what a nice little pool area that is isn’t it so after we’ve had a stroll in uh Rock Mador H town I suspect we will end up in the pool because if it’s 33 measured then it’s going to be 37 38 in the sun absolutely stunning games area bar restaurant area

You can order your bread order your bread in the morning for delivery and then look at this as well as the lovely little pool area they’ve got a sort of Spar area as well which uh which is Absol toally Fab look at that a whirpool bit on the upper

Bit like a Jacuzzi but oh look at that if f magic it’s just fired up as we were filming so um I suspect you might be having a lounge around in there lo as well how you look and you can see there if you go through the doors there just up on top

There it’s like a uh a sort of sand deck area up on top cuz if you need a s deck are in this incredible weather it’s the 1st of October 33 it’s going to be today the world’s called M but I’m not complaining let’s have a look at the

Block here there a little pool room little Library loungy area kitchen area and just to the right of um the reception block little motor home service area fresh water from the like and then obviously it starts to open up into the um well known by now from all our

Films love the collections of shy areas areas for tents areas for motor homes these um beautifully a out sides they do so well in France this is a toilet block there which is um really good actually relatively new I reckon really good generous size shower cu and um really nice sry facilities very

Nicely laid Out and then as you saw from that map at reception or at the entrance to the gate mobile hes go out that way and down here and then U to the left of us down this track is um the start of all those motor home areas and all Caravan and all

Camping a busy morning everybody waking up to another 33° day one two brick vehicles on site and a bit of Welcome shade as well from these lovely trees around the summit and they’re just coming into that distance here’s rzy the moho hiding under the trees hiding under the trees great spot

Tiny bit of leveling about the first level of the ramps it’s probably about the second time I’ve had him out in the last four weeks we’ve been pretty lucky with relatively flat pitches and um with a little bit of adjustment in the VBA a then um that’s been enough to level us

Out on most of the pitches we’ve had so far and then uh this area here which is empty at the moment but you can just see uh there’s some pitches marked one or two electric points as well because this is also a sort of um overflow area for the uh mot home site

As well and all camping so plenty of room here and um obviously a tiny bit of a slope here but not much leveling to be done so a lot of room here and this is the sort of other side of The Spar area which we were looking at a second

Ago with its little Sun one deck down at the bottom in there down in the uh Down Under the trees but very nice um we’re only about 300 JS down the road that way you get to the start of the drop down into the medieval medieval town which is just absolutely stunning

And so uh do enjoy some of the footage from uh first of all from the air and then we’ll take you uh take you into the medieval Town itself show you around some of the incredible sites of this uh this little settlement that’s perched on the hillside over the trees there absolutely Lovely [Applause] A Right first job of the day dump the Dei no eat rubbish they’re good at uh they’re good at glass and plastic and cardboard and everything good at recycling right off into rock Amador medieval settlement well another tough day another tough day in the office good morning all we’re wandering back into

Rock and the door which is an amazing medieval town with lots of lots of History last night we were standing um below the town looking up at the buildings above us and uh looking up at the church and I could hear this wonderful wonderful French choir

Singing and uh it was echoing out across the valley it was absolutely beautiful yeah magical place and as you’ll see well you’ll seen a little bit from the air but um but now we’re going to show you a little bit up close um as we stroll in to that fabulous part of

France again fairly Long Way Inland hence the temperatures today showing to be 33 the 1 the 1 of October 33° fabulous enjoy the day guys and of course as we stroll towards the um entrance to the medieval part which is down down and down there then you can

See that not only in the uh medieval part bit further down but also up here near to the campsite 200 meters all these lovely little shops and uh restaurants and some restaurants with some amazing panoramic views um there’s also over just back down there there’s a open till about 8:00 p.m. shop which

Sells all your groceries and bits and Bobs if you’re catering at the van but here we go guys just a look at this beautiful and incredible site no other word for it really it’s a the way it’s built in built into the Rock there is just

Amazing and as you saw from some of the aerial stuff yesterday the um sun was over that way which um which is a little bit bright with some of the aerial stuff but uh this morning right behind us perfect setting really to throw a bit of light onto that

Amazing bit of architecture that is the settlement of ramador absolutely amazing a valley uh Gorge sort of forged its way over the centuries thousands of years and then instead of building the houses on the top which would have been a lot easier where these are they’ve

Decided to make them part of the rock face literally part of the rock face as you’ll see when we go further in and a very very apt adjective for describing this place would be it’s gorgeous it is definitely gorgeous look at that for a panorama view sat there for your evening

Meal the view of the Town beautiful what a lovely view through as well through the archway at the top and then as you can see there’s a fair bit to go down and what goes down probably comes up although we did spot yesterday evening when we arrived one of those uh

Crazy little tourist trains so you never know we might ease the load on the way back and come up on the tourist train it all depends whether we have an ice cream or not if we have an ice cream then we’ll have to walk back up

