I've been waiting for this, Winnick. We were there in the Lot & Dordogne at the exact time you were (last two weeks of June, leaving on the 4th of July). I hear you about the heat. There were definitely more than a couple of 100-degree days.

Can't wait for more. You've beat me to it, though. It'll be a couple more days before I get to writing about the Dordogne portion of our trip. Now, will you be updating here on Fodor's, or solely through your blog? I'll definitely check out the blog & photos, too.

BTW, nice approach with the starring system right of the bat.

So glad you had a great time in the Dordogne, too. What's not to love? (We liked Provence almost as much and would like to revisit both, but have to give the edge to Dordogne for the food!)

Finally, I must say that you really accomplished a lot in your time frame. Wow! You must have energy.

sap,

Yes, I'm a little late in getting my trip report written. That pesky little thing called "JOB" keeps interfering with my time .

I just saw your report on the LOT and started reading your Provence section. You are an incredible writer. I love all the detail you put into your report including the history of each town. I wish I had that before we left on our trip.

Since we created a blog while we were in the Dordogne, I thought I would just provide a link to it for those that may want to see our day-to-day exploits.

We've spent the past month just working on our book which finally went to press on Friday. I've also included a link to that.

I agree with you that doing more than 4 towns in a day is too much. We also tried to break up the days by visiting no more than 1 chateau and 3 towns in one day.

I was somewhat surprised about your take on Toulouse. We enjoyed it there and didn't see any beggars. We also really enjoyed Albi.

I'll be looking forward to reading more about your trip. Keep up the great writing.

I think Cali Nurse was in the area around the same time. I'm hoping she also posts her trip report soon.

I was just looking at your itinerary again from your blog. There was definitely some overlap on our days. For one thing, we were in St. Cyprien at the market on the same morning you were (June 26th).

Also, we were in Les Eyzies on June 28th and then spent the day in that neck of the woods, but we went to La Roque Saint-Christophe and Font de Gaume whereas you went to Rouffignac, etc. Who knows, we could have passed on the road or street that week.

Will have fun w/the picture viewing next.

Your photos are beautiful!!

I will look at your blog

sap,

We really enjoyed La Roque St. Christophe and Font de Gaume. Those sites were definite highlights in the area.

Looking forward to following your report.
We will be getting ready to think about next year's trip soon

aussie_10,
Thanks for your kind words. I used your trip report last year when we were planning our trip to Provence. It was great. Are you planning any more trips to France anytime soon?

Winnick: a very good and very thorough report. We're off to the Dordogne in late September! This info is invaluable.

taconictraveler: You will love it there! Happy travels. I'll be looking for your trip report when you get back.

Very nicely done, winnick. Solid report, great pix, and a well-planned and executed itinerary overall!

You're making me want to go back.

mr_go: Thanks for your comments. We are already wanting to go back. Need to start planning for next year's trip

Enjoyed your report and blog. We were in the Dordogne (staying in Beynac) June 10-17 and, apparently, really lucked out on the weather. We were on the Riviera and in Paris when it was so hot in the Dordogne.

twk:

How did you like staying in Beynac? Where did you stay?

Thanks for posting a trip report. I love your album! We leave for the Dordogne area in less than 3 weeks. Between your report and sap's report, I can hardly wait to leave.

After reading a few negative comments here about Toulouse, I was happy to read that you enjoyed it. We are also staying at the Domaine de la Rhue for two nights. Your apartment in Sarlat looks wonderful. Thanks again for posting!

Another thank you to both Sap and you for posting these trip reports at the right time, at least for my husband and I (and Kansas). We are heading to the Dordogne for 2 weeks, (9/10-9/24) staying in an In-Sarlat apartment (Rambeau). My husband and I have visited France several times, often returning to Provence, though we have explored other areas. This year, we decided to visit the Dordogne. These days, when we travel, we try to stay in one place for the duration of our vacation- we have done this in Bonnieux( 3 weeks), Montepulciano (2 weeks), and San Sebastian (2 weeks). We find that we really love to truly immerse oursleves in the chosen region. I speak a slightly passable French and my husband speaks French, Italain, and Spanish.

