I wouldn't book at the Crô-Magnon for a whole host of reasons - no A/C, it's in Les-Eyzies, which is one of the few charmless towns in the Paradise that is Dordogne, and the owners are darned unpleasant. Cewrtainly you will want to visit Les Eyzies, but I'd never stay there, particularly in July. You'll be in a traffic jam from dawn to dusk and may never get out of town.

Here's a good site for information on prehistoric sites and reservations. If you're not hearing back from anyone regarding a fax, it could be that the site is closed for the winter. Font-de-Gaume in particular has closed down a number of times in past years for a couple of months at a time, usually in winter, but also for reparations. If you want English-language tours at any of the caves, be prepared to be flexible. I've twice requested one at Font-de-Gaume and they just didn't have an English speaker on hand that day. Lascaux always has English-language tours, though they are not as frequent as French.

I, too, was having trouble getting a response from my faxed request to Font de Gaume. I asked the hotel where I was planning to stay--Hotel Cro Magnon--to make the request for me. I had a faxed response the next day with reservations for both Font de Gaume and Combarelles. Thanks for your responses thus far to my questions--especially about the weather and a/c! I really wanted to stay at Hotel Cro Magnon since they've been so very helpful but I'm afraid that a sweltering night could ruin our time in the Dordogne region. I would appreciate any futher responses!

StCirq....thanks for your insight! I would love to know where you would suggest we stay. I want to be in the area of the caves but I sure don't want to be in the middle of a traffic jam! Is there a definitive town (and the perfect charming hotel--with a/c)you'd suggest? Thanks so much!

I'd look into the following hotels:

La Ferme-Lamy in Meyrals

Domaine de Monrecour in St-Vincent-de-Cosse

Le Relais des Cinq Châteaux in Vitrac

L'Oustal in Vézac

La Domaine de la Barde in Le Bugue

L'Esplanade in Domme'
Hôtel la Hoirée in La Giragne

and a bit far afield, but nice, the Hôtel Clément in Belvès.

I believe you can view them all and get more info on this site: http://www.hotels-sarlat-perigord.com/

I am not positive they all have AC, but there is a legend with a snowflake I believe under each hotel if it has AC>

And here is the link to the prehistoric sites website that I forgot to post previously:

http://www.showcaves.com/english/fr/.../Dordogne.html

I stayed at Domaine de la Barde in the summer and there was no air conditioning, at least in our room. It was quite hot out during the day, but at night it cooled down enough to be very comfortable with the windows open.

Thank you for the most helpful suggestions (and link) for the caves. We are staying in Beynac for three nights and then moving to Puycelci. I hope that was a good idea?!

Hi St Cirq,

FYI,

The Cinq Chateaux is in Vézac, not Vitrac.

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Carcassonne - I had wanted to see this place forever and thought we'd need hours and hours...well, it's impressive from afar for sure, but inside it is underwhelming. Walking between the walls is cool, but the inside is mainly a bunch of ticky-tacky shops. A couple hours should do. At night, however, the views from the new town are beautiful.

My husband especially was very moved by Font du Gaume. We unfortunately didn't make it to Peche Merle or Lascaux II. I called months in advance and booked an English tour. The tour groups are small and our guide (Anne) was inspiring.

Roque St. Christophe is open during lunch. They've got recreations of the living spaces there during the middle ages. You can see it in an hour or so.

Rouffignac is fun with the little train and all, but the tour is only in French. Rick Steves' France has a recap of the entire tour, so if you go, read it ahead of time. This cave has bear dens, claw scratches, and then one room with a ceiling full of various drawings - no polychrome (colored) art.

We did Castelnaud in the morning and a canoe trip in the afternoon. I intended to go to the Beynac chateau, but ran out of steam and time. But we had teenagers and didn't get an early start and then wasted a lot of time trying to decide whether or not to do the canoe ride (cloudy, windy weather).

Loved Padirac (tour also in French only). Intended just to stop at Rocamadour for a quick photo-op, but decided to go see the Black Madonna in the chapel. We took the elevator up (it was near closing time) and walked down. 1 and /12 to 2 hours, max.

You've got a nice itinerary. I wouldn't take a day away from Paris.

The Loire - a nice contrast to Dordogne and a good place to break up the drive from Paris. Check out this great little hotel in Chenonceaux. The owners are so nice and it's a lovely walk from the chateau - www.charmingroseriae.com

Sounds great...have fun!

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La Roque-St-Christophe is still closed. There was a fire there last year.