thanks for sharing your travels with us. It's been a very enjoyable read please keep the posts coming.

Piccolina: thanks for the encouragement, and I'm loving your adventures in the new "Me, Myself and the Dordogne!"

by way of preamble, I should say more about arrangements, reservations, etc.

We found that one definitely should have reservations for Sunday lunch (probably almost anywhere) in France. we messed up on our Sunday in the Dordogne, and ended up in a cafe where we had good enough food, but not as good as we might have done

Sunday was our drive to Les Eyzies and the marvelous Prehistory Museum. We debated for two days, all eight of us have fairly strong opinions, and we range from the "plan each hour" to the "let's wing it" schools of travel. It was a challenge for me, the lawyer/mediator!

But I was in vacation mode,the result of which was, either out of inaction, or too much wine, (the previous evenong) we set off for Les Eyzies and the museum on Sunday morning with NO RESERVATIONS ( with apologies to Anthony Bourdain.)

I am not sure if you told us...but, how many cars did you have for the eight of you? Did you usually stay together and see the same sites each day? I am enjoying your report!

Hi Kansas: We had three cars this year. Four of us drove from Paris, and drove because we had to wait for E's plane to get in, and couldn't chance a late plane (which it was by 3 hours!)so didn't reserve tgv tickets.

One other couple was coming from Bordeaux airport, and the fourth couple was taking the train from Paris to Bergerac.

Last year, each couple had a car, since we all came from different places. We were trying to lower our carbon footprint this year, which seemed to work.

We two couples rented in Paris, shared the week's rental while we were in the Dordogne, then we kept the car and our rental-partners went with couple # 4 back to Bergerac, and took the train together back to Paris, while we stayed in the Dordogne for another couple of days, then we drove back slowly to Paris (in the continuing report, which I'd better get back to!!)

This time we went to see the same sites, trading people around, so each couple had a chance to join one of the others for the day's drive - and we went to the same places, and lunched together. Except for one day, when DH and I didn't want to go to Rocamadour but the others did (we've been there, staying nearby later in trip, it was a 2 hour drive) so we went on our own to Montpazier, Moliere, and wandered around that area.

When we went to Tuscany a year and a half ago, each couple had a car, went their own way, sometimes met for lunch, sometimes didn't.

It worked well both ways, but this is a very laid back group, despite all the "knowledgeable tour directors" among the women!

The Musee de la Prehistoire, in Les Eyzies was our Sunday morning destination, (the last Sunday in September) and we went without reservations, and had no problem at all, walked right in. We parked on the main street where there were at least two easy parking lots, and walked about a quarter mile to the entrance.

This is a most impressive museum, way beyond what I thought it would be. And of course, the topic is mind boggling.

"Humans have only been living in Perigord for 450,000 years."

"Homo sapiens arrived in France only 35,000 years ago. This was Cro-Magnon man responsible for the cave paintings in Lascaux, 17,000 to 18,000 years ago. Quite recently, in fact."

Do these quotes not boggle the mind?

So here, my friends, in this perfectly gorgeous part of the earth, beneath the earth lie treasure troves of the history of mankind.

We spent two or three hours at the museum, where the information is very well organized, and displayed, so that it was pretty easy to learn some basic facts, and the whet the appetite for more. I brought home a book, called "Perigord Prehistory" which is going to be a continuing winter read.

DH and I have been to Peche-Merle many years ago, and were impressed, but I think it took this trip, and our visit to this museum (plus finally, a visit to Lascaux II) to realize the vastness of the history in this region -- and the history goes on and on!

It is situated up high against the rock outcropping, so one can see how the cave people lived, even from the inside of this contemporary building, with almost all glass walls.

You must just go and see for yourself. I don't remember the entrance fees, but you can easily garner most of that info. on the web. I apologize for not having some hot links here, (I always so appreciate them from others, so mea culpa)

Our lunch that day was a mish-mash of unplannedness. But as usual, we had fun. We sent out scouting parties all over the town, to see what restaurants were open and had room, gathering up at the tourist wine shop every now and then to discuss options. Meanwhile, those of us who opted out of the search shopped for wine in the aforementioned place. Which also had some nice little gifts and clothing in a corner in the back. Very nice people, who helped us with our search, and were about the only place open on Sunday afternoon.