We actually visited the DordOgne almost 20 years ago, shortly after our then young teenage daughter had spent a summer in Beynac. Because of the host family connection ( and we were traveling wioth our daughters), we actually did little touring and we decided it was time to revisit the area. St Cirq, Stu Dudley, Carlux, and other Fodor's posters like the 2 of you have provided a great deal of information, so again, thank you.

In advance, I've been reading about the Dordogne and pre-historic man and their presence in the region. I am excited to see the caves and abris as well as the gardens and castles. And, I love French markets.

I always put together several word files that I carry in my husband's net book as well as, this year, in my newish Nook. I have a file on restaurants and one on Dordogne activities.

Kansas, how long will you be in the Dordogne and where will you be staying?

I have a few questions, but I'll post them on another link. Thanks again for a great report.

Gosh, I better get to the rest of my own trip report before kansas and justretired leave! I've been too busy with work, too.

Winnick, I'll partially respond for twk if he doesn't mind. He has a really nice report, which can be found here: http://tiny.cc/o5ugj and then his photos are here: http://twkfrancetrip.shutterfly.com/

The rental twk stayed in was apparently just up the street from the one we stayed in -- and speaking of that, I wanted to tell you that you actually have a picture of our rental house in your album! It's the narrow one with the little curved porch, on page 106 of your book, top left corner. We LOVED that place. The owners call it La Petite Maison. I wish it was my second home.

Your album is one of the best I've seen. I really like the way you've put it together.

Thank you all for your kind words.

Kansas & Justretired: I'm so glad that we were able to get our trip report finished and you found it helpful for your upcoming trips. You will absolutely love the area.

Kansas: The Domaine de la Rhue is gorgeous. It was a beautiful country estate and we were glad we stayed there.

Justretired: We also like to stay put in one place but sometimes we want to visit places that are just too far for day trips so we have to put up with the 1 or 2 night hotel stays. We were so relieved to get to the apartment. I'm sure the apartment you have chosen through in-sarlat will be lovely. I noticed that you arrive on a Saturday. You may want to stop and pick up some essentials before arriving at the apartment. I was a little disappointed that they did not have some starter items (unlike other apartments we have rented).

sap: Thanks for providing twk links. I'm glad to hear you loved that house in Beynac. When I saw it, I thought it was so charming and thought I would have enjoyed staying there. Looking forward to your final installment but totally understand about work interfering with your hobby!

Hi Winnick-we're not rigid in our choice of staying in one place. In the past few years, though, we've moved around more than we prefer (in Spain and in the Languedoc), and really wanted to stay put for this trip. Although we want to explore the Lot and have never been to Toulouse, we thought we'd do that on another trip. Boy- there are truly always places to see and explore.

I think I noticed on another thread that In-Sarlat apartments do not provide starter stuff- someone ( maybe it was you) gave me a link to the supermarket north of town. I think we'll stop there first and then, go to the St. Cyprien market on Sunday to get veggies, fruits, etc.

I would certainly apprecaute any further suggestions you might have.

Thanks for your report- it's very helpful.

winnick: Saw your reply on my trip report, so you have all the details on where I stayed. I really liked the Dordogne. Since I was the trip planner, I wasn't surprised, but I think that the rest of my party, who, like most Americans, didn't know much about the Dordogne, were really suprised. It was challenging to drive in a full sized van, so, whenever I go back someday, I hope to be driving in a much smaller car.

Beynac was nice, and the house was excellent. If I had it to do over again with the same party of four, I would make the same choice, but perhaps more for the house than for Beynac. A town with slightly more commercial offerings would have been nice, but, Beynac had enough that it wasn't like staying at some remote location. We did, however, have to get in the car to go someplace for evening meals, even if it was just to go to the lower village. Sarlat is probably a little larger than my ideal small town rental. After going to the market in St. Cyprien, I'd say that if you could get a rental within walking distance of the main commerical street there, with easy parking, someplace like that would be just about ideal, although you wouldn't have the "staying in Disneyland" experience we did staying next to Chateau de Beynac, or that you did, staying in central Sarlat.

