No it was not a miserable day, weatherise, although I was not upset to see mist on the Lot from my balcony when I got up. A quick change of plan and a walk up to the Valentre Bridge in the mist avoiding death from the commuters along the very narrow riverside road. This is the wonderful Valentre Bridge, more of which later. With mist it is all about luck and timing. The view back to the railway bridge was gone in 10 minutes and a look back at the Valentre quickly sharpened. After this unplanned walk I headed off to the wine country to two key locations, Luzech and Puy l’Eveque, both down stream from Cahors. How about vines in the mist. I actually made two stops in Luzech, morning and afternoon, which were very different. It sits inside a tight bend in the Lot and is famous for its tower and its vineyards. So here we go out of sequence morning mist with umbrellas and afternoon sunshine on the vines and a nice little chapel. Puy l’Eveque as its name suggests is a rocky promontory above the Lot and has an upper modern town and lover mediaeval town a good 240ft climb down and back. (Thank goodness for an excellent local patiserie to replenish energy). A pretty flower grabbed my attention but then I realised it was alive with little bugs. I will need my horticultural experts to advise on the plant species but lets just call the bugs, bugs. I got back to the hotel early afternoon had a little rest and then took a walk up the other side of the river to the Pont Valentre. Much less risky than on “my side” of the river. The predicted cloud cover was approaching but there is nothing that diminishes the spleandour of this construction. Although dating from the 14th Century the current restored version dates from the 19th Century. I came here many years ago and was impressed and thought I should return. About 30 years later I did and then twice in one year. There are also lovely buildings along the river creating perfect refletctions. There is another reason to come here, as noted in some sligtly intoxicated Facebook posts, and that is the Hotel Restaurant La Chartreuse which I finish the post with. It is in the classic Logis de France tradition of a restaurant with rooms, although in this case the rooms are pretty decent. The Logis philosophy ensures that food and drink of the locale are offered and I am in my element here with a soft spot for Malbec wines and French cuisine full stop.