Beau Villages around the Dordogne Region

Beau Villages around the Dordogne Region- March/April 2022

My friend who writes travel e-books for her company, IlovewalkinginFrance.com, got me interested in this region. I bought a book about all the Beau Villages and narrowed down the Dordogne area to tour because there were so many of these villages in close proximity to each other! We began our trip in Paris (you can read my Paris Blog for ideas as well.

My husband and I caught a 4 hour train to Brive-la-Gailliard and picked up a rental car at the train station and headed to Sarlat-le-Caneda (our first town with the “beau village” designation- google it to get the full description of what it takes to be a Beau Villages) in the Dordogne Region of France. We LOVED LOVED LOVED this Sarlat.

We had an excellent apartment rented with an incredible host. We dropped our things and went out to explore the town. Many shops were closed because it was off season- but we had an excellent dinner at La Rapiere and went for an evening walk.

the door to our apartment- Appartement Le Cardinal

  Hopping in our car the next morning we went to the village of La Roque-Gageac (beau village).  We had the place all to ourselves, it was cold out that day, but wonderful.

up up and more up

this town sits on the Dordogne River

Next we drove onto Domme (beau village)- a hot bed of Knights Templar activity.

I loved driving along and seeing bright yellow fields of rapeseed, castles, cemeteries and chateaus.

 Arriving back to our apt in the evening, it started to SNOW- it was a glorious evening walk in the snow on April 1. Sarlat you have my heart!

  Yay, finally, my first market day.  The vendors were all so pleasant despite the cold temperatures. Using my amazing pantomime skills, (because I speak no French) and a big smile and a lot of BONJOURS and MERCIS and AU VOIRS,  I was able to buy all I needed to cook an amazing meal that evening.

   Oh and the strawberries were the best….red all the way through. Find THE STRAWBERRY LADY

   Our first chateau visit was to Josephine Baker’s Chateau Milandes.  I can’t say enough good things about this place. Great headset tour, great history and great gardens.

The gardens were amazing

Chateau Melandes

Josephine Baker in her famous banana skirt

her wardrobe!!

Next we drove onto the highly fortified Castelnaud la-Chapelle (beau village). Great place to see cool weapons- and a crazy great view of the Dordogne River.

view from the castle to the Dordogne River
We canoe this river later in the trip

 Cold  continued the next day, but we preservered and rented electric bikes.                                           We rode the Sarlat Voie Vert bike path.

so cold I wrapped a scarf around my face
and we bought garden gloves for our hands

great path

fun tunnel

 We stopped in at a local coffee shop to warm up

a wonderful cappuccino for me

This was truly a local spot

and then ate at  a great restaurant for lunch.- Le Rouffillac- SO MUCH FOOD

Despite the cold we lasted 5 hours biking outside. 

We slept well that night, it was the last of our 4 nights in Sarlat.

Farewell Sarlat!!

I will miss your alleyways

   We left Sarlat and stopped in Grotte de Font de Gaume- one of the few places where you can actually see real, not replica ancient cave paintings. They only allow 13 visitors in at a time and there are only 78 people allowed in a day. We just stopped in and voila! there were actually 2 tickets left for a tour that was beginning in 20 minutes- what luck (off-season travel rocks)- be warned you need to reserve a spot- we just  got lucky

entering the cave

no backpacks or purses allowed
it is a tight squeeze

this pic and the one below were taken
off the internet because they don't allow photos

There were a bunch of paintings- well worth it

  We continued on to Cahors for our next 4 night stay in another apartment. Ahh! Cahors, birthplace of Malbec wine   ..We had some amazing wine in this town!  We stayed in an apartment that was directly across from the Halle de Cahors Market building.

drinking a good Malbec on our apt balcony
Cahors the original Malbec vines

back entrance to our apt

   Up and rolling the next morning, we drove to the town of Bouzies. We did an 8 mile round trip hike to the village of St.-Cirque-Lapopie (beau village). This was the best hike we did on the trip (I had so many photos of this hike, it was hard to choose)

cool artwork done by a local carving artist

La Cirque-de Popie town

cemetery in Cirque

cool moss growing on trees

canal boat after going through a river lock

   Cahors brought another great market day, for me to gather food to cook for dinner.

That afternoon we toured the town and lucked into organ practice recital at the cathedral. The cathedral and its cloister was stunning. 

The town had so many sights to see. I loved the Pont Valentre (bridge)

Find the Devil in Stone on the bridge- Legend has it that the Devil made a deal with the bridge builder for a smooth building process, and in return the devil gets the soul of the first person who crosses the bridge. The bridge builder tricked the devil into crossing the bridge first! Now it is said that the devil takes stones off the bridge every now and then as a pay back.

