Exploring the Dordogne: Secret Villages, Local Tips & Authentic French Travel
[Music] This is Join us in France episode 561. Bonjour. I’m Annie Sergeant and join us in France is the podcast where we take a conversational journey through the beauty, culture, and flavors of France. Today I bring you a conversation with Jackie Barnes about her enchanting visit to the Dona. She went village hopping. And not just the Don, she went further as well. I think you know if you’re dreaming of cobblestone streets and medieval castles and wonderful local cuisine, you’re going to enjoy this episode. This podcast runs on chocolate, caffeine, and the support of lovely humans like you. You book my itinerary consults, take my voice map tours, ride shotgun in my electric car, come to the boot camp, or slip me a few euros on Patreon, and I love you for it. Want to keep me going and skip the ads? There’s a link for that in the show notes as well. And for everything else, head to join us infrance.com/boutique where you can purchase any of my products or services. For the magazine part of the podcast, after my chat with Jackie, today I’ll discuss the weekend dupatim or heritage days and how you can make the most of it if you’re in Paris or in France. If you’d like to find all the links that we discussed and the full episode transcript for this episode, you’ll find everything on the page that lists all the episodes by month. It’s at joinusinfrance.com/ep. And if you’d like a handy summary of the conversation with all the useful links, subscribe to the newsletter at joinusinfrance.com/newsletter. It is the best way to stay in the loop. [Music] Bonjour Jackie Barnes and welcome to join us in France. Thank you. How wonderful to talk to you today about your experiences in the PLU village de France. It was kind of the theme of your trip, wasn’t it? Yes. I had gotten a book on the most beautiful villages and it had a map in it and I researched them and figured out an area that I could hit a bunch of them and that’s what my husband and I did. All right. And so when was this trip? This trip was in March and April of 2022. Oh. So it’s been a while. It’s been a while. But you know what? The village don’t change that much. Well, that’s kind of what I was thinking. You know, when you’ve been around since the 13th, 14th, 15th century, ah, there’s probably not a whole lot of change. Okay. So, what made you choose this? Is this because you had been to France a million times and you didn’t know what else to do? Well, I had been to Paris twice and I loved it. I love planning driving vacations and my husband and I have traveled a lot of the world and most of the United States and I love planning car trips where you stay a few nights and so that’s what we did. that I positioned ourselves in four different places so we could see the most balages per minute. Right. Right. Yeah. A lot of parts of France have some, but they’re kind of far and few between. Whereas in the areas where you went, the Aon and the Don, there are a lot of them. Yeah, that’s why I picked that because I saw the pictures and I have a friend who writes French or France walking guides and I love walking in France and she had a walking route from Martell to well it started in Martell and ended in Martell and it goes on the GR trails. I asked her like what was her favorite towns and so I had an idea of where I wanted to go as well. Oh, maybe you can tell us the name of one of her books or something so I can put a link to it in the show notes. Well, hers is I love walking infrance.com and sells walking guide books, just PDFs, and they’re fantastic. She is such a great person. She lives in Australia and we just found each other on the internet because of our love of travel. Yeah. Yeah. And I have to say that I mean nothing wrong with what she’s doing because I don’t know it and it’s probably great. But there’s also a website that does this sort of thing. It’s called Kimoot. K O M O O T. And it’s a European company that lists very good walks and cycling paths and things like that. Oh, okay. And the advantage of a website is that it’s constantly updated because people submit photos and opinions and submit tips about this particular trail. To me, one of the most difficult things about going to a trail or bike ride or something is finding the trail head. Like sometimes it’s not obvious, is it? No, I agree. No. And she every vacation she takes from Australia, usually once a year, involves her walking either the same GR to update her guide books or new ones that she wants to do. That’s fantastic. Yeah, it is pretty cool. That’s great. That’s great. Okay. So, you had chosen this part of France. One other tidbit to get out of the way. Did you find it so you like driving vacations in general? Is it very