Exploring Downstream from Cahors About Luzech and Puy L'Évêque
Twenty kilometres downriver from Cahors you come to LUZECH , with scant Gaulish and Roman remains of the town of L'Impernal, and the Chapelle de Notre-Dame-de-l'Île , dedicated to the medieval boatmen who transported Cahors wines to Bordeaux. The town stands in a huge river loop, overlooked by a thirteenth-century keep , with some picturesque alleys and dwellings in the quarter opposite place du Canal.
Several bends in the river later - 15km by road - PUY-L'ÉVÊQUE is probably the prettiest village in the entire valley, with many grand houses built in honey-coloured stone and overlooked by both a church and the castle of the bishops of Cahors. For the best view, stand on the suspension bridge which crosses the Lot. For an overnight stay , the refurbished Hôtel Bellevue , perched on the cliff edge, has stylish rooms and a good restaurant (from €25.92, or €11.43 in the brasserie). For something cheaper, at the bottom of the town Hôtel Henry has cheap and decent rooms (tel 05.65.21.32.24, fax 05.65.30.85.18; €24-34), or there's a Dutch-owned campsite , Camping Les Vignes (tel 05.65.30.81.72; closed Oct-March), 3km south by the river.
With your own transport, follow the Lot as far as Duravel and then cut across country via the picturesque hamlet of St-Martin-le-Redon to reach the Château de Bonaguil (daily: Feb-May & Sept - Nov 10.30am-noon & 2.30-5pm; June 10am-noon & 2-5pm; July & Aug 10am - 5.45pm; closed Dec & Jan; €4.57) some 15km later. It's spectacularly perched at the end of a wooden spur commanding two valleys, about 8km northeast of Fumel. Dating largely from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with a double ring of walls, five huge towers and a narrow boat-shaped keep designed to resist artillery, it was the last of the medieval castles to be
constructed.
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