  The next day threatened rain all day, so rather than another hike we settled on journeying to two wineries. On the way stopped at a cute village St Vincent Rive d’Oit.  (beau village)

 Our first winery was Chateau Eugenie- we had tasted this wine in Cahors at dinner- so we wanted more!!  The wine tasting was free if you bought a bottle- well we bought 6 bottles- they didn’t last very long- I love my wine!

                                                

walnuts came with the wine tasting
These walnuts and the wine are considered "terroir

 Then we stopped for lunch at the place where my husband attempted his French, but rather than saying he had a big hunger, he said he had a big woman (faim vs femme). The server growled at him for insulting me. We pulled out google translate and figured out his language mistake!!-lol  We also ordered terrine thinking tureen of soup but nooooo- it is glued together chopped meat in gelatin. Thank goodness Sid also ordered duck and French fries- so I nibbled his duck and gorged on delicious fries.

this is a terrine NOT a tureen (of soup) ewww
Though the dipping jam was delicious

thank goodness for the fries

  Continuing on, we went to our second vineyard La Berangerie  This is the kind of vineyard you are supposed to make a reservation for- but we didn’t know this. All we knew is that we had a bottle of their wine in Cahors and LOVED it- so we were seeking it from the source. The  woman whose family owns the vineyard was so wonderful. She  invited us into HER ACTUAL HOME and did a tasting for us because they were not open for tastings yet!  This was another highlight of the trip- connecting with a local. We bought another 6 bottles of wine- which didn’t last long either!

  

On our way home we found an outdoor chapel Le Lourdou, There were stations of the cross going up and over the hill- but it was super wet and muddy, so we just crossed the bridge to see the altar

 on our way  home we also stopped in Belcastel, yet another “beau villages”.  The photo below is the photo everyone wants to take in this village.  The water level was low, so I didn't get the full effect.

  In the morning  we headed out for 1 night in Conques (beau village). Conques was an amazing town whose history dates back to the year 500.  The Church of St Foy has modern shades of gray stained glass windows .  

and they have a collection of reliquaries that is impressive.  (Most of the reliquaries were STOLEN by monks who wanted Conques to become a stop on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela- Spain) The monks did such a good job "obtaining" the relics that Conques was indeed put on the map for the pilgrimage!  The village is magnificent to walk through. You only need 1 night here, but it is a must see beau village.

   Our next day was a driving day. We stopped in Capdenac (beau village) and strolled though town stretching our legs and stopping in at their little history museum carefully assembled by the locals- it was well done.

     We ended our journey that day in the 12^th Century, beau village, of Martel.  We had a great apartment (I can't remember the name) that would be home to us for the next 4 nights. Martel has a great town square where a market day takes place- unfortunately we missed it so it was Bon Marche grocery store for the food for dinner.

    The next day we were in the car again driving to see Rocamadour (14^th century-). It is breathtaking in more ways than just being beautiful- you park at the bottom and walked up and up and up (breath-taking). We were glad it wasn’t crowded, so we could stop and rest as we pleased. There is a shuttle but it wasn't running too frequently (off season).  There was a village and a castle and a cathedral and stations of the cross.  It was one stop shopping for all things old and it is a Unesco World Heritage site.

   We came home and had a nice dinner and strolled our village of Martel-home of 7 towers one which contains a "Charlotte" spider, before going to bed.

In the morning we did a hike to a tiny town of Murel. It was a beautiful 7 mile round trip hike along well trodded paths, mostly through the woods.

   Glorious warmer weather, finally.  We actually drove back to La Roque Gageac to go canoeing on the Dordogne river. When we were in this town at the beginning of the trip, it was close to freezing temps- so glad we waited for a great weather day to canoe! It was so fun passing chateaus and castles and little towns.

  Gouffre de Padriac (caves) was on the itinerary for the next day.  This was a highlight for both of us. Stairs down, cool cave stuff, a boat ride to get to another part of the cave- so well done- AND traveling off season, so few people there!!

   We had a picnic lunch of peanut butter and jelly on a croissant- omg delicious!! And then on to a hike to see a waterfall before going into the beau village of Autoire. I fell in love with this village and saw a chateau I would love to escape to!

   I think husband Sid was at his saturation point of beau villages so when we hit the town of Carennac, he found a parking space in the shade and let me wander, while he took a nap!- a win for both of us.

    In the morning we toured more of Martel  and got our daily baguette. 

Then we headed out to one of my favorite beau villages, Collonges-la-Rouges. So much red stone- I loved it.

We had a fabulous lunch at Le Maraicher- I had a duck burger that I still dream about.

  Sniff!! This morning we were on our way back to Brive La Gaillarde to turn in our rental car but on the way we couldn’t help but stop in the (you guessed it) the beau village of Turenne. It was yet another spectacular top of a hill “get your exercise” town. We explored all the streets and toured the castle at the top.

   After a delay of train, due to a track issue, we were on our way back to Paris. 

I hope you enjoyed our beau village tour! Au revoir!