Toulouse, Sarlat environs, Paris itinerary
 

Hi Fodorites

I've been following easygoer with great interest, as we're planning a trip that's similar in many ways.

We will have 19 nights.

We're landing in Toulouse at 9:30 am from Toronto, at the end of September. The plan is to stay for two nights. Saturday morning we'll head to Carcassonne, and then back to Toulouse for Saturday night.

I'm more than a bit overwhelmed by all that's possible, too many choices, too little time.

So far we're thinking of spending six or seven nights in Sarlat or thereabouts, then train from Brive (if that's the best option) to Paris for four nights. That leaves about six nights depending on the length of the Sarlat area stay to get from Toulouse to Sarlat.

So where to begin??? I've got a lousy map of the area with flags stuck on Albi, Figeac, Rocamdour. My crappy map doesn't show St. Cirq Lapopie, but I've estimated where it is, and yes, I'm going to get a good map, as well as the GG's! I also have Stu's guides, thank you, Stu, I was one of the 150 requests awaiting your return from vacation.

There are two days available during our Sarlat time at Peche Merle, which I'll book soon. One question - are the caves problematic if you have claustrophobia. Not awful, we went through a cave in Ireland with no issue, just trying to get an idea.

We're fine moving every couple of days, or even the occasional single night mixed in.

Any advice or recommendations on a route would be very gratefully appreciated.

Thanks so much.

FWIW, I really wish I had given myself at least 2 full days in Toulouse, if not more (and not counting time for Albi).

"are the caves problematic if you have claustrophobia" -- Since I don't have claustrophobia, I'm probably not the best person to answer, but of those I visited (Font de Gaume, Les Combarelles, Lescaux II, Gouffre de Padirac, and Pech Merle), Les Combarelles was the only one that I remembered that had particularly long narrow passageways. I'm sure those who know the caves better will have better information.

Enjoy!

Thanks,Kia .

Any advice on where to stay over on the 6 or 7 days before Sarlat?

Domaine de la rue closes in September, unfortunately, it looked wonderful.

As kja posted above we loved Toulouse and staying right on Capitol Sq. The Dordogne, based in Sarlat was one of our favorite trips. Here's my TR. Maybe you can get some tips from it.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-and-paris.cfm

TPAYT, great report, lots of very useful information. I'm looking forward to really getting into it in detail.

Where would you recommend we stay between Toulouse and Sarlat? What town or village, or move every couple of nights?

We're looking at an apt right in the historic centre of sarlat. Other than market days, is driving in and out a problem? Actually, we're thinking of renting Saturday to Saturday, might have to rethink that!
Perhaps staying in a village outside of sarlat might be better in that sense.

"Any advice on where to stay over on the 6 or 7 days before Sarlat?" -- I have a very unusual preference to relocate frequently rather than back-tracking, so I spent one night in Albi (which would be an easy day trip from Toulouse), one night in Rocamadour, and one night in St. Cirq Lapopie (and just one location would have been reasonable for the later two).

I have no problem with relocating, since we'll have a few days in sarlat and paris.

That still leaves a couple of open nights. Where to spend 2 nights?

If you decide you'd rather stay outside Sarlat, I can recommend either an apartment or B&B at Les Granges Hautes in St.-Crépin et Carlucet. We stayed in one of their apartments last year and loved it. It's a beautiful place with very nice hosts, and very well-located for touring the area.

http://www.les-granges-hautes.fr/en/index.htm

That must really be a crappy map, LOL, or else I have misunderstood your itinerary. Why would you go to Carcassonne from Toulouse on a day trip if your plan is to continue to the Dordogne? For that matter, why would you go to Carcassonne on a Saturday if you didn't need to?

By the same token, why would you drive BACK south all the way to Pech-Merle from Sarlat when you will almost undoubtedly pass right by it on the way from Toulouse to Sarlat?

Getting in and out of Sarlat in late September shouldn't be a problem.

You might want to look at the post I just made on easygoer's thread, offering lots of suggestions. I'd rather not retype them all:)

LOL, crappy doesn't even begin to describe what I've got here. I'm heading out tomorrow for a new one.

I was reading another itinerary a while back where the poster was doing Carcassonne from Toulouse, back to Toulouse before heading north to Sarlat.

We get in Friday morning. Would you suggest staying in Toulouse all day Saturday, picking up the car maybe Sunday, if the rental place is open, (have to look into that) morning, drive to Carcassone and on from there? Is Albi a reasonable destination. If needs be, we could get the car Saturday. Two nights maybe in Albi to visit some of the villages, including Cordes sur ciel.

Would two nights in Figeac make sense? the Domaine in Rocamadour is closed when we're in that area.

I can get a spot at Pech Merle during the two days at Figuec.
What I have here doesn't show Peche Merle, so I made an incorrect assumption as to where it is, and for all I know, I still may be wrong!

This leaves one free night, assuming we do seven in Sarlat and five in Paris.

Or would we be better to do six in Sarlat and have two free for somewhere else on the way to Sarlat.

Much obliged for all the advice.

The cave is Pech Merle.

I meant I can get a tour of Peche Merle. :)

Le me try again: The cave is Pech Merle. NOT PechE Merle.

Right, thanks.

Good -- I didn't want you to find that you had booked a tour of a peach orchard or fishery! ;-)

LOL ... Too funny! There might be a bad tv script in there somewhere!
Thanks for the laugh.

Pech is the Occitan word for hill. It has nothing to do with peaches or fish! Pech Merle is in Cabrerets, not far from St-Cirq-Lapopie, just a few kms aways, in fact.

Most car rental agencies are not open in France on Sundays, though you can normally make special arrangements with them for about 25-30 euros to have someone come open the office.

<<I was reading another itinerary a while back where the poster was doing Carcassonne from Toulouse, back to Toulouse before heading north to Sarlat.>>

Well, sorry, but that was dumb.

If you read the extensive list of places around Toulouse and Figeac and other places I gave to easygoer earlier today, you'll have lots of points of reference to help you put together a good itinerary. The problem is that there is so much to see in this area it can take months.

I personally don't give a fig about Rocamadour and hope never to see the place again. The Domaine de la Rhue is a lovely property, but really, one only stays there if visiting Rocamadour, because aside from the Gouffre de Padirac, which is mildly amusing, there is little other reason to be in the area, except for a few nice towns like Gramat.

"Pech is the Occitan word for hill. It has nothing to do with peaches or fish!"

Exactly, StCirq! So, since the OP kept referring to Pech<u><b>e</b></u> Merle, and talking about his difficulty locating it and wondering if he had the right place, I thought it best to help him be sure he was looking for the right thing! :-) Here in the US, I am accustomed to seeing all sorts of places that capitalize on slight variations in spelling to draw visitors who really want to go somewhere else -- but maybe that doesn't happen in France.

You should be able to pick up a car at the airport on a Sunday. Possibly the train station. Call AutoEurope.com on their toll free number. They are experts in European car rental as the name suggests so will get you set up. Their phone agents are knowledgeable; unlike some companies where you talk to someone in a call center who has only a vague idea of where Europe even is!

You will pay a surcharge of about 40 euros these days to pick up at an airport or station.