Bordeaux and Perigord
Day 1–Sunday
Leaving Saturday evening, you will land in Bordeaux around noon. Our hotel is the Mercure Cite Mondiale*** located downtown Bordeaux, a short walk from the shops, museums and restaurants.
Take a 2 hours nap or spend your afternoon walking the streets of this old city. The stock exchange square, the 15 century “Grosse Cloche” gate, the “Grand Theatre”, the 18th century district etc…
After many years of noisy and dusty road work everywhere, tramway lines were created, historical buildings restored, old warehouses along the river renovated and now occupied by restaurants, shops and art galleries. Bordeaux is a lively and pleasant city.
A welcome dinner – with Bordeaux wines – will end the day.
Night in Bordeaux.
Day 2–Monday
The most famous vineyards of the world are yours for a day in Medoc.
9:00 am departure for a drive on the “Route des Chateaux” for Margaux, Cos d’Estournel, Talbot, Latour, Laffite-Rothschild, Palmer, Gruaud-Laroze, Rauzan-Segla, Beychevelle, etc.
Our first stop will be for Chateau Margaux one of the five first Grands Crus classés (or Cos d’Estournel - St Estephe) for visit and tasting.
Lunch in Pauillac.
Afternoon visit and tasting to Chateau Mouton-Rotschild (Pauillac) another one of the five “Premier cru” of Medoc. (or Branaire Ducru, Grand Cru of the Saint Julien appellation.
Coming back in Bordeaux around 5:00pm you will have time to do some shopping in the pedestrian streets or visit a museum (Beaux Arts, Arts Decoratif, Aquitaine etc..)
Dinner on your own.
Last night in Bordeaux.
Day 3–Tuesday
En route for Saint Emilion, the kingdom of Merlot challenged by Cabernet Franc!
The Chateau Angelus (1er Grand cru of Saint Emilion) will open his doors for visit and tasting.
After lunch in the village (with ….. Saint Emilion wines perhaps), we will meander in the charming streets of Saint Emilion for a guided visit of the monolith church, carved in the rock between the years 800 and 1100 as well as the 7th century cave, refuge of the monk who founded the city.
On our way to Perigord, we will stop by for wine again. This time it is a sweet one, the highly praised Montbazillac, taste at the medieval castle.
We should check in around 6:00 at our hotel, the Plaza Madeleine, in the spectacular medieval city of Sarlat-la-Caneda. Many directors have chosen this town as a movie set, you will quickly understand why.
Before or even after dinner and if you wish, you can taste and buy local products at the evening organic market, open until 10:00pm
Dinner in Sarlat. The region is well known for foie gras, duck, truffles and the famous “Pommes Sarladaise” (potatoes sautéed in duck fat with garlic, parsley and rock salt). A small goat cheese, the Rocamadour, is also on the list of the region’s delicacies.
Night at the Hotel Plaza Madeleine, our home for three nights.
Day 4–Wednesday
Heavy program today: a journey from modern to medieval times then to pre-historic times!
The morning will start with a guided visit of the old city.
Lunch in a village on the road before a visit of the famous cave of Lascaux for the extraordinary 17,000 years old paintings.
Discovered in 1940 by three teenagers and their dog Robot, the cave’s very fragile atmosphere was modified very quickly by the 1,200 daily visitors releasing carbon dioxide. It was closed to the public in 1963.
Restored, the paintings were monitored on a daily basis but the cave has been beset with black mold. Since 2008 only few scientific experts are allowed to work inside and just a few days per month.
We will enter Lascaux II, a replica open next to the original.
To end the day, our ancestors are waiting for us at the pre-historic museum of les Ezies-de-Tayac.
Dinner on your own.
Night at the Hotel Plaza Madeleine.
Day 5–Thursday
Gardens and castles are on the menu.
On the road From the gardens of Erygnac and of Marqueyssac, we will make many stop on the banks of the Dordogne River for villages and castles, all charming, interesting and sometimes spectacular.
Beynac-et-Cazenac lies on the banks of the Dordogne and boasts an imposing castle once besieged by Richard the Lion Heart, all around are creamy façade houses with “lauze” roofs (stone slab).
On the south side of the river is Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, overhanging the confluence between Dordogne and Céou rivers in an exceptional landscape.