After frantic searching, knowing that restaurants close by mid-afternoon, we went to the Cafe Brasserie de la Mairie, which had ONE table, and there were 8 of us! OY! But the folks there were more than nice to us, we had passable food, in my estimation, just OK, but I see that it is the #1 place to eat in Les Eyzies according to TripAdvisor. I would not denigrate it however, since we were hungry and happy to be there. Chacun a son gout.

I must confess that we all decided to go bak to our house after lunch, and contemplate the delicious looking pool, (in the 86 degree weather) and try to figure out how to get in it when no one brought a bathing suit......

Next: A MORNING IN LALINDE, THEN BEYNAC CASTLE, JARDINS DE MARQUEYSSAC, LA ROQUE GAGEAC, DOMME - VIEWS BEYOND VIEWS

Lucky me, I got sent in to town with one of the "John's" early the next morning to get groceries and croissants. I happened to come down stairs early, and I was more than happy to go, not having been in Lalinde before.

We arrived at the supermarket half an hour before it opened, so we of course went to the town square to find a cafe!! First we went to the proper boulangerie (we were told to go to the one with the red awning!) and had purchased a delicious looking bunch of croissants and pains chocolat.

We went in to the cafe, ordered our coffees from a very friendly lady, who was deep in conversation with some 'regulars.'
When we asked if she had croissants, whe said "Non, mais, un moment...." and she called to a young boy nearby, and was ready to send him to the boulangerie to get us croissants.

We quickly told her that we had our own, but that we did not want to insult her premises by bringing in our own food. "Pourquoi pas?" said she, "bien sur!" A very welcoming gesture, which led us to sit out front for a long time munching away, and drinking in not only our coffee, but the entire morning 'scene.' What a pleasure just to people watch.

We almost forgot our original destination, the supermarche!

this was a day of more sites in the Dordogne, after our return from the InterMarche.

We started at Beynac and its castle, a charming town on the river, topped by a magnificent castle, with most all buildings in the honey colored stone. There's fairly easy parking down by the river and most of us couldn't resist hiking up to the castle, only to find out later that we could have driven to the top.

Our next stop was the amazing "suspended" gardens of Marqueyssac. Yep, that's what they call them on the brochure. Don't think for a moment that this is some kind of vaudeville act, or a hokey touristy place.

Far from it. Here is a former private chateau with elegant gardens, again topiary, in the style of LeNotre, which spread all along the crest of a butte that is perhaps two miles long.
"Les Plus Beaux Panoramas du Perigord."

I don't see much written about this place, but we went on the suggestion of friends who had been in the Dordogne in August.

The topiaried (is that a word?) gardens are intriguing, the lovely trees made the pathways shady on this very hot day, and the views back to Beynac, over to Castelnaud, and further along, La Roque Gageac, and the meandering valley of the river itself, left a very strong impression.

It is worth spending time here: there are several ways to walk the paths to the far end, and all are lovely. There is a grand allee, a promenade des hauteurs, and a promenade des falaises. All offer magnificent views, and we all fell in love with the place.

So wasn't it nice that they also have a most attractive terrace for lunch! We sat drinking in the view and enjoying some wine and salads (well, at least for me, a delicious large green salad with those sweet tomatoes and warm cabecou cheese.) While we ate the peacocks were wandering around, but not too terribly close, just sharing the view. And a little ways away, one of the many gardeners was hard at work, clipping the topiaries by hand, as they do twice a year. No electric clippers allowed here!!

Since it was such a gorgeous day for views, we tore ourselves away, to get a look at what Domme had to offer. And though, I confess, the word "nap" kept popping in to my mind, I couldn't resist a walk up thru the center of that equally charming town, to the very top where the Esplanade Hotel sits, and seeing yet another magnificent view of this enchanting country.
Even if you have no time, go to Domme, as another poster has suggested, you will not be sorry when you see the view.

I think the Esplanade must be a great place to stay, and I can confirm that the ladies' room is very upmarket and comfortable.

This perfect day had a perfect ending, when John the gourmet/gourmand made us a most delicious pasta dinner with a tomato, garlic, basil and goat cheese sauce, along with a perfect salad from the market made by dear G. Also from the market was a walnut cake which we topped with fresh strawberries. One of the joys of having a house to stay in.

And by the way, walnuts are a huge crop in the Perigord, and we passed many a grove of walnut trees.

