4. Gourdon

Gourdon is not far to walk to from the station but seems to be uphill all the way. I was feeling a bit nervous about finding everything closed on a Sunday, so intended that all my needs be taken care of. A few minutes later a French woman pulled up in her car - can she drive me into town ?

"Are you a taxi?" I asked. No, she said, she saw me heading into town and as it's uphill she thought I may like a lift.
"I have baggage" I said, pointing to my oversized suitcase, which she couldn't have failed to notice anyway.
"No problem", she put it in the back of the car. Fantastic.

We spoke mainly in French and she even started trying out some of her English on me too. A lovely lady, it never ceases to amaze me how wonderful the locals can be. I told her I was looking for a hotel, and we happened to pass one so I got out of the car there and thanked her for her help. The hotel was not only open and had a vacant room, but was serving meals outside - apparently the only restaurant open on a Sunday.

I went for a walk after lunch, and the weather was better here than how I left it in Cahors (rain), which had changed for the worst on my last day there. There's no way of predicting what the weather is going to be anywhere in France - heading further south MAY mean sunnier or warmer weather, but here I was going further north to get to Gourdon. I always seemed to leave a town in worst weather than when I found it.


The houses in Gourdon are mainly made of yellow orchre coloured stone.

All shops were closed today (Sunday) and most would remain closed even on Monday. So I never got to see how the town looks on a normal weekday.

The town of Gourdon is set high up on a hill, which means you get some great views when you climb to the top.



Not much traffic within the town itself. In fact cars would have a hard job squeezing through some of those very narrow and often steep roads. So it felt like it was all very pedestrianised. And parking is free, like it is in a lot of French towns and villages. A main road encircles the town, called the Tour de la Ville, where it often IS very busy and can be quite noisy at times, but it's quiet within the town itself. I walked around the whole town following the Tour de la Ville, where most of the shops are, and enjoyed the nice views from on high even at this lower elevation.

But walked mainly in the centre, even though it felt more like climbing than walking at times.

There were enough basic shops and facilities here, in fact my hotel was opposite a large post office and a cinema. Also here is an English bookshop, probably because there are a lot of Brits living in Gourdon. I heard English being spoken a lot more here than in the more touristy Dordogne region. In fact I soon discovered nearly every staff member in my hotel was English, so it was nice to switch off the French speaking for a while, especially as it felt too bizarre having two English people trying to speak in French to each other.

On Sunday there was not much going on, so as usual most of my time was spent wandering around , and after the church bells rang in the square I could hear the music and sounds of a service going on - so I took a peek behind the large the door. Not a soul inside, but just a tape recording playing to an empty church. I could well understand that religion, as it once was, no longer seems relevant to the masses but it seemed a pity that these beautiful buildings should go to waste and that it would be lovely if something else, more beautiful and meaningful, could take its place that would gather the community together one day a week. Perhaps Sundays everyone just gathers around their televisions. The new religion no doubt. I then went to another church which did in fact have something else going on inside - an art exhibition. I wasn't allowed to take photos of the individual exhibits but could take general photos of the interior. At least the space was being used, although I was the only one there for much of the time.