Notes on 2007 walking tour of the Dordogne, Montignac to Rocamadour Things we learned that were not in, or differed from the advice in, Bruce LeFavour's France on Foot, at least as regards the Dordogne in early June of an unusally wet year: - reservations are essential in the Dordogne - consider spending two nights in each spot and doing a local loop trail without packs - the IGN Blue and Top 25 maps are available direct from http://ign.fr/rubrique.asp?rbr_id=462; their DVD-ROM software didn't seem useful - contact local arrondissement-level (the Dordogne has four: Bergerac, Nontron, Périgueux, Sarlat) tourist offices for local trail maps (not sold through ign.fr), e.g. this packet of 32 maps for the Sarlat department: http://ot-sarlat-perigord.fr/cgi-bin/WEB/default.asp?p=cdeguiderando - many hotels have laundry service (washer and dryer), much more convenient than the sink - pack two changes of hiking clothes, they're light and when it's humid they don't always dry overnight - hiking pants with sewn-in underwear or belt are problematic for drying overnight - for restaurants, a semi-dressy short-sleeved shirt is fine - when planning your route, look carefully at the IGN map: a big town name with few buildings might indicate the place has a mayor's office but nowhere to eat or buy food - bring a compass or, preferably, a GPS; ign.fr sells a hiking-specific one: http://ign.fr/rubrique.asp?rbr_id=2642&lng_id=EN - learn how to use the camera's audio and video recording features and bring some extra SD disks * Sunday and Monday: Bordeaux We stayed at the Hotel Majestic (http://www.hotel-majestic.com). Service was very good and the desk staff were a good source of information. They stored a couple of suitcases for us while we were on our walking tour. Laundry service available (specify on the form if you prefer laundry to dry cleaning). The location's very convenient. It's half a block from the Quinconces tram station, the end of the line for the B and C tram lines. You can get a tram map and all-day tram passes (around 4€) at the staffed service counter between the two tram stops (other side of the building with the cafe). You can buy day passes ahead, they're not activated until the first time you run them through the gizmo on a tram. This allows you to avoid the frustration of dealing with the ticket machines at the stations, which are often partly or entirely out of service. You can get a free map of Bordeaux at the tourist office two blocks away: http://www.bordeaux-tourisme.com/uk/informations/horaires.html The giant Librairie Mollat (http://www.mollat.com), the biggest bookstore in town and the biggest independent bookstore in France, carries the full line of IGN hiking maps. If you read French, you might want to pick up a copy of "Le Piéton de Bordeaux," a small book of walks in Bordeaux by Jean-Pierre Xiradakis, chef of La Tupina. restaurant notes: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/406728#2689093 photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079733054047238178 * Tuesday: Bordeaux to Montignac Our plan was to hike to Montinganc from the train station at Condat-Le-Lardin, but since our train was cancelled due to a strike we ended up taking a cab from Périgueux. (My original thought was to take two days to hike from Périgueux to Montignac, but I couldn't find anyplace to stay in between--seems to be mostly unpopulated forest.) We stayed at La Roseraie (http://www.laroseraie-hotel.com), a pricey but charming and spacious hotel, converted from an old chateau, with a swimming pool and an excellent restaurant. We'd definitely stay there again. The hotel can sell you tickets and make reservations for Lascaux II, which is a couple of miles away. We ended up walking there and taking the scenic route back. There's a good open market on Wednesday mornings. photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079733200076126338 * Wednesday: Montignac to Sergeac Since we'd already walked to Lascaux, we walked south along the river road about a mile, then went east and got on the trail. This was a lovely hike through quite varied terrain, about as long as we'd want to do in a day. We were unfortunately surprised to find that there was no cafe or store in Valojoulx, where we'd planned to buy some bread to go with our picnic supplies from the market. In fact we didn't see anyplace to shop until Friday. We stayed at Auberge de Castel Merle, a hotel-restaurant converted from an old farm. The room was comfortable but small. The food was mediocre; the main attraction of the restaurant is the outdoor terrace with a great view from a cliff overlooking the Vézère river, but while we were there it was raining. hotel info: http://reservation.vialandis.com/reservit/fiche_htl.php?userid=9716562ce686ac4e4ba5c4349bb282c78498&areaid=2827&hotelid=3516&bPercent=0&cis=1183229737 photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079733552263444786 * Thursday: Sergeac to Boyer (Meyrals) We got a picnic lunch from the hotel. This was another lovely and varied hike, though a bit too long, at least given the extra time and effort involved in slogging a couple of miles of mucky car track through a forest / game preserve and the hot sun toward the last mile or two uphill. Found a lovely picnic spot on a stream. We stayed at Ferme-Auberge de la Rhonie (http://www.chambres-larhonie.com), a ridiculously charming place with a view, pool, spacious room, and excellent restaurant. In the summer it's a hotel-restaurant, the rest of the year it's a working goose farm. We'd go out of our way to stay here again. Laundry service available on request. hike photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079737954604924658 La Rhonie photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079740123563409938 * Friday: Boyer to Sarlat This hike was too long for one day, too much of it was on the road, and the last stretch into Sarlat was on a narrow road with lots of traffic. We would have done better to stop at a cafe on the outskirts and take a cab into town. We stayed at Hotel La Couleuvrine (http://www.la-couleuvrine.com), architecturally very peculiar as it's built in and around the old city wall. Had a very nice room (#12?) with cross-ventilation and a private terrace. Restaurant was good, location not so great as it was on a main through street with a lot of traffic. We stayed two nights in Sarlat so that we could visit the famous Saturday market, but we liked the one in Montignac a lot better--though we still had a great picnic lunch of cheese, cold cuts, artisanal raw-milk crème fraîche, and strawberries on our shady terrace. The second night we had a good meal at the charming La Salamandre. The traffic in Sarlat largely ruins what's otherwise be a charming town. Probably wouldn't stay here again. hike photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079740510110466770 Sarlat photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079742219507451186 * Sunday: Sarlat to Veyssières (Le Sirey, Prats de Carlux) Nice hike, reasonable distance. The road out of Sarlat wasn't as bad as the one going in. Unfortunately my camera's battery ran out so I wasn't able to get photos of the wild strawberries we found on the road and dipped in the leftover crème fraîche I had luckily decided not to toss. Stayed at La Ferme des Veyssières (http://www.lesveyssieres.com), the only working farm of the trip. Accommodations in a converted barn were basic but comfortable. Dinner at a convivial communal table with the farmer, her husband, and other guests (all French, none spoke English) was a highlight of the trip. Not all the food was great and some of the wine was bad, but the omelette with girolles the husband had picked that day was wonderful, as was an apple tart with caramel sauce with the remains of our crème fraîche. The GR 6 runs right through the farm. At 78€ for two for room, dinner with wine, breakfast, and some free leftover bread for our anticipated picnic, this was a bargain. There's no bar so if you want an apéritif or digestif (the local Vieille Prune plum eau-de-vie by Louie Roche is lovely), bring your own. No laundry service. photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079742464320587170 * Monday: Veyssières to Souillac The hike from Veyssières to Carlux would have made a good easy day. We should have stayed at the Hotel Restaurant GR 6, where we had lunch, or maybe at the nearby L'Hostellerie de Béquignolles. We would have taken a cab to Souillac from the restaurant, but they weren't able to find a free driver, so we walked down the hill to the tourist office at Rouffillac and they got us one. At Souillac we stayed at La Vielle Auberge (www.la-vieille-auberge.com). The main part of the hotel where the restaurant was looked old and charming but they put us up in a thorougly modernized building that also included their pool and gym. The restaurant was really good and had an interesting wine list with a large selection of old Cahors. Picnic shopping was very good. We probably wouldn't stay in Souillac again, it's just so much nicer out in the country. hike and Carlux photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079742885227382338 Souillac photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079744328336394434 Tuesday: Souillac to Calès The trail out of Souillac was mostly along busy roads, so we took a cab to a trailhead near Le Bastit and had a nice short hike along a badly-marked trail to Calès. Stayed at Le Petit Relais (www.le-petit-relais.fr), the room they had us in faced the street and stank of smoke and air freshener so we asked to move and got a much nicer, fresh-smelling room in the back. It was hot, the pool was closed for maintenance, and the hotel had no garden, so we picnicked in the room. It was a warm evening and dinner on the terrace was charming. This is a cute little town and a nice stop on the way to Rocamadour, but it looked like the other hotel, Le Pages, would have been nicer. photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079744517314955522 Wednesday: Calès to Rocamadour The trail to Rocamadour looked like it was almost entirely along roads, so we took a cab to our hotel, then hiked to Rocamadour. Had a nice lunch on the terrace of the aptly named Hotel Beau Site (http://www.bw-beausite.com). We stayed at Les Vielles Tours (www.vieillestours-rocamadour.com), the most charming place of the whole trip. Dinner in the restaurant was excellent. Laundry service available. When we saw how intensely touristy Rocamadour was, we were happy we hadn't stayed there. Les Vielles Tours photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079745006941227458 hike to Rocamadour: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079745174444952066 Rocamadour photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079745895999458018 more Les Vielles Tours photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079746699158342674 * Thursday: Rocamadour, Bordeaux There's a train station at Rocamadour, but not many trains, and we had to connect twice to get back to Bordeaux, first in Brive-La-Gaillarde and then in Périgueux, which ate up a lot of the day. Had a decent lunch in photos from hike to Rocamadour train station: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5079746832302328930 * Friday and Saturday: Bordeaux photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/robert.lauriston/France200702/photo?authkey=TVw6QA4j2G8#5080087852705632258 Packing checklist: hiking shirt hiking pants hiking socks hiking shoes bandana windbreaker rain pants base layer pants (didn't need) base layer top (didn't need) hat maps reservation printouts passport flashlight pack rain cover water bottle umbrella cotton sweater dinner shirt dinner pants belt dinner socks dinner shoes swimsuit T-shirt flip-flops deodorant skin lotion sunscreen chapstick shampoo & conditioner (didn't need, most hotels had) shaving cream razor toothpaste toothbrush floss sunglasses spare eyeglasses prescriptions vitamins aspirin Rucola two clotheslines Woolite (didn't need, bought better concentrate in France) book(s) Scribo "A to Z of French Food" camera camera charger cell phone cell charger adapter