Visit Rocamadour by Mouse
Rocamadour is in the department of
Lot 36 miles NNE of
Cahors. It is literally built on the side of a cliff. We think that
you can visit the lowest level for free but if you want to go up to two more levels you have to pay fees for an elevator ride. We
did not actually visit the town when we were in the neighborhood in 2005 but contented ourselves to "visiting" by eye only, from the
terrace of a cafe in a town just across a valley from it. We did not want to pay the fees nor did we think we could manage being
mountain goats for a day. The intelligence about the town that we had called it very touristy. The look of it from across
the valley was spectacular, and we were more than content to savor the view and the coffee we had in the cafe terrace on a nice sunny
day.
This is what we wrote afterwards: "There is a town in France that had been recommended to us by other campers as one of
the most beautiful in France. It was miles out of our way and it had an insoluble difficulty for us in particular. It is totally built
into a high cliff, and not suitable for us to walk around. We considered skipping it. Even the guidebook said that the streets were
full of shops and tourists and not too rewarding. But finally, we compromised. We would visit Rocamadour, but only to view it from
afar and not to try walking it. Were we ever glad we had decided to see it. Rocamadour is another WOW! Just to see that town as it
was built into the mountain was well worth those extra miles."