different in France than in other parts of the world where you’ve done this? I think well because you’re driving on the same side of the road as we do in the United States. And so that is not an issue. We’ve driven all over Spain. The only time that we, you know, it was Ireland on the opposite side of the road that, but really my GPS worked well on my phone and I used T-Mobile. I didn’t have to get a separate GPS and it only took us off the beaten track once or twice. We usually stay in Airbnbs and so I carry an extra bag that has my spices and my foil and my plastic bags and containers to heat things up in. Yeah, it’s the only bag we check. So, if it got lost, oh well. But otherwise, we just travel with carry-on in a backpack and we’re ready to go and we’re usually gone for, you know, 3, four weeks at a time. Wow, that’s fantastic. If you use Airbnbs, then obviously you probably have a place to wash your clothes most places. Yes. I look for that at least halfway through a trip so that you know. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Another good possibility that I think is developing more and more in France, but you wouldn’t find them in privat. But it’s a hotel that’s kind of like an apartment because you have a common kitchen and you have a well actually maybe it’s just a laundry that’s common, but you have a small kitchen in your area. You have a little desk. you have more than a hotel room and it’s not fancy, but for people who want to cook their own meals and want to do their own laundry, I mean, we also have laundry mats in France as well. So, yes. Well, and sometimes going to the laundromat, I meet some of the best people. You meet locals and you meet other tourists. And so, I don’t mind doing that. On this particular trip, we stayed and so we were four nights in each place. So, we really got a ch I mean, it’s like obviously it’s not forever, but four nights is a really nice. You have three full days to do things and not have to move your things. Yeah, that’s really good. If you had asked me before you went, I might have told you that might be a long time to go and but if you have several beautiful villages around where you’re staying. So, did you typically stay in one of the Puo village? Yes. The first one that we stayed in was Sarlot. And well, we took the train from Paris down to from Olsteritz to Breard Gallard. Brea. Thank you. And then we rented a car from there. And then we drove to Sarlot. And so that day we it was actually snowing in the end of March. I know. We have beautiful pictures. There’s nobody in Sarlot. We stayed in a great Airbnb called Apartment La Cardinal and it was on a little tiny square and it was really really a great place to stay. There were only a few restaurants open in town so our host told us where to go eat dinner. It had a small kitchen. The next day was market day. So I went to the market and bought oh strawberries from the strawberry lady. Like there’s nothing like the strawberry lady and cheeses. and I saw these huge thing of bread and I thought we can’t eat all that bread and they will cut how much you want and I was like this is like the best. So anyway, we stayed in Sarlot for four nights and from there we took day trips. So the first day we were just in Sarlot because that was kind of our travel day and then we went out to our first boalage which was Larok Gagak Larok Gajak. Okay, Gajak. Thank you. And uh so that we went in the morning and oh it was beautiful. The wisteria was blooming even though it had snowed the day before overlooking the Dordon River and it was a steep climb up and we really really wanted to canoe that day but it was still pretty cold. So they were renting canoes but we were like nah we’re not going to do that. We were coming back to the area later, so we knew that maybe if the weather was better, we could return, which we did. And so, we hiked up to the top, overlook the river, and again, there were hardly any people because that’s what’s nice about traveling in March. Weather doesn’t bother me, you know? I’d rather travel with less people and bundle up. That just it’s just the way I travel. And so, yeah. So, we did that and then we went to dome or do MME dome. Yes, we went to Dome after we went to Lar Ro and again high cliff overlooking the Dardone River and that’s where we saw the graffiti from the Knights Templar and that was really cool. They were just carved in the walls and the people in the town were really nice to point out where it was. There were a few restaurants open and there were a few more people cuz it was the afternoon so it had warmed up a little bit. So, we had a nice lunch overlooking the river. We did not sit outside. I would have liked to have, but that was not in the cards, but the Knights Templar stuff that’s in