Aug 28 2008
Places to Visit: Vallée de la Vézère
As it’s the end of the summer (if you can call it that after this year’s soggy effort), I’ve been thinking about my holiday last year, which took us to the Dordogne area of France, specifically the Vallée de la Vézère.
It was our first time in this part of France and we stayed in a gîte in the hamlet of Le Moustier, about half way between Les Eyzies and Montignac. We were really pleased we went there; it’s a beautiful place and less touristy than the main Dordogne river valley.
There’s plenty to do in the area, although with only a week, we didn’t manage to do as much as we hoped, needing time to relax too, but if you’re one for outdoor activities, kayaking on the river is really popular. There are loads of businesses offering kayak hire and you get dropped off or collected to wherever you want to kayak to or from.
Other places to visit include Lascaux for the famous cave paintings, St. Léon sur Vézère which is one of the prettiest villages along the valley, Montignac itself, which is a small market town with some good brocantes. We also visited the Château de Losse (see image above), Le Bugue on market day, which was well worth going to & the pretty village of Limeuil where the Vézère & Dordogne rivers meet.
Other highlights included La Roque Gageac (one of the ‘plus beaux villages’ of France), although we found Sarlat to be rather touristy.
If you fancy visiting the area, here’s a link to the accommodation we stayed in, reasonably priced and beautifully furnished (with lots of English antiques!).