Next day; WE WANDER ALONE

Thanks for your reply, taconic. I am enjoying your trip report immensely.

I'm taking notes like crazy as we hope to visit the area next Sept. You seem to travel in a similar style to us, so much of your trip is going in my file. I very much appreciate the web sites included.

So happy you enjoyed L'Orangerie and Guest Apt. on Ile St. Louis. Which apt. did you stay in?

Thank you for the report. There is lots of useful information for my trip next year.

Tpayt: We stayed in MARGUERITA, on Quai d'Anjou. Great location, just a block from Metro Pont Marie. but dark, because on ground floor. About it much more when we get back to our week in Paris.

Kansas and nwtraveler, thanks for reading. I should try to be less wordy, but sometimes I get carried away as the good memories come flooding in!

taconic - It sounds like you were having way too much fun on this trip. I want to party with you!

The rest of our group really wanted to go to Rocamadour, but DH and I had been there 15 years ago, and basically we belong to the group that thinks it is a 'drive by' - plus we were going to be near there when staying at Domaine de la Rhue after our week together. (Oh, and it was almost a two hour drive!!)

So, we decided to follow a different drummer for the day, though I confess it is hard to leave these wonderful friends. It would be difficult for me to express what a congenial and loving group these friends are. They are all so different, so wise, so funny, so inclusive, so adventuresome, well, you get my drift.

We had wanted to do some wandering south of the Dordogne, and Montpazier had been touted by some fodorites, so we headed in that direction.

On our way, we decided to go through Moliere, a tiny town, not much mentioned anywhere, but I had picked up on it, can't remember exactly where.

This is a delightful, mostly unspoiled village on high ground overlooking a valley. Hardly anyone was there. I think we were only the second car in the village square. This is a small version of a 'bastide' town, with just one bar/restaurant. Around the corner down the street the only vestige of a commercial enterprise was a pottery studio, with some of the potter's work in the windows. Not very good.

In the corner of the square, was a tall square two storey tower. I could see some placards on the walls of the tower, so I assumed they would tell the history of the town.

Lo and behold, the placard was titled 'A louer' Yes, this medieval tower was for rent: two bedrooms, bath, sitting room/kitchen combo; a walk-up with stained glass windows!! The price was exceedingly low, so if anyone is interested.... It's a quiet unfinishd English bastide town, according to the Green Michelin guide. It was built by Henry II of England, who also built Beaumont, Lalinde, and Montpazier.

On thru the lovely country side, with no where to go, but arrived at Montpazier by some route or other.

(More later; trouble with Time Machine)

OK, Time Machine backup fixed. Never did find out what was wrong! But it works.

The middle of that day was spent in Montpazier, which is a much larger bastide town, than Molieres. and busier.

I think it is worth seeing, but it was noon-ish, it was hot, and it looked overrun with tourists compared to Molieres, where we were the ONLY tourists - (so we must always think of "point of view" when we read each other's reports.) There were really only a few people at the patio restaurants in the square.

We had lunch, not in the chic place near the edge of town (called Bistro 2) because, frankly, the menu did not appeal.(I was beginning to think that every menu in this part of the world consisted of maigret, confit, and foie gras.)

Anyhow, we thought there was another restaurant down the street, which indeed there was. We had a passable meal, and wandered around the shops. I very much liked the buildings in the square, and I think would have like it much more, had we sat down in that square and had our lunch there, rather than inside.

They say that this is one of the best preserved bastide towns, also built by Henry II. Definitely worth a few hours walk around.

On our way back to home-base, we stopped in Beaumont, partly because DH has a colleague by that name, and to buy batteries for the camera. It's a pleasant place, probably worth a stop, as are most of these towns. You will always find a garden, or a building that you love, esp. if you are a photographer.

We passed Chateau de Bannes above Beaumont, a fairytale castle, which would probably be worth a visit. This 16th Century building sits perched on a rock spur and is flanked by round towers with pepper pot roofs. (That's more of less direct quote from the Green Guide.)

I'd say just wandering around this part of the world is rewarding, no matter whether you have any planned route or not, there is always something wonderful and rewarding to see.

We spent a fun evening at home, hearing about the 330 (or whatever number)of steps the others had climbed in Rocamadour, running, in the case of John, who has hiked the world over, and much more slowly by the other John, who has eaten the world over.

