Archive for March, 2009
March 25th, 2009 | 
Author: Perhaps more well-known as The Dordogne Valley, this region of France is actually known to the French as “Périgord” and it is split into four regions – green, white, purple and black.
Green Périgord – this is the northern area of the Dordogne region. It is covered in forests and green pastureland – hence its name. It is probably the least visited part of the area – but it has some great villages such as Brantôme that are worth your time.
White Périgord – this area surrounds the region’s capital of Périgueux and gets its name from the grey and white limestone found in the area. In my opinion it is the least attractive part of this area – but Périgueux is a nice place to visit for shopping and lunch.
Purple Périgord – this is the wine producing region and gets its name from the colour of the grapes. This is where you will find “bastides” (fortified villages), beautiful rolling countryside covered in vineyards, and of course our Dordogne holiday home.
Black Périgord – this is the most visited part of the Dordogne and includes the spectacular Roccamadour and town of Sarlat. It apparently gets its name because the oak trees found here are so dark but some believe it is named for the truffles also found here in plentiful supply. Chateaux, cliff-hugging villages, rivers.. its a beautiful part of the country.
Here’s a great list of activities that are planned for this year in or around Eymet (about 12K / 5 miles from our house). Source: Eymet Guide.
June:
Sat 6th et Sun7th June Gala de l’association Eymet Danser
Samedi 6, à 20h30 et dimanche 7, à 15h00. Salle des fêtes d’Eymet.
Informations : 06.23.34.17.83Sun 14th June Jumble Sale in Association with BEE- Bilingual Education Exchange at Roumagne Salle des Fetes. 11.00-5.00pm for more info or to reserve a table click
Sun 14th June Tractor pulling Lévignac de guyenne
Sun 14th June Randonnée en fête Eymet
Une randonnée conviviale de 15 km accessible à tous. Participation gratuite. Départ de l’Office de Tourisme à 9h00.
Informations : 05.53.23.74.95.Sun 14th June Irish Evening Monteton Salle des fêtes
(Office Culturel du Pays de Duras Comité des fêtes de Monteton) – Tarifs : 10€ / Gratuit -12ans – Renseignements : 05.53.79.23.86Sun 21st June Fête de la musique Soumensac
Sun 21st June Fête de la musique Mairie de St Pierre sur Dropt
Fête de la musique à Saint Pierre sur Dropt (D211) à partir de 19h30 : programmation à définir – Rens: Comité des fêtes 05.53.83.74.83Wed 24th June Feu de la St Jean Duras
Feu de la Saint Jean. Repas, musique et feu. – Rens Info-Tourisme Duras : 05.53.83.63.06Thurs 25th until Sat 13th July Exposition Le Pays des Bastides fête ses 10 ans Eymet
Exposition Arial photographs of Bastide towns
Informations : 05.53.23.74.95.Sun 28th June La Gambetta Rando Cyclotourisme St Eulalie d’Eymet
Inscription à 7h et départ 8h15 salle des fêtes de St Eulalie, 5€ à 9€.(44km, 74km, 104km)
Repas 10€.
Informations : 05.53.22.58.52//06.89.25.46.36Tues 30th June Night Market Eymet
July:
Until Sat 13th July Exposition Le Pays des Bastides fête ses 10 ans Eymet
Exposition Arial photographs of Bastide towns
Informations : 05.53.23.74.95.Every Tuesday Night market Eymet
Every Thursday Night market Duras
Fri 3rd-Sunday 5th July Fête du village St Sernin de Duras
Fri 10th & Sat 11th July Festival “Afro-Latines” 2009 Eymet
Fête Nationale
Tues 14th July Eymet
Dance and fireworks from 23h. Restauration sur place.
Animations toute la journée, Site de Bretou.
Informations : 05.53.22.22.10.Sat 18th and Sun 19th July - Sigoules wine fair – Chater wines will be there!
Sun 19th July Brocante Eymet
Toute la journée, Parc Gabriel Forestier.
Informations : 05.53.23.74.95.
August:
Every Tuesday Night market Eymet
Every Thursday Night market Duras
Sat 1st Aug BODEGA-ASE Eymet
Place Gambetta de 17h à 1h00.
Entrée gratuite.
Informations : 06.81.47.04.70Eymet, Itinérance médiévale en Vallée du Dropt
Fri 7th- Sun 9th Aug Medieval Festival Eymet
Du vendredi 7 au dimanche 9 aoûtSat 8th and Sun 9th Aug Duras Wine Fair – Chater wines will be there!
Sat 15th Aug Fête de l’huître et du vin blanc Eymet
Toute la journée, Place de la Bastide.
Informations : 05.53.23.74.95.Fri 21st and Sat 22nd Aug L’Autre Festival Fonroque
Festival pluridisciplinaire alliant musique, arts du cirque, arts visuels et jeux pour les enfants. Restauration et hébergement sur place.
Le 21 de 19h00 à 3h00 (1 soirée 10€, les 2 à 15€)
Le 22 de 15h00 à 4h00
Camping Lou Tuquet, Fonroque.
Informations : 06.84.21.52.30.Sun 23rd Aug- Domaine Chater Summer Fair -St Sernin de Duras from 11.00 am – 11.00 pm – Day time – Craft stalls, local produce stalls, entertainment. Evening – Hog Roast and entertainment. Food and drinks available all day long. Some of the funds raised will be going to charity.
For more info click www.domainechater.com
If you are thinking about visiting the Dordogne region and uncertain about its beauty, take a look at the group of photos below (publicly available on Flickr).
http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=67348
It should give you a very nice feel for how beautiful this part of France can be.
Angie and I were discussing some of the top activities we’ve enjoyed when down in our little Dordogne home; and so here’s our top 10 (in no particular order):
1. St Emilion. This is a great town to visit.. famous and beautiful. Have lunch in the main plaza.
2. Canoeing down the Dordogne. We always go to Limeuil to rent the canoe (there’s a couple of companies there).. and you have a choice of river (Dordogne or Vézere) and you tell them how long you want – and they simply drop you further up the river. A great day out.
3. Touring the bastide towns. There are so many lovely bastide towns and we really enjoyed visiting them over one or two days.
4. Walking through vineyards around our house. We’ve “created” a few walks that start straight from the house ranging from 1 hour to 3 hours (take a picnic). Its nice to know that you don’t have to drive to experience France and all its beauty.
5. Horse riding through vineyards. OK – perhaps not for everyone, but we really enjoy riding and there is a great riding centre (La Jumenterie) a mile or two away that offers 1 hour hacks through the vineyards.
6. Night markets. Most of the towns and villages have night markets (usually Thursday or Friday nights in the Summer). They can be very entertaining.
7. Eating out. There are a number of great local restaurants – amongst them, we recommend La Grappe D’Or (very informal, family-style), La Enfance du Lard (more up market, small “boutique” restaurant in Bergerac), and the Pizzeria in Eymet for great Italian (I know .. not french but still a treat).
8. Wine tasting. There are plenty of places like at the Chateau Monbazillac to do this properly.. but we only recently discovered some of the smallest vineyards offer wine tasting too. You may need to knock on the door to the wine grower’s home (don’t be shy) .. but you will get a far more personalised tasting and get a chance to understand the process of making wine far better than at the tourist places.
9. Toulouse. If you don’t mind a bit of a drive (about 2 1/2 hours).. then Toulouse can be a great little city break. It has fabulous red brick buildings, plenty of shops (including independent boutiques that have all but disappeared in British cities), and plenty of culture.
10. Doing absolutely nothing. Nothing is better at times.. to just sit by the pool and read a book, nap, and slowly cook yourself in the French sun.