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Another long drive south to the Dordogne and to Cath and Mike’s house in Liorac-sur-Louyre (5), which is just a short
distance east north east of Bergerac. We had been given clear instructions as to how to find the house and our SatNav
took us right to the driveway gates.
2015 - France / Dordogne
Liorac is a small village where there are no
longer any shops. There is just a bar where you
can buy fresh bread in the mornings. All other
amenities are a car drive or bus ride away.
However, it is close to the Dordogne river which
is about a 30 minute cycle ride away. Easy going
but a bit of a climb on the way back!
The closet Dordogne river town is Mouleydier
where there are a few shops and cafés but
otherwise of no particular interest.
(left) the church and houses of Liorac-sur-
Louyre
(below) a view of Mouleydier from the bridge
over the Dordogne.
Further upstream, from Mouleydier and about the same
distance away from Liorac, is the village of Tuilieres. Here is
an interesting spot where an old canal, that paralells the
Dordogne, rejoins the river by dropping through a series of
locks. (right)
On the main Dordogne river is a fair sized dam which
provides hydro electric power to the region (lower right).
When the dam was built it provided a ‘fish lift’ for salmon
and others to by -pass the dam on their swim upstream
(below).
Inside the dam is a viewing gallery where you can watch the
fish, through an underwater window (E), using the higher
level fish ladder to work their way upstream. The fish are
attracted by the fast flowing water (A) and enter through
gates (B). Every so often the gates close behind the fish and
trap them in the lift (C). The lift brings the fish up to the
higher level and they then follow the fast flowing water into
the conventional fish ladder (D). Standing at window (E) for
about 10 minutes you can see a wide range of fish and eels
heading upstream. You would not believe how many there
are in the river!
The canal, Canal de Lalinde, was constructed in 1840’s to
enable ships to avoid the rapids on the Dordogne river but
these rapids are now drowned below the artificial lake that
sits behind the hydro dam. The arrival of road transport in
20th century made the canal redundant.
It is a pleasant cycle ride upstream on a pathway which runs
between the river and the cana(below left).
In a basin on the canal are a couple of the old barges that
used to ferry goods (below).
The cycle path takes you to the village of Port de Couze, which is unremarkable, but where you can cross over to the south bank of
the Dordogne for your return trip.
In the village of Couze is a very old and picturesque paper mill, Moulin des Merles which dates back to 1530. It is a water mill that
sits astride La Couze, a small tributary to the Dordogne.
Most of the buildings are still intact but the mill is no longer
functioning but preserved as a museum. The large building
(1) is the main mill and the tall, grey shutters surround the
drying room. These shutters could be rotated to catch the
breeze from any direction.
The old village of La Couze was very pretty (right).
We took a trip out in Cath and Mike’s car to view the pretty,
well known areas of the Dordogne such as Beynac, La
Roque Gageac and Sarlat but we also visited the campsite
of Soleil Plage near Vitrac with a view to arranging a
Carthago owners meeting there in 2017.
It was a lovely site and we enjoyed a long lunch in the on
site restaurant.
Click on the logo (below) to see photos on their website
to come back click the back arrow on their website.
We liked Soleil Plage. It is a beautiful location right alongside the river and
impressive facilities and outdoor swimming pools. It reminded us of another of
our favourite campsites, Le Paradis in the Dordogne which we have stopped at
twice before.
Cath and Mike were the perfect hosts and we enjoyed several evenings dining
onthe patio and puttin the world to rights!
The garden was large enough to park two large motorhomes on the side lawn
(see below) and Mike provided us with electric hook up.
We were joined there by Ken and Georgina in their Carthago and their two lovely, chocolate labradors, Max (upper left) and
Dan (lower left). The dogs are regular campers but found the hot sun a good excuse to snooze at every opportunity!
(left) l-r Georgina, George, Cath, Mike
and Ken - dinner on the patio.
(below left) We were busy doing some
gardening tasks when Mike’s tractor had
a catastrophic drive belt failure. Despite
our best attempts and Cath’s
supervision, it had to go to the mower
service centre for repairs.
(below right) house and patio.
All too soon a week had passed and it was time to move on. Before leaving George took advantage of Mike’s terrace to wash the
motorhome roof. This was the turning point in our journey and we were heading north.