Dome. The Knights Templar were they were actually imprisoned there. So, I thought that was kind of interesting. And anyway, that dates back to 1307. Sorry, that would be my I’m a teacher. I was a teacher. So, I like that information. And that was pretty much our whole day. Hang on. Hang on. I got to stop you for just a second because the strawberries. Okay, so I was just in Paris and one of the things I did is I wanted to do something special for my patrons and so I did a special walk that I’m not going to do a voice map of. I just wanted to walk it and give them details of where I went and all of that. And that included a couple of foodie streets Rud Martin Rad being two of them and they are very close together and on Mart because it’s a very popular I mean it’s a very famous street in Paris. I actually saw strawberries for 40 a flat which I was apoplelectic. So, this was the first half of March where I don’t know where they were getting the strawberries from because it’s not strawberry season yet, right? And so, just be careful when you hear about fabulous strawberries in France. If it’s off season, they’re not going to be that great at any price. I have no idea. This lady was just selling them by the pint. And my friend who writes the guide books had said, I posted a picture. She goes, “Oh my gosh, you met the strawberry lady at the market.” I said yes. And they were red all the way through and they weren’t big. They were just a regularsized strawberry. And they were so delicious. And I try when I plan I look to see when these towns are going to have market days because I do enjoy cooking and I like to go to the we’re more likely to eat lunch out than and then eat dinner if I can go to a market. So anyway, the strawberries were amazing and that was the end of March, beginning of April. I don’t care if hot house, it didn’t matter. They were delicious. Well, she probably has a greenhouse because it would have been too. But if she grows them herself, then they come back every year and she’s babyed her strawberries because she can make a living out of that and that’s great. But I mean, don’t pay ridiculous prices is what I’m trying to say. Oh, no. No. I think they were maybe like5 for a pint or 4. Exactly. So, this was 2022. By now it’s a little more like maybe 6 or 7 for a pint but never 40. That is not right. No, that’s ridiculous. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, that’s just what what I wanted to interject. A lot of these places have wonderful markets and some of them are very popular like the one in Salat. I discussed with one guy about the price of his fuagra because it was very high and I was just like are you just trying to sell your faga to visitors because I’m never going to buy it at that price and he just shrugged whatever. Yeah. Well, you know it’s French people are very price sensitive is what I’m saying and sometimes visitors are not price sensitive enough for our own pocket books. I’m like, “Please don’t go pay, you know, outrageous prices for things because then we can’t afford them when you go after you.” Right. That actually is a really, really good point because sometimes as a tourist, you’re not sure. I mean, I know what I pay at home for chicken and so I tend to cook a lot of chicken when I’m on the road. It’s just easy because it comes in parts. Like if I buy hamburger meat or something, then I have to say, “Oh, how much is that? And how many kilograms?” I’m like, “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know.” Of course, we use pounds. You know, a lot of it I just buy vegetables. I guess I’m not overpaying cuz I never went like, “Oh, wow. That’s ridiculous.” Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, that’s You can totally buy things that without being ripped off, but some places like, “Right.” No, but that is good to know. I’ve been in places where I go, “Well, I guess we’re having Well, I always carry peanut butter and jelly with me just in case.” And I’ll go, “Well, guess what we’re having for dinner tonight?” My husband will laugh. He goes, “Oh, peanut butter and jelly again.” And I’m like, “Yes, yes. Want a croissant?” Hey, on a croissant is not so bad. Oh, it was the best. It was the best. But it was nice. When we went out the next day, we went to Chateau Miland’s Josephine Baker estate. Oh my gosh, the gardens there were great. I loved the whole story. It was well documented and so I knew what was going on. That’s a particularly good one. I mean, honestly, Chat de Miland is not to be missed because it’s kind of old and dusty the way the museum is done, but it’s very well done. You see a lot of photos of her and her kids and her performances and her dresses and all of that. And also her participation in the French resistance is also outlined. She was