Village Life in the Dordogne
April 12 - 20, 2007

Descriptions of Tour Sites

Sarlat-la-Canéda

Author Henry Miller called Sarlat “the Frenchman’s paradise.” Your charming village home for seven nights is the pre-revolutionary capital of the Périgord Noir, a lushly forested corner of the region of Aquitaine embraced by the Dordogne and Vézère rivers. It is a gastronome’s dream, renowned for its foie gras, truffles, wild mushrooms, strawberries, walnuts and duck, and is close enough to Bordeaux to receive the finest vintages straight from the vintners’ cellars.

Sarlat is a historical monument, with one of the greatest concentrations of medieval, Renaissance and 17th-century façades in Europe. Step back in time as you meander through narrow, cobblestone streets, illuminated by gas lamps and lined with traditional Renaissance-style stone houses crowned with pepperpot chimneys. The heart of Sarlat is the Place de la Liberté, where every Wednesday and Saturday one of France’s most famous markets is held in a tradition dating from the Middle Ages.

Rocamadour

Built on the face of a sheer 492-foot cliff, this fortified 13th-century village has one of the most dramatic settings of any village in the world and was an important medieval pilgrimage site. Pilgrims flocked here from across Europe to perform penance by ascending the 216 steps of the Grand Stairway on their knees to pay homage to the Virgin Mary and seek miracles from St. Amadour. Just outside the Chapel of the Virgin Mary, set high into the cliff, is a sword said to be that of the heroic knight Roland. Fascinating historic artifacts and medieval sacred art can be viewed nearby in Rocamadour’s Museé d’Art Sacrée.

Les Eyzies-De-Tayac

Les Eyzies is France’s capital of prehistoric humanity, where unprecedented fossils of Cro-Magnon Man have been discovered. Approximately 35,000 years old, these fossils constitute the earliest known evidence of Homo sapiens in existence. The area’s cave paintings, fossils and early tools are given context in the National Museum of Prehistory, housed in a 13th-century castle.

Villages of the Périgord Noir

St-Amand-de-Coly is one of the most unusual villages in the Dordogne. Each of its picturesque lanes leads to the fortified 13th-century Abbey Church, built by Augustinian monks. Its ramparts and towers give it an appearance that resembles a fortress rather than a place of worship. By contrast, in the lovely village of St-Geniès, observe the graceful 14th-century frescoes that decorate the tiny Chapelle du Cheylard.

Prehistoric Cave Paintings

The picturesque landscape surrounding Sarlat-la-Canéda inspired the region’s prehistoric inhabitants, whose vibrant depictions of nature and animals on the cave walls of Lascaux and Rouffignac have earned them the prestigious designation of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Approximately 15,000 years BCE, unknown artists created Lascaux, the “Sistine Chapel of Prehistory,” where long-extinct aurochs, wild stallions and antelopes were rendered with exquisite beauty and skill. For preservation purposes, Lascaux II was created, a detailed replica of the cave using the same methods — magnesium dioxide blacks and iron oxide yellows and reds. In Rouffignac Cave, the “Cave of a Hundred Mammoths,” five miles of caverns are covered in deft drawings of extinct beasts and can be explored by electric train.

Nearby, at L’Abri du Cap-Blanc, Magdalenian-period (12,000 to 10,000 BCE) camps and realistic, life-sized reliefs and sculptures of horses, bison and reindeer have been found.

Périgueux

Capital of the Dordogne département (province), ancient Périgueux, located on the banks of the River Isle, has been the commercial center of this fertile region since the height of the Roman Empire. Originally named Vesunna for the spring that attracted settlers more than 2,000 years ago, it has some of the finest Roman and Byzantine architecture in the region, as well as 14th- and 15th-century houses and the Vesunna Museum, built on and around an excavated Roman villa. Périgueux’s medieval cobblestone streets are lined with impressive landmarks including the imposing Cathédrale St-Front and the stately Town Hall.

Beynac-et-Cazenac Castle

Overlooking the Dordogne Valley from a 300-foot sheer cliff, the fortified village and castle of Beynac-et-Cazenac is a medieval architectural masterpiece that was once a stronghold of Richard the Lionheart. Make your way through its elaborate series of curtain walls, parapet walks, watchtowers and passageways to an impressive interior with a magnificent 17th-century staircase and delicate 15th-century frescoes of the Last Supper and the Pietà. Enjoy a private cruise on the tranquil Dordogne River aboard a traditional 19th-century gabare (barge) followed by a lunch of Périgord specialties in a restaurant overlooking the river.

Domme

Domme is a true medieval bastide, or fortified village, and is still entered through its monumental gate, flanked by stout limestone towers. Graffiti, etched by the Knights Templar in the 14th century, still flecks the inner walls, while inside the town, the ancient beauty of Domme’s 13th- and 14th-century architecture is surpassed only by its exceptional views of the Dordogne River.

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