Southern France, April 30 - May 2

On Wednesday morning Todd took the Metro to a Parisian parking garage to pick up the brand-new Renault Clio Estate that we would drive for the remainder of our trip.  We had leased the car, which we named “Jacques,” from Renault’s U.S. subsidiary before our departure under a contract that provided full insurance coverage throughout the European Union.  The engine was a very fuel-efficient diesel, and the GPS (i.e., NavSat) was supposedly capable of guiding us in all the countries on our itinerary.   The GPS initially provided directions both on-screen and orally with the latter voiced in the polite but no-nonsense tones of a well-educated British lady, whom we christened “Agatha.”  Regrettably, Agatha stopped speaking some three hours into our drive, and the first opportunity for repair will come in Dublin.  Maybe there Agatha will acquire a brogue.

Jacques

While hardly a Mercedes, Jacques performed well on the autoroutes as we drove south from Paris.   Our destination was the vacation home in the Lot Valley of Tony and Judy Lane, British friends from Todd’s maritime days.  The Lanes had bought an old farmhouse near Montcuq (which sounds like “my ass” in French; the local stores proudly sell postcards picturing someone’s derriere).  A sweeping renovation and the addition of a swimming pool turned the property into a showplace that the Lanes occupy for part of the year and rent out to vacationers via the internet for other periods of clement weather.

Lanes’ home in Nougayrede-Bas, near Montcuq

Much of the pleasure in visiting the Lanes comes from our conversations, but Tony and Judy were kind enough to show us some of the noteworthy architectural monuments in the area dating from the Romanesque period.  Most impressive was the abbey at Moissac, which became associated in the 11^th Century with the famous Benedictine abbey at Cluny.  The stone carvings at Moissac are extraordinarily well preserved, so much so that Kenneth Clark used them as illustrations in his renowned “Civilization” series on television some years ago.

Tower and cloister at Mossaic

 

We also visited Cahors, the region’s capital, where a stone bridge crosses the Lot River.  This structure afforded passage in the Middle Ages to pilgrims bound for Spain and Santiago de Compostela.

With Tony and Judy Lane on the bridge at Cahors