Cahors Calls: The Pilgrams Answer

Our train departs Toulouse precisely at its scheduled time of 11:01 a.m. We quickly find seats with a table in between, sit on one side, and set up the laptop, looking forward to a comfortable ride to Cahors. Within a few minutes, two screaming kids settle right beside us. Then, for some reason, a young man decides to sit on the other side of our table, forcing us to rearrange our space so he can get in. Oddly, the train is no more than 20% full, so we move to one of the many other vacant seat/table setups. It’s a 90-minute ride through rural France. We travel alongside the Canal du Midi for a while, passing groves, farms, and small villages. Going through villages is always interesting, as the train passes behind people’s houses, giving us a glimpse of the things they’re trying to hide from street view. As we get closer to Cahors, it starts to rain. We’re hoping it’s temporary, as we have a 10-day walk ahead of us.

We arrive right on time, put on our waterproof coats, and take a 15-minute

walk to the hotel in the rain. We're staying at the Hotel Divona Cahors, a Best Western property built on the edge of the Lot River, with all the rooms designed to face the water. From our window, we have a view of the Pont Valentré. When we leave on Sunday morning, we’ll be walking over that bridge on our way to Moissac.

We decide to drop our bags and explore the old town, and more importantly, find some lunch. The first thing you notice when arriving in Cahors from Toulouse is the colour. Toulouse is known as the "pink city" due to its predominantly red brick buildings and its historical prominence in the pastel trade. In contrast, the buildings in Cahors are predominantly white. As we walk into the old town, we come across our first pilgrim’s marker, a bronze scallop set into the footpath, indicating we are on the Le Puy Camino. Cahors is nestled on a peninsula within the hairpin bend of the Lot River. After lunch and a quick rest back at the hotel, we follow the river around the bend and arrive at the outer edge of the old town. We stroll through the old town, which is filled with little bars and cafés. We stop at a couple along the way, making it feel a bit like a tapas walk through Cahors.

Our first morning in Cahors coincides with the weekly market held in front

of the cathedral at the "Place de la Cathédrale." These markets, the "Marché de Cahors," are a 700-year-old institution, known as the best regional produce markets in southern France. Walking through the hundreds of stalls is a sensory feast—every step reveals a fresh burst of colour, shape, and aroma. Most stalls specialize in specific products, and everything looks amazing. We bought some duck sausage to take on our pilgrimage, and then we thought we should engage in a centuries-old Cahors tradition: drinking Malbec before midday (we just made that

part up—there’s no such tradition). We enjoyed the Malbec with some tapenade from one of the stallholders. We continued wandering through the markets and the old town, which dates back centuries, so most of the alleys connecting the town are far too narrow for cars. The streets are cobblestone, and every step feels like walking through history. Before long, we decide to enjoy some Malbec tasting and head to Les Petits Producteurs, where we meet one of the local winemakers. He guided us through five Malbecs, offering a small tasting of each. Midway through the first glass, he gestured toward a small dark bucket, suggesting we use it to discard any wine we didn’t wish to finish. We exchanged a quick glance, suddenly faced with a dilemma—how do we savour as much of this Malbec as possible while discarding enough to keep up appearances? After the tasting, we bought two glasses of our favourite Malbec to enjoy with some duck sausage, duck pâté, dessert, and coffee. We then headed back to our hotel for an afternoon nap, enjoying some of the secret gardens along the way.

Our final evening in Cahors is spent back in the old town, this is such as easy city to get around and there is so much to see and do on the peninsula. There is a fun run of sorts through Cahors and we find a nice restaurant to settle with food and wine to cheer on the participants. It's a very inclusive event, there are parent-child teams, bicycles, wheelchairs, solo runners, and kids as young as six. It was a great spectacle, and we keep crossing paths with the runners on our way home. We return back to our room for the last time and notice, for the first time, how spectacular the Pont Ventre is under light at night. It's only 100 metres from our balcony and is spot-lit by warm lighting from below. The still water beneath the bridge created a nearly perfect mirror reflection..

On our last morning, we drop our suitcases at reception by 8 am for Raw Travel to transfer to our next Le Puy Camino destination, then enjoy breakfast in the hotel dining room, which has an uninterrupted view to the bridge. It looks entirely different this morning. It’s 7 degrees outside and the warmer river water creates a rising mist, giving the scene a mystical atmosphere. Pilgrims are already crossing the bridge to start their days walk. We only have a 10km walk ahead of us so plenty of time for one last walk around the old town before we go.

Next stop Labastide Marnhac....