We've completely given up on the idea of the Lascaux caves and we aren't even going to bother trying to go there. Instead we will make our way up the river to a train station and see what our options are. We checked on-line but the route it gives requires a station change in 7 minutes which seems a bit unlikely.
We set off in the wrong direction but used a side road to connect back. In fact the side route was so nice, aside from the up and down, that we stayed on that the whole way. At one point we had a fair climb up to a rather good look out, we could see three separate chateau's along the river. I pointed out the horrible red route that was on the other side of the river to Paul and said “Who'd want to take that nasty busy road?”. Paul wanted to know if I meant the dead flat one with no cars on it. Yep that was it :)
After the lookout there was a nice descent into the next town and from there a small lump and then another lovely riverside road (beside not above) into the town of Terrasson. We'd decided to ride directly to this town without checking out any others along the way as we thought this was the first town that would actually have a manned train station, and we were right. The station attendant was very helpful and took ages to book a route for us which seemed unduly complex and even included a TGV leg. However the price was 150 Euro! Too much, we were expecting it to be about 80 or 90 Euro at most. We picked a town that was quite so far and he tried again, this time it was 108 Euro which seemed much better. We could have saved the 8 by riding the 15 K's to the next town but couldn't be bothered. We booked that, thanked him several times and then went back into town.
The town has a nice looking church half way up the hill that surrounds the town so up we went. Alas it is being renovated and it closed to the general public, bummer. We enjoyed the views for a while, Paul took yet more photo's and then we went back down in to the town, checked out the 12th century bridge. Paul then found a patisserie with a meringue based regional speciality tart so we got that and ate it in the town square. As it turns out the change of destination is probably good as it puts us on the river Cher which Paul informs me is another important chateau area, so more to see!
The train was spot on time, as always,, we got on and while there were bike hooks didn't bother as this leg is only 14 minutes. A pleasant little trip down the river valley, and no hills! At Brive La Gaillarde we carried the bikes down the steps, up the steps and then rode out of the station to the nearest restaurant. Paul immediately picked the Logis de France restaurant which had an 11 Euro lunch which included a buffet entree. We locked the bikes up together across the street in a bike parking area and settled in for our 90 minute lunch, I mean wait. The buffet was reasonably good, lots of vegies, gerkins, even a mixture of mushies. We ate a plate of that with baguette and then I had beef burgognone and Paul had steak hachette. Some of the beef was a tad tough but by and large it was pretty good. Washed down with a Rose for me a red for Paul. For dessert you could get one dessert from the buffet so I had a slice of apple pie ad Paul a crème brulee.
With just a few minutes to spare we made it to our carriage on the incredibly long train. About 12 carriages, almost like a Japanese train. There were even bike hooks which we got the bikes on to, panniers and all, with some effort. Then a rather nice, air conditioned, ride to the town of Limoges. At this stop, our final change of trains, we had a quick look at the area outside the station and decided that there was nothing there. We then walked back into the station planning to look for somewhere to wait when the train platform number appeared so we went immediately there. And it is a lucky thing we did. When we got there, to the two carriage train, there were already two cyclists trying to get their bikes up and into the only area of the train where the bikes could fit. After removing our panniers we followed them in and the organised to have our bikes against the wall as they were getting off first. While we were doing that another cyclist appeared, he went to the other end of the carriage. We then settled into a pair of seats to wait for the train to leave when 2 more cyclists arrived. And then another 3, and then another 2. Who knows how they fitted so many people into the front carriage, but they did get everyone in!
The train finally left, spot on time of course. It is an all stops and will take close to 2 and a half hours to get to Vierzon so I decided it was a good time to do some work on the diary and photo albums, so I did. I went to the loo after a while and discovered that they had opened up the guards area and put all of the bikes in there, so no problem after all! After a rather uneventful journey we arrived at Vierzon. We descended from the train, repacked the bikes and then we had to go down and up to exit and there were ramps! Cool. Paul almost lost control of his bike but fortunately no children or animals were injured.
We then looked for a map, there was one, AND the camping was marked. So good! Paul seems resigned to camping so off we went. There were even signs all the (round about scenic view of the city) way to the camp site. Great! And it was only 8.25 Euro, what could be better. Well as it happens it has concrete picnic tables available! Alas though, we don't actually have any food to cook. So after a shower (too late for laundry) we ate at the camp site snack/dinner area. Paul got two turkey kebabs and I had chicken fillets, both with a green salad. The chicken was actually very tender, the lettuce smothered in a sea of mayonnaise. For dessert Paul had a Magnum, the bugger. I had a Callypo because I've been on the verge of hay fever the last few days. I'd have loved a Magnum I haven't had one in so long.
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