Bort les Orgues

The morning started with heavy rain and thunderstorm surrounding the gite. With breakfast and the storm all done by 09:15, and with the sky brightening, we took to the car and set off. Todays target was Bort des Orgues but as usual we made detours or stopped off en route.

After filling up the fuel tank at Bugeat we pulled over to take in the beautiful vista that is le Lac de Viam. This is an artificial lake which now provides beaches from which many water based leisure activities are launched. And, as well as a feast for the eyes, the lake is an integral part of the French hydro-electricity network.

After enjoying the view we continued on our way, but not for long. Another small detour took us to Le Mont-Bessou just north of the town of Meymac.
Here we climbed the viewing tower

Viewing Tower, Le Mont-Bessou, Correze, France

which I have since discovered

is built of Douglas fir, braced with steel cables, and is triangular in plan. 188 steps and six intervening landings, take the visitor to the main viewing platform, which is 26 metres (85 ft) above the ground.

Which probably explains why I came close to being seasick so far away from the sea. The tower resonates with every step as you ascend and never quite seems to settle, never quite stationary. Presumably that is why they have this mounted on the top deck in the middle of the floor.

Swing-O-Meter, Viewing Tower, Le Mont-Bessou, Correze, France

I’m pleased to say that I did not see the pendulum swing out of the center circle.

All that aside, the views were, despite the clouds, spectacular.

View from viewing tower, Mont-Bessou, Correz, France – Looking towards Meymac

All the fresh air, scenery and climbing the tower had made us hungry. So on we travelled to Bort des Orgues where we sat on the terrace of the Central Hotel overlooking the river and ate a superb lunch.

NB: I just discovered this post, in draft state. I don’t feel it is complete but have submitted it as is because my memories of that day are truly hazy.

The weather forecast on Tuesday evening showed, yet again, the whole of France was going to get wet. So, hedging our bets again, we opted to go shopping in Bort les Orgues. Then, if the weather tends towards the dry side, we could still do the tourist thing.

The satnag took us straight down into the gorge immediately below our gite. This was a quiet country lane yet to be explored, by us. Not long on the road, no more than five minutes, and I was out with my camera…

…… and again as we passed through Champagnac.

The trouble with this region is that around every other bend in the road is a view. Every turn takes you through another pretty village, with a quaint church or building with a distinctive architectural style.

As always, the roads are empty and the villages devoid of visible life. Of course, the nearer you get to a significant town, the peace and tranquility disappears.

And so it was on this occasion. Windy country roads, climbing in and out of the gorges, eventually gave way to the busy roads feeding Bort les Orgues.

Having previously visited the town, nearly two years ago, we quickly located the Carrefour supermarket which is much bigger than our local Intermarche in Neuvic.

I won’t bore you with the details but, some thirty-five minutes later we had replenished our grocery stocks, loaded our purchases into the car and set about finding a place to eat.

Parking up, alongside the Dordogne, we crossed over the river and had a very nice meal in the restaurant of the Central Hotel. Should you ever visit Bort the food and service here is very good.

Dordogne River – Bort-les-Orgues

Central Hotel – Bort-les-Orgues

Suitably revitalised and with the weather behaving itself, we set about touring the centre of Bort.

Window display – Bort-les-Orgues

Having exhausted our need for window shopping we decided to search out a local view-point, “les Orgues”. Once again the satnag denied the existence of any such “Point of Interest”. I really am going to have to complain to TomTom. To get the satnag to play ball, I had to point it at a nearby hamlet.

Well, I think TomTom planned the resultant route out of spite. Shortly after setting off I had to make a three-point turn to negotiate a hairpin bend while negotiating a 10% incline.

The single track road quickly degenerated into a dirt track with a steep drop down to Bort on one side and a ragged edge into a gulley on the other.

I didn’t dare stop to take pictures for fear I wouldn’t be able to get going forwards again. And I certainly wouldn’t have wanted to reverse back down to Bort. I am also pretty sure Gerry had her eyes closed so, as a photographer she was somewhat indisposed.

Eventually, we found ourselves back on normal roads and were soon parked up at the view-point. You can see for yourselves if it was worth the scary drive.

Having admired the view and taken the pics, we set off on our meandering journey home. Enjoying the scenery, between rain showers, but being inexorably called by two cups of tea.

But there is always time for one or two more photos ….