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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 6, 2013 1:46:38 GMT
Wow! Amazing report, FMT. I was glad to see in some of the villages the daytrippers stuck to the commercial part of town & left the pretty bits for you all to explore. Thanks for the info on the microclimate -- I'd noted the banana tree in a photo previous to that. If you've got cranky knees or some other kind of aches and pains then strolling the seemingly vertical streets of Beynac may not be for you. Can it be assumed that all the old towns perched on steep inhospitable sites are there in order to leave the flatter land for farming? Peche Merle had to have been a pinnacle experience. Thank you for not only showing what could be shown, but for the insightful pointers for visiting there. The Abbaye, yes ~~ beautifully romantic pictures. Our first stop was to be a megalithic site near a town called Marcilhac-sur-Célé. As we were ascending hill we got a glimpse of the village profile. What a lovely place & how smart of y'all to quickly change plans. Always fascinating to see the pre-historic sites you explore, & with such illuminating text, too. Your last (excellent) pictures inevitably reminded me of this:
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Nov 6, 2013 9:37:24 GMT
Thanks Bixa. In the area where we based most of the villages were tourist hoard free with the exception of Collonges-la-Rouge. It's only once you move over to the Dordogne département near Sarlat that you run into the masses. I think all those hilltop villages were put there more for defensive and strategic purposes. I think it is was only accidentally beneficial that flatter areas were left for farming. Also makes it easier to quarry for building material when you are on a rocky promontory and your building stones don't have to be transported. Pech Merle is a near religious experience for anyone into prehistoric art. It's another reality in that cave. Great cartoon. Thanks, as always, for spending the two hours it takes to get through my whole report.
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Post by bjd on Nov 6, 2013 11:36:31 GMT
Just to add to fmt's comment about village location. He is correct that the old villages were perched on hilltops for defensive purposes. In the case of "bastides", the lord of the castle would invite merchants or others to settle there, collecting taxes in return for protection. Most of these places had walls around them. Some information here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastide
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 13:46:44 GMT
I finally managed to sit still long enough to read the rest of the report.
I was last at the Gouffre de Padirac about 20 years ago and the only wait was due to the fact that it was closed for lunch until 2 p.m. Of course, this was in September or October and not at the height of the tourist season. One of my best friends has a house in a hamlet just outside of nearby Gramat, so I have been in that area quite often but have ended up at Rocamadour more often than Padirac. I always recommend Gramat as a good base for somebody wanting to visit the area without having to drive, because there are two direct trains a day out of Paris-Austerlitz, which is something that most of the towns in the region do not have. There are various buses leaving from Gramat to all of the towns and villages in the area.
As for Sarlat, it has always underwhelmed me. I understand that it is good to have a "target" for all of the tourists to go to, but I am under the impression that central Sarlat lives almost entirely from the tourist trade. The best thing about this is that it has probably helped to preserve quite a few of the other villages in the area, as you proved with your photos.
Another great thing about the Dordogne area is that even in the middle of summer, most of those little roads really are totally empty when you are driving around. Of course, when you do get into a tangle of traffic due to an exceptional tourist site or even just an accident, those little roads make it completely impossible to escape. I still remember trying to get through Millau before the viaduct was built. The number of hours required to get through Millau in the summer was mentioned in the national traffic news every day and even out of season there was still so much traffic that there were all sorts of little snack stands along the road in the middle of nowhere to serve the captive customers. They have almost all disappeared now.
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Nov 6, 2013 18:32:56 GMT
I was underwhelmed by the Gouffre. The huge cavity is an impressive geologic oddity but inside the cave was rather bland. The boat trip didn't do much for me either. The Mrs. said when she was last there 20 years ago (roughly) that none of the restaurants or other tourist infrastructure existed at that time. Yeah, I know a lot of people don't care for the touristy appeal of Sarlat but I look beyond that and admire all the wonderful architecture. I stayed there once with the Mrs. in the off-season several years back and we stayed in a hotel room in the old ramparts and it was wonderful. The place was fairly empty when we went there in the winter so it almost felt like we had it to ourselves. Thank god no one ever listens to my advice about how to use a Michelin map to explore. As a result you and I will continue to have all those lovely little country roads to ourselves.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 18:45:13 GMT
Yes, that's the best part!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 19:03:40 GMT
Wonderful job, M. FMT. It's given me plenty if ideas for our future trip.
Re: The Gouffre. In one of your photos I saw a gift shop and at first glance I thought it was called Kiosque de Souffre. Perhaps fitting, in your case.
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Post by frenchmystiquetour on Nov 7, 2013 22:53:53 GMT
Very appropriate Lizzy. I passed that one on to Mrs FMT.
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