just an outstanding person. So, I think that one is not to be missed. And they also have a bird show. Yeah, I agree. And the garden was great, right? The garden’s beautiful. And the bird show is fun. They were not doing the birds that day. We were just a little bit offse, but I had read the reviews on it and it sounded really good. Yeah, they don’t do them every day. And some of these birds, they don’t want to work when it’s cold. That’s so funny. So then the afternoon we went to Castell Node La Chappelle. Yes. Castell Chappelle. Yes. We saw all the cool weapons. We saw the trebuche being launched. So if you had kids or your husband really likes armory stuff and weapons or you like armory stuff and weapons, that was the view was spectacular and I would recommend going there just because it was really it was well done. And what was cool about that is what I had read about it was that it had fallen into disrepair. They were actually using it as a stone quarry until I guess about the 60s or something. I think it was about the 60s. They decided they could make it a historical place and so they stopped ripping it down and they restored it. And I was glad they did. It was worth going to see. Yeah. And it is one where definitely they emphasize the weaponry and the war machines. And so if you want to see that, the the Castano is excellent. Sometimes they do like whole affairs with kind of tournaments, jousting, things like that. Oh, cool. But it’s only on specific days when they know they’re going to have a big turnout on school holidays or vacation times or whatever. Yes. No, we saw a couple school groups there, but they were there basically to watch the trebuche launch, you know, the things that they were launching. I don’t know. I mean, I like anything. So, that’s As a teacher, you probably noticed school groups in lots of different places. Yes, very much. So, French kids are lucky. We get taken to a lot of cool stuff with school. Yes, they really, really are lucky. I look and go, “Oh, I wish. I wish.” And then another thing we did from Star that I loved and would recommend was we rented electric bikes. We were probably the only idiots out there riding. We bought garden gloves because our hands were so cold. We didn’t bring mittens with us, but it’s a flat trail. The vo vover. So, there’s a million of I’m not sure which one you took. It was from Salot. Yes, it was from Sarlot to Oh gosh. Kazuli’s. C A Z O U L E S. Kazuya. Okay. Well, I’ll look for it. I’ll try and find it and put the show notes. Okay. It’s a 29 kilometer one. We did half because we were cold. And so we stopped in Rufly. R O UK Rufiak. And we ate lunch at their restaurant. They had a fire going in the fireplace. And but the electric bikes we rented through Liberty Cycle and their little they have a kiosk set up for people to rent the bikes, but we were probably the only ones stupid enough to ride bikes. So the guy just delivered them to us, met us, and then gave us his phone number and said, “Call me when you’re done, and we’ll come pick the bikes up.” And we said, “Well, okay.” Nice. It was nice. We stopped in a town and got some coffee and then rode as far as we wanted that you go through. It’s an old rail line and so you go through a really long train tunnel, so that was cool. And the walnut trees were starting to blossom and it’s flat. And on electric bikes, you know, it was like, “Okay, fine. And we went 9 miles each way or what is it 15 km each way and it wasn’t exhausting at all you know you just oh and you stop and took pictures you know stopped in little towns and so that was I would recommend that from Sarlot these are absolutely a gem we didn’t have them when I was growing up in France we didn’t have them as a kid I love that we have those things and most towns in France you can ask if there’s a vet and it’s going to be the place where People go for either walking, riding, walking their dogs. On a Sunday afternoon, you see whole families and they might not be going very far, but they will just take an afternoon stroll, you know, a 5K or something. And it’s just a very fun part of French life that city people don’t experience as much. I mean, they can go to parks, right? Right. But we have these places that will take us somewhere to another village or to another town or something. And often it’s on old railways which we have a lot of in France. Yes. Yes. Well, and actually in Texas they’ve started doing that too with some of their old rail lines and it’s called rails to trails. You know, you bring your bike and you can cycle from a town out to a state park and back. I think everyone’s trying to figure out what do we do with these leftover railways. