Voyages of Gabriel: Our visit to the Dordogne

We flew with Ryanair from Stansted to Limoges, and the flight was on time and straightforward. We had booked an Opel Corsa hire car, but we were upgraded to a diesel Renault Kangoo, which was very satisfactory, booked through Easycar, at half the price of the Ryanair offering.

Ryanair at Stansted

Our visit to France was to spend some time with Phil and Cyndi and see what they have been doing with their property near Jumilhac-le-Grand. They have a cottage which is now a gite, sleeping five, as well as a barn which has been divided into two. They live in one part, and the other is a second gite, sleeping six. Both the gites have swimming pools, essential in the summer.

The fitout is superb, with comfortable beds and a spacious layout, and we really enjoyed our time there. We didn’t take any photos of the accommodation, but the website is http://libertebosquetgites.co.uk/

Phil and Cyndi

We did a lot of sightseeing and took over 200 photos, but we are going to limit this to a selection of around 30.

We paused at Jumilhac-le-Grand for a chateau photo. It is quite an impressive pile, but was not open to the public until later in the season.

Jumilhac-le-Grand Chateau

We went on to Brantome, being re-routed via Nontron because of a car rally which closed some of the roads. Brantome is surrounded by water, being on an island on the river Donne. There is a large old abbey and an ancient bridge over the river by a weir. There is a hotel on the site of an old mill which looks lovely. We noticed at lot of trees everywhere that had been severely pruned back. Apparently they do this every two years.

Brantome Abbey and bridge

Brantome hotel by the water

Pruned trees

After lunch in Brantome we drove on to Bordeilles, passing some strange rock formations, cut into shape by a river in ages past.

Rock formations

At Bordeilles we visited the chateau area where there is a medieval fortress and a renaissance chateau. The views from the top of the tower were excellent.

Bordeilles fortress

Red roofs at Bordeilles

The renaissance chateau

The weir and mill at Bordeilles

On the way back we visited the small village of St Jean de Cole where there is a chateau and an old church. We found that all the churches were open for visitors to look round.

St Jean de Cole chateau

St Jean de Cole church

On another day we visited Perigeux where there is an amazing church with several domes.

The church in Perigeux

We also explored a supermarket where there was a wonderful selection of cheeses. No cheddar or Stilton, though. It is odd that French cheeses are available in Britain, even though there aren’t many French people, but in France, which seems to be full of British ex-pats, you can’t find English cheeses.

Cheese display

Later on in the week we had a challenging day as we visited Oradour-sur-Glane, where, on 10^th June 1944, six days after D-day, Nazi troops rounded up all the inhabitants of the village and executed them. The men were taken to various barns around the village and machine-gunned, and the bodies were covered in hay and set alight. The women and children were locked in the church which was put on fire. 642 people died that day, and the burnt-out village has been set apart as a memorial to the victims and as a warning about the consequences of war. There are old cars, bicycles, sewing machines and beds still visible among the ruins. It was a sobering experience to wander round the empty shops and houses and then visit the cemetery afterwards.