Those were fine, peaceful days in April and May 2006 when we were in the Dordogne, around Sarlat. Here are some scenes in a slideshow made up of photos I took back then.
This past week has been a different story down there. The Dordogne river overflowed a couple of days ago. Here's a France 2 television video, shot by drone, showing the flooding at the village of La Roque-Gageac, one of the most beautiful in the region. The water rose quickly and went back down fairly quickly too. News reports say the damage was minimal, even though the river waters were lapping up against the foundations of buildings along the village's main road.
The ninth photo in my slideshow (toward the end) is a picture of La Roque-Gageac's river road and its château. The Cher river, down the hill from where we live, four hours north of Sarlat, has flooded too. I drove down there yesterday morning and saw fields flooded, but all lthe houses seemed to be above the floodwaters... so far.
Yes, this is a beautiful region. I wish I had seen more of it. The flooding in La Roque-Gajeac is scarry. Fortunately, it didn't last and the damage was minimal. Beautiful photos in the slideshow.
ReplyDeleteBonjour CHM, I'm enjoying the process of re-living some of these trips and re-processing photos. It's time to move on from the Dordogne now.
DeleteOh my heavens. Just what people don't need in this time of pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI saw a report on the news yesterday about flooding somewhere in the northeastern part of France. Floodwaters had risen suddenly and peoples houses had a foot of water in them. Their furniture was standing in that much water. And they said it was the third time they'd been flooded in three or four years. Sounds like it would be a good idea for them to move elsewhere, but who would by their house?
DeleteThis is such a beautiful part of France. It seems that these rivers flood regularly, is that right?
ReplyDeleteI think I heard that the last time La Roque-Gageac had flooding like this was in the mid-'90s. The Cher river overflows most years but usually houses don't get flooded. The flood plain along the river is not built on. Flooding is one thing we don't have to worry about where we live, up high on a hill. High winds are our main worry.
DeleteLa Roque-Gageac...the flooding gets ones attention. Sarlat looks beautiful so lush and green.
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