Chemin de Halage du Lot

The Lot towpath, between Bouziès and Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, is a path cut into the cliff that runs alongside the river. It recalls the era of river navigation: from the sixteenth century, the Lot was a major trade route, and gabares, large flat-bottomed barges, carried wood, wine and coal on it between the Quercy and Aquitaine. Hauled upstream against the current, they were towed in convoy by men or animals from this path.

At the Ganil lock, the cliff drops sheer into the water, which meant cutting the limestone by hand over nearly a kilometre, in 1845. A thirty-metre bas-relief, sculpted in 1985 by Daniel Monnier, adorns the wall and evokes the river, its fauna, flora and fossils. The round trip takes about two to two and a half hours, on the GR 36, with cliffs and caves as a backdrop.

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