More Snow and a Medieval Clifftop Village

As we were on electric hook up we had a toasty night in the Aire de Camping Car at Entraygues-sur-Truyere. Emma had her much anticipated long hot shower and was able to dry her hair properly so all is good! We emptied and filled before hitting the road for the short drive to Milau where Lidl awaits for our weekly shop.

Our route today takes us high up into the Park Naturel des Grand Causses as we climb out of the Tarn valley en-route to the Lot valley. Around 3000ft we found the snow and stopped for coffee and some photos. Fortunately the small amount of traffic combined with the sun meant that the majority of the roads were clear. We passed some picture postcard villages along the way - the sandstone walls and slate roofs of the old houses looked even better with snow around.

We stopped for lunch with a great view of snow capped mountains and Emma half remembered something she’d seen on an “unusual places” website. A bit of Googling and we discovered that we were only a few km away. We changed our plans and headed to Bozouls where there is a large, free Aire de Camping Car. 

We parked Kiki and checked out the information board. There are three small hikes around the gorge - we chose the 6km one and set out towards the village. We soon discovered why this is an “unusual place” - the medieval village is perched on the edge of a 100m deep horseshoe gorge!

Our walk took us down into the gorge and alongside the river as it winds its way around and almost back on itself. High above us we can see the houses clinging to the edge.

We hadn’t gone very far when we saw some goats on the path. As we approached one of them came over to say hi - she was very friendly and liked being stroked. It wasn’t long before we were surrounded by a dozen inquisitive creatures. Fortunately when they realised there was no free food they got bored and started climbing the sheer sides of the gorge. Later when we were at the top, we spotted the goats again - they had climbed the sheer cliff face and were clinging to the edge eating. 

We followed the river for a couple of km, crossing three small suspension footbridges on the way. As the gorge widened into a valley, the route climbed steeply up to the top and made its way back along the ridge. There are houses and a church perched on the end of the narrow spur of rock in the middle of the bend.

Next we climbed down into the gorge and up the other side to the main part of the village. We wandered along checking out the numerous viewpoints - some of which were built out over the gorge! We returned to Kiki through the village where we had supper before settling down for the evening.