Living on the tourist trail
Living as we do near the Dordogne region, we see our fair share of tourists. Which is good because we have gites to rent out! Most of my exploring of the region is done on my bike, often with a group of local cyclists. This helps me discover loads of hidden away places I would otherwise never come across.
The opinion of the group is divided on one thing - should we visit ‘tourist attraction’ type towns, or should they be avoided at all costs. One of the group is only happy when we have seen a key site, most are indifferent, and one goes to great lengths, especially during the summer, to make sure we avoid tourist traps of all types.
This is the same person who drove for three hours to see Millau Bridge, and said it was well worth the trip, but waited until February to go, so there were no other tourists around.
Personally I just like to see something new, so I’m not bothered either way, although there are roads I might avoid cycling on in the height of summer, to avoid being pushed into a ditch by an oversized caravan.
Yesterday, we happened to end our ride at the house of the person who insists on avoiding tourists, and he was surprised to find a stranger at his front door - it’s a small village off the beaten track.
She waved a brochure around, that she had got from the tourist office in the nearby town, and pointed out a landmark building that she was looking for so that she could take a photograph.
It turned out that the ‘landmark building’ is at the end of the garden of my ‘don’t like tourists’ cycling partner, and the only way to see it or take a photo is by actually walking through his garden - it is more or less invisible from the road, unless you are seven feet tall or like climbing trees.
So in an amusing twist of fate, the one person I know who actively seeks to avoid tourists now finds that part of his property is itself listed as a tourist attraction, and he is going to spend the summer fending off hoards of tourists eager to come into hs garden and take photos!
I suggested he get postcards printed and starts selling lemonade on his terrace but he didn’t seem very excited by the possibility.
