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(The star ratings shown are
those given in the green Michelin guide to the Dordogne.)
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The area is beautiful and many happy hours can be passed just wandering
through the towns, villages and countryside discussed in The Area.
There is an abundance of prehistoric caves such as Les Eyzies de Tayac (**), Grotte de Rouffignac (*) and
the Grottes de Lacave
(*) and a little further Grotte du Peche Merle (**). The journey through the Gouffre de Padirac (***),
with its subterranean galleries, includes 700m by boat.
Within easy driving distances is the magnificent mediaeval city of Sarlat (***), Cahors (**)
with its surrounding vineyards and the Lot Valley (**) and the beautiful
old city of Figeac (**). There are many
picturesque villages within easy reach, such as Domme
(**), Beynac (**), Loubressac
(**), La Roque-Gageac (**), Carennac
(*), St-Cirq-Lapopie
(**) and Rocamadour (***), the castle at Castelnau (**) and the bastide
town of Montpazier(*).
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About an hour's drive away is Gimel-Les-Cascades. The village is very picturesque but
the succession of three waterfalls falls created by the River Montane falling down a 450 feet ravine are quite
spectacular (**).
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The Three
Waterfalls of Gimel-les-Cascade
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In an area well known for its cuisine there are many excellent
restaurants. One of our favourites is La Vieille Auberge in Souillac. Their "Menu Gormande" at
about £30:00 will give you a memorable meal. The seven course
"Menu Degustation" at about £50 per person is
not for those with a small appetite! There is even a vegetarian menu!
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© La Vieille Auberge - Souillac Lot.
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For those who can take their holidays outside the normal holiday period,
the Lycee des Hoteliers or catering college offers
great value and interesting menus. They do both lunch and dinners, and
whilst their restaurant is well appointed and spacious do remember that it
is a school.. The menus are set as are the times
of meals. so make sure you get a copy of the menus
and the times of meals from reception in the college. Three or four course
meals start at around £8:00 and can go as high as £15:00 the range of
dishes reflecting the difference in prices.
We used to enjoy the restaurant "La Gabarre".
Take the road to St Julien de Lampon
from Le Roc and it is the first restaurant you come to. During the summer
you can dine on the terrace high above the Dordogne Valley. It was closed
for some time but the last time we were there we discovered that it was just
about to re-open. We will report after our next visit!
As you would expect in an area that prides itself on its gastronomy
there are many restaurants to choose from. Based on our own experience you
might like to try the following:-
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Name
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Location
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Comment
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La Chastrusse
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Nadiac
de Rouge - on the hill above Le Roc
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Menu typical of the
region but beware of the pasties unless you have a very big appetite!
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Le
Gindreau
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Catus
St Medard
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A top rated
restaurant with a good range of dishes with interesting an gastronomic twist! You can find more details in the
booklet "Les Bonnes Tables du Lot" in the house.
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Musee
Henri Giraude
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Le Vigan
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Yes, it really is a
museum, well more an art gallery dedicated to the works of Henri Giraude. He has some interesting paintings about
people, usually of interesting women and weedy men!! The restaurant is only
open on Friday evenings and Sunday lunch times. At first sight the cost
at about 40 Euro's looks expensive, but when you remember it can be up to
ten courses including wine, it is really well worth trying.
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La Terrasse
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Meyronne
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Another restaurant
from the "Les Bonnes Tables du Lot".
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Au Hazard
Balthazar
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Martel
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A very interesting
ambiance with good food at reasonable prices.
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La
Belle Etoille
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La Roque Gageac
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Superb meals from
25 to 45 Euros. If the weather is fine, you can dine on the terrace
(booking essential) overlooking the Dordogne
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Fishing on the Dordogne at Mareuil, Le Roc
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Talking about catching fish, it is possible to get a fishing licence
from the Marie. You can then spend many tranquil hours on the banks of the
river. I understand that occasionally the tranquillity can be broken by
fish that attach themselves to fishing lines, although I must admit I have
never seen anybody catch a sandre!
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For the energetic there are plenty of sporting activities in the area.
Riding, tennis, fishing and mini golf will be found nearby with golf at Souillac, Cahors and Domme. There are several canoe bases along the river
and for the adventurous there is a hot air ballooning centre some 14kms
away at Chateau de Veyrignac. If gentle exercise
appeals more, there are wooded hills behind the village and it is possible
to hire bicycles in Souillac.
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For many, however, it is the River that is essential to the character of
the Dordogne Valley. The stretch of the river nearby is one of the most
beautiful
For any bird watchers the area is a delight. As well as the
"normal" birds in the garden we have black kites, buzzards,
spotted and pied flycatchers, redstarts and black redstarts, greater
spotted, lesser spotted and green woodpeckers, blackcaps and hoopoes.
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This part of theDordogne River is about 1km
from our house
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The squirrels are, of course, red squirrels and we sometimes get them in
the garden. Hedgehogs are also quite common but you may be pleased to know
that the wild boar do keep themselves to the
surrounding countryside. The nearest I have come to a wild boar was at one
of the local village fetes, when it was served roasted although we have
seen them crossing the road between Souilla and
Le Roc on a couple of occasions..
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Scenes from
the Market in Souillac
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There are no shops in the village but most days a van will come round
selling bread/cheese/milk/meat. The time of arrival varies but they
announce their arrival by loud hooting of the horn. There are two
supermarkets less than 10 minutes drive away
along with all the shops one would expect in a small town. Souillac has a market on Fridays. The mediaeval
town of Sarlat has the best market we have
found in the area. A large market is held on Saturday and a much smaller
one on Wednesday.
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Other activities include the Museé d'Automat(*), the French national museum of automatons, with its
fascinating range of moving models. Look out for for
vouchers from restaurants that give a reduction on the entrance fee. There
are many hundreds of exhibits including the beautiful Snow Queen
from the 1950's and the Jazz Band with a full jazz band from the
1920's.
Talking of Jazz, during the third week of July, Souillac
holds its Annual Jazz Festival. Free jazz concerts are
held on open air stages and in many of the bars. Jazz players from all over
the world come to play many different varieties of jazz from traditional to
modern.
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Rocamadour(***),
built into the 500 foot cliffs rising above the Alzou
Canyon is one of the most famous sites in the whole of France. It is a
centre for mediaeval Christianity. As a child I have seen pilgrims climbing
the two hundred or so steps from the floor of the canyon to the church on
their knees to finally kneel at the altar of the Black
Madonna to receive forgiveness for their sins. One of the best
views of Rocamadour is from the terrace at L'Hospitalet on the road from Payrac.
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Another well known village that has been
built into the cliffs is La Roque Gageac(**)
.From here you can take a trip in a "Gabarre"
, replicas of the old trading vessels of the river. The trip goes down
the River towards Castelnaud(*) and its castle. The castle stands on one side of
the Dordogne confronting the castle of Beynac(*) on
the other. Many battles were fought here during the 100 years war, and changed hands between the English and
the French with great regularity.
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A traditional Gabarre
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View of Castelnaud
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Houses built into the cliff at La Roque Gageac
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And Finally...
The range of restaurants, activities fairs etc,
is so great that it is difficult to list them all here, especially from
memory! We hope you find it interesting and helpful, but please remember, they are our own personal views. We plan to add extra
thoughts to this page after we have been back to the house to check our
facts!. There is a big file in the house with
contributions from people who have stayed there over the years, including
details of places to visit, sample menus from favourite restaurants; it is
a valuable source of ideas for spending your holiday leisure time.
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