The Lot lies next door to the Dordogne, in fact some of the most beautiful parts of the Dordogne river, from Bort-les-Orgues down to Beaulieu, lie to the north of the departement. Cutting a path southwest, the river Lot plunges through a series of spectacular gorges between Entraygues and Estaing before opening out into the broad, meandering loops which carry it past the ancient and picturesque villages of Cajarc and St Cirq-Lapopie. In the south, beyond the administrative capital of Cahors, the river wanders through the vineyards which take the town's name. St Céré is a picturesque market town of about 5,ooo people, under whose pretty old bridges wends the river Bave. The streets are lined with elegant old houses and shops, the latter filled with strange shaped bread, mouth watering patisserie, the delights of nut liqueur and the local eau-de-vie, distilled from plums. Watching over the town from a height of several hundred feet are the Towers of St Laurent. Here lived sculptor, painter, and tapestry-maker Jean Lurcat and the towers now house a collection of his colourful work.