The Dorgdogne, France

Posted on June 16, 2010 By Julie

Home of foie gras and possibly the best food in the world,image

ice-age cave paintings and literally thousands of medieval castles and chateaus, what’s not to love?  After an exhaustive internet search for the perfect “Gite”, (a Gite is a farmhouse that is for rent but literally, they are ancient tobacco barns or hay lofts that have been luxuriously renovated) we settled on Le Petite Maison de la Grange in the area south of the Dorgdogne River.  This area is less touristy but lacks nothing in charm and culture.  The nearby villages of Domme, Daglan and St. Pompon were not only historic and beautiful, but each one has its own bakery, butcher, small market and gourmet restaurant … or two.  It’s the French Paradox.  How can the French eat such gourmet food but not suffer from the same high cholesterol and related heart problems as Americans?  It’s a mystery.  We ate croissants every morning for breakfast (we had to!), lunched and dined on gourmet food, walked and hiked daily, and still came home a few points heavier and no doubt, not-so-good cholesterol counts.  But it was worth it. 

While in the area we visited the National Prehistoric Museum in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac before our scheduled tours of the pre-historic caves of Fonde de Gaume and Lascaux.  For conservation reasons visitors admitted to the caves are limited so you’ll need to book ahead but it’s definitely worth the extra effort.  The medieval cave dwellings at La Roque Saint Christophe and Maison Forte de Reignac were equally impressive.  image

Another typical experience of the Dordogne is a ride on the Dordogne River and our favorite choice is the Les Cabores Norbert in the beautiful riverside village of La Roque Gageac.  The village is breathtakingly scenic and best seen from the river. 

The Dordogne is foie gras heaven.  At the la Treille Restaurant in the village of Vitrac, the chef treated us to a four course foie gras extravaganza.  It’s perhaps the best foie gras I’ve ever tasted – but it’s hard to decide if the truffled foie gras was better than the foie gras with rhubarb.  Or was the foie gras in a pot au feu more savory?  Each course was amazing. 

And what’s truly amazing is that all of these storybook villages are just 30 – 45 minutes drive from anywhere in The Dordogne region.  After a few days we became village snobs – we’d decide which village was the most quaint, had the best vantage point of the river, had the best café, pâtisserie or boulangerie.  What a dilemma! 

After several days in The Dordogne region we headed south to a gite near Minerve in the area known as The Lot.  Stay tuned for tales of those adventures … coming soon. 

For more information on the Dordogne River ride – http://www.norbert.fr

For information on our gite -  Le Petite Maison de la Grange - http://www.vacationrentalpeople.com/rental-property.aspx/World/Europe/France/Aquitaine/Dordogne/St-Pompon/Gite-12626

For information about La Roque Saint-Christophe – http://www.roque-st-christophe.com

To see more photos of our France experience, visit Travelscope’s Facebook page – http://www.facebook/travelscope. 

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