>>A town with slightly more commercial offerings would have been nice<<

Consider Cenac.

Nice grocery in town, large produce/produits regionaux store, several boulangerie & patisserie shops, a boucherie or two, a magazine/news shop, ATM machine, wine shop, and even a "chicken-a-go-go" for roast chickens & excellent roast potatoes (it was there in '09 - but not previous years). Canoe rentals, and even a beach. It has a cafe (maybe two) - but not a real "dinner" place. Domme is just minutes away for dinner options and Roque Gageac is very close as is Vitrac for more dinner options. It has an adequate Tuesday morning farmer's market in the summer. It is on the "quiet" side of the Dordogne, so there is less traffic than at Beynac or Roque Gageac.

Stu Dudley

justretired:

I think you have a good plan. In town on Rue Repubblic was Le Petite Casino. On the edge of city centre is a Leclerc, just off the 704 going South, and the Supermarche Casino, on Avenue de la Dordogne on the way to N46 and N57 circle. There's a Carrefour also on Route de Brive. We also tried to avoid leaving or coming back to Sarlat during rush hour as it can be quite busy during those times.

twk: We also had a larger car than we would have liked and there were times it was a little scary on those tiny winding roads but I actually got used to it and it turned out to be fine for us. Sarlat was actually very nice in the evenings, not too many people when we were there. There are a lot of good restaurants in the center of the town which we liked having available. I need to take some time now to look at all your pictures.

justretired: One thing I forgot to mention is to have Phillipe or Bertrice show you how to operate the washer/dryer combo, the microwave and oven. There were directions only for the washer/dryer but not for the microwave or oven. It sounds like it would be intuitive but my DH set the clock on the microwave and oven to be accurate and we could never get them to work. We didn't really cook much and used the cooktop for everything so wasn't a major problem, but we probably would have called Phillipe again if we really needed it. We recommended to them that they provide a manual for each appliance.

I will definitely return to your report, having not been to the Dordogne. I know you can't visit everywhere, but there were some notable exceptions to your Languedoc visit and wondered whether these were because you had been there before? I particularly liked Sete, Agde, Banyul sur Mer and Collioure both aren't too far from St Cyprien - but you don't mention these.

@stevelyon I believe there are two St Cypriens (well three, if you include St Cyprien la Plage) -- one is in the Lot, the other (two) are in Languedoc-Roussillon on the Mediterranean Coast. Winnick didn't get that far into Languedoc, just Toulouse and Carcassonne. They'll need to take another long trip in SW France to check out the places you mention. (We spent a month there last year and it has become our favorite part of France, just edging out Dordogne and the Lot!)

stevelyon:
uhoh_busted is correct - we didn't get too far into Langeudoc-Roussillon, just Toulouse and Carcassonne. The rest of the trip was in the Lot and Dordogne. We definitely plan to return to France again in the near future and will make note of your recommendations. We needed more time in the Dordogne region and will have to plan a month's stay next time!

>>two St Cypriens (well three, if you include St Cyprien la Plage) -- one is in the Lot<<

There are actually 7 St Cypriens in France (8, with la Plage)
Dordogne
Pyrenees-Orientales
Loire
Lot
Vienne
Aveyron
Correze

The St Cyprien that has the Sunday market is in the Dordogne department.

Stu Dudley

Hi Winnick- I appreciated your succinct report and asterisk system. If the weather is still good in a few wks we plan to try river canoeing. But we only have time for one of the following- which of these was your favorite?:
Font de Gaume, Pech Merle, or Lascaux II? (I see you didn't do Gouffre de Padirac). Opinions from others also welcomed and appreciated
We'll be based in the Lot near Souillac.
Thanks!

