DORDOGNE SPRING / BEAUX VILLAGES TOUR

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We shall be repeating this tour in 2011, in the meantime if you would like to see photos from our 2010 Dordogne tour, please click on the link below which will take you direct to our photo gallery:

http://picasaweb.google.com/classiccartoursinternational/DordogneSpringTour2010

Description

The English have had a love affair with the Dordogne and Aquitaine for centuries so here is your chance to find out why and join us on the back roads of this delightful region so full of history and wonderful vistas. The Dordogne is aptly described as “the region of a 1000 chateaux” and we visit a few of these on our tour as well as other places of interest such as gardens and museums.

Following a Wednesday night ferry crossing our tour starts in St.Malo and takes us via our lunch stop medieval Vitre and our afternoon coffee stop, the Le Mans 24 hours motor museum at the world famous Le Mans circuit to our first overnight stop a sumptuous 4* chateau hotel in the Loire valley. From here we drive down the Vienne valley on minor roads until we reach Bourdeilles near Brantome our first overnight stop in the Dordogne region in South West France. After two days of relatively high mileage we relax on Saturday with lunch in a nearby stunning Michelin* restaurant,a converted walnut oil mill, followed by a visit to one of France's most beautiful villages,( les plus beaux villages), Aubeterre which is just over the Dordogne's west border in the Charente.

On Sunday, we leave Bourdeilles and head south to Domme,stopping for morning coffee at St Jean de Cole another of France's most beautiful villages and then late morning visiting the beautiful gardens at the Manoir d'Eyrignac.From here we drive 10 miles to Sarlat, Europe's best preserved medieval town.Our hotel for the next two nights is in Domme, perched on the top of a cliff, overlooking the Dordogne valley.On Monday our route takes us east to the stunning Rocamadour via another six of France's most beautiful villages. On Tuesday we leave our hotel in Domme and in the morning visit a nearby chateau with stunning gardens overlooking the river Dordogne followed by a visit to a medieval fortified chateau with a fascinating collection of weapons on display.Lunch is spent in nearby Chateau Milande which houses a museum devoted to the life of Josephine Baker the American singer and dancer and former owner of the chateau and there is also an opportunity to see the Chateau's collection of "birds of prey" together with a flying display.We then drive back to Bourdeilles stopping off for coffee at another of France's most beautiful villages.On our penultimate day we leave behind Bourdeilles and the Dordogne and drive back up to the Loire Valley stopping off in the morning to visit the "Village Martyr" at Oradour sur Glane.In the afternoon our coffee stop is Chinon just south of the river Loire after which there is an option to visit the world famous gardens at Chateau Villandry.Our last night is spent in another 4* chateau hotel where we have a celebratory dinner.On our final day we leave our chateau hotel and the Loire Valley behind and catch the afternoon ferry from Caen to Portsmouth.

For more information on Les Plus Beaux Villages de France visit http://www.les-plus-beaux-villages-de-france.org/

Itinerary

Wednesday, May 19th, Ferry from Portsmouth at 20.30 to St Malo.

Day 1 - Thursday,( approx 250 miles)

Ferry arrives St Malo at approximately 8.15am. On leaving St Malo we will take the scenic coast road to our charming breakfast stop in a small secluded bay near Cancale before continuing along the coastal road overlooking the Mont St Michel bay.The route then heads south cross-country on quiet 'back-roads' to a lunch stop in the charming medieval town of Vitre. From Vitre we drive to Le Mans to visit our afternoon coffee stop, the world famous Le Mans 24 hours motor museum next to the main entrance to the Le Mans 24 hours circuit before heading south, still on minor roads, towards the Loire Valley and our four-star chateau hotel just a few miles south of Tours.There will be a pre- dinner cocktail reception on the hotel's terrace tonight to celebrate our first day of the tour.

Day 2 - Friday,( approx 185 miles)

After leaving our chateau hotel we continue south , through Descartres, to La Roche Posay our coffee stop.We then continue south to Angles- sur l'Anglin, one of France's "plus beaux villages" and our lunch stop at an auberge nestling under the ruins of an ancient chateau.After lunch we drive south to Chauvigny through the picturesque Vienne valley on minor roads into the Charente department through Confolens to Chabanais where, just south, we stop to visit the amazing Chassenon Roman Baths. Located at Longeas, a small hamlet just south of Chassenon, these are amongst the best preserved buildings of their type in the territory of ancient Gaul and possibly in the whole of what was once the Roman Empire. The site also includes three temples, a theatre and an aqueduct, all once part of the ancient Roman city of Cassinomagus. We then continue south into the Dordogne to the charming town of Brantôme, described as "the Venice of the Perigord" due to the river Dronne completely encircling the town effectively making Brantome an island! Brantome also boasts the oldest bell tower in France attached to the ancient abbey. Bourdeilles, 5 miles down river from Brantome is where our hotel for the next two nights is based and this is a charming, 16th century converted moulin,(water mill) with its front entrance on a 16th century bridge overlooked by the chateau of Bourdeilles.

Day 3 - Saturday,(approx 90 miles)

After two days of relatively high mileage we start to relax in the Dordogne with a free morning in nearby Brantome visiting the shops and an opportunity to stroll around this extremely pretty town where the river is always in view, ( see photo above).At mid-day we drive 5 miles east to lunch at a Michelin * restaurant, the nearby Moulin du Roc, a converted walnut oil mill and one of the Dordogne's finest restaurants enjoying one of the world's most romantic settings, nestling on the banks of the river Dronne,( see photos below).

 

 

 

After lunch we our first "beau village" ande drive across country on scenic roads to the neighbouring Charente region; driving west along the banks of the pretty river to Lisle and then climb up to Montagrier with its picturesque views and then continuing on backroads through Lusignac to Aubeterre-sur-Dronne in the Charente, one of France's prettiest villages. Here we visit the amazing underground monolithic church and explore this picture-book village with its traditional French square, (see photo below). We then return to our hotel in Bordeilles.

