Driving through the Dordogne, France, and the stunning Rocamadour

On our last trip to France, we managed to find the time to spend a few days in the Dordogne. What a beautiful area in France's South-West, foie gras country.

Gorgeous bridges spanning gorgeous rivers

Gorgeous, peaceful canals to pause and reflect

Another bend in the river

We arrived in the beautiful medieval town of Sarlat, our base for our stay, to find the town in holiday mode.

Meandering the medieval streets half the night was such fun

Rocamadour was one of the most gobsmacking sites - a town built into a cliff. We were just 2 of the million people who visited in 2011.

Wasn't it wonderful to be walking these medieval cliff streets and feasting on foie gras.

View from the top of Rocamadour

The church is really built into the top of the mountain. Wow!

Just thought this grotto was so beautiful, right at the top near the church

Maybe I could realise my dream of owning my own restaurant. A Vendre (For Sale) down the old stone streets in Rocamadour

I hope you enjoyed your trip to the Dordogne and Rocomadour

Come back soon!

Bienvenue en France - the Dordogne - Sarlat, foie gras and the Lascaux Caves

The time for our next overseas trip is fast approaching. On June 18 we will be in Paris, but only for a few hours. Our itinerary takes us to Madrid, Spain, where we hire a car and drive to San Sebastian, Spain, then back into the Dordogne in France via Bordeaux. Very exciting.

We've never quite made it to the Dordogne, but it has fascinated us for years. We are staying in the very beautiful (I'm told, Sarlat) for a couple of days, where we will drive around admiring the fantastic countryside and architecture, sampling the regional food and wine...

Map showing the Dordogne

SARLAT (pronunced SARLAH)

A big attraction of Sarlat and nearby towns is the caves nearby with prehistoric paintings. The most famous is Lascaux, which is closed to the public. The French have constructed a replica named Lascaux II near the original. The only actual painted cave open to the public, or at least to 200 of them per day, is Grotte de Font-de-Gaume. Our guide, Philippe Mouret, was able to obtain tickets to both Lascaux II and to Font-de-Gaume.

Lascaux, won't it be wonderful to see these (reproduced) paintings

The paintings are truly remarkable. The folks who painted them used torches for illumination and wooden scaffolding to reach the ceiling of the cave, and combinations of minerals to create various colors. They painted animals utilizing the contours of the cave walls. The paintings are fairly large, with the largest animal being 15 feet long. They painted some animals at a 45-degree angle, not just in profile. And, they did this up to 18,000 years ago! Compare this with the builders of the Egyptian pyramids (6000 years ago), the New Testament writers (2000 years ago) and the writers of the US declaration of independence (225 years ago).

Foie gras anyone?

Sarlat is also famous (or infamous) for pate de foie gras. This translates to paste of fat liver. Farmers around Sarlat force-feed geese to enlarge their livers, which are then served as a delicacy. Another specialty of the area is truffles.

More information on the Dordogne,..

Preparing to return to France - getting nostalgic. I'll share some pics with you.

My last trip to France was in 2007/2008. I'm in the process of planning the next trip, about June/July this year. So naturally my thoughts are turning to France (er, not that they ever leave for long.) The itinerary will begin in Paris as usual, where we'll grab the TGV (the fast train) and head straight down to the Dordogne, a region we just missed last visit. We will get off in our allotted 3 minutes at Angouleme, have a little rest after the 20-odd hour flight then drive around the Dordogne. There we will see vinyards, old chateaux, historic caves etc. I will do a post of the region as I do my research.

So for now, here are some pics from the last trip.

Wandering around Fontvereau in the Loire Valley at Halloween.

In Cardinal Richeleau's forest. His chateau is no longer with us.

Chateaux Villandry, the one with the huge vege garden. I've previously posted about this lovely chateau. Go here if you want to see more.

Descending the staircase at Villandry.

The husb pumping for water at the old Langeis Fortress.

Better leave Langeis before they put up the drawbridge (which they do every night and morning.) Never know, there might be maurading crusaders hitting town.

Hope you enjoyed this little trip through memory lane.