Rental Car. Part 1. First Destination.
Early start to the day. And it was raining.
I had arranged to be at Eurocar rental cars to pick up my Mercedes. Yes, that's right people, a Mercedes, I've (sort of) arrived. Was momentarily disappointed when it was silver, but that was quickly overshadowed by the fact that I had no idea how to drive it. Seems that other cars are more sophisticated than mine - even the car rental guy couldn't work out the gears or the GPS - which were really the only components of the car that were of importance to me as I had no idea (in the world) where I needed to go, except that I wanted to see Rocamadour (First Destination).
I drove Really Carefully, sticking to the right hand side of the road, not daring to go the speed limit, and arrived early enough in the day to find a carpark, but not early enough to miss the sweltering heat. The temp gauge in the car said 32. Seriously dripping with perspiration, and that was just was climbing down to the village.
Rocamadour is a small clifftop village just over an hour's drive from Sarlat. It is known for the engineering feat of being out of a rock face and also for the Cité Réligieuse complex of religious buildings, accessed via the never-ending staircase (233 steps), with a small chapel on most of the switchbacks.
It includes the Chapelle Notre-Dame, with its Black Madonna statue. (I have a quick story about a lady who prayed to the Black Madonna every day in the desperate hope of having a baby. After many years the miracle happened and a baby was born. The father was very surprised when it was black..(sorry, it is a very quick precis of a short story I read that tickled my fancy years ago)).
In case you think I'm being sacrilegious, here's a photo of the Black Madonna of
Rocamadour to distract you from judging me...
- fun fact - there are more Black Madonnas in France than anywhere else in the world - religious scholars argue about whether the madonnas are black from a natural ageing process with lead paint, whether the smoke from candles changed the patina of the icons, or whether in fact they are older than any other madonnas, and perhaps represent her true colour, coming from the East. In any event, pilgrims love them.
Rocamadour is named after a religious hermit called Amadour who took sanctuary in the caves there originally, and has attracted pilgrims since the 12th Century. (ask me about that later, ok?).
There is a forest where monkeys roam freely. I didn't go there. I don't really like monkeys. Actually, I really don't like them - Bali Monkey Forest put me off for life.
Presumption: that the original inhabitants were never overweight (those hills and stairs). There were some overweight people there today who were really struggling.
I'll get to Second Destination later. I"m going out to wander, maybe find a gin and tonic and a little something to eat. (Samuel, no animals or humans were injured in this adventure).
I had arranged to be at Eurocar rental cars to pick up my Mercedes. Yes, that's right people, a Mercedes, I've (sort of) arrived. Was momentarily disappointed when it was silver, but that was quickly overshadowed by the fact that I had no idea how to drive it. Seems that other cars are more sophisticated than mine - even the car rental guy couldn't work out the gears or the GPS - which were really the only components of the car that were of importance to me as I had no idea (in the world) where I needed to go, except that I wanted to see Rocamadour (First Destination).
I drove Really Carefully, sticking to the right hand side of the road, not daring to go the speed limit, and arrived early enough in the day to find a carpark, but not early enough to miss the sweltering heat. The temp gauge in the car said 32. Seriously dripping with perspiration, and that was just was climbing down to the village.
Rocamadour is a small clifftop village just over an hour's drive from Sarlat. It is known for the engineering feat of being out of a rock face and also for the Cité Réligieuse complex of religious buildings, accessed via the never-ending staircase (233 steps), with a small chapel on most of the switchbacks.
It includes the Chapelle Notre-Dame, with its Black Madonna statue. (I have a quick story about a lady who prayed to the Black Madonna every day in the desperate hope of having a baby. After many years the miracle happened and a baby was born. The father was very surprised when it was black..(sorry, it is a very quick precis of a short story I read that tickled my fancy years ago)).
In case you think I'm being sacrilegious, here's a photo of the Black Madonna of
Rocamadour to distract you from judging me...
- fun fact - there are more Black Madonnas in France than anywhere else in the world - religious scholars argue about whether the madonnas are black from a natural ageing process with lead paint, whether the smoke from candles changed the patina of the icons, or whether in fact they are older than any other madonnas, and perhaps represent her true colour, coming from the East. In any event, pilgrims love them.
Rocamadour is named after a religious hermit called Amadour who took sanctuary in the caves there originally, and has attracted pilgrims since the 12th Century. (ask me about that later, ok?).
There is a forest where monkeys roam freely. I didn't go there. I don't really like monkeys. Actually, I really don't like them - Bali Monkey Forest put me off for life.
Presumption: that the original inhabitants were never overweight (those hills and stairs). There were some overweight people there today who were really struggling.
I'll get to Second Destination later. I"m going out to wander, maybe find a gin and tonic and a little something to eat. (Samuel, no animals or humans were injured in this adventure).
Looks very hot and hilly! I am glad someone agrees with me about the Bali monkey forest - I hated it!
ReplyDeletelets start a society "Not Interested in Monkey Parks"
Delete