From The Dordogne to The Lot
Posted on June 26, 2010 By Julie
After a few days in the storybook setting of the Dordogne and Vézère valleys in the Perigord Noir,we headed east towards the valley of the Lot River and the historic village of Rocamadour. The village is home to the 12th century Chapelle Notre-Dame and its black Madonna which has been attracting pilgrims from all over the world since the partially-preserve body of St. Amadour, the statue’s reputed craver, was discovered in the 15th century. Today, the pilgrims’ continual arrival is augmented by hoards of tourists drawn more by the village and its dramatic location, literally in the mountainside, than the saint. Even though in the high season you will have to struggle with the visiting throngs, the village is charming and well worth the effort.
Any discomforted we felt was easily allayed at our over-night stop at the breathtaking Chateau de la Treyne, located on the banks of the Dordogne River. The medieval chateau is a stunning five-star accommodation and part of the prestigious Relais & Chateaux hotel and restaurant collection. As we had come to expect everywhere we traveled in the Dordogne, the Michelin-star restaurant presented a menu guaranteed to enchant your taste buds and clog your arteries. Yet, we conjured up the gods of the French paradox (in spite of a diet rich in fat the French have the lowest incident of heart disease of the developed countries) and said to ourselves, “You only live once.” Although we may have shortened our life by a few days during our stay in the Dordogne, we extended our pleasure by decades. So, even though we had eaten ourselves literally into goose and duck liver heaven, we made certain to indulge one more time at the chateau and, of course, were not disappointed! 
From here we headed south to Minerve, which is a small village one hour east of the medieval walled city of Carcassonne in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It has received the classification as one Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (“The most beautiful villages of France”). Joseph’s long-time friends, Pascal and Monique Bourgogne own an amazing gite (in French, described as a self-catering accommodation – more home than hotel) on a hill top just outside of the village. Les Aliberts is much more than a gite. Pascal and Monique have taken the ruins of an 11th century hamlet and created a property that is truly beyond words—domed ceilings, multi-level suites (our gite had three bedrooms!) and a crusty baguette and fresh flakey croissants left in a bag hung on your doorknob each morning. These are just a few of Les Aliberts charms. 
The village of Minerve alone dsis worth a trip to the area. A community of only 100 non-combatant inhabitants now, it was a Cathar stronghold in the 13th century. The town is perched on a triangle of earth that has been cut out of the plateau by the Cessiere and Brian Rivers. Encircle the land with a fortified wall and you have a bastide town with the rivers and their gorge acting as a natural moat around the city. This protection allowed the Cathars to practice their particular type of Christianity undisturbed for a number of years until Pope Innocent III lusted after their land and sent his blood-thirsty crusaders to lay siege on the village (seems he wasn’t very innocent after all). This Simon de Monfort and his band of not-so-merry men did and although the heretics braved five weeks of entrapment and four catapults (there’s a full-size model of one still overlooking the city), they finally gave in due to hunger and other deprivations and yielded to the Pope’s forces. The religious crusaders promptly marched more than 400 of the devout into the dry river bed to be burned at the stake in the name of all that’s holy.
While the past offers an equal measure of the tragic and the colorful, the present is sheer pleasure. Minerve has attracted a small group of artists so the few shops that are nestled along the narrow streets present beautiful works of art and hand-made crafts. And, of course, there are a few outstanding restaurants to keep you fortified. Our favorites were the La Table des Troubadours where we had a pleasant lunch with a carafe of local wine and a view overlooking the stone bridge and river gorge and the Relais Chantovent where Pascal graciously took us for a fine dining experience on our last night in France.
What with our luxury accommodations, gorgeous surroundings and acres and acres of vineyards (Les Aliberts is surrounded by miles and miles of the Minervois AOC vineyards and, personally, I don’t think it’s an accident that their last name translates into “Burgundy” in English), we tore ourselves away from Minerve for a day and headed to Carcassonne. More on this to come ....
For information and photos of Les Aliberts - http://www.gite.com/aliberts
For information on the Chateau de la Treyne - http://www.chateaudelatreyne.com/
For information about visiting France - http://us.franceguide.com/
For information on Relais & Chateaux - http://www.relaischateaux.com
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