Sightseeing along the way
The Château des Anglais : in Bouziès, take some time to admire the narrow riverside passage known as the Défilé des Anglais. At the other end of the bridge on the Lot there is a spectacular section of road that runs through a tunnel in the rock. Overhead there is a crenellated wall in the rock, known as the Château des Anglais, built at the entrance to a cave.
It dates from the 14th century, and popular tradition has mythologised it as the 'Château des Anglais' (Castle of the English), much like other cliff-face constructions around the region, which have become known as 'Châteaux du diable' (Devil's Castles) and 'Châteaux des brigands' (Bandits' Castles). It is not known exactly what these fortified caves, or roques, were used for.
The River Lot : the walks starts in Bouziès and follows the Lot upstream to Saint Cirq Lapopie. From its source in the Lozère département, this river runs for 481 km and, despite its turbulent waters, from the 16th century it was an important trade route. The enterprising bargees plying the river used large flat-bottomed lighters known as 'gabarres' to transport timber, wine and coal to Aquitaine.
Superseded in the early 20th century by the railways and roads, the Lot returned to its natural state. Since 1991, an extensive inter-regional redevelopment programme has been restoring the locks to working order and stabilising the river flow to make it navigable once again.
Boats and canoes : the section of the Lot in the Midi-Pyrénées region that is now navigable runs from Larnagol upstream of Saint Cirq Lapopie to Luzech downstream of Cahors, a total stretch of 75 km, with 17 locks along the way.
On the section covered by the walk, probably the most spectacular, you'll come across many cruisers (river boats and gabarres), barges, house boats and canoes between April and October.
The Ganil towpath : you follow this for its entire length of around a kilometre. It's a real curiosity! This passageway was dug into the base of the cliff between 1843 and 1847 to help the gabarres ply up and down the river, because the opposite bank was too soft to withstand the passage of draught horses.
The towpath is decorated with a 36m2 bas relief completed in 1989 by the sculptor Daniel Monnier on the theme 'Fording the Lot'. The cutting leads to the fine lock house at the Ganil Reach on the edge of Saint Cirq Lapopie.
The Lot /Célé confluence : the towpath runs along the bank opposite the Lot/Célé confluence at Conduché. On reaching Figeac after a superb 50km stretch which is also lined with cliffs, the Célé flows into the Lot through a 'cingle' (loop) bordered by the Coudoulous and Ganil Crags.
Peregrine falcons : you stand a good chance of spotting these amazingly fast birds of prey in this area (they can dive at 200 km/h). Many of these carefully protected birds nest in the cliffs of the Causses du Quercy Regional Nature Park, a haven for a host of cliff-dwelling birds such as eagle owls, ravens, crag martins and Alpine swifts.
Saint Cirq Lapopie : clinging to the cliff top 80 metres above the river, Saint Cirq Lapopie is a bewitching jumble of Gothic houses, half-timbered workshops and steep streets. Walking through the village, officially recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in France, gives you the chance to appreciate every detail of its totally unspoilt heritage.
You will also notice how the local building materials used in the village – amber-coloured limestone, garnet roof tiles made from the local clay and the brown oak of the causse – come together to create a picture of harmony rarely seen.
The causse : the second part of the walk leads through the woods high above the Lot, taking you back to Bouziès. Here you are up on the causse, dominated by downy oaks (so called because their leaves bear short downy 'hairs'). This thin, gnarled tree is well adapted to the dry limestone soils, where any rainwater quickly disappears into the depths below.
The only other species of tree that grow on the causse are the Montpellier maple, St Lucie cherry and Cornelian cherry.
Practical info
Start and end point
The car park by the River Lot in Bouziès.
Length
8 km.
Duration
3 hrs.
Total height difference
205 m (130 m to 260 m).
Waymarking
White and red (GR®36) and yellow (PR®).
Level
Easy.
Best time to go
Practicable all year round.
Getting there
Bouziès is 28 km east of Cahors on the D653 and D662.
Information
Saint Cirq Lapopie Tourist Office – Place du Sombral – Tel. +33 (0)5 65 31 31 31 – www.saint-cirqlapopie.com
In the hollow of the Lot Valley, along the river set off by its towering cliffs, you follow in the footsteps of André Breton, the great champion of Saint Cirq Lapopie.
The backdrop of crags, the sun reflecting off the stone, the sparkling river, the roofs of Saint Cirq Lapopie cascading down the cliff top: how can you resist the charm of the surroundings here? It's easy to understand why the poet André Breton fell head over heels in love with the place.
The father of the surrealist movement first came here in 1950 for the inauguration of the first 'Route mondiale', which was to start from Cahors.
André Breton was struck by the beauty of Saint Cirq Lapopie, making it his regular summer haunt. "More so than many other nights (in America and Europe), Saint Cirq Lapopie has cast over me a singular spell of the kind that holds you in its grasp forever. I have stopped wishing I were elsewhere," he declared. The leading light of surrealism stayed at the Auberge des Mariniers, entertaining his artist friends and spending his days exploring the surroundings. One of his favourite hobbies was looking for rocks, in particular agate pebbles worn smooth by the River Lot.
You will no doubt get just as much pleasure walking along the river here, once plied by traditional flat-bottomed gabarres. You will feel the tremendous mass of the cliffs towering over your head as you walk along the old Ganil towpath, continuing through oak groves whose dense foliage turns the causse into a sea of green.
In the heart of the Causses du Quercy Regional Nature Park
The scrubland of stunted oaks here is typical of the Causses du Quercy Regional Nature Park through which the walk takes you, as are the landscapes of water-eroded limestone. The section through Saint Cirq Lapopie, the gem of the Regional Nature Park, is the highlight of this walk full of fascinating sights.
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Route guides
The route description (in French), written by the Fédération Française de Randonnée Pédestre, can be downloaded from www.randonnees-midi-pyrenees.com
The following 'topoguide' walking guide is also useful for reference : Le Lot à pied - Editions FFRandonnée / Ref D046.
This topoguide is available from good bookshops or via the website of the Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre: www.ffrandonnee.fr
http://crtmp1.cnstlltn.com/master/28f58b5b-f108-45b3-93c3-d0319775c9f5/St-Cirq-Lapopie.kml
The Quercy causses
This walk takes place on the causse, a geographical term describing a limestone plateau formed in the Jurassic period. The Quercy causses cover a large part of the Lot département.
Everywhere, the thick slab of limestone has been shaped by the action of rainwater. Marked by folds and low hilltops (known as pechs), this dry plateau is covered in short grasses and downy oaks alternating with fertile depressions called dolines.
In several places the plateau is split by the canyons of the Rivers Ouysse and Alzou and the cliff-lined valleys of the Lot, Célé and Dordogne. Water has seeped down into the limestone bedrock, over time eroding an endless network of underground passageways, natural wells (known as igues) and swallow holes, the most famous of which is the Gouffre de Padirac.
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