Continuing her Dordognaise adventure, Judith Schrut toasts some of France’s most beautiful villages and enjoys a four hour lunch with amazing cake.
The Dordogne region isn’t just rich in natural beauty, wildlife, history and cuisine, it’s home to no less than 16 of the coveted Le Plus Beaux Villages en France– the most beautiful villages in France. We’re introduced to this uniquely French accolade on a morning visit to one of these jewels, La Roque Gageac. The village is spectacularly set between steep honey-coloured cliffs and the Dordogne River; its stone houses with their distinctive Périgord roofs line the riverside and spread up the hill behind.
We toast all this beautifulness with a glass of walnut wine on board a gabare, a traditional flat-bottomed barge docked on the pier below the village. A gabare cruise is an unmissable, affordable treat, taking you on a relaxed ride down the most stunning stretch of river, surrounded by gorges, perched castles, vibrant wildlife and lush greenery.
Then, it’s off to perhaps the most beautiful of all the Beaux Villages, Collonges-la-Rouge. Collonges was the first to receive the coveted title and certainly stands out from the crowd. It’s been called “a doll’s house village, dressed in red from head to toe,” probably because the entire village is made out of rich, red sandstone.
Hard to image this tiny place, home to only 80 permanent residents, was once a politically important town whose wealthy citizens built the remarkable houses, manors, towers and monuments that ring the village. At the height of summer, Collonges’ ancient, narrow streets are packed with tourists, who come for its open air festival, comic fair, candlelight tours, fine little cafes and restaurants….or just to wander and wonder.
Among the village’s most prominent citizens are Jacques and Camille Breuil, whose families have been here for generations. They run Le Cantou, where we’ve come for lunch. It’s a well-loved, always full, country bistrot, serving hearty traditional fare from noon til night on redcheck-tableclothed tables, shaded from the fierce heat by vine covered trellis.
Monsieur and Madame Breuil zip from table to table, greeting, chatting, laughing and ensuring every diner eats well and stays as long as they like (four hours in our case), certainly not leaving until they’ve tried, say, the omelette with wild mushrooms and potatoes à la Collongeoise, or the Salade Terroir (fresh vegetables, smoked trout, duck confit, chestnuts and hot Cabécou goat’s cheese) and savoured a fat slice of Le Cantou’s walnut gateau with some lovely, sweet Monbazillac.
Judith cruised the Dordogne River with Gabares Norbert, Roque Gageac; roundtrip journeys 10€, 8€ children. She dined at Le Cantou, Rue de la Barrière, 19500 Collonges-la-Rouge, France; lunch and dinner a la carte or from daily changing menus, three courses 23€, children’s menu 8€. Other nearby beaux villages worth a detour include Turenne, Curemonte, Monpazier, Beynac and Carennac.
Judith travelled to Dordogne as a guest of Dordogne Valley Travel and Brive Dordogne Valley Airport. Stay tuned for the next post in our Delights of the Dordogne miniseries.