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And very often you will have somewhere somebody can give you a map that will show you where the restaurants are, where the bathrooms are, where you can refill water, things like that. Usually the local tourist office can tell you. If you’re going to be on there long enough, you should find out these things for 15 km. Probably you can just swing it. Yes. Right. Well, that we were like, “Okay, we’re going to have lunch and we’re going to eat at this restaurant because it’s the first one we saw that was open.” And they gave us the biggest meal I have ever had. And my husband like was I’m like, “Honey, I think we have more courses.” And they just kept bringing it. And I’m like, “Uh.” But it was delicious. And we took some of it home and had it for dinner, so no big deal. Cuz I carried I know this is bad. I carry a plastic bag with me because I know some restaurants they I don’t know is this true or not. They don’t like to give you a takeaway. Okay, so this has changed. Okay, again because French people are very much auntie gaspage, auntie gaspie is what we say between us. They just say, well, it would make more sense to give people their leftovers. And so some places they don’t have like styrofoam boxes, whatever, but they’ll wrap it up in some foil for you and you can take it home that way. It’s getting more and more common. Well, I just I took home one of the last courses to come was some meat and I just took a plastic bag out of my purse and my backpack and I just put it in there because I was like, I can’t eat one more thing, but I want to know what dessert is because I was going to eat that. So, we had some leftover meat for dinner, but it was a fun day. That’s great. That’s fantastic. Did you run into any problems because you don’t speak French from your own admission? Was it difficult? Because these are rural places. Okay. My husband speaks basic French. He can read it really well. And if you speak really slowly, he may be able to, but my favorite one is we went into a restaurant and he wanted to say, “I have a great hunger.” And so he said something. Oh, I have, let’s see, fam. and but I have a big hunger but he said I have a big wife fem and and the lady looked at him and looked at me like aren’t you mad that he’s calling you big and she walked away kind of huffy. So I said what did you say to her? He goes I don’t know let me look it up real quick. So we pulled up Google Translate and just said and he goes oh my gosh I just said I have a big wife or big woman. It’s almost the same, but not quite, is it? That’s funny. Right. Exactly. But anyway, no, I have found I think I’m a pretty good traveler. I have found that I never say that’s not how we do it. You know, I try really, really hard to enjoy the culture that I’m in. If it’s a slow paced town, and I really do like those small towns, I try really hard to just be slow paced and go and see and do and be polite and know the please, thank you, excuse me, like know those basic words before I go any place. And also, if you smile and pantomime, you can get just about everything. I’m like really good with using my hands and pointing to things. And I’ll use Google Translate if I really like if I’m checking into an Airbnb or whatever and I really need to know something specific, I’ll just pull out the Google Translate. Yeah, I can tell how you would get along. I mean, you’re a smiley, friendly person and that’s what it takes really. I try. I don’t even have to try. I pretty much that’s my, you know, that’s who you are. Like, you know, come on, man. I’m like, no, no, let’s not be down. You know, all our luggage was stolen in Italy on day three of a 20-day trip. Eight women. Yeah, that was hard. And we just, you know, we figured it out. But anyway, the next village we went to was is it Coahore or Coahors? Gh. I was really wrong. And Coahor is not a Bohalage because it has too many people. Yeah. It’s a big It’s a city. Yeah, it really is. And so, but it was a great jumping off point. It’s the birthplace of Malbeck, which I love Malbeck wine. That’s one of my favorites and I didn’t know that that was actually where Malbeck it’s not from South America and so I was very surprised the vines went to South America from Cahor so I thought that was cool but we stopped on the way to Kahor we stopped at Grat de Font Dam it’s the cave with the cave paintings yeah from okay yes but hang on that’s that’s in the in that was on the way from we drove drove on the way from Sarlot to Coahors. