After the Loire Valley, we went to visit the regions of Périgord and Quercy, in France. Beautiful!
Day 1 – Tuesday (06/30/2015)
We arrived in Sarlat-la-Caneda around 9pm – still sunny (I love summer!) – and we went straight to our hotel, as we were afraid there wouldn't be anyone there to welcome us because of the time.
We chose to stay outside the city center because we wanted to enjoy nature more, so when we arrived at The Clos Vallis (rated 9.4 on Booking), we had a wonderful surprise! This Bed & Breakfast It is super charming on the outside, inside and in every corner, as well as having wonderful peace. We were very well looked after by the owner. Patrick (tribute to our future son) and we were very happy with our choice. Take a look at the photos:
Because of the time and the owner's tips, we ran into town to try to find a restaurant that was still open for dinner. We went to the restaurant he recommended, The Presidential, and we loved it. The restaurant is beautiful, the service is good (very French) and the food was great. We ordered the menu that included starter + main course + dessert for each person (29 euros per person) and we had a local wine recommended by an expert. What a treat, guys!
Day 2 – Wednesday (01/07/2015)
We had a hearty breakfast on the porch of the house and were very well received by a super cute hen and rooster. It was hard to want to leave, huh? What a good life!
But since not everything good lasts forever, we had to go out to see the famous Sarlat Market, that has been taking place on its streets since medieval times. We parked the car in a parking lot outside the city center (pedestrians only) and in less than 3 minutes of walking, we already began to see the stands with every kind of food you can imagine. We saw many stands selling Foie gras (a typical dish from this region, known as Périgord), wines, cheeses, sausages and, to my delight, super ultra mega tasty strawberries.
We enter the covered market, which takes place inside what was once the Sainte Marie Church (built in 1365), but we forgot to take the elevator inside to see the view of the city. I think we were so enchanted by walking through the streets of Sarlat that we forgot this detail. What a beautiful city!!!
At the end of the city tour, we entered the St. Sacerdos Cathedral, built in the 16th and 17th centuries, it is very central and imposing. The highlight of this cathedral is its 18th century organ.
We left Sarlat with a heavy heart, because we were enchanted by the city. The city is entirely medieval and walking around it, despite the number of tourists, takes you back in time in a way. But anyway, we had a route to follow… We drove for less than half an hour to a much smaller town that is very famous, as it always appears on lists of the most beautiful cities in France: La Roque Gageac. Remember this name. It is a must see, same!
We tried to have lunch at the best restaurant in town, The Beautiful Etoile, but unfortunately for us, it was closed (it seems that it closes every Wednesday). Here's a tip for you! We looked at other options on TripAdvisor, but most of them were closed or didn't seem cool enough, because it was incredibly hot. We chose to sit in a restaurant with an outdoor area covered by trees (right in front of the pier) and ate delicious omelets.
We went straight from lunch to the boat trip. (gabarre) by the river Dordogne. As we saw that there were tours every half hour, we bought ours on the spot with the company. Caminade, because Celo read somewhere that it was better rated than Norbert. The tour lasted 1 hour and had an audio guide in English that was not very synchronized with the French guide at the front of the boat. (NOTE: I personally think the tour would be much more enjoyable if everyone had their own audio guide and could only hear one voice, but oh well, the trick is to ignore the French woman speaking at the same time.) We passed by beautiful landscapes, including 5 castles, and many people kayaking on the river. The day was really beautiful and the river was attractive, but with the heat, I think I would faint if I had to do any exercise under that sun. On a less hot day, this tour would definitely catch our attention.
We continued to the city of Domme, which sits high above the Dordogne Valley and has spectacular views. The town is also very cute, with its medieval architecture, charming alleyways and imposing gates intact. We parked the car in a shady parking lot, bought some bottles of water and ice cream and went for a walk around the town. The main attraction is the viewpoint, which has a view of the Dordogne Valley.
On the way back to Sarlat, we decided to stop at the winery Wine from Domme, which seemed to be the only one still open, according to the pamphlets we picked up at the hotel. First, we did the free tasting (we thought the wines were great) and bought our favorite wine. Then, we followed the owner's recommendation and went to do the tour through the winery on our own, including climbing a huge tower that has a beautiful view of the region and the winery.
