Travel Around The Clock

Viticulture has a long history in the Dordogne : the vine arrived here with the emergence of the Gallo- Roman civilization. And, although in the 12th century production was often neglected in favor of food crops, the wine trade resumed in the 17th century. The vineyard extended throughout the department until the late 19th century when the outbreak of phylloxera destroyed most of the vineyards reducing the whole surface to one fifth of the total. The vine came back to life in the 20th century on both banks of the river Dordogne in the area of Bergerac and Duras, but it’s in the last 20 years that wine production became more refined and reached a wider attention with various wines awarded in French competitions and the advance of organic and biodynamic techniques. Vines, Dordogne Vines, Dordogne Vineyards now cover more than 12,000 hectares under 9 appellations and produce 5 different types of wine: red, rosé, dry white, medium sweet white (moelleux) and dessert wine. The de...

Following our 3 days itinerary in the Dordogne , here you will find our suggestions if you have a bit more time to spend in this lovely corner of France. You won’t probably be able to see everything the region has to offer but you will get a real sense of it.                               5 DAYS IN THE DORDOGNE Day One Your first day in the Dordogne should start with the exploration of the medieval city centre of Sarlat . Possibly, choose to do it on a Wednesday or Saturday that are market days, when the city livens up with the hustle and bustle of the farmers and the locals browsing the stalls for delicacies. Start your visit from Place de la Liberté. Explore the little alleys. Enjoy the perfectly preserved Perigourdine architecture, the golden stones, the decorated portals, the beautiful towers and the Reinassance windows. Don't miss ...

If every serious fairytale has a castle, then France is the quintessential fairytale country, considering the ridiculous amount of Chateaux in the country. And if a lack of knowledge had made us think that they were merely located on the Loire banks or used as accommodations by the wealthy wine producers of Bordeaux, a 2 weeks trip on the road in Southern France proved us completely wrong. We encountered plenty of castles of various ages and architectural styles; some of them were closed as December is low season but we still managed to visit most of them and were lucky enough to have guides all by ourselves giving us private tours! We started form the Perigord Vert and the Chateau de Bourdeilles , which is itself a double castle, including a medieval building and a Renaissance one, both very well preserved and accessible for a €7 per head. Chateau de Bourdeilles The medieval part is of course much more austere, while the Renaissance building has still plenty of decoration, furnish...