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a little bit out of the way. Okay. Yes. And so we went there and they just happened to have two tickets left because their online ticketing wasn’t working. And so it was in French. I didn’t care. I just wanted to see the cave paintings. They only let 78 people in, 13 at a time. So definitely you have to have your tickets ahead of time. I enjoyed it. I like, you know, all of that prehistoric stuff. Yeah. So, uh, Fondog is a bit tricky to visit because they used to have big problems with this reservation system. They’ve made a little better. I think I wrote a blog post about how to get tickets to Fondum. If you go to join us infrance.com, there’s a tab that says blog. And one of the blog posts is specifically about how to get tickets to Fondum. I don’t remember all the details, so I’m not going to say something wrong here, but I just said, “Hey, you know, let’s just go in and see.” Because we couldn’t get the online tickets. And somebody had either cancelled or not showed up in time. And so I just said, “Well, let’s go. I don’t care. It’s in French.” So the next day in Kahor, we did one of my favorite favorite things, which was the hike from Boozy’s Booz to St. Cir Laapi. Yeah. Yes. It’s a 10 kilometers round trip, 6.2 miles. It’s flat until you hit the C. Oh my god. And then it is not flat. You’ve got to be kidding. But the walk along the canal, we saw people on boats and then they have these beautiful art sculptures carved into the wall and the hiking is it was probably one of my favorite walks. I just absolutely loved doing it and I would highly recommend it. Yes. The other thing that’s of interest in that area is the Peshme cave which is technically in Buzz I think in the village of Booz. I mean although it’s up the hill a little ways and that’s a painted cave that you can also visit. So when I take people in this area I take them to the painted cave then to the walk and then to Sansk. I usually drive them to Sans. I mean we do part of the walk. The first part of the walk has all the art and is very interesting and then after a while it’s just a you know river river. So mostly we just I just drive them. But I am Oh hoing. I did it once. I’m good. I did it once. Yeah. No, I I get that. And if I were to bring my friends back, I would do it again. I lived in Las Vegas for a while and when people would come, they’d want to see the Hoover Dam. I went twice and then I just said, I’ll drop you off at the bus station that will take you to Hoover D. It’s the same thing. It’s it’s there’s just that you go, I I don’t want to see that again ever. Yeah. Yeah. No, but it is beautiful and is a very very nice walk. Yes. And so both Buas and Cirop Poppy are both boalages. So we got two for one in one day. Oh, I didn’t realize that Buzz was a ple village. I think that they had just gotten that status. Okay. Because they had signs kind of everywhere and I hadn’t really investigated it because it was not on my list of like what else is there to do. It was a place to park our car to be honest with you. Exactly. They have a big nice parking area. And I saw, you know, we went across this little tiny bridge. And then it was like, oh well, wait, this is a boalage, too. But I didn’t know what to do there. And I knew that the hike was going to take us pretty much all day because we spent a lot of time in La Poppy. But I loved I love that. Yeah. And there’s also boats that you can take between Sieropi and Buzz. So you can also do it by boat. Oh, okay. Well, we just saw rented boats like they were taking a vacation. They got to go through the canal thing. So we saw all that the dams and stuff. So that was kind of cool. And then our next day from Kahor, we went to St. Vincent Ree de Alt. Okay, that one I do not know. Okay, it is a tiny town with a beautiful little river running through it. And you could tell like it was definitely a charming village. I see why they picked it. The streets were cute. We just did a quick walk through, took some photos because they had just beautiful bridges and they had some flowers blooming and it was pretty gorgeous. And then we went to two wineries that day, Chateau Eugeni. And then my favorite was La B E R A N G E R I A. Barry and it was a mall back. I showed up. I didn’t know I needed a reservation. and we just pulled up like maybe you know dumb tourists and the lady said oh I’ll see if my son can do a tasting right now and over the walkie-talkie her son said I am loading a truck right now for Paris mom you know that I can’t do that so the owner invited us into her house and did a wine tasting with us at her kitchen table just for the two of us and we got to meet her family. It was one of those, you know, special moments that happens during a vacation that you couldn’t have planned it. And she said, “Oh, yeah. We’re just really not open for that right now.” And usually call and make a reservation. I’m like, “I am so sorry.” And then we bought two cases of wine and it was absolutely delicious. I have a picture with her and she said, you know, “Oh, please come back sometime and visit.” And her English was quite