We will be arriving to Beynac on a Wednesday (after lunching in Cahors at St. Cirq's recommended restaurant) and staying in Beynac until Saturday morning. We will then drive to St. Emilion for the night. I just realized that Sarlat's markets are on Wed. & Sat., so it will be difficult to be there on those days. Bergerac has a market on Saturday. Is the market in Bergerac a good one? Does anyone have suggestions of other towns that have good markets on Thursdays or Fridays?

Lalinde, which is on the way to Bergerac, has a great Thursday market -mostly the same vendors as in Sarlat, only not quite as many. The Friday market is in Montignac.
But it's only 2 hours or so to St-Emilion from Beynac, so you could easily catch the Saturday market in Sarlat in the morning and then go on to St-Emilion. There's also a market on Saturday morning in Le Bugue, although the "big" one there is on Tuesdays.
Bergerac's market is fine, but IMO not as colorful or interesting as the ones in the Périgord.

So just going to Sarlat and then on to St. Emilion makes sense? Do you think we should visit the town another day and then go back on Sat. for the market? If backtracking makes sense, we will do it. Is it the biggest market in the area?
Because we loved the markets in Provence last summer, we know they are a priority for us.
Wednesday afternoon, we will probably just hang around Beynac, Castelnaud, La Roque, and on to Domme for dinner (depending on how much we want to move!).

Thursday we have reservations at Font de Gaume. It was quite easy...thanks to Progol's past thread.) Perhaps visit some of the little surrounding towns LesEyzies, Le Bugue, maybe over to Sarlat.

Friday we are thinking of: daytrips to Martel, Collonges-la-Rouge, the Gouffre de Padirac, and then visiting Rocamadour.
I realize we could spend months in this area and still not see it all. Where do you think we should concentrate our time, or is spreading it out like this ok?

No, I wouldn't backtrack and go to St-Emilion and then back to Sarlat. Personally, I wouldn't even go to St-Emilion unless I were headed to Bordeaux ultimately, but that's just me.
And I'd question spending a day at Collonges and Rocamadour and the Gouffre de Padirac out of your very short stay in the Dordogne, or at least, if you want to see them, why not head right there after Cahors instead of going to Sarlat and then making that a daytrip?

There's SO much to see right in the Sarlat area that the long day trip to Rocamadour, etc., will cost you. That's not to say that those places aren't well worth a visit. It's just that with the few days you have, I wouldn't personally spend them all in the car.

Hi St Cirq, you have a good point about our side trips. I am unsure as to the real distances with traffic. Perhaps we will just skip them and concentrate on one area. As far as our trip to Sarlat, I meant on Saturday go from Beynac to Sarlat, and then to St. Emilion, stopping in Bergerac and other villages on the way. Our ultimate destination from Beynac will be near
Angers two days later, where we will be staying with friends. I thought St. Emilion might be a nice stop on the way. If you have another suggestion, I am certainly open to it.

This is great info- StCirq you are so helpful. With respect to the friday market in Montignac-- do you know whether fresh cut flowers are available? (I take it fresh cut flowers are typically available at the markets in this area??). I ask because we are hoping to decorate the church in Lanqauis for our wedding on a Saturday afternoon with lots of fresh market flowers. We are willing to drive to get to a good market-- but Friday is our best bet to do it as time will be of the essence on Saturday. Thanks for any input anyone has, and sorry to bust in on your thread Wren (the topics were too close to start a new one!)

Congratulations on your wedding, Julie. (My son just got married less than a month ago, so I can only imagine your excitement!) I am glad you can use this info. I did find a website that mentioned markets: http://www.dordognerental.com/idor.html
But I always like to run the info here b/c there are some very knowledgable people...esp. st cirq on the Dordogne!
I know your wedding will be incredibly beautiful!

wren: sorry I misunderstood your route. Yes, it would make sense to goto Sarlat from Beynac - a short ride (but go early - parking is a nightmare) - visit the market, and then head to St-Emilion.

I don't know what route you were planning to take to get to Angers, but if you can arrange to go through Oradour-sur-Glane, near Limoges, it's well worth the stop

I think you'll probably love St-Emilion. I enjoy it in the off-season but can no longer tolerate the throngs in summer. And the prices they are charging at some of the wine stores for the same wines you can get at the Intermarché, well, it's highway robbery! (That's not to say they don't also have some exceptional wines that aren't available elsewhere). Anyway, I love the monolithic church there, and the macaroons are good. If you happen to be there for lunch or dinner, see if you can find the Restaurant Francis Goullée, 27 rue Gaudet.

Julie: Félicitations! I've never been to a market in the Dordogne that didn't have fresh-cut flowers, so I think it's safe to say you'll find them in the market in Montignac. But there are also flower shops all over, and even the supermarkets usually have a gret selection. Will you be coming from Lanquais on Friday to look for flowers, or somewhere else? I'm sure I could steer you to a good flower shop if Montignac is a long drive for you.

Thanks Wren- that site was great for a list of days for each of the markets. Now we can have backups for when everything goes wrong. (Which is generally the case for a wedding, especially when you are planning it thousands of miles away!). By the way St-Emilion is one of my fiance's (who is from Marmande) favorite towns in the region (as long as it is for a short stay).

StCirq, you kindly responded to one of my posts the other day as well--I'm the one having a reception at Chateaux Monbazillac (so we are all lodging in Bergerac). We are all set with a florist for the reception, but we decided to do the church (which is in Lanquais) flowers ourselves. It would be great if you have any places to pick up reasonably priced fresh flowers some where near Bergerac or Lanquais.

All the time I've spent searching through guide books- little did I know how much help I could get so quickly here.