When you were in the Loire Valley, did you visit the tomb of Queen Eleanor at Fontevraud l'Abbaye? She's buried near Richard the Lion Heart, and the effigies are well worth a visit.

The Dordogne and Lyon are on opposite sides of the country, and there's really no good train connection between. Consider visiting the Périgord instead on your way south. Great food and much history thereabouts.

From what I can tell, I agree that Poitiers would suit your needs well, and it holds some wonderful treasures.

From Lyon you would go over the Massif Central to the Dordogne. Nice looking area, particularly if you get off the autoroute. And the Dordogne and Périgord are one and the same.

https://flic.kr/p/7DbsvY
If Poitiers, don't miss Saint-Savin about 30 km. to the east.

https://flic.kr/p/8FZhpi

I live in the Dordogne. Bordeaux is one of the most wonderful cities in France these days, thanks in large part to Alain Juppé (I do hope you know who he is - it makes a difference). Getting to the Périgord via Lyon makes no sense at all unless you want to do a totally roundabout tour. Why would you go all that way east just to get to us in the southwest? Makes absolutely no sense to me at all unless you are hell-bent on avoiding Bordeaux, which is a HUGE mistake. It's one of the top cities in France these days.

Take the TGV from Paris to Bordeaux and explore this fabulous city for a day or two, then dig into the Périgord via Périgueux by train, pick up a car, and get going. You don't need to spend a night in Bergerac, which is pretty much a bore compared to everything else here, but you could and if you didn't know all the other treasures that awaited you here it would seem like a paradise.

The train from Bordeaux through Bergerac to Sarlat, if that's the one you're contemplating, is a pokey little thing that doesn't require reservations and stops at about a hundred little towns. You don't need to make any kind of reservations or do anything but show up on the tracks. Have fun.

I would get the Michelin Green Guide to this area of France or some other authority, because it doesn't seem to me as though you really know what you're doing.

There is a train that departs CDG at 14:59 with an easy train change in Marne/Disneyland, then stops in Poitiers at 18:40 and then Bordeaux at 20:01. Both cities are quite enjoyable. Make sure you pick up a walking map at the Tourist office in Poitiers, and follow all 3 well-marked walking itineraries through 3 different sections of Poitiers. Lots of other stuff to do around Poitiers too.

Attached is my Dordogne itinerary.

Stu Dudley

Our Dordogne adventure in 2012 was one of our favorites. We flew from Paris to Toulouse for a couple of days, picked up a car to stay the week in Sarlat which was a wonderful place to tour the area. Then took a train back to Paris for a few more days. There are many trains from Paris to Toulouse. We really enjoyed our time in Toulouse and it was an easy drive to Sarlat.
Here is my trip report. Extensive, but as I said, one of our favorite vacations in France. Fodorites were
so helpful in planning our trip.
Toulouse, The Dordogne(based in Sarlat) and Paris

We Returned the car and took the train back to Paris from Brive-la-Gaillarde. Very easy.

I am with StCirq. We love Bordeaux and it would be so easy to catch the TGV from CDG to Bordeaux with no changes. Also, I think you will find you have a better selection of rental cars from the train station there than from some of the small cities and towns. And I would agree that you don't need a car for any time you spend in Bordeaux proper-they have a wonderful tram system that will take you most places tourists want to see in the city. And the core area isn't huge so you can walk much of it. But it is really a wonderful city these days-one of our favorites in France. And from there it is only around 3 hours to Sarlat-so an easy drive.

Bordeaux has a lot more of interest than Poitiers. I thought Poitiers was pretty dull. It's good if you are going to that amusement park nearby, that's about it as far as I'm concerned. It does have a nice small fine arts museum with some antiquities in it, though. And the requisite old church, which would have been around when Eleanor was, I guess. I don't think you could visit the Palais des Ducs when I was there. It would be fine for one night if it worked for you, but I think Bordeaux has a lot more to see/do and is nicer. Not to mention it's a lot closer to the Dordogne.

Thank you all for the helpful information. I will look into Bordeaux - sounds like it is well appreciated here! In looking around at everything, I've just learned about the town of Saint Emilion. It looks very charming. We like to start our trips in smaller places versus bigger cities as we find it's easier to get acclimated from jet lag in a quieter place. Bordeaux may still be nice; maybe Saint Emilion would work nicely as well. I haven't had a chance to do much research following my post with all of the prepping for Christmas. TPayt, I look forward to reading your trip report. And Stu, thank you for your itinerary!

