Ken's ancestral tour through
SW France - 6 - Les Mazut to Souliac via Meymac

Sunday 29th June 2003

Even hotter today, getting up to a ghastly 39°C. Pleasant breakfast & a bill of €40. We headed along the spectacular Célé valley (in French) breaking off at Brengues & heading North across varying terrain, mostly of no agricultural use, to Tulle & North-East, stopping at Roses de Egletons for a protracted three-course lunch (€42 for 2) during which we spoke to an American couple, he Bob, who spoke no French & whom I sorted out with the menu.

Then, on for 20 minutes to Meymac. The weather was so grim, what with the heat, that I was affeared that it would be a disappointment. It wasn't - see this link to the Force Scrapbook page for Meymac. Then, I drove back as fast as I could to try to get a cooler breeze going (failed) to Tulle, on to Brive (horrible) & down to Souliac, where we soon found a nice, coolish, quiet hotel on the main road but well back & we were at the back as well. This was the dodgily-named Hotel la Roseraie. Cold baths failed to induce hypothermia. It was still boiling hot at 1930. Then, as the hotel was completely shut up in the evening, I drove us into the town for beers at a café on the main street, reading our books (Perkin in my case) & watching the world go by. It made a very tentative attempt to rain but all that did was add humidity to the temperature, soddit.