Today has been hot and sunny, a true late summer day in the Dordogne valley.
We decided to bike up the bastide town of Domme, an easy 5 km from our hotel in Vitrac.
Domme is perched on a 200 m high rocky outcrop overlooking the Dordogne river.
Thursday is market day, so the town was extra busy.
The sausage stand attracted my attention with a lot a homemade specialities, including those made with meat from rabbits, bulls, kangaroos, ostriches, and donkeys (the latter with the strongest taste of them all, according to the sausage man).
We strolled around in the well-kept and lovely town, had some coffee and walnut cakes, and were ready for a siesta – like everybody else – in the warm and quiet noon hour.
The ruin of the Domme castle with the still intact prison towers is one of the attractions of Domme.
It was here in the two towers that many members of the famous order "Knights Templar" were kept prisoners after the French King Philip IV had them arrested at their strongholds on Friday 13th October 1307 (by the Julian calendar used at that time).
The knights were tortured until "confessing" heresy and other abominable crimes. Therefore, they all faced the ultimate punishment and were executed on the central square of Domme.
It is widely believed that that unfortunate event on Friday the 13th has lead to the superstition that Friday the 13th is the worst combination of all and, therefore, a truly unlucky day.
Well, those are bygone times, so we released the bike brakes and zipped down to the hotel at the valley bottom, where it was time to take a dip or two in the big warm pool.
After the dip we dried ourselves in the sun.
Tomorrow will be our last day on bikes.
Time sure flies when you're having fun.
