Cahors


What a picturesque provincial town is Cahors, the compact modern capital of the Lot department. It is surrounded on three sides by the River Lot, which meanders around the centre ville like a horseshoe while its northern entry is protected by a series of 14th century fortifications. I am staying at the Terminus Hotel, a little jaded but still grandiose former 19th century bourgeois mansion and will chill out here for a few days. The hotel has a famous restaurant with Michelin stars called Le Balandre, named after the former flat-bottomed sailing vessels transporting coal through the canals, and I shall look forward to dining in its elegant strained glass salle à manger and imbibing the distinctive Cahors full-bodied red, which is so dark it is often referred to as a "black wine".

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