I detest St-Emilion. Not only is it swarming shoulder-to-shoulder with selfie-stick-weilding tourists in warm weather, the prices are beyond ridiculous (32 euros for a thimble-ful of local red at a completely schlocky tourist trap in the main square of the town last time we were unfortunate enough to be dragged there) and the place is full of wine gangsters (a best-seller - exposé - about them came out about a year ago). The monolithic church merits a visit (if you're lucky enough to be able to go in February when the hordes haven't descended), but other than that, the town is a zoo. And it's not as though you need to go there to drink the wines. You can overpay for St-Emilion wines at any supermarket in the country.

It was charming 30 years ago. Now it's a holy mess. And no way is it a quiet place to relax after a flight.

I wouldn't call Bordeaux a small city (it's the 6th largest in France), but it has a nice concentration of popular sights, as well as a superb transportation system, so for visitors it is a very manageable place. There are some lovely quiet residential neighborhoods easily accessed by tram if you don't want to be in the city center. And there are countless small towns and villages to stay in surrounding Bordeaux if you don't want to be in the city. You can head to the charming seaside town of Arcachon, or Cap Ferret, or inland to St-Foy-la-Grande or Blaye or thereabouts, which would put you on the route into the Dordogne.

Keep in mind that Heritage Days in France is Sept. 19-20 (Sat-Sun) when so many sites are available that are closed the rest of the year. By chance, as when we planned our trip we knew nothing about this, we were in Sarlat when 10,000 candles lit the streets. Also the owner’s house was open at Eryignac Gardens and many other places.

I am with the others here about St-Emilion. IMO if you want to go you would do better to take a day tour from Bordeaux-they have a nice tour that leaves from near the tourist office that we fondly call the "drunk bus".

In any case, if you take the easiest route towards the area I think that will be the direct rain from CDG to Bordeaux Gare. So you can always spend 1-2 nights in the city and taking a wine tour for instance and then pick up the car at the train station (which as I mentioned will probably have a better selection of cars than at a smaller office). Even though Bordeaux if a fairly large city, the downtown core area feels pretty small and is easily accessible by tram and walking. If you want to stay out of the main "tourist central area" you could consider staying out near Talence, which is kind of an adjacent outlying area of Bordeaux connected by the B line tram. We have stayed at the Teneo Apparthotel Talence Centre which is right near the Forum tram stop that takes you back into the heart of the city in about 10 minutes. But I honestly don't think you would find Bordeaux itself that busy to stay. There is a lovely neighborhood called Chartrons that is near the river that is quiet with nice hotels and rentals. In general the quiet (and probably more upscale area in general) part of the city is the area around there and the Jardin Public. Our favorite neighborhood after many stays is near the Hotel de Ville where the B tram and A tram cross. It is super walkable with many nice restaurants and a nice Monoprix for groceries etc. While is is definitely a city neighborhood it seems much more civilized than than some of the neighborhoods right down by the river.

The busiest area to avoid staying in is kind of near the train stations up towards the Capucins - Victoire area because there are lots of students so it can be quite noisy at night. That can also be true near the Cailhau Gate Bordeaux area which is the old historical neighborhood near the river. Lots of tight quarter buildings restaurants and bars so it can be noisy late into the night. They are both nice areas to explore but we prefer to stay in quieter areas.

I am planning a trip to the Dordogne in June and as usual I am staggered by the helpful tips and views offered by Fodorites. Thanks, I am bookmarking this thread.

we also loved the Dordogne. we did a 3 week france trip-paris, Dordogne and then luberon valley. it was a very easy flight from orly to Toulouse where we then rented our car. we needed an automatic and that was only available at Toulouse. flight was even cheaper than train. we even got to meet st cirq and her husband in person for lunch and then went back to their lovely house for a drink while my teens explored some caves. the Dordogne was our favorite of the 3 destinations. we rented an amazing petit chateau called maison gril (is on vrbo but they also have their own website). it was like a fariry tale with its own turret. amazing grounds and there was a petanque and tennis court across the street. 5 minutes from sarlat. highly recommend if available.