by Janet Sandford

Created on: February 06, 2011

When I lived in Saujac in the Midi-Pyrenness shopping was always an enjoyable experience. We lived out in the sticks so you just couldn't pop out to the shops - we had to drive several miles to buy even a loaf of bread or should I say, a baguette. So we generally did a large shop once a week but always argued over which town to do the shopping in. The decision was always made once we had driven out of the gates and then we always said the same thing, 'Left or right' If we turned left we would go to Cajarc but if we turned right we would be going in the direction of Figeac. I always preferred to go to Figeac as it is a lovely medieval town which I will describe shortly. My husband preferred to travel in the other direction - the main reason being that there weren't as many police on the road to Cajarc. Not that we never had all our documents on us - we did but French police can sometimes be a little off putting especially when you are flagged down on a crisp autumnal or winter morning driving through the Lot Valley. Not sure whether it is the surly faces or those strange little hats they wear. 

To reach Figeac took around 30 minutes. The drive from our house following the river as it wound around the bends in the valley was pretty spectacular. During Autumn the trees looked magnificent covered in leaves of orange, amber and gold, and the conifers on high ground were still a shade of silvery green. Every now and again as we turned a corner we sometimes saw a bird of prey rising above the craggy limestone cliffs and piercing blue clouds. Some mornings we were lucky and saw a heron dive to catch his breakfast. The area was always very quiet and one that not many tourists visited so the roads were empty. 

My favourite day to visit Figeac was on a Saturday as the market was held in the two main squares; the Place Carnot and Place de Champollion. As soon as we passed over the Pont Gambetta with the River Cele swerving underneath it I always felt like a small child, bursting with excitement at the thought of coming home with some new exciting vegetable like those funny purple coloured cauliflowers. I couldn't wait to see all the locals milling around; some dressed in very strange attire. In this part of the Midi there are lots of hippies selling hand made goods and home-made jams, cheeses, carrot cake veggie burgers, hummus. I often used to find myself in conversations with guys dressed in jester style clothes with hair longer than mine hidden underneath their

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