St Cyprien was a good place to stop for the night - right by the town centre so we could walk up to the mediaeval area first thing in the morning.
We found the shops were all along a street on lower ground, but the old area of the church and very old housing was up some very steep paths. How the elderly manage in these villages I am not sure, as I was looking for anything to hold onto on the wet pavements. The church had three floors of what looks like apartments built right onto the side - that could be great for some of the older people. Like all these towns there was a very large cemetery. Quite a few of the family grave areas are covered by a little glass house. In many cases quite a number of bodies are interred under the one grave stone..
St Cyprien
St Cyprien cemetery
We drove into the Perigord Noir area, where dark green trees dominated the hills. We were lucky that in Le Bugue we were in time for the weekly market. We had to cross the bridge of the swollen Vezere river. It was right up to the top of the banks. Ducks, foie gras and cheese dominated the the markets, but we came away with some asparagus and endive. There was a big crowd for the market - they seem to be central part of life here.
River Vesere at La Bugue
Market day at La Bugue
French waffles
On the way
Les Eyzies de Tayac was slightly north ( we were doing a liitle circuit around Sarlat),and in the area that has a lot of tourism associated with caves and prehistoric sites. The town is built into a huge rock wall, and a couple of museums have been built right into the rock. The shops are full of wine and oils, and I suddenly realised I had mixed up noix (walnuts) and noisettes (hazelnuts) in yesterday's blog. So yes, there is walnut aperitif, cake, biscuits and oil.
Perigord Noir
Vezere R at Les Eyzies
Les Eyzies de Tayac
Maison Fonte del Reignac
St Leon sur Vezere turned out to be a surprise - only a tiny village, but lots of eating places. This is a big area for walking and canoeing, but I don't think anyone would get on the water at the moment. The rivers are very fast flowing and even the ducks seem to be swept along..
St Leon sur Vezere
We now circled back to Sarlat, and found an overnight parking place right in town. I agree Christine the place is lovely - even in the rain (see Bern, I didn't mention the weather until the end). And I especially took some photos when the sun came out beautifully around five. We are looking forward to a trip into the centre of Sarlat for the market. Should be fun.
This featured blog entry was written by jannettek from the blog Time to travel.
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