We spent a week or two doing day hikes in the Lot department of the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. A hike a day on a well-marked PR (petite randonée trail), in the middle of August in a popular tourist area of France - - and never once met another person along a trail. No other hikers. No other tourists.
The first photo here shows the ancient village church in Lamothe-Cassel, a tiny village only 20 km north of Cahors [map].
Once and a while the trail would emerge from the woods to cross a tiny village or hamlet, and we would be greeted by the occasional local person as we passed. But by and large the beautiful little trails we followed for a few hours each day contained only us.
And the occasional animal life. Usually wild-life, but some times a few horses or a small herd of cattle. Rabbits and hares now and again. Buzzards hunting over isolated fields, often in pairs. Once a buzzard took off from the edge of a vineyard only 10 meters from where we surprised it, departing with a small animal in its talons. And a couple of days ago, a golden eagle fled from a field near us, only 50 meters away, but moving fast and low.
The trails in the Lot department were all very well marked with the ubiquitous yellow bars. So well marked that we really didn't need the excellent route-guides given to us by the Office de Tourisme in Gourdon (Lot), although those guides were doubly useful for planning a day's outing.
The individual hiking guides we got free from Gourdon (Lot) included a detailed map of the route, along with a description (in French). Even though the map was unnecessary because of the excellent trail markings, we always carry the appropriate IGN map - just-in-case.
In the midst of farmlands and country roads, the PR trails always found ways through isolated woods and beautiful scenery. Trails varied from narrow paths to forestry roads, but those later were seldom paved. The rare paved roads that were used were isolated, traffic-free, and through beautiful parts of nature.
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