Domme and the Perigord

Our original plan for the trip always included the area known as The Perigord, but we had planned on finding a place in Sarlat. At the behest of our Parisian friend Jean-Marcel, who was visiting his sister in Albuquerque, we instead booked a room at Hotel L'Esplanade in Domme, just across the Dordogne river from Sarlat. First, there is the issue of actually getting into Domme itself.  This is the gate, which is just wide enough for one car.

Once inside, the hotel itself is beautiful, with a leafy entrance

and comfortable rooms.

  

We had the great good fortune to get a riverside room where we could watch the sun set over the Dordogne valley.

Yes, it's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

We got here early enough for a stroll through the city. Of course, at the center of town is the village church. We noticed that at 7:00, instead of just seven chimes for the hour, the bells went on and on. An English-speaking shopkeeper explained that it is a long-standing tradition to chime like that so the farmers in the region will know it's time to lay down the tools and head home for dinner and a well-earned rest. Of course, you have to honor such a church, however small, with a little peek inside.  To our great surprise, we found this display of priestly vestments, described as "old"(and by now you have an idea of what it takes in France to be called "old"), but still in use on special occasions.  The colors are keyed to the church calendar.  This shot shows about half of the displayed collection.

Today we headed up the river to Roc de Gageac, another of the "most beautiful villages in France", which is another cliff-dweller city. In the left-center of the picture, you can see a cliff-side fortress above the modern part of the village.

The main reason for visiting "the rock" was actually for the river tours aboard the "gabarres", modern manifestations of ancient sailing vessels that provided transportation services for the region.

The masts of today's gabarres are decorative, and the seating replaces the cargo area for the original vessels. This hour-long tour gives the guest a view of the area that would otherwise be hard to achieve.  At the end of the line, we have this chateau. It's the end of the line because in the summer, every day will see 4-5,000 canoes and kayaks pass through the arch on the right of the bridge.

Not all chateaus are old. This one, closer to Roc de Gageac, is only 100 years old, and took only about 20 years to build. I guess chateau builders are getting the hang of it!

We have another day here, so this time we'll see what awaits us farther south of the river.