LA TOUR DE MONCALOU Traditional Geocache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(regular)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
In every season this is a perfect spot to visit. Le tour de Moncalou has an amazing view and is all year round accessible. When visiting make sure you visit independent winegrower (Eric Duclaud, Moncalou) and wine cooperative.
This airy structure, built around a triangle of wooden supports, gives an exciting, memorable climb and allows one a 360 degree view over the Causse of the Ceou river to Domme, Gourdon and on a clear day the Auvergne mountains over 100 km distant. In the days before Phylloxera, the wines of Domme were much prized for export and where shipped down the Dordogne from the port at Castelnaud where there are now some statues commemorating this fact.
There are also some signs there pointing the way to the Tour of Moncalou viewpoint which was created in the last couple of years in order to help publicise the new vineyards in the Domme and Daglan region. Be warned, the tower is a considerable distance!! However, it is an excellent viewpoint being sited at one of the few places in Perigord where the contours reach 300 metres above sea level.
It is an airy structure, built around a triangle of wooden supports, and gives an exciting, memorable climb to access the 360 degree view over the Causse of the Ceou river to Domme, Gourdon and on a clear day the Auvergne mountains over 100 km distant.
Close by is the Chai de Moncalou where you can have free tastings of the red and rose wines produced by 15 producers who manually pick the grapes from the 20 hectares (50 acres) of the Domme vineyard. Although one of the smallest vineyards in France their wines have won 6 awards in the 4 years since 2001.
However, I would advise you to climb the tower first if you have the head for heights!
I had originally thought I might place a small cache at the top of the tower but as many tourists might not be up to climbing the tower (vertigo / fear etc) I decided on a decent size one near the base.
Dans les temps avant le Phylloxéra, les vins de Domme étaient en grande demande pour l'exportation et, le cas expédiés vers le bas de la Dordogne à partir du port à Castelnaud où il ya maintenant quelques statues commémorant ce fait.
Il ya aussi des signes montrant là le chemin de la Tour de point de vue Moncalou qui a été créé au cours des deux dernières années afin d'aider à faire connaître les nouveaux vignobles dans la region environs Domme et Daglan. Soyez averti, la tour est une distance considérable! Toutefois, il est un excellent point de vue puisqu'il est situé dans l'un des rares endroits dans le Périgord où les contours atteindre 300 mètres d'altitude.
Tout près se trouve le Chaie de la Coopérative Locale de vins où vous pouvez avoir une séance de dégustation et peut-être acheter quelques bouteilles.
Cependant, je vous conseille de monter la première tour si vous avez le vertige!
J'avais d'abord pensé que je pourrais placer une petite cache dans le haut de la tour, mais comme de nombreux touristes peuvent ne pas être à l'escalade de la tour (vertigo / la peur etc) j'ai décidé d'une cache de bonnes dimensions à la base.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
N yn onfr qh zhe zbhffh / Ng onfr bs zbffl jnyy