Before we arrived in Sarlat, we passed by sunflower plantations and I almost went crazy with happiness! How beautiful!!! I love sunflowers and seeing so many like them, one next to the other, at the end of such a complete day, with the person who completes me the most by my side, made me feel like the luckiest and happiest person in the world. <3
We arrived in Sarlat hungry and went straight to another restaurant recommended by the owner of our hotel, The Instant Delice. Although it wasn't as pretty as the restaurant the day before, we found the food to be even better and, fortunately, cheaper. We ordered the menu with starter + main course + dessert for each (21.90 euros for each) and the come from the house, which was delicious. By the way, here's a tip: normally these wines from the house (house wines) are cheaper and usually very good. Great value for money!
Day 3 – Thursday (02/07/2015)
We had breakfast on the balcony again and drove for 1 hour to the most famous and most visited cave in Europe: The Padirac Gouffre. We bought the tour at the time, which cost 10.50 euros per person, and despite it being high season, I didn't think it was that crowded. We went down part of the way by elevator and part of the way by stairs, and when we got down there, we walked a long way until we caught a boat. We had to wait a while with other non-French people for the English-speaking guide, but hey, maybe it would have been better to have done the same tour in French. I couldn't understand anything the guy was saying! 🙂
The views from the boat ride are beautiful, but the best was yet to come, after we got off the boat and did the tour walking with a guide who was waiting for us. Wow, what a wonderful place! The blue and at the same time transparent water, the white walls with interesting formations, the indirect lights placed by humans (hahahah), everything matches perfectly. My camera is not professional and the use of flash is prohibited, so my best photos of the place are these ones:
If you want to see professional photos, click here. It's to die for, isn't it? No wonder it's the most popular cave in Europe!
From there, we drove for less than half an hour to the city of Rocamadour. Its imposing gate at the entrance and the medieval street with several charming little shops already made me drool over the city. All this, with a huge rock on the side. A movie scene, right?
We had lunch at one of the few restaurants in town open at 2pm, The Family House, which even advertises the fact that it is open 24 hours a day. Finally, a restaurant that cares about tourists who waste time visiting the beautiful attractions in the region. We ate traditional crepes and drank a very good, cold French beer, Pelforth, which was perfect to alleviate the heat.
We stopped at the tourist center to get a map of the city and tips on what to do and went straight to buy the elevator to see how to go up to the top. (You can do everything on foot, but we were exhausted from the heat). We paid 4.70 euros for the two elevators per person, just to go up, but you can pay less than double that to go up and down. We stopped first to visit the Sanctuary of Rocamadour, An important pilgrimage site since the 12th century, it receives over 1 million visitors every year. The place has a peculiar energy and very different chapels, with the Chapel of Our Lady (Notre Dame) being the most impressive, in my opinion.
We left the sanctuary to take the second elevator to the castle, which is right at the top of the rock. We paid 2 euros per person to enter, even though we knew we could only stand on the wall, because we knew the view would be spectacular:
We stayed up there for a while enjoying the view and then went down the stairs, thankful for not having climbed them. We bought more water and ice cream and drove back to Sarlat, looking forward to dinner at another restaurant recommended by Patrick. This time, we went to Le Bistrot, which is right in front of the Cathedral, and luckily we got the last table outside. Full menus for each person + a wine recommended by our waitress, with personalized service. We found it to be the best value for money of the 3 we visited.
Day 4 – Friday (03/07/2015)
We had our last breakfast on the balcony, paid for the daily rates and coffees in cash (260 euros all in) and we headed to the Marqueyssac Gardens. We paid 8.80 euros per person to enter and I must admit that I didn't think the garden was anything special. It's quite large and has several trails, but nothing that really caught my attention. (It could be because I've visited the gardens at Villandry Castle and nothing impresses me that much now). Take a look:
But there’s one thing we can’t deny: the view from the top of the garden is spectacular! It was worth it in the end. We’re obsessed with views. 🙂
As it was already lunchtime, we took the opportunity to eat a quick salad right there, before continuing our journey to another cute little town in the region: Beynac and Cazenac. The city was the setting for the film Chocolate and the castle, which sits at its top, was the setting for the film Joan of Arc. We considered not entering the Beynac Castle, But in the end, we ended up paying 8 euros each and we were happy with our choice. The castle was built in the 12th century and walking around it really takes you back in time. Thank God, there were practically no tourists with us, so we were able to read the details in the pamphlet (it costs 20 cents) and imagine everything calmly and peacefully. It was a wonderful visit. As usual, since it is high above the city, the view from it is also beautiful!
We left there and walked around the city streets a bit, mainly looking for the house where Juliette Binoche's shop was in the movie. We didn't find it. 🙁
We returned to the road towards Saint Emilion!
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WhatWant to know more details about our 9-day trip through the interior of France (Loire Valley, Périgord, Quercy and Bordeaux)? Just click on the links below:
