Dordogne help: Carlux or Sarlat as a base?
 

Dordogne experts: any comments for first time visitors on using Carlux vs Sarlat as a base for a week's holiday in the Dordogne? We have found two houses we like, and are leaning more towards the one outside Carlux. Most of the places we would like to visit seem pretty accessible: Sarlat, Castelnaud, Beynac, La Roque Gageac, Eyrignac gardens, Rocamadour, Pech-Merle and hopefully much more! The distance between Carlux and Sarlat is not great, but is one easier to reach (and drive to/from daily) than the other? Also, is it feasible to plan to have lunch at Le Vieux Logis (special birthday) if we base ourselves at Carlux? Mappy estimates the drive to be about an hour. Is it a pleasant drive?
Any suggestions are appreciated.

The drive to Le Vieux Logis is beautiful; you will pass a bend in the river known as the Route du Cingle; the corniche road west of Limeuil is particularly stunning. Tremolat is a picture-perfect Dordogne hamlet and I recommend the restaurant very highly. We stayed in Domme. We combined lunch at the Logis with a morning visit to the Le Bugue market; you will have plenty of time to drive there for lunch from either of those locations.

I did not stay in Carlux but I thought the village was exquisite, and the access to various points of interest in all directions is excellent. I think your access would be easier if you stayed here rather than in Sarlat, but either way it will be fine since they are close together, as you note.

Well, as someone who lives in Carlux, and manages houses in Sarlat, I guess I'm qualified to answer this question.

All the places you mention are easily accessible from either location, so you are really faced with the question of where you want to be based, in a village or in a town. We love Carlux, but it is small, with one butcher, a baker, a post office, and a cafe/restaurant. If being close to lots of restaurants and shops, particularly in the evening is important to you, Sarlat is better. If you will be cooking at home, or going out in the day and resting at home in the evening, Carlux would be the choice.

It is an hour's drive from Carlux to the Vieux Logis, which we did on Wednesday. Lunch is wonderful, and the drive along the river, past Beynac and La Roque Gageac, then further on the Limeuil, is very pretty.

And, as we always tell people, a week is not enough. We encourage a two week stay minimum, - after 13 years here, we are still finding wonderful things to see and do.

Either one is fine. I myself would prefer Sarlat, but don't have a strong preference for it. The drive is beautiful. Also don't think much of the Vieux Logis, but you won't be disappointed - though you'll spend a lot more euros than you need to for the experience. Just my two sous.

Thank you so much for such prompt responses! You have given us confidence to go ahead with our preferred plans: house in Carlux, celebration lunch at the Vieux Logis, and many wonderful days inbetween! We hope seven days will be enough to give us a tase of the area. We have two more days in Perigord on the way there (Brantome vicinity we think: Moulin de L'Abbaye or Moulin du Roc?)when we plan to visit Perigeaux, and two nights before that en route from Paris ( about halfway, suggestions please?)

My two sous on the Vieux Logis - it has changed considerably in the last few years, with a new chef, and now has a Michelin star. I would definitely recommend lunch during the week, when the 'menu tapas' of wonderful little inventive dishes can be had for 34 euros. We consider it a great bargain - if you want a celebration dinner it will be more. We always go for the lunch and have not yet been disappointed.

Is there more than one Carlux? 2 years ago we stayed at a duck -> foie gras farm/gite outside a town named Carlux, which seemed only about 10 minutes from Sarlat. Nice place to stay, by the way./\

Well, that's good to know, Carlux. The last time I ate there was about 5-6 years ago and swore I wouldn't return. Did not know about the change in management or the new chef and will happily give it another try.

So now that the Centenaire is closed, is that the only Michelin star in the Périgord?

Here is a (long) report I wrote last fall; you will find a description of our lunch at Le Vieux Logis in the Dordogne section, on the Tuesday..just scroll past Bayonne and San Sebastian...


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34894706

jes, we stayed at the moulin du Roc and had a dinner one night at the L'Abbaye. It rained heavily both times we were there so never saw much of the outside.

jes3

Would you be kind enough to share details of the 2 houses you found.

Carlux, given you are the local resident, could you make any recommendation in terms of accommodation.

I am planning for an extended trip to France in 2008 and intend to dedicate 2 weeks to the Dordogne and 2 weeks to the Perigold.

Will be travelling with a 3-year old toddler, so will require self-contained style accommodation.

Thank you both.

s

Carlux may be reluctant to toot her own horn but I am not shy about tooting it for her. Carlux manages two of these homes, one in Sarlat and one in Carlux.
http://www.yourfriendsinfrance.org/

Thanks again for all comments on the Vieux Logis. La Centennaire was our original choice, but as they are now closed Logis seems to be the top rated restaurant in the area. Glad to know Carlux thinks higly of it. ekskrunchy, such a wonderful trip report, I will make lots of notes, and will try the restaurant in Domme. cigalechanta, which moulin did you prefer? Finally, both houses we chose are quite large (8+beds) as we will spend that part of the holiday travelling with another family. Is this the house size you were looking for swagman?

jes3

8+beds is definitely too big for me. I am looking for either a 1- or a 2-bedder. Any suggestions?

s

I'm not the area expert swagman, but we found the 'Best of Perigord' site informative. I'm sure you've checked the site mentioned above by robjame. Holidaylets (.net) have a nice small house in Coux-Bigaroque (listed as Sarlat) that our friends were looking at. It has a pool-perhaps not so good for your three year old.

'So now that the Centenaire is closed, is that the only Michelin star in the Périgord?'

No, there are several others, in Le Buisson, Terrasson, Perigueux, Brantome, plus others just outside the area, in the Lot. All good, but we still like the rapport qualite/prix at the Vieux Logis.

Thanks to Robjame for his comments. I would be happy to talk to anyone who is interested in renting in the area.

Carlux

What is the weather like now in the Dordogne?

s

We stayed at Moulin du Roc last year, it was magical.

Also, if I were having a special birthday in the Dordogne, I can think of no sweeter place than La Meynardie, tucked in the countryside.

Best wishes for a dream trip, annieladd

swagman: What do you mean by 2 weeks in the Dordogne and 2 weeks in the Périgord (note spelling)? They are, essentially, one and the same. There are complex historical differences between them, but I'm guessing if you're aware of that you wouldn't be here asking for travel assistance. So where are you planning to visit?

StCirq

Please excuse my ignorance. My plan is to stay 2 weeks in or around Sarlat (we stayed in Domme and St Cirque Lapopie during our previous visit) and perhaps 2 weeks around Perigueux which perhaps is too close to the former. Or perhaps further north closer to Limoges. Do you have any suggestion?

I have 4 weeks all up at this stage and maybe we can spend 2-3 weeks in the Dordogne and 1-2 weeks near the coast such as La Rochelle. The current plan is to be there in May or early June of 2008.

s

swagman, we stayed in one of the houses Carlux manages in Sarlat last June and cannot speak too highly of the house or of the help Carlux provided. We loved being in town, especially in the evening, but found Carlux the village very appealing. It's a win-win situation.

My advice would be to stay longer in the Dordogne and less time further north. Perigueux is an easy daytrip from either Sarlat or Carlux.

We had a wonderful lunch at Le Vieux Logis. Try to see the movie "Le Boucher" before you visit Tremolat!

For photos and descriptions of the Dordogne and our dining experiences there you might find my trip report helpful. It's rather lengthy but you each segment is titled so you can skip through to the places of interest.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34839073

For Swagman: Sorry I didn't answer your earlier question about the weather, although I don't know how useful that would be. (We were in Sicily, where there doesn't seem to be any easy Internet connection). So, regarding weather, Thursday was very hot, around 31 degrees, with thunderstorm at night. Friday very hot again, probably 32, again with thunderstorm. Today, Saturday, down to about 18 degrees and raining. Illustrates the difficulty with extrapolating weather information, or even trying to judge from one day to the next.

However, I do agree with others who have said that you should spend as much time in the Dordogne (Perigord) area as you can. We have been here for 13 years, and have not yet found an area that we like as much. Also have not yet seen everything in the area!

jes3...think you made a sound decision if you booked in Carlux. We found the traffic congestion around Sarlat quite frustrating. There is some road work going on right now down the main throughway which is making traffic even worse. I can imagine in high season it must be bumper to bumper.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Vieux Logis in Tremolat. We weren't aware that the Tapas menu is only available on weekdays. On weekends the only available menu is 65.00 Euros or you can eliminate one main course and that reduces the cost to 49.00 Euros. The food and service were both outstanding. The weekday menu would be a very good value for the cost of 34.00 to 36.00 Euros depending on the menu choice. We could have easily changed our plans had we known but in any case were glad that we had included it in our plans.

