Normandy to the Dordogne
 

I posted this request a while back on the Francophile forum, from which I received some great responses. Perhaps members of this forum might have some suggestions.

Along with several other couples, we have rented a place in La Roque-Gageac for two weeks. Prior to that my wife and I will be in Normandy (staying just outside Caen) for four days or so for the 60th anniversary of the landings. We will then have four days before we are due in La Roque-Gageac.

Any comments or suggestions for an itinerary from Normandy to the Dordogne? We will likely spend a day in St. Malo (by-passing Mont-St-Michel, which we have visited before) to visit my wife's former high school teacher. After that, we could make our way to the Loire staying in Amboise for a day or two and then on south. Alternatively, we could head for the Gironde and LaRochelle from where, like St. Malo, many of my forebears made their way to la nouvelle France. Finally, we could make our way south and stay for a few days in northern Perigord before moving on.


We've travelled often in France, but this is our first visit to the Dordogne. From everything we've read, I don't think we'll be disappointed.

Any other sugestons on your personal favourites in the Dordogne/Lot area are welcome!

After several trips to France, we made our first visit to the Dordogne region a few weeks ago. It is very reminiscient of the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas. Lots of foggy rivers bordered by steep limestone cliffs. The caves are another similarity. Some of the smaller towns, such as La Roque and Beynac, were best described as non-events. Not much to see or do, except browse souvenir shops (of which there were plenty). Although incredibly touristy, we thoroughly enjoyed Rocamadour, which was only about a 45 min drive from our base town of Sarlat. The drive between Sarlat and Rocamadour passes some dramatically situated castle/chateau structures built on the cliff tops. I got some great pictures of domestic geese and sheep. Sarlat was a bit confusing to navigate by car because the historically interesting part of the town is overwhelmed by the sprawling industrialized portion, and the city centre is not well posted. Once located, however, the historic core of Sarlat was easy to navigate on foot.

I would vote for the route through Amboise, where you could visit the chateau and the home of Leonardo da Vinci, Clos Luce. But be forewarned that the price of the latter has recently risen to 11 euros. From there to northern Perigord is not too long.

If you can spare the time and have not been there before I would highly recommend a visit to Oradour-sur-Glane (NW of Limoges), the "village martyr" where the Nazis slaughtered the entire population, over 600 men, women and children on June 10, 1944. Not exactly a "fun" visit but one that will stay with you forever and one that should be particularly meaningful after your visit to Normandy.

In the Lot area, Cahors is a pleasant town with a good market, I believe on Saturday mornings. You also might enjoy trying their "black wine." To the east of there, you might go to Rocamadour and the Gouffre de Padirac. To the west, I enjoyed a visit to the Chateau de Bonaguil.

I assume that from La Roque-Gageac you will be visiting the prehistoric caves at Lascaux and les Eyzies and some of the castles along the banks of the Dordogne as well as the town of Sarlat. Unlike smueller, I very much enjoyed exploring the small towns along the Dodogne. Another interesting one is Domme - wonderful views over the valley from the park near the center of town.

Now, may I ask you a question? I note that you will be in Normandy for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. I am also planning to be there just a few days prior to the 6th. Do you have any insight as to what sort of difficulties we may have due to the crowds? Did you have any trouble getting hotel reservations?

I hope you have a wonderful trip. I envy you your 2 week stay in La Roque. Please post a report on your trip when you return.

I'm with Betty pretty much all the way.

Amboise is beautiful, but is further out of the way from St. Malo than Saumur, which has a lovely chateau and nearby is the interesting mushroom museum.

We really loved the small villages that cling to the cliffs along la Dordogne..Le Bugue (try the restaurant "Les 3 As"-mmm), St. Cyprien, Beynac (great restaurants at Hotel Le Bonnet and Hotel du Chateau), Domme. There is canoeing, hot air ballooning, tour boats, hiking, caves...so I guess it is just a matter of interpretaion/taste.

Have fun!

Thank you all for your comments. They are most helpful.

Betty 1: Regarding Normandy, we made our reservations this past July, and had no trouble with the place of our choice. We will be staying outside Caen in a small B&B, which we have visited before. Interestingly, there is no increase in price for June 2004!

Accommodation will certainly be tight, but I think that at this point you will be able to find something suitable--though not necessarily in a choice location. I have the impression that most of the larger places have been fully booked by tour companies or government agencies, but there should be other accommodation available.

You might try the accommodation search engine on the French 60th Anniversary official site at:

http://www.normandiememoire.com/NM60...sommaire.html#


Certainly things will be crowded, particularly on June 6, but that shouldn't deter you from going. It will likely be the last full scale memorial of the landings.

Good luck!

Thanks, laverendrye, for the encouragement and the URL, although I had already found it. I hope you are right that I will be able to find accommodation. Part of the problem is that I expect we will be 8-10 people so some of the smaller B&B's won't work for us. Also, since we will be in at least 2 cars, that's twice the parking we'll need to find. I just hope we don't get caught in too many traffic jams. Since we plan to leave the northern coast area on the 3rd of June and head for Mont Saint Michel and then on to Chartres, maybe we will miss the worst of the crowds.

Again, good luck on your trip and if you hear anything that would be helpful in the next few months, please let me know.

Try to visit Bourdeilles on the way down. It has both significant remains of a medieval castle and a furnished Renaissance chateau on the same grounds.