The CheMain trail starting from Concots

Start in front of the Foyer Rural in Concots. Parking is available in the village, particularly opposite the bakery. Concots is also served by the Lio 883 bus route from Cahors or Limogne.

Preliminary note: all the works mentioned in the description are explained in the section ‘During the walk’.

(S/E) Follow the main street towards Cahors. Turn right after the town hall and follow the cheerfully flowered street that circles the castrum of Concots. The cul-de-sac on the right leads up to the keep: work 1, currently removed for restoration. At the former silkworm farm, head down to the left towards the lake from which Concots takes its name: the conque and the lake. Continue and turn right, then right again until you reach the D911: pet food factory. 50 metres further on, on the left, opposite the bakery, stands a statue of the Paretharium lavergnense: a Concots fossil.

(1) Take the D26 towards Escamps, then after 150 m, turn left onto the tarmac road towards Mas de Vinagrou.

(2) Turn left into the hamlet, then take the farm track on the right after the last house. After 400 m, turn left at the fork onto the tarmac road.

(3) Take this road to the right. After 300 m, continue straight on along the white track, the old road to Puylaroque, and cross the woods for 2.3 km. Halfway along: artwork 3.

(4) You may see the Préates farm about 50 m to the left: artwork 4. Retrace your steps and continue along the track, passing the wells: artwork 5, until you reach the edge of the woods.

(5) Head downhill to the right for 50 m, then take the path that runs past Lake Salamor: artwork 6, currently removed for restoration. Continue for 700 m. The path crosses a valley and then climbs again.

(6) Take the^second path on the right and follow the edge of the woods to the D22. Follow it for about 300 m, then take the dirt track that climbs to the left to reach the village of Escamps. Cross the tarmac road and take the grassy Rue du Sol Vieil opposite, continuing to the crossroads.

(7) Turn right onto the D42. Pass the Château du Cadet de la Roze on your left, go past the bus stop: œuvre 7, and continue to the Place du Fort: the Castrum d’Escamps and the Church of Saint-Léonard. Continue towards Concots.

(8) After 150 m, turn left towards Cremps. Then take the garden path on the left to discover the Canaval sinkhole. In this limestone region, this small, enclosed, circular depression known as Canaval (formerly hemp fields) is notable for its fertility. Head down to the right and follow the vegetable gardens to the lake. Go round the lake to the right via the wash houses: works 8 and 9. At the far end of the lake, turn right towards La Petite Sompe (the Escamps watercourse): work 10 currently being restored, and work 11. Continue to the D55 and follow it to the right.

(9) Turn right at the crossroads towards the Grande Sompe. See the paleotodus: Escamps fossil. Go up the hill opposite and continue straight on to cross the Mas de Fraysse. Follow the road to the^second right-hand bend.

(10) Take the farm track on the left. After 500 m, turn right and continue for about 800 m to the next crossroads.

(11) Turn right onto the old Lalbenque road to the Mas de Vergné, about 3 km away: monument 12 is halfway there.

(12) Take the D26 towards Concots, then the farm track on the left which passes near a stream. Follow it for about 300 m.

(13) Turn right onto the dirt track that climbs towards the stadium and enters Concots. Continue straight on at the^first junction and join Rue des Écoles. Follow this street. Opposite the town hall, turn right towards the Foyer Rural (S/E).

:/A: Concots:
- market on Sunday mornings,
- bakery and patisserie, with a small grocery shop,
- restaurants: L'Esprit du Causse, Le Mûrier and Le Vinagrou.
(7) Escamps:
- Le Bistrot d'Escamps restaurant.

Works of art
- Work 1: Constellations: artwork created by Bettina Von Arnim (Concots), submitted for restoration.

- Work 3: Lizard: photograph of the artwork created by Michelle Cottin (Concots), an artist who has since passed away.

- Work 4: Reliquary monument to the Caussenarde: artwork created by Jaco (Concots).

- Work 5: Water from an ancient well: painted door created by Alain Prillard (Cajarc).