The village is well known for its two castles – the medieval one superbly restored with its Museum of War in Middle Age and the Milandes castle, former property of Joséphine Baker.
The region had to defend itself against numerous invaders and in 1281, a new royal “Bastide” was built : Domme. This medieval city was prosperous and would come to know one of the richest histories of the Périgord.
From its rocky peak, the village overlooks the Dordogne valley, offering an exceptional panoramic view.
In Périgord Noir, at the foot of a south-facing cliff, the creamy stone houses of la-Roque-Gageac are mirrored in the waters of the River Dordogne where the “gabares” (traditional flat-bottomed boats) laden with goods used to pass there until the 19C.
Dinner on your own.
Last night in Sarlat.
Day 6–Friday
Let’s stop for a coffee at a terrace of one of France’s most spectacular village Rocamadour, literally clinging on the high rock. If time and weather permits, and if you feel like you need some physical exercise, flights of steps ascend from the lower town to the churches, a group of massive buildings half-way ups the cliff. The chief of them is the pilgrimage church of Notre Dame (rebuilt in its present configuration from 1479), containing a wooden Black Madonna reputed to have been carved by Saint Amator (Amadour) himself. The small Benedictine community continued to reserve to itself the use of the small twelfth-century church of Saint-Michel.
Before or after lunch we will dive into the earth at le “Gouffre de Padirac” (the “abyss of Padirac”). To travel the underground cave we board a small boat following the subterranean stream, 350 feet underground. You also can take a look at satan’s footprint, left when he was trying to evade Saint Martin!!!
On the way to our home for the next two nights, Villefranche-de-Rouergue, the small town of Figeac is perfect for an afternoon stop. The very rich past of this regional trading center left many centuries of architecture to be admired by for the visitor.
Dinner and night in Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Day 7–Saturday
Villages and spectacular sites are on the program of the day: a leisurely drive with many stops
St-Cirq-Lapopie in its stunning position perched over the Lot River, is classified among the ‘most beautiful villages of France’
At the top of a cliff, 300 feet above the Lot River, the town is accessed through great stone gates in the fortified walls, and has the remains of three chateaux and a fine 15th century roman-style church (four feudal dynasties lived here in the middle ages, hence all the chateaux!).
The narrow cobbled streets of St Cirq Lapopie contain a lovely mixture of medieval houses, some half-timbered and some in stone, with small terraced gardens adding to the beauty of the place.
Below the village, next to the river, is an assortment of old mills and buildings testifying to the activity of the village in centuries gone by.
Nowadays St Cirq Lapopie is home to numerous artists and artisans, a trend started perhaps when Andre Breton made his home here and declared that he had, as a consequence, ‘stopped wanting to go anywhere else”.
The village lies on one of the important pilgrimage paths to Santiago de Compostelle that crosses France, and also played an important role in the Albigeoise crusades, the Hundred Years War and the Wars of religion.
Lunch in a village.
Cajac, Pech and Cahors are also some of the stops on the road.
Dinner on your own.
Second and last night in Villefranche-de-Rouergue.
Day 8–Sunday
To understand a civilization and the way of life of the southern French, nothing is more instructive than an hour spent at a Sunday morning market in a village; we will do this in St. Antonin.
Cordes sur Ciel initially appears like a mirage, a city launching itself into the sky.
It is a living piece of history and art, holding alive in its stones the memory of all those who have passed through it since its creation in 1222 by the Count of Toulouse.
Cordes is one of the key sites of European heritage.
Sheltering behind solid timber doors, with the magnificent carved frontages of Gothic art one can still find the sumptuous residences of earlier times; it is a journey through the centuries, leafing through a fabulous book of art.
Our last stop of this trip is for the pretty little town of Albi, unfairly probably best known for an ugly chapter in its history. This was the first city to provide refuge to the Cathars, and is the origin of a later name that was bestowed on the religious sect, the Albigeois or Albigensians.
Albi is the birthplace of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec; if time permits a visit to the city’s museum of the artist’s work will end the day.
In July 2010, the “Cité Episcopale of Albi” was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Night at the Toulouse airport.
Dinner on your own.
Please Note: Froggytravel service ends at the time of drop off.
Day 9–Monday
Stress free morning departure for the US; arrival same day in the afternoon.
