Belcastel and Conques
Well, we’ve finally had our few days away, to the great joy of Mrs B who frequently tells me there is more to life than staring at a computer screen. Anyway, I managed to cope with the withdrawal symptoms - I took a couple of computer programming books along to help - and funnily enough actually enjoyed myself.
Our original plan had been to head over towards Pau but a last minute change of plan took us about 3 hours east of here, to a village called Belcastel, near Conques. Belcastel is in the Aveyron department, between Rodez and Villefranche-de-Rouergue, for those who didn’t already know; and about halfway across France, three hours north of the Pyrenees, for those who still don’t know.
Anyway, the countryside was, as so often in south and south-west France, very beautiful. The village of Belcastel is an almost perfect little place - not a new build house to be seen, a castle towering above the village, and cobbled streets winding up the hillside passed the old stone cottages. Below, the Aveyron River, and an old stone bridge crossing to a village church. We stayed in the village itself (in a gite, not surprisingly) and really, it was like staying in a postcard. Our gite was owned by the town, and had a beautiful view from a large window, across to the church and countryside.
There were a few other highlights, but the one I will mention here is Conques. Conques calls itself ‘Grand Site of France’, which (like ‘Ville Fleurie’ often is) sounds like marketing speak. But if you have never heard of Conques I can tell you that it is very, very attractive.
You approach the village (usually after quite a drive - it is a bit out of the way) up a beautiful wooded valley, and even from the first glance of the village from your car window you know it will be worth the trouble. And so it is. Even ignoring the World Heritage Site Abbey in the middle of the village it would be well worth going. It is simply a beautiful village in a beautiful setting.
As part of my researches for francethisway I have visited quite a few of the ‘most beautiful villages of France’ (tough work, huh?) and even among this prestigious group Conques really is something special. You can of course delve into the world of places to visit in France on the main site.
It is interesting that so many of the ‘most beautiful villages of France’ huddle into certain areas - around us in the north Lot-et-Garonne and southern Dordogne there are lots, then in the area around northern Aveyron, then again in the southern Provence region there is a cluster of ‘perched villages’. If you stay in one of these areas you get the impression that there must be thousands of these villages all over the country, but in reality there are less than 150 in the whole of France.
Remember, visiting villages such as Conques on a lovely sunny day in Autumn is a very different experience from visiting in the height of a crowded summer, but even July and August it is usually possible to get to these villages early in the day and beat the rush and the crush that turns up later in the day. It is also highly recommended, because a major part of the appeal of these villages is the sense of peace, tranquility and timelessness, which is lost a little bit when there are thousands of loud children and tourists swamping every street.
While driving up and down the hills and valleys of Aveyron I complained a lot that I didn’t have my bike (I am off to collect it this morning) - and that it was a shame to be sealed in the car in such beautiful countryside. In truth though, there was never a flat section of road - although the countryside is hilly rather than mountainous - and cycling is pretty tough when all you ever do is go uphill then downhill then uphill again. Contrary to what you might think, it is the flat parts of a route where you recover, rather than on the downhills which are usually over and done with very quickly. So I wasn’t quite as miserable as I made out.
