Now that I've mentioned Rocamadour, I have to do a post or two about the place. I've been there twice, in pre-digital (I'm talking about photography) 1995 and again in the digital age, in 2006. This is my virtual vacation week, and maybe just sorting through and processing photos turns out to be one of the best ways to see Rocamadour. Avoid the crowds. These are some pictures I took as we arrived there on a very busy tourist day, April 30 (the eve of the big May 1 holiday in France).
So what we did was go back in 2007 in wintertime. It was a trip we took on my birthday in early March that year. We rented a room on the Mont and spent the night — just one, I believe. The weather cooperated, and we pretty much had the place to ourselves, especially after 6 p.m. when the few busloads of tourists had departed for the day. The streets emptied out, and we found a good place for dinner. There were just enough people in the restaurant that it didn't feel deserted and sad, and the food was good.
The next morning, we saw the tide come in and the Mont temporarily become an island. That was one of the moments I wanted to experience. So what if rain was pouring down — you expect that in Normandy. It's atmospheric. If you don't get soaked, or at least pretty damp, you haven't really been there. We then drove back to Saint-Aignan (4 or 5 hours on the road). It was fun.
Maybe it's not fair to compare Rocamadour to the Mont Saint-Michel. Sorry to give you text about one place and photos of the other.
P.S. I just found a web site that lists the 125 famous places France that draw the biggest crowds every year. Eurodisney, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris all top six million visitors annually, with Eurodisney far in the lead. At between one and 1.5 million a year, the Mont Saint-Michel is in the same league as the great cathedral in Reims (Champagne), the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the American military cemetery at Colleville (near Bayeux and the D-Day beaches in Normandy), and — uh-oh! — the Beauval zoological park in Saint-Aignan, with its giant pandas. Rocamadour doesn't even make the list. So go there if you can. Rocamadour needs your business!
P.S. I just found a web site that lists the 125 famous places France that draw the biggest crowds every year. Eurodisney, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower in Paris all top six million visitors annually, with Eurodisney far in the lead. At between one and 1.5 million a year, the Mont Saint-Michel is in the same league as the great cathedral in Reims (Champagne), the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the American military cemetery at Colleville (near Bayeux and the D-Day beaches in Normandy), and — uh-oh! — the Beauval zoological park in Saint-Aignan, with its giant pandas. Rocamadour doesn't even make the list. So go there if you can. Rocamadour needs your business!
A virtual vacation is such a great idea when you have to stay at home. Love your photographs. I find myself taking the time to go over old memories, too, during these strange times.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Good memories are a great consolation at times like this.
DeleteI visited Rocamadour on a sunny winter's day, and it was pretty empty. It's a peculiar place, a prismatic explosion of little chapels, and the statue of the Black Madonna in the middle of it all.
ReplyDeletehttps://mikenbondi.blogspot.com/2011/01/figeac-area-rocamadour.html
Thanks Mike. Good post about and photos of Rocamadour. I hope you and G. and the new pup are happy and healthy.
DeleteOff-season is always a good idea, but has its disadvantages, too.
ReplyDeleteOn your link, I see my town of Carcassonne, which is #9 and which is the biggest attraction after various sights in Paris and a couple of theme parks. We get 2 million-plus visitors a year, but most come in July and August and just for the day. In fact, they visit the fortified city, which is truly spectacular, and rarely set foot in the "new" town (built in 1260) across the river, and which would be a destination unto itself it it weren't in the shadow of la Cité. Anyway, la Cité is lovely even in summer, if you go in the morning or evening (or at night! It's a city, so there's no entry fee, no ticket, no control on coming and going). But if you're there in the afternoon, after lunch, it's miserable. OTOH, July brings an open-air music/theater festival and August has medieval events, including jousting.
I recall visiting Sienna, Italy, a few times. Day trips from Florence, except for one time when I stayed there. As you describe with Mont-Saint-Michel, it was transformed when the daytrippers left.
I ache to visit Rocamadour, which we pass on our way to visit family farther north. But my husband is strictly against side trips or even bathroom breaks. Ten hours nonstop. Misery.
I've only ever driven by Carcassonne. I looked at a map and was surprised to see that it's a 3-hour drive from where you are. Walt and I are pretty crowd-phobic, which fact might help explain what I wrote in my post.
Delete..."a 3-hour drive from where you are" to Rocamadour...
DeleteNever had a chance to go to Rocamadour and deeply regret it.
ReplyDeleteWe could try to go there when you come back to France. According to Google Maps, Rocamadour is a little less than 4 hours south of Saint-Aignan by car. Nous connaissant, I predict it would take us no more than 12, maybe 15 hours to get there.
DeleteKen, lol!
DeleteI like your photos of Rocamadour from a distance. When I visited it seemed like it was uphill all the way and I don't think my photos were very good.
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly uphill. I have some looking-down shots left to post.
DeleteAs I mentioned yesterday, I visited Rocamadour many years ago, first seeing it from the car and then staying later in the trip. It really was breathtaking when we came out from a tunnel (I think) and saw Rocamadour up ahead. When we stayed there, we stayed up above the center of town. We walked down to the center, and it was full of touristy shops selling junk. At least we found a good spot for dinner.
ReplyDeleteBob, places like Rocamadour and the Mont St-Michel really are tourist traps full of tourist shops selling tourist junk. You're lucky you had a decent meal and a good bottle of Cahors in Rocamadour. We had lunch there, but not a trace if it remains in my memory.
DeleteWe were in Rocamadour in October of 2003 or 04. There were tourists of course but not to the extent that we felt crowded. We spent three weeks in this area on that trip and loved every minute of it, thanks for taking me back. Have you visited Figeac? Another town that we loved.
ReplyDeleteWe drove through Figeac on a road trip in 1995. It's one of the places I would like to see more of.
DeleteI visited Figeac briefly in the same week as seeing Rocamadour and wish I could have seen more. It's the birthplace of Charles Boyer and of Jean-François Champollion - and there's a museum dedicated to the latter which is high on my list for my next visit ...whenever international travel becomes possible again.
DeleteHow can you talk about Rocamadourand not mention the wonderful cheese?
ReplyDeleteI think it's because we live in the area where Selles-sur-Cher, Ste-Maure, Valençay, and other great goat cheeses are produced. We never feel the need to buy goat cheeses from exotic lands.
DeleteRocamadour looks amazing. It's one of the places I'd never heard of. Your Mont St. Michel overnight sounds really great, experiencing it when the crowds have gone and the tine is in! Eurodisney would probably be last on my last of places to visit in France.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Eurodisney draws a lot of European tourists.
DeleteFor whatever reason, I've never thought about going to Rocamadour. Le Mont Saint-Michel, on the other hand .... I like your approach of going in the very off season. Years ago, I got to Machu Picchu that way, so we stayed overnight and in the morning had the place to ourselves before the day trippers arrived.
ReplyDeleteCarcassonne is a delightful place. Do put it on your list.