France 2008

Sarlat-la-Canéda, Part 2

This page shows things seen on day trips from Sarlat.
		We visited the village of St-Amand-de-Coly, which has a remarkable and huge fortified church. *
		The cavernous interior of the church. *
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		The stone roof of a house in the village. *
		Flowers on a wall. †
		The small town of Souillac had this very traditional French primary school. †
		We passed the château of Belcastel, perched high on a rock above the Dordogne river. *
		We went to Rocamadour, a remarkable village built on three levels on a cliff face. *
		The top level has the château. *
		The middle level has a religious centre, with a number of churches. *
		The levels are linked by stairs. Pilgrims used to go up on their knees, but we used the modern lift up the cliff. †
		The bottom level is a street full of shops and cafes catering to tourists. †
		A shop specializing in foie gras. *
		We stopped briefly in the pretty village of St-Geniès. *
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		The château at St-Geniès, incorporating the village church and a restaurant. *
		The stupendous château at Hautefort, with matching church down below in the village. *
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		The heavily fortified gateway. *
		There was an attractive garden. *
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		The interior of the dome, showing the wooden supports. *
		We went some distance to the Maison Forte de Reignac, high above the Vézère River. This was a cave dwelling that had been used since prehistoric times, and had had a house built on its front. *
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		The view from Maison Forte. *
		We went across the Dordogne River to Domme, a very pretty walled village with this market hall. *
		Again, there was a good view of the river valley. *
		For lunch on our last day in Sarlat, we drove to Les Arques to eat at La Recreation which featured in the book From here you can't see Paris. *
		Eating is a serious business, with people savouring the €32 menu. *

Our departure on Saturday was delayed, as Nick had parked the car in the square at the south of the town centre, forgetting that it would be used for the market on Saturday. We found the car totally surrounded by market stalls and with a €35 ticket. Eventually, we got away around mid-afternoon and fortunately did not have far to go to reach St-Cirq-Lapopie.