If you like castle battlements looming up through misty mornings, tumble-down stone farmhouses and beautifully restored, honey colored villages then this is the region for you. The Departement of the Dordogne (traditionally known as Perigord) lies to the east of the Bordeaux vineyards between the plains of Guyenne and the Massif Central. The region gets its name from the Dordogne river, one of the longest rivers in France, which flows dreamily and with a rare elegance its 500 km course from the Massif Central through gorges, rocks and hills, picking up tributaries along the way and creating melting riverscapes in hairpin bends (or “cingles”). It ends its existence as a river by meandering its way slowly through vineyards and tobacco fields to the broad estuary of the Gironde and the famous Bordeaux appellations. It was a very strategic river during the endless wars of the middle ages and to defend it many castles were built along the high cliffs that line its banks. These are not the graceful hunting lodges of the Loire river however, but genuine fortified medieval fortresses perched on the highest ground with views and vistas that often include more than one neighboring fortress. Nothing much has happened here since the Hundred Years’ War (when the Brits battled it out with the French), except perhaps the filming of several movies dedicated to medieval themes. However it is slowly being appreciated as a land that retains most of what the industrialized world has lost in its mad rush towards modernity.

The Dordogne river valley is too long to cover in one tour so we will concentrate on the most beautiful central and eastern sections. At its central part the River Dordogne winds its way tranquilly between high forested cliffs upon which ancient medieval castles brood, their crenellations home to cacophonies of sinister crows. The golden, fairy-tale towns and villages of the area, steep cobbled streets, distant views, mysterious castles, forested hillsides and medieval battlements provide all the right ingredients for a perfect photographic tour.

Further east, the upper reaches of the Dordogne flow through a relatively unknown region whose multiple charms include a collection of unspoiled medieval villages unmatched anywhere, beautiful landscapes dotted with the characteristic stone farmhouses and dovecotes, and an innocent rural way of life that matches everyone’s fantasies of France. Here the men wear black berets, the women carry big baskets when they go walnut picking, there are live ducks and chickens on sale in the markets, and foie gras is eaten at every meal. The pace of life is rural and slow. Add to this mix the glories of springtime, the fields of wild flowers, and roses round every stone doorway and you have everything that is good and great about France.

After pick-up at Toulouse airport we will drive to the central section of the sparkling valley of the Dordogne river, where we will spend four nights in a chateau hotel from whose terrace there is an expansive panoramic view. This part of the Dordogne is famous for its cliff top castles and dramatic scenery and there is nowhere else in France that has such a collection of medieval villages, castles and manor houses in so small an area. The river valley here is deep and very wide with steep cliffs on either side providing numerous panoramas, vistas, views and landscapes. At the foot of the cliffs at the edge of the valley floor, crammed between the stone and the river, spread a string of beautiful villages, many with almost vertical streets lined by ancient houses built of a golden stone that glows in the sun, and topped by a castle or fortress in varying states of decay or renovation. On our itinerary will be the villages of Beynac and Castelnaud both of which have beautiful medieval castles perched high above their narrow streets; La Roque Gageac (officially The Prettiest Village in France ); and Domme (“..the closest place to paradise on earth..” Henry Miller) an exquisite town whose setting, uniformity of architecture and medieval atmosphere rank it top of the Perigord bastide towns. Unfortunately it is now the victim of its own success as tourism has firmly established itself as the town’s major money earner. However, Domme has, without doubt the best view of the Dordogne river valley. It is built high above the south bank of the Dordogne , sheer cliffs plunge down to the river on one side and ramparts guard the other. Various chateaux and fortresses are visible to the east and west, and in May if we get up early enough the early morning mist shrouds the river and gives the whole scene an air of medieval enchantment.

This is serious foie gras country and everywhere there are flocks of geese roaming free with an old farmer herding them with a stick. Foie gras is the delicious if somewhat controversial liver of ducks or geese. Like chocolate, caviar and smoked salmon it is essential to the well-being of the average human and everyone I have introduced it to absolutely loves it. I am not talking here of pate de foie gras, but fresh foie gras lightly seared on both sides. (Don't worry, it is NOTHING like the liver you were forced to eat as a kid). This delicacy has been eaten here since ducks were invented and who are we to say it's a bad thing? If you are sensitive to the way these ducks and geese are reared we can discuss it over a plate of pan-seared foie gras served with grapes sauteed in Armagnac...

Our next three nights will be spent further east in the upper reaches of the Dordogne river, a region once part of ancient Quercy, now the northern part of the Lot departement. Here the river is lovely as it winds and snakesthrough rugged velvet green limestone valleys and dramatic cliffs. Away from the river there is a secretive and peaceful landscape of wooded hills, lush meadows, vineyards and walnut trees, with a web of narrow lanes twisting and turning between a succession of small villages and farms where the twentieth century seems like a wild futuristic nightmare. Rural and bucolic, it tries to hide away from the gaze of the rest of the world. Sheep, cows and goats chew in the lush grass, geese and ducks (for foie gras) range freely, lambs bleat as buttercups tickle their bellies. It is a perfect picture of rural contentment. Somone once described this region as “one of Europe’s densest concentrations of time-warped Brigadoons” and indeed no less than ten villages here have been given the classification “One of the Most Beautiful Villages of France”.

Loubressac is a harmonious place of small lanes and ancient houses and has one of the best panoramas in the upper reaches of the Dordogne . It can be seen from a long way off, its ramparts, towers and spires running like a cockscomb along the ridge of a hill. Its neighbor, the exquisite village of Carennac is set in a delightful spot beside the river. Its houses have steeply pitched brown tiled roofs and creamy stone walls, geraniums in window boxes abound. Also on our itinerary is the neighboring village of Collonges-la-Rouges, aptly named since the houses are built of an unusual, deep rust-red colored sandstone. This is a miniature city that once was the residence of wealthy medieval nobles. Their grand houses adorned by turrets and towers, on which wisteria and vines weave patterns on the ancient stones, giving the appearance of a village composed almost entirely of small castles.

Nearby Martel also shared in the wealth of the middle ages and has a collection of magnificent houses, a Gothic church and an 18th century covered market. Hardly a street in Martel is without at least one grand medieval mansion or iron studded wooden doorway. Martel has undergone a Renaissance of its own in recent years and is no longer a forgotten backwater with pigeons nesting in the ruins of once majestic houses. A new sophistication fills the air, and the locals display a palpable appreciation of the superb village they live in. Autoire, another neighboring village to Loubressac, is a tiny, narrow village, hidden at the bottom of a steep, orchard filled valley with no souvenir shops or superficial glamour. However it has a collection of typical stone corbelled Quercy houses, spiky with turrets and pigeon lofts, old manors with fountains in their courtyards, many of them half crumbled into the landscape.

After visiting the upper Dordogne we will turn back south and travel towards Toulouse but taking a sharp easterly turn into the valley of the river Lot to visit the beautiful perched village of St. Cirq Lapopie and its neighboring villages. The Lot valley is here lush, deep and far from the madding crowd. Cascading dramatically down the limestone cliffs St. Cirq Lapopie looks out over fields and vineyards striping the valley floor across from the river below. Perched high on top of the village is church that can be seen for miles, and lining the street leading up to it are pretty stone cottages and half-timbered 15th century houses with tumbling terraced gardens full of exuberant flowers and herbs. From a distance the red tiled roofs of the houses seem stacked one on top of the other. Several craftsmen and artists inhabit the village which has an old boulangerie and several restaurants, in which we can get our foie gras fix. How about: pan seared foie gras with fig compote and plum coulis ?

for more pictures of the Dordogne & Lot regions click here