A beautiful secluded site and a fantastic base to explore from.
11 May 2023 at 08:51:06
This site is a lovely tucked away area, just outside Souillac that makes a fantastic base to see all of the beautiful areas around the locale. When you book it and look at the directions to get there, you need to ensure that you ignore Google maps for the last 10 km or you’ll take yourself through... a whole lot of pain on a really bad road. Head towards Souillac and turn right at a small roundabout and the right again, taking you under a huge viaduct type bridge. Your Google maps will be fine from here and just take it easy for the 6km to the site. It’s a little narrow in places, but enough room to get 2 caravans past each other without any dramas. As you approach the site, you come to a really sharp, right hand hair pin bend. Just move over to the left to get position and then turn into the corner. (It wouldn’t look out of place at Monaco.) We had a 6.5 metre caravan and a Mercedes C class estate and got round with no effort at all. You just follow this road for 1km to the campsite. There is a no entry sign and another saying authorised persons only. This is basically a bit of a one way system and you are authorised. Stick to the right side and drive on. Slowly. There is enough space to park just short of reception and you can go in and discuss your pitch location.
As it was early season, when we went into reception, Alexander greeted us and after taking the ever popular tourist tax, gave us a whole wealth of info about things to do in the local areas. Lots of printed sheets, with QR codes you can scan on your phone and get loads of details on specific places. He pointed out our allocated pitch, but basically said help yourself as it was very quiet. We found ourselves a nice decent size pitch, with plenty of room for caravan, large awning, car and still enough area to sit outside to make the most of the sun. Each pitch has its own fresh water hook up, electric supply and grey waste drain away. As with everywhere in France, the water isn’t the greatest for drinking, it’s very mineral/fluoride tasting, but it’s not going to poison you. There is a good supermarket in Souillac, L’eclerc. You can get fuel here 24/7 (self service pay at pump) has a decent car wash and the supermarket has every single item you could wish for. Don’t be afraid to use the fresh meat and fish counter. I speak very basic school boy French, but the staff are very helpful and with a bit of pointing and prodding, you will get some quality food. Another thing that’s big here is the wine box. You will have the choice of over a hundred. We’ve only had decent wines, with no rubbish stuff and it works out at 3€ a bottle when you get the boxes. Give it a go.
Some of the places we would recommend visiting are:-
Rocamadour. A pilgrimage site built into the side of the cliffs. An old medieval site that is breathtaking when you first see it. Wear a good pair of shoes to walk in. Plenty of parking around.
The places below are all beautiful old French towns, with architecture exactly as you would expect to see. Like an advert for wine or cheese.
La Roque Gageac.
Dome.
Belves.
Beynac et Cazenac
Autoire
LouBressac
Carennac
Martel
Turenne
Colonges la Rouge
Beaulieu sur Dordogne
We worked out a route that allows you to see 4 at a time, without driving hundreds of miles. Just a bit of research the night before. Oh. And check the weather. We’ve had 28 degrees and sunny, down to 13 degrees and pouring down.
The campsite itself will have enough to keep you entertained if you prefer a lazier time. When the weather permits, the pool area is great. Very clean and tidy and pleasant to be around. There is a small shop and bar and a couple of nights a week, there is a BBQ and a group on.
It’s a huge site overall and allows a nice wander round the woods in the area. We had our 2 large dogs with us, on leads at all times, but there are still those who will free walk their dog and then get snotty when your dog takes a dislike to being sniffed and prodded.
I’d like to give special thanks to Gabriel, the site Director.
The night before we were due to leave, I was unexpectedly taken ill with a high temperature and had to go to bed for 24 hours to try to ride it out. It got much worse before it started to improve. My wife, obviously worried about what was happening contacted Gabriel to say we would need another day, maybe even 2. Gabriel’s response was, take as long as you need. No rush whatsoever. Do what you need to. He even gave her his private mobile in case things got worse. It turns out, I had a reoccurrence of shingles, which knocked me out for 36 hours. I managed to get enough strength together to move on 24 hours later. I saw Gabriel outside of the shop, just prior to leaving and said if he sent me his bank details I’d pay the extra day online. He wouldn’t hear of it and said to just concentrate on getting better.
Gabriel. You’re a gentleman. Thank you.
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