The Dordogne is a far more popular tourist area and the camping-car aire at La
Roque-Gageac was full when we called in the next morning, however we were
able to find a parking space for an hour while we walked around the small
riverside village squeezed against the towering cliffs.
Having collected an armful of
tourist brochures in Domme we decided to visit one of the many gardens
advertised and eventually found the well hidden Gardens of Cadiot at
Carlux- a
rather low-key garden with a homely feel and some quite interesting
planting including a Jardin Anglais and some African sculptures dotted
around the woodland walk. It was a short drive from there to Souillac where we found
the large aire which was almost full by the evening with about thirty
motorhomes
and more British than we had met anywhere else in France. The Quercyland leisure
park is nearby (closed so peaceful!) but it was only a short walk to the
town centre with its ancient abbey and Automata museum which we visited
the next day.
Jardin Anglais at Cadiot
La Roque-Gageac
African sculpture at Cadiot
Musée de l'Automate Souillac
The Automata museum holds the national collection of automated model
displays some rather weird, which were produced at the beginning of the
20th century and later became popular as shop window displays. There was
also a fascinating display of sophisticated mechanical musical players,
some with interchangeable discs and as we were the only visitors early in
the morning we were given a personal demonstration of many of them by the
curator! The sound quality of some of them was amazing and they must
have been a major attraction in their time.
Abbey at Souillac
From Souillac we drove to the small walled "Cité Medieval" of Martel with many old
buildings and judging by the ornate doors it must have been home to some
very wealthy citizens.
Ancient doors at Martel
We then attempted a
waymarked country walk to the hamlet of Murel which like so many in
France seemed to
lose the markings after a while although we came across an ancient haycart
outside a farm. We continued driving on country lanes to the small village of
Gignac where there was a new aire with local tourist information signs informing us that it
had been installed with the help of the club "Pays Vert
Camping-Car" - it was one of the best laid out service points we have
come across! The village had some interesting features including an iron
tree and several shrines.
After travelling north past a huge construction site for a new regional
airport south of Brive-la-Gaillarde we turned west on a very busy road (at
least until the adjacent autoroute is completed) to the large town of
Périgueux. Having endured several miles of heavy traffic we decided to
bypass the town and after a visit to the huge Centre Commercial at Marsac
continued north to Brantôme, the "Venice of the Périgord" and
a favourite stopover for camping-cars. We found a large motorhome parking
area in a rather muddy field next to the park and it was a pleasant town
to stroll around with its large Benedictine abbey and old riverside
buildings. For our overnight stop we drove a short distance along the
river to Bourdeilles where there was another large aire on a field (a
former campsite) between the football stadium and the river (but remember
to park away from the football pitch - it was the local team's training
evening and they certainly needed some shooting practice!) There is an
imposing chateau above the town, a couple of secondhand shops and cafe's
and a laid-back feel to the place.
Haycart near Martel
Gignac - Iron Tree
Brantôme bridge
Brantôme bridge and abbey
Bourdeilles Chateau
Our route northwards took us through hilly
countryside to Nontron then to a region known as the Lacs de Haute
Charente with several lakes near the village of Massignac (where there is
a useful information centre), and a free peaceful overnight aire in the
carpark by the barrage of the Lac de Lavaud. However our peace was
disturbed the next morning as the car park rapidly filled up with
horseboxes and cyclists - it was the area's annual Randonnée so we made a
hasty exit to avoid being completely hemmed in for the day. We found
another parking place by a nearby lake and watched as the entourage of
horseriders, carriages and cyclists passed by on the marked cross-country
route before finishing the morning's exertations no doubt with a large
open air pique-nique. From there we continued to Rochechouart a small
hilltop town with a chateau housing a museum of contemporary art, a church
with a twisted spire (but not as crooked as Chesterfield's!) and the
Espace de Meteorite as there is evidence from the geology of the area of a
meteorite collision (over 200 million years ago!) From there it was a
short distance to Oradour-s-Glane and the WW2 Martyrs' village.
