First things first ~ Many thanks to my sister and fellow hiker for (a) inviting me into the world of Adventure Women trips, and (b) for finding this tiny gem of a village in which to spend our last days in France.

My hike experience with our upbeat, cohesive, yet diverse group of awesome women far surpassed any expectations I may have had — which were few as I really didn’t know what to expect.  Every day was new, different, and invariably bestowed an unexpected gift upon each of us — sometimes very personal and subtle — other times all-up-in-your-face conspicuous.

Adjectives fall short to describe this trip but here are a few that will have to do: fabulous, wondrous, legendary, storybook, superb, and of course, groovy!  But had I visited all of these places alone, it would not have been the same experience. It’s the synergy of the people you’re hangin’ with and the sensory, in-the-moment experiences that add palpable dimension and emotion, and allow each one of us to build many-faceted memories. Yup, that’s it alright.

So now let me show you the charm of Saint Cirq Lapopie ~ a place where time is always now.

I love maps.

We arrived in Saint Cirq Lapopie (hereafter abbreviated as “SCL”) from Toulouse in our rental car on a rainy, foggy afternoon, the 16th of September 2013.  Our first task as the car climbed the narrow and winding road through the village was to locate our accommodations–not an easy one since the streets have no names and the houses and shops have no numbered addresses.  Sue got on the phone with Nerida, a resident who was “managing” the rental cottage on behalf of the absent owner, who gave us enough descriptors to find our cottage and where to park our car.  Being the resourceful women that we are–we were successful in this endeavor but were fairly rain-soaked from the process.  The coziness of our cottage was a welcome respite after the day’s journey.

We found it! Note the grape arbor over the terrace…amazing.

Cozy SCL cottage

An acquaintance of Sue’s provided us with an invaluable list of things to do and see while in and around SCL. First on her list of “must-do’s” was “enjoy two-hour lunches with a bottle of local wine and foods” ~ no problem!  We adopted that routine immediately and I was awed by the profoundly restorative effect of simply being in the moment, talking about anything and everything as we savored each bite of food and swallow of vin rouge.

First course ~ authentic and rustic French onion soup

Second (main) course ~ tajine duck that was fall-off-the-bone tender and spicy

Third (and never to be skipped) course ~ dessert of lemon tart with cassis sauce

And, finally, the best coffee ever to close out our 2-hour lunches

It goes without saying that, after a lunch of this caliber, we had only fruit and bits of cheese to go with our wine at dinner each night. How do you top that…how do you go home and resume your “normal” crazy-busy life?  I tried not to think about it.

So we were told, Saint Cirq Lapopie is populated by about 35 full-time “residents” or probably more correctly, property owners, most of whom are from other countries.  There are a handful of artists that live and have shops in SCL but I suspect that may only be the case when the tourists swarm into the village by the busload.  Having just navigated the village’s teeny cobblestone streets myself by car, I was impressed by the precision driving required by the bus drivers.

Cobbled passage in St Cirq Lapopie

Every day we strolled through the labyrinthine passageways and streets of the village, always finding places we had not yet been and shops not visited. There was an outdoor theater that comprises a series of stepped stone benches akin to an amphitheater but not curved.  Posters that advertised performances indicated that this venue was actively used throughout the summer months.  Ambling along the rough cobbled passages served up so many visuals that I often found that I had to just stop — and slowly turn 360 degrees to absorb it all.

Buildings whispered their long-held memories from centuries past as we maneuvered uneven cobbles along our way. My imagination conjured up images of what life was like in this medieval stronghold, owned in succession by four local feudal dynasties: the Lapopie, Gourdon, Cardaillac, and Castelnau families who, through the centuries, built and enlarged the village.  Channels constructed down the center of each passage (note in above photo) would have carried not only  rainwater, as today, but all manner of substances cast out of upper-story windows.  Does Les Miserables come to mind?  It should–there’s your visual.

Only crumbling remnants of the first fortress, built by the Lapopie family in the 11th century, stand on a breast-shaped rock that bears a local nickname – la popie. Visitors can now climb up a sinuous route of stone steps to the top vantage point for a majestic view of the farmlands across the Lot River, which meanders below the rock promontory upon which the original fortress was built.

Remnants of fortress walls

We were treated with visits to two residents’ homes one day — Nerida deJong, a painter that hails originally from Australia. Time spent in the Cook Islands as well has influenced her painting style and subject matter.  Check our her website, neridadejong.com, to view her very sensuous paintings. She elegantly served us tea and sweet biscuits (we’d call them cookies in the US) as we sat in her second-story living room, perched above her art gallery, with her friend (and now ours), Ann Lokey.  Ann owns a home in SCL that she also rents out (via VRBO), and hails from the Seattle area.  If you ever do plan a visit to St Cirq Lapopie, Ann Lokey’s website will be your guide — the URL is theresaplaceinfrance.com. It’s chockfull of useful information and insider tips.

We didn’t always eat out for lunch — our last day, needing to clean out what remained of our food stores, we had lunch on our terrace – complete with grape arbor.

Bonnie, Sue and I dining on the terrace of our cottage

Besides languishing over two-hour lunches, we did a bit of shopping in this little artisan commune.  Most shops held hand-crafted items by locals while a small few others, disappointingly, were stocked with cheap Asian imports. With the US dollar weak against the Euro, we shopped discriminately for the well-made and unique.

Serendipity at its best

I developed an obsession with doors on this trip — from the time we arrived in Lyon over a week ago.  After photographing the first few, they were no longer just doors but faces, where the variations in colors, handles, knockers, and marred surfaces were akin to the lives faces wear — the battle scars, laugh (or worry) lines that make us unique and interesting.  Here is a sampling of my favorite door “faces”:

Another beautiful door

One of the many vintage doors along Rue Victor Hugo, Lyon

Now for just a few more captured moments from St Cirq Lapopie.

One of the many pleasure boats cruising the Lot River

What remains of one of the original fortress’ gates into St Cirq Lapopie

Adornments on a home we dubbed “the witch’s lair” for the prominent spider-web theme

the “witch’s lair” entry gate – love this!

Au revoir, St Cirq Lapopie, and beautiful France!  I shall return someday.

My Camino de Santiago ~ Via Podiensis pilgrimage passport, with stamps from along our route.

This post concludes our adventures in Iceland and France.  Thank you for following along in my first blog experience.  I think there’s an addiction growing within such that I may have to keep this monologue going.  It seems to provide me with an outlet that was untapped before.  Writing in this mode also feeds my need to feel like I accomplished something–however small–each day (or so).

Because I don’t have any immediate travel plans, I’m pondering the idea of climbing into the way-back machine and mentally revisiting and writing about past travel memories to see what pops out.  Memory can be a strange thing — grabbing smells, sounds, or certain touches — to be triggered months to years later.  If I could only invent scratch’n’sniff for the internet…

Later.