28 Aug ST EMILION - ST EMILION

Today; a much cooler morning but still clear skies.  Set off across the vineyards to begin our loop ride of about 55kms. 

The ride took us out to the Dordogne River, passed an old wooden mill (moulin) and then up to a beautiful picnic spot in the shadows of the ruins of a castle. 

Being Sunday, the castle itself closed at midday, but we made it with 15 mins to spare and managed to climb to the top tower which gave us excellent views across the vineyards and Jane B was adament that the moulin could be seen from there.  We think we have photographic evidence, but the zoom on the camera goes only so far! 

After returning from our ride, we did a tour of the underground church, St. Emilion' hermit cave, the chapel and the catacombes.  It was good to see the church is still used for celebrations and as a place of worship, not just a tourist site. 

Following the tour we did some gelato tasting, some wine tasting followed by dinner outside in the old town square immediately out from the monolithic church.  A beautiful, still night and a lovely atmosphere as the sun set and the old buildings were lit up showing off the limestone buildings, all constructed from the extracted stone when the church was dug out.

Check out the coffee post!!!!