Yes just once in a while ice creams of Europe get it Here these little h is on the run down as well lovely Old Stone built probably most The Witcher for Rent look at them AR they Lovely lot of view in the morning ehy sun up that way onto the little settlement wow just see as well on this tree I think this is I think it’s Walnut there’s a lot of um the shops up at the top there a lot of them got local produce of which

Some have got sacks of walnuts from this area and it just looks as the might be wrong let me know if I’m uh off the track there but it looks like they’re at walnuts obviously before drying stacks of chestnuts as well on the run in yesterday plac is doing

Chestnut chestnuts walnuts um obviously fagu dark anded Goose based fuor seems to be a a common occurrence in a lot of the local produce shops as well just see the uh one of the roads that sort of comes right into the settlement itself sneaking down the side of the mountain zigzagging down

If you fancied doing that run all the way in and there it is coming up the other side I think Peggy as you’ll see in a minute would be the method of Transport rather than resi the moho once you see some of these streets you’ll see Why there lovely classic plain trees beautiful with the perfect backdrop look at that isn’t that stunning as you can see bit tight for even cars let alone a 9 M mow home with Peggy on the back yes a bit tight here and there and then as he come through the

First gate you’re met with just stacks of lovely little Boutique star shops and of course cafes ice cream knickknacks you name it restaurants with balcony views Look at that for a sweetie shop wow sorry about the flashing lights but I just had to show you this sweetie shop look at that that is sweet Heaven look at that wow that is crazy a lovely lady earns it that’s happy for me to show you a internal view of the amazing

Display and every so often you get some little breaks where you can go down down and down even more down to the car Parks Below on these um spiral style stairs plenty of car parking down the bottom and at the top so even in summer you w’t have a problem parking

Here wow look at that long place behind the main shops talk about built to the Rock eh stunning wow whole shop just for as we were saying it’s clearly a big specialism in the area what a Lely setting for a snap right in the middle did a tree

Cover ah then a lift as well up to the uh some of the buildings above we might have to try and do that before Venture up those you can just see the stairs zigzagging their way up as well so we just um bought a couple of tickets there’s two little two different

Lifts here you can go half halfway up or the whole way up and it’s um about 8 per adult to get to the top or €3 to do the first lift so we’re doing the first one and then we’re going to probably go up on foot to the very

Top but wow what a temperature drop in here beautiful a bit cooler in here isn’t it yeah very nice carved into the Rock side so we’ve come up there it was actually a bit less than I thought it 1 p80 1 80 to come up that first lift which brought us up down

There then off to look at the first bit of and then there’s a path you can get a lift then to go up the second bit or where should I up there I should be pointing um oh there’s a path up there so we’re going to do the path up and

Probably the path back down again what beautiful buildings though look at those wow there’s no other word for it it’s definitely well look at that just perched on the edges aren’t they Defying Gravity at some points that’s where we were where we first there’s the balcony right up just

About there that little platform that we took you to first of all for the view made our way down there the hill There and this uh this first level is the bit that’s known as The Sanctuary the look at those Gates wow that’s a serious garden gate is it if you hear any rustling I had to sample some of that pick a mix Place of course it’ be very rude not to sample the pick a mix while you’re here wouldn’t purely for health reasons of course just make sure the quality was okay which it is wow look at this he’s Beautiful our new visits forbidden Wow look at that bit there it’s literally just it’s literally it almost looks like it’s been carved out he says holding his pick a mix in the other hand looks like it’s been carved out of the Stone just see at the top there the uh the bit that we’ll be wandering up to

Next wow look at all those little Swifts and swallows and Crows I’ve looked over the medieval site for centuries I bet same nesting spots wow look at the um look at the way the light of the uh stained glass is reflecting on there wow that is just beautiful morning sun coming through that see it on the window seill as well

That was called the chapel Deine m c look at the door now that is a door hinge isn’t it imagine those all around your house on your internal doors love it proba to have lunch bit of lunch later is it s yes we might have to struggle and find one of those lovely

Cafes Sanctuary not we damn dark on the door we just dropped down those steps and you can see the steps going all the way back down to where we started at the bottom of the LIF look at that we’re still up on that higher level what a spot for a restaurant I

Actually get cars up here as well haven’t even seen the road yet thought it was only stairs and a lift well I wonder if whoever lives in this house here looks up at that which is probably directly in line with his chimney and wonders how stable is

That I guess you just wouldn’t live there would you if you did think that 13th century dates back to don’t expect the plastic downpipe does but the Gateway back to the th 13th century ah so I must have just learned a bit more there St

Amadu put the Rock in front of it for rock Mador perfectly preserved he was in there well she Was look at that architecture and then look on the wall here he’s uh really unusual markings on the Wall it’s just amazing way they built into the Rock here down the sides here gri truly sculptured out of the mountain Side You can pay a Euro here to hammer in hammering attack into the uh piece of wood there towards the restoration wow you’re going to hammer in attack so we started the clim up to the top zigzagging path in the trees nice bit of shade and each little switchb has got one of these