I'd have to put Font de Gaume first and Pech Merle second. There's no doubt Lascaux was very good but since it was a reproduction it had less of an impact. Font de Gaume left you feeling the painters just left, though Pech Merle too did that in one area where you could see the footprints in a mud pool that also made you think they were watching you from some dark corner.

calville
We were in the Dordogne in July and were able to see the four caves you listed. We enjoyed them all.If I had to select one, it would be Font de Gaume. The location(cave entrance a fissure among rocks and trees above the valley-a dark 100m long narrow passage of irregular height leading to the cave art),authenticity,the knowledge and enthusiasm of the guide(english speaking), and the beautifully preserved 10000 to 18000 year old polychrome paintings.

Having said that, I would make every effort to see the breathtaking superb replica of Cro Magnon art at Lascaux II in addition to Font de Gaume.

Calville: My husband, son and I preferred Pech Merle over Font-de-Gaume, but that could partially be due to a better tour guide. We did like them both. We also thought Pech Merle was a prettier cave overall aside from the cave drawings. We didn't make it to Lascaux. (Gouffre de Padirac was the favorite of my son and husband, but of course it doesn't have cave art. They just loved the boat ride and formations)

Thanks so much everyone for responding. It's great to get a collection of fodorite opinions. I'll report back when we return in early Oct.

I'm glad this came up again. Taking notes. I like the way you rated the towns at the beginning of your report.

I look forward to reading this report quite carefully tonight. We are thinking about going to Dordogne or Provence in Sept. DH feels Provence will be too similar to Tuscany and I am tending to agree. Finding the diversity of this area fascinating. Any thoughts along these lines for starters?

I have traveled to the three regions you mentioned and think that there are similarities and differences between them. There are several regions of Tuscany, Provence, and the Dordogne, so it is difficult to talk about favorites though, of course, we do. You will find that, here on the Europe Forum, there are champions of each region. So, do read a lot of trip reports on all the areas before making your decision. There were several of us who visited the Dordogne over the past year or so, and I think we all have a somewhat different take on the region.

In order to say if Provence is similar to Tuscany, I would need to know why your husband thinks this. What part of Tuscany is he referring to? Yes, both regions have hill top towns, beautiful vistas, wonderful art and culture, and fascinating sites. But, they are quite different, in my opinion. I love both regions (Tuscany and Provence), and have visited both a few times each. Since I speak French and am an artist, I think I am drawn to Provence in a somewhat different way. The light is just different- one just feels bathed in a kind of warmth when one visits the area. I love Provence and its culture and people and I always seem to look for any excuse to visit or pass through. Tuscany has wonderful cities- Sienna, Assisi, etc while Provence has cities of a different feel- Avignon, Arles, Marseilles, etc.

Our last trip was to the Dordogne (our second one to this region) was this past October, where we based ourselves in Sarlat for 2 weeks while we explored the area. It is also a fascinating and beautiful one. However, in our opinion, it lacked the diversity of the other areas. The caves are utterly intriguing and interesting – I have to say that I was completely fascinated by the cave paintings. The old castles and their history are also wonderful. There are some lovely gardens. However, we found the sites somewhat repetitive. After the three activities (which, as I said, are great), there just didn’t seem to be as much to do. We absolutely loved Sarlat and found the people friendly. The food, for the most part, was good, but also repetitive- on almost every menu, there is fois gras, duck, and truffles (depending on the season). We met someone who said that they called eating in the Dordogne “Duck, duck, goose.” Now, we love all the items, but again, we found the food repetitive. Would I go back? Certainly, it was lovely, and I would expand our travels to the Lot region. Incidentally, Languedoc is another great area with all sorts of things to do and is quite an attractive region.

As you investigate and research regions, make sure you ask Stu Dudley for his extensive files on all the regions your mentioned. He, and many others, has generously helped many folks here on the forum.

Good luck and enjoy your travel planning. We are heading to Sicily in September, a region not yet explored. What fun!