I must report that my friend, C, brought me back a gift from Rocamadour, to show that I was missed. I would suggest that all who go to this pilgrimage town stop at La Chic Echappe, on rue de la Couronnerie to get some chocolate soap!!

[email protected]

I never want to use it, because I love the smell, and it is no-cal!

Next up: LASCAUX II, after a frightening disappearance of keys!!

<i>Next up: LASCAUX II, after a frightening disappearance of keys!!</i>

Now THAT is how you tease a story, folks.

Great trip report so far, tac. We covered a lot of the same ground on our trip, and this is taking me back!

Well, it's funny now, but it wasn't when it happened!

Love Eyrignac. Love Marquessac a bit less but it's still very fine. I'm sure I've been to Molieres -- the name rings a bell. Cadouin, Monpazier etc are favourites. Top venue on that side of the Dordogne (fully the equal of the preceding, IMO): Chateau de Biron.

You'll see loads of photos of Eyrignac, Biron etc etc in this Facebook album:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=8e87491a44

Ted: your photos are super. I loved especially your excellent shots of Eyrignac. They are much better than mine. Maybe it's just as well that I don't know how to upload photos.

that was a particularly good set!

We went to Autoire and Collonges and several other towns because you suggested it, so thanks much.

Ok, Mr.-Go (et al.): Here's the story: September 28 was the day we all wanted to go to Lascaux II.

DH and I had a chance to go there 15 years ago, but I the un-knowledgeable snob, said NO, we only want the authentic "real things."

So, being older and smarter, I readily agreed to this joint venture.

After breakfast, and filling the washing machine with clothes, etc., decisions were made as to which couples would go in which cars, etc. after some discussion, and out the door went the first foursome. The second foursome, including moi, took a while to lock all the outside doors, and as we went out the last door, our driver looked in the key tray (where we all left our keys each night) (don't get any cute ideas here!) and he picked up the one set of car keys left, and said: "These are not the keys to our car!" I knew immediately that he was correct, cuz the locking/beeping device on "our" Renault Scenic was an odd one (sort of like a slim iPhone.)

However, that was really the only set of keys in the tray.

He said: "Sacre Bleu!!" or a reasonable facsimile thereof. We looked at each other for a while, we looked at the cars left in the drive. there were two. One was the Renault, but we had no keys. The other car matched the remaining set of keys. So maybe someone took our keys last night by mistake. We decided it would be OK to take a look in the other bedrooms, which we did.

No keys anywhere.

We were then left with a sort of Hobson's choice.

Do we stay here all day, and pick apples and figs? Maybe go swimming? Drink all the wine?

Or do we drive a car in which none of us is a authorized legal driver? Woe is us, (or whatever Peanuts would say.)

I did not like this much. No one liked this much.

Apparently one of us grabbed a set of keys, thinking he would be driving that day, stuck them in his pocket and forgot about it, when the other guy decided he'd drive that day. All unbeknownst to us inside the house, locking doors all over the place.

Finally, and of course, you can't tell anybody this, somebody in our foursome decided we would drive to the appointed meeting spot (the parking lot of Lascaux II) AND that that somebody would drive VERY VERY CAREFULLY.

Which is what we did, practically inching along back roads all the way, and we arrived before the others did. The culprit still had no idea what he had done.

Such is life, and we lived through it. Maybe a lot of you have driven a rental car when you were not an authorized driver. In fact, I have probably done it myself in past trips to Europe, when I was young and more adventurous. But in these days of abundance of caution, we were a bit skitterish.

Soon enough, everyone forgot about it, as we had arrived at Lascaux II with no reservations, hoping to either get tickets right away, or for after lunch,\.

As it happened, we were just about in time for the last tour before lunch, and there were a few spots left. And it was an English tour! In fact, all 8 of us were able to join this group.

Only a limited number are allowed in the cave at one time. I soon learned why. Unlike Peche Merle where DH and I had been years ago, this one is really quite small.

I have to say, NO ONE should miss seeing this. It is absolument incroyable! I was totally speechless and felt that I was in the presence of greatness. I have rarely had such a feeling. To think that these remarkable images were created in darkness or semi-darkness, and so magically alive, is almost too much to believe.

The tour is a short 40 minutes, but full of information, including the remarkable story of how two young boys found the cave very much by accident.

No need to say any more except: Go there.