Rocamadour: Rocamadour (Occitan for the rock of Amadour) rises up into the sky above the Alzou Canyon. From the early 11th century the cliff at Rocamadour contained an oratory devoted to the Virgin Mary to which several miracles were attributed.
The sanctuaries in the Marian City completed in the mid-13th century became one of Europe's busiest places of pilgrimage and a highly recommended staging post on the St James's Way pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.
The Alzou Canyon: in the heart of the Causses du Quercy Regional Nature Park, your walking route soon leads between the impressive tiered sides of the Alzou Canyon, crossing the river and then climbing to the Col de Magès.
Totalling 31.5 km in length, the River Alzou runs from its source in the Bonnefont marshes, cutting down through the limestone causse shortly before Gramat. Here it carves out a spectacular canyon before flowing into the Ouysse downriver from the Moulin de Caoulet water mill.
The Gouffre de Cabouy: this is where the waters of the River Ouysse reappear and begin to flow across the surface. This is an example of the amazing journey taken by the rainwater that runs down from the upper part of the Causses du Quercy. The water quickly disappears into the cracks in the limestone bedrock, reappearing several kilometres away in swallow holes like the Gouffre de Cabouy.
The water-filled Gouffre de Cabouy, 30 metres across and some 30 metres deep, forms a basin lined with thick aquatic vegetation.
The Gouffre de Saint Sauveur: at the Gouffre de Cabouy you can make a detour (50 minutes there and back) to go and see another swallow hole, the Gouffre de Saint Sauveur. Famous in the region for its emerald colour, it forms a sandy-bottomed basin of clear water 25 to 30 metres across.
Invisible under the surface is a flooded passageway that descends in several steps to a depth of more than 300 metres (70 metres below sea level).
The Ouysse Canyon: this walk provides some lovely views of the valley carved out by this tributary of the Dordogne. The Ouysse is a surprising turquoise colour, which in the Quercy sun takes on a texture of unreal limpidity.
Like the Alzou, the Ouysse is fed by surface water that has very slowly made its way through the rock more than 100 metres below the surface of the limestone block of the Causses du Quercy. Much of the course of the Ouysse is underground and unexplored. Some exploratory dives have reached depths of more than 180 metres.
The mills on the Alzou and Ouysse: as early as the Middle Ages, people looked for ways to exploit the power of the Ouysse and Alzou rivers.
The Moulin de Tournefeuille and Moulin du Saut are the remains of water mills built to harness this power. Only the Moulin de Caoulet (a stopover gîte, refreshment room and trout farm) and the
fortified Moulin de Cougnaguet (flour milling demonstration) are in perfect condition and open to the public (not on the route of this walk).
The flora of the Ouysse and Alzou valleys (Sensitive Nature Area): the Ouysse and Alzou Valleys are home to a remarkable fauna and flora, making them a particularly vulnerable area of countryside which is protected. Here you will see species such as the yellow water lily and even rarer plants like Fries' pondweed (an endangered species) and the floating water plantain (a protected species). In addition, the cave on the far side of the Gouffre de Saint Sauveur is home to several species of bat.