Have a picnic along the river at Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère as we did last year:

"We hopped back in the car for a beautiful drive to a quaint, picturesque village (there seems to be a theme here), a place where Kim’s description of these types of towns certainly fit. “This place is felony cute,” he said. The town is Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère.

Walking through the town located on the Vézère River, we went searching for a restaurant, three of which were closed. No wonder the French stay skinny, there’s never a restaurant open to eat.

Then a thought occurred to me (hey, it happens). I remembered someone writing about a Dordogne town that would be a great place to picnic, and I thought I remembered that this was the place. I guess the Liqueur de Noix doesn’t kill as many brain cells as I thought.

When Kim and Mary went inside a little church, I walked down to the river and saw a spot where picnic benches were lined up. There was also a little store to purchase picnic provisions. Although I am a tough trip taskmaster, even I realized it was time to Stop and Smell the Fromage.

First, I walked along the riverbank where there was a picnic table complete with beautiful tablecloth (Sarlat Market Day flashback), plates, silverware, wine glasses and a British gentleman who was setting it all up. I asked the chap (I think when you talk about Brits, chap must be used), what was up, he said that this is a place he takes his small tours for a wonderful Dordogne experience. It was quite a spread.

<B>Le déjeuner sur l’herbe</B> was the one-stop shop for our makeshift picnic. Since we had stopped to smell the fromage, we decided to eat some, as well. We ordered a plate of various cheeses, charcuterie, bread and a large bowl of Vichyssoise, along with a bottle of vin Rouge to top it off.

We basked in the glorious sunshine (ok, that sounds way too romance novel-like) and had a great picnic. If you are looking for a bucolic spot in the Dordogne, Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère is where you want to spend some quality, relaxing Dordogne moments. Of course, our group can only relax for so long, so we paid the bill and off we went for our next stop of the day."

((H))

All these suggestions from people who've visited the highlights of the Périgord Noir in the Dordogne are great, but the OP is staying elsewhere, about an hour away. So that's two hours of driving every day just to get to and from these places. Factor in the traffic in the Périgord Noir in July and it could well be 3-4 hours of driving. I think the OP would be better off exploring the Périgord Vert and making his own discoveries (he could come back and tell us about them, too!). A daytrip or two to the Périgord Noir would be a great idea, but I can't see him heading out for it on a regular basis.