Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Dordogne Trip Report

Flew from Seattle to Paris (CDG) on Air France. Was catching a connecting Air France flight to Toulouse (you don’t need to claim baggage or pass customs first, but the terminal is huge so allow time to pass thru security again). Arrived in Toulouse around noon, picked up rental car at EuropCar and drove the 2+hours to Rocamadour.

We were staying at a fabulous in 5 minutes outside of town called Domaine de la Rhue. This was the find of the trip. A beautiful old property, perfectly maintained, with the former stable transformed into an inn with several rooms, all with character of the building preserved, but perfectly clean and comfortable! We stayed in an upper room, but several rooms on the first floor have private little terraces with chairs, on ground level with the pool. We were able to eat outside on the terrace with first morning, facing the old house. The salon/breakfast room is comfortable with a big fireplace and is a common area for guests. It was very quiet, and a quick 5 minute drive into town for dinner. Christine, the friendly and helpful host, made reservations for us the first night since we had arrived on a holiday and a Monday! We should have stayed longer, but this served as the perfect base for out two days of exploring the Lot.

We drove thru several of the “beautiful villages” the first day including Carennac, Martel, Collonges-la-rouge, and Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne. We ate dinner in Rocamadour that night at Beau Site which had a fabulous view and the food was also excellent – recommended! The next day we toured Gouffre de Padirac (a bit of a tourist trap, but an impressive site) and started our journey towards St. Cyprien.

We stopped at Beynac-at-Cazenac which is an interesting little town and an impressive Chateau. We checked in that night at a rural B&B (10min outside St. Cyprien) called Chevrefeuille. We stayed in the Bread Room, a room not in the main house, attached to one of their gites. It was very spacious and comfortable, with a private terrace facing the back, large, lawn. I would recommend staying here, although I’m not sure that staying in a room in the main house would have been quiet or private enough for us. We very much enjoyed staying outside of town.

The next day we went to La Roque Gageac, a very beautiful town sitting right on the river. We signed up for a boat tour (recommend this or canoe), walked thru town a bit and made a reservation for lunch at Belle Etoile for after the boat trip. This was one of the best meals we had on the trip. Highly recommend!! For dinner we went to Le Grand Bleu by the train station in Sarlat – one Michelin star. Also, I would highly recommend this restaurant. Very memorable, perfect for a special birthday!

The next day we toured Les Milandes (I would skip it next time), had lunch outside La Roque Gageac at Le Pres Gaillardou (very good!), and then walked around the gardens at Chateau Marqueyssac, which was a nice way to walk off some of the great eating we had been doing. That night we ate at Les Glycine (very good, highly recommend).

The next day we went and did the Lascaux II tour (buy tickets in town at Information center). We enjoyed the tour and the replica is very well done. We also toured some really beautiful gardens near Salignac (I can’t remember the name) which is still privately owned by the family that lives on the property. We at Le Presidial in old Sarlat, which is very beautiful at night. This was the most mediocre dinner of the trip, although the building and outside patio are surrounded by a stone wall, create a quaint courtyard.

We left St. Cyprien to drive to Bordeaux to drop our rental car at the train station (very hectic, hard to find the drop, wouldn’t do again). We took the train from Bordeaux to Paris. I love train travel, but I didn’t enjoy this trip. Next time, I would try back to Paris.

In Paris we stayed a night before our departure the next morning on Air France. I’ve been to Paris before, but I’m always amazed at what a wonderful walking city it is. If you haven’t been, go! The architecture and museums are also amazing. We stumbled upon Anthony Bourdain!! while exploring the city on our one day there. He didn’t give us a restaurant recommendation, but we did have another great meal that night at Cameleon in the Montparnasse neighborhood.