(View above St. Cirq, where we had lunch)

Yesterday we drove from Toulouse to Sarlat-la-Caneda, another popular medieval town, but we didn’t come here for that. There are three caves within a half-hour drive with 20,000 year old paintings. We’ll spend the next 3 days visiting caves and touring the area.

(Castle ruins)

The interesting part of our day yesterday was a stop in St. Cirq Lapopie. This is still another medieval town, built in the 13th century and rebuilt in the 15th. It is situated on the steep banks of the Lot River, making it a wonderfully picturesque village. As part of my informal hobby of eating lunch in amazing places, we had lunch at the castle ruins, with the panoramic view above.

(An art studio)

In addition to the church, restaurants, and gift shops, St. Cirq has an artist colony with several art studios.

The weather was perfect. The coffee was very good, and the views were spectacular.