Day 4 - Sunday, (approx 112 miles)

We leave our hotel and Bourdeilles behind and drive through Brantome to nearby St Jean de Cole our morning coffee stop and the second most beautiful villageon our list.We then drive across country on minor roads towards Sarlat approximately 70 miles south west, stopping late morning, to visit the beautiful gardens at the Manoir d'Eyrignac.We then continue to nearby Sarlat,our lunch stop,which is often described "the jewel in the Dordogne's crown" being, arguably, Europe's best preserved medieval town with amazing rennaisance architecture, ( see photo below left).After lunch we visit two more of the Dordogne's prettiest villages including Beynac et Cazenac and La Roque Gageac before arriving in Domme, via the medieval stone archway which carries graffiti made by the knights templar who were once imprisoned here a few centuries ago.Our hotel for the next two nights is based at the top of the village of Domme and is perched on a cliff top, with stunning views overlooking the Dordogne valley.Dinner, subject to weather, will be held on the terrace this evening, ( see view below right from the hotel's terrace).
For more information on Domme visit the Domme website http://www.ot-domme.com/

 

Day 5 - Monday, (approx 115 miles)

Our route today takes us via six more of France's most beautiful villages,(les plus beaux villages) and takes us over the Dordogne border into the Lot region to visit Rocamadour.From Domme we follow the river north east to Souillac and then north to Nespouls where we turn east to visit the first of our beaux villages, Turenne, which is shaped and clusterred on the cliff side.Turenne was the last feudal fiefdom in France being in family ownership until 1738! From the remains of the chateau there is an amazing 360 degree panoramic view of the Cantal mountains across the Dordogne valley.A few miles further south is our next beau village, Collanges la Rouge with its unique carmine sandstone architecture and almost toytown unreality.Continuing south a few more miles we arrive at Carrenac, our third beau village, from where we drive on to Loubressac with its vast panorama of the Dordogne valley.Our final beautiful village is Autoire and is regarded as one of the most beautiful places in Quercy which is the name of this fertile area east of Perigord at the mouth of of the Autoire gorge.Just outside the village we stop and, on foot, visit the impressive one hundred foot waterfall and climb to a rocky amphitheatre with panoramic views of the region.We then continue on to the majestic Rocamadour with its breathtaking location perched on the side of a rocky peak above the Alzou valley.Since the 10th century Rocamadour has been a centre of pilgrimage and today it receives many tourists and we have a couple of hours to explore Rocamadour, (see photo below right).In the afternoon there is an option to visit the nearby geographical curiosity,"Gouffre de Padirac," a huge chasm that forms the entrance to a series of underground caverns.Here we have the option of descending literally "into the abyss" to view the group of giant stalagmites to the lake at the bottom of this huge opening where we can take a boat ride. After this we return to our hotel in Domme for dinner on the terrace.

Day 6 - Tuesday, (approx 130 miles)

Leaving our hotel and Domme behind, we cross the river Dordogne and drive to nearby Chateau Marqueysac where we visit the beautiful gardens with stunning views over the Dordogne valley.We then drive to nearby Castelnaud where the village sits on the intersection of the Dordogne and Ceau valleys.Here we visit the amazing medieval fortified chateau which was in English hands during the 100 years war and, having undergone incredible restoration, is now open to the public.After Castelnaud we drive through a pretty valley on a scenic minor road to Chateau Milande which was the home of Josephine Baker, the American singer and dancer who was adopted by the French as their favourite American.This is our lunch stop and there is ample time to visit the museum devoted to Josephine Baker as well as watching a display of birds of prey.Our route from here takes us north where we stop in another beau village, St. Leon-sur-Vezere for afternoon coffee before returning back to Bourdeilles for our final night in the Dordogne and our penultimate night of the tour.

Day 7-Wednesday, (approx 230 miles)

Today we return back to the Loire. Again we will follow the Vienne valley but with some variations on the Friday route.Our morning coffee stop is the fascinating, yet sobering, "Village Martyr", Oradour -sur-Glane where the old ruined village is a national monument commemorating the June, 1945 massacre of the entire village,( out of more than 500 occupants; less than 5 survived), by 200 retreating German SS soldiers.After Oradour we continue north west cross-country skirting around Poitiers to medieval Chinon, our afternoon coffee stop. From here we drive via the Chateau d'Usse, the chateau with many turrets that was apparently the inspiration for the "Sleeping Beauty" story, along the charming south bank river road of the river Loire.There is then an option to visit the world famous gardens at Chateau Villandry a few miles to the east or the less formal but equally beautiful gardens of Chateau Chattoniere near Azay le Rideau. After this we cross the river Loire over the picturesque bridge at Langeais,( see photo below left) and then drive 5 miles west to St. Patrice to our final hotel on the tour,the sumptuous Chateu de Rochecotte, (see photos below).

Chateau Rochecotte Hotel - click here

Day 8 - Thursday, (approx 190 miles)

We say 'au revoir' to the Loire Valley and head back to Caen for the afternoon ferry via scenic minor roads to La Chartre sur-le-Loir where we stop for morning coffee at the Hotel de France in the main square of the town, the headquarters of the Aston Martin, Le Mans racing team in the 1950s and 60s. Over coffee you can browse through the nostalgic pictures of Le Mans legends that line the walls of this famous hotel. After coffee we head north to Alencon and on to Sees our lunch stop with its impressive twin spired cathedral. After lunch we continue north to Caen to the port of Ouistreham for our 4.30pm ferry crossing to Portsmouth, (arrives Portsmouth 9.15 pm).

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