There is often roadwork going on in Sarlat especially at this time of year as they try to finish things before the 'high' season starts in mid July. However, there are ways to get around the outskirts, that we let our guests know. For instance, we look after houses in the northern part of the downtown area, and luckily live just off the D47, which is the best way to get to that area, (and from Sarlat to Souillac, avoiding the congestion in the centre of town.) I have to admit that I did just look up the road number. After 13 years here, like everyone else I just call it 'the road through St. Nathalene.' You hardly ever hear a resident referring to a road number.

Glad you liked the Vieux Logis. I try to make it clear to everyone in my comments that it is weekday lunch only - in fact we were there a few weeks ago and it was 34 euros. Never heard of a 36 euro option. I'm sure dinner was good,but not only is lunch cheaper, but we find the many small and varied course a really nice way to eat, and to taste lots of things.

We would have liked to avoid the route we took through Sarlat to get to and from Cenac both times. Not knowing the area we didn't know which way to go to avoid the main road. Luckily both times we found parking quite easily. The first time we paid for parking in the big lot at the foot of the old town. The second time we parked free in a lot across from the Coulverine Hotel (Sp?).

The 34 Euro tapas menu at Vieux Logis said it was available for lunch only weekdays. The 36 Euros menu, which was a chef creation multi course meal, indicated weekdays for lunch or dinner. Our lunch bill was 138 Euros with wine and pre dinner drinks. It was one of the best meals on our trip and quite memorable...so worth every penny. We counted 13 different food items we were served but yet we weren't stuffed. I've heard very good things about the tapas menu so we were a little disappointed at first but quickly got over it after the amuse bouche arrived....every morsel was delightful.

crazy4travel, moolyn: thank you both for such interesting trip reports. I just hope we will have enough time to eat at the many wonderful restaurants mentioned! (including La Meynardie annieladd, already on our list)
An update on our plans: due to some early communication problems, we did not book the house in Carlux. Instead we followed the link here to the yourfriendsinfrance site, and booked one of the houses managed by Carlux the person!
Le Vignal, near Beynac will be our home for eleven nights. Being outside the main tourist season (early October) we hope the roads will be quieter, especially around towns like Sarlat.
Lunch is booked at Le Vieux Logis (on a saturday, so no tapas menu). Closer to the time, they will send us a copy of their seasonal set menu to consider, and have offered to cater for our party if there are any regional dishes we especially want to try.
We have extended our time in Dordogne from seven to eleven nights. This leaves only one night en route from Paris. We think we will take the morning TGV from the airport to Angouleme and hire a car from there. First stop Brantome: as it will be a Monday and the Moulin d'Abbaye restaurant will be closed, we chose to stay at the Moulin du Roc, where we can also have dinner (if we can stay awake!) Can't wait!

jes3....sounds like your plans are shaping up well. You'll love the region and I'm sure it won't be too busy while you're there. We had only a few traffic jams to contend with and it wasn't so bad.

The weekend menu at the Vieux Logis is 65 Euros per person unless you eliminate a course in which case it's 45 Euros per person. The food and service were wonderful.

Sorry....that should of said 49 Euros if you eliminate one of the two main courses.

yes, that was what we were quoted by the restaurant. As it is a special celebration, we are happy to pay more for the full experience.
The restaurant also mentioned the option of a menu including wines selected to complement each course, though not how much that would cost. I have noticed other restaurants offer fixed price menus inclusive of wines. Is this a good idea? We will be new to the area and certainly in need of advice regarding local wines.

I would certainly ask them for a price before committing to the menu including wine. This kind of menu can be quite good, but sometimes quite pricey too.

However, when you're at the restaurant,if you don't know the wine of the area, the sommelier can recommend wine that will go with the meal. He or she will ask you what kind of wine you like, and try to find one that suits - and often not the most expensive one.

I didn't see many menus that included the wine selections. I agree with Carlux that I would ask upfront what the cost would be unless price is no object for you.

The rose wine that the restaurant suggested at the Vieux Logis turned out to be the best of our trip. We couldn't seem to find it elsewhere. I think it's better to rely on recommendations when you're not familar with the local brands.

A menu including wines appealed because it could simplify things on the day with a small group to order for. I would certainly ask how much it would cost, and expect to be told what wines were being offered. However, it's good to hear that the sommeliers will not necessarily steer you to the most expensive wines.