- Work 6: Golem of Quercy: artwork created by Mickaël Langevin (Concots), submitted for restoration.

- Work 7: Close-up on the stone: artwork created by Frans Rotscheid (Escamps), an artist who has since passed away.

- Work 8 - The Washerwomen: artwork created by Charlotte Ince (Crégols), poem by Gilles Lades (Figeac).

- Work 9 - Angles of Light: artwork by Koo Stroo (Limogne), now deceased, with a poem by Gilles Lades (Figeac).

- Work 10 - Presence: artwork by André Nouyrit (Aujols), currently undergoing restoration.

- Work 11 - The Plant Arch: artwork by Fen (Lot).

- Work 12: Sur le chemin faisant: oil painting by Goss (Beauregard).

Fossils
- Concots Fossil: statue of the Peratherium lavergnense, an insectivorous/omnivorous opossum species that lived some 25 to 50 million years ago and was discovered in the Quercy phosphate mines, created by Patrick Médéric, an artist from the Lot region (Bouziès).
- Escamps fossil: statue of the Paleotodus, a beautiful insectivorous bird that lived some 24 to 35 million years ago and was discovered in the Quercy phosphate mines, created by Patrick Médéric, an artist from the Lot region (Bouziès).

Natural and cultural heritage
- The Castrum of Concots: the concentric structure of the ancient castrum is still visible. The rear of the houses within the enclosure formed a polygonal rampart. Their façades faced inwards. The doors and windows facing outwards were cut through after the Hundred Years’ War.
- The keep of Concots: within the enclosure, the keep once stood 25 metres high. Next to it, the residence, which was sold as national property during the Revolution, is still inhabited.
- The basin and the lake: the basin, at the bottom of which lie the lake and several springs, gave its name to Conquotz. Its Occitan name, ‘lo canabal’, bears witness to the cultivation of hemp that took place there until the 19th century.
- The Préates Farm: a place name of unknown origin. Ruins of single-room houses with a sink and a fireplace. Two families lived there. Presumably day labourers who worked for the Priory of Les Rosières?
- The wells: the Roman well is dug in the shape of a bottle; it is filled in, and its neck is covered by a signpost. Opposite, the cistern well collects runoff from the path.
- Lake Salamor: this small lake in Saint-Namphaise is carved into the rock, like all those dotted across the Causses, so that animals can drink from it. Oral tradition recounts that a cart driver descending with a heavy load drowned there, and the ‘sale mort’ (literally ‘dirty death’) became Salamor. Above the lake, a very old fountain was probably intended for men.
- Château de la Roze: in 1675, a prior of Escamps had this curious building constructed, complete with its circular corner tower. Sold in 1717 to the Lord of Escamps, it was then designated a château. Resold in the early 19th century to a man named Bouzerand, known as La Roze, it is still called Château de la Roze today.
- The Castrum of Escamps: during the Hundred Years’ War, a Castrum was built in Escamps by the lords of Concots to help defend the area and prevent the English from reaching the banks of the Lot near Saint-Cirq. The old village of Escamps was situated a few kilometres further on towards Lalbenque. Destroyed by English soldiers, with its inhabitants massacred, it was rebuilt during the 15th century at the foot of the fortress by new settlers attracted by the lords who owned the land. Dismantled in the^second half of the 19th century, only the keep remains at the start of Rue du Fort. Originally 22 metres high, it was partially levelled around 1860 and reduced to about ten metres. On Place du Fort, some elements of the main building and old dwellings remain.
- Escamps’ water: it is said that Escamps ranked^second only to Aujols in terms of the quantity of water available in the ground. The depression, or sinkhole, covering approximately 15 hectares and bordered by the settlement, was occupied by gardens. There are numerous wells (39) there, often bottle-shaped. There are also 3 fountains, 2 lakes and 2 sompes. Equipped with belt-driven pumps around 1930, the sompes were used for a long time to supply water to the nearby wash houses.