Uh one of these little um structures so it’s the fifth one since we set off up the slope we’re at the 2/3 point a little Lookout here Area wow look at that halfway up the cliff and there’s a little little Garden area there some more of those little little tiny monuments there’s the 10th one as we keep zigzagging listen to that Sunday today 1st of October bells ringing out what an echo wow so we’re up at 12 look at This [Applause] wow well I do believe we’re just getting to the top what a zigzag that Was still nice in the shade up through the forest so right up the top just uh up where the that beautiful church is this is where the sort of another main visitor area from so you can park at the top here and then as you can see as s are the lifts back

Down to where we started right in the High Street if you like of the site absolutely loads of parking here mot home parking just over the back there we can see a few mohos coaches you name it Stacks apart marking so um you can sort

Of visit in any way you any way you like really in terms of getting Around wow 14th century ramparts SO2 just to come into this bit at the top here but having walked all that way up it has to be done Right to the top Let’s top of the Top wow we’re up with the swallows and the crows the road weaving its way down there to the car Parks below see the road up the side there as well got to go right to the end haven’t we we’re definitely up with the crows here look at [Applause] Them [Applause] Wow that is a long way down be ahead of a spot for a banse jump wouldn’t it we’re above all the swallows And years ago I sidled up as did Mickey to the edge of a 143 ft drop over a river in New Zealand with a bit of elastic tied to our ankles and we jumped and it’s probably a similar height except there was a glacial Mountain stream below us

In New Zealand not the ramp parts of a castle but it was still a bit of a uh bit of a life moment as you flung yourself off the end of this little plank cor it’s a moho coming down there he’s going to have a sharp turn in a

Minute definitely going to have a very sharp turn in a minute yeah bungee jump in New Zealand sounds crazy now but I was a young Carefree pup then all right work my way back to the exit I wonder if that Timber’s the original 13th century don’t

Know back down the steps look at that PR viw God it’s like you’re walking the plank down the end There Definitely worth the2 for that guys monkeys in wow wasn’t that amazing yes what a climb up that was wasn’t it oh it was lovely apparently according to my mom who’s stalking us wherever we travel and reading up things there are supposed to be monkeys in the

Trees there are yeah there is a monkey park nearby I saw that as one of the uh one of the attractions it is well worth well worth a troll through um up through that lovely zigzag path to the top there out onto the ramp Parts as long as you’re not too worried

About Heights of course and uh and then I think now as it’s about 1 oneish in the afternoon certainly getting up to the 33 they promised and that’s in the shade um I think I can feel a pool visit coming on oh I think we’re going to head back

Grab some bit of lunch raid the fridge raid the fridge and uh yeah going sit by the pool with the book yeah tough afternoon bit more sunf and gazillion on for me as well yes and more probably some Factor 2 gazillion in today’s weather yeah yeah check it out though lovely space loads

Of parking even if you’re DAV visting here and uh a stack of options for overnighting as well beautiful Rock andador they’ve also got here um a lot of really handy information as well suggestions of things to do places to go all um restaurant suggestions um scooter suggestions bicycle route suggestions um walking

Suggestions yeah all already well set out fraction under as I say fraction under 20 a night literally about 1990 a night map of the local area there we go we right in the middle so that sort of helps you Loc at where we are geographically very nice too excellently set Outside 31 today out in the pool there where’s Nikki on yeah she’s over there hiding on the edge of the Pool then it’s um most definitely time for finding a good source of water shade ice cream and you name it absolutely fantastic tried out The Spar bit over there as well that was really nice slightly warmer water than this although this is warm enough so a proper sort of Spar temperature very nice

Indeed open through to November as well so with a slidy slidy bits over the top you could probably enjoy a spa for right up to the closing date 31 outside a book and a bit of water had a nice bit of lunch definitely the way to relax after a tour

Around ramador in the 30s Lush well it’s not a bad place for the afternoon is it is not not bad at all I like the um the warm jacuzzi bit SP yeah wasn’t it Lush yeah Lush indeed so camping Lacy girl rock ofad door absolutely Lush wasn’t it oh lovely yeah

So if you’re in the dooro area we would thoroughly recommend a trip to rock andador campsite is fantastic yeah close all the munities bars and cafes and rock war rock rock what rock a door whose door uh yeah beautiful area definitely well worth a visit yes so thank you very

Much and indeed thank you to our new subscribers and of course you fabulous existing subscribers who are enjoying our travels we uh we just love having you along and uh sharing some of these incredible places with you so we really do appreciate your comments it makes our

Day doesn’t it absolutely thank you so much brilliant uh we shall we very much look forward to seeing you on our next travels which um which I guess after here will’ll be we’ll be starting heading east again uh generally in the Moine Area to the Moine Area got about 3

Or 4 days to get there so see you on the road as always see you guys bye Bye