good, thank goodness. And it was definitely a magic moment for us. That’s wonderful. Yeah, some of these wineries are hoyy toies and we’ll not talk to you unless you have a reservation, but some of them are really easygoing like in the southwest, you know, we’re not we’re simple people, right? No, I it was great. And then in the afternoon, we went to Bell Castle. Yes. Bel Castel. Yes. That’s gorgeous. The reflection of the bridge on the water was worth stopping for and cobbled streets and stone tile roofs and 15th century church and a nice deep walk as well. Oh yeah. I just I mean I really got my exercise. I really got my exercise. Okay. And then the next day we drove out to conchk for one night. We only spent one night there because there we just really wanted to see the St. foy abbey or church or whatever and the gray stained glass windows. But the thing that I like the best are the reoquaries that are in the treasure room all over the world. I love finding the reoquaries. When I was in Italy, I pieced together most of I had St. Katherine’s finger, her head, her all in different churches. And that’s pretty terrible, but you know, it’s kind of one of my things. I read a fascinating book. There’s a French historian, I mean a legit historian, okay? She has a PhD. She decided to do an inventory of saints bits and parts and I would love her. Yes. Yes. I don’t know if her book have been translated but she has found out that there are some saints have a lot of fingers. We can account for a lot of fingers of saints and a lot of femur bones and things like oh they probably had five legs because we can you know right everyone has a leg. So that’s a very interesting hobby. Well what I also found was interesting was that they stole some of the reoquaries because cohort the cathedral wasn’t on the St. James route into Santiago. And so they wanted to be on the pilgrimage route and they sent the people out to steal the bones of St. Foy and other reoquaries. And so their treasure trove is full of reoquaries stolen by priests. And I thought that was just like wow. Yeah. Just like let’s just be famous. So and it took them like six years to do go undercover. And so I thought that that was cool. And then the story of St. Foy, you know, being 14 and she was basically barbecued and beheaded. It was pretty bad. My husband had studied architecture and so that was one of the things that he had studied was conchk and he loves medieval history and yeah, so that’s a beautiful romanesque church. The church itself, it’s not very big. It’s one of those places that is surprisingly accessible. A lot of these villages are really not accessible to people who have, you know, limited mobility, wheelchairs, etc. That one is pretty good. So, just want to mention it just in case. Yeah. No, because I did notice that there was we stayed and I’m not going to mention the place we stayed because it wasn’t great, but it was at the bottom of the hill. So, we drove up as far as we could go, but I did notice that up close there was handicap parking and there was, you know, a nice grade that you could, you know, get a wheelchair up or stairs to climb. And so, you are correct with that. But, you know, I liked it. Four nights in Serlot and four nights in cahore and this was just one night like see the church and so worth seeing. Gray and white stained glass windows. I had never seen anything like that and it was interesting. It was really interesting. We left Gahore and we stopped in Captainac. C a pde d n a c. Okay. And there were towers to climb and ramparts to walk and fountains and they had a and I would particularly like this for children. They had a sensory walk and it was medicinal herbs and a garden of five senses and they had a big wall that held these little bamboo tubes where like all different insects. They called it an insect department. All the little insects were inside and we saw some kids there and they were just, you know, pointing to things and so I thought that was worth mentioning. Anytime you have kids, it’s nice to know, oh, that would be a cool place to take them and Yeah. Yeah, that’s great. And so I thought that that was cool. And so then we spent four nights in Martell and I love that town. I have a great picture of my husband walking back from the bonerie with a baguette under his arm looking as French as he possibly can. It was a great town and again it I’m but we missed the market day. I was like no no but that you know it happens. We stayed at Evelyn’s place. It’s an Airbnb and I really enjoyed that. They lived next door and then there was an apartment with a washing machine and a nice little kitchen and the bedrooms were upstairs. One bedroom for adults. They had a bunk bed as well, but they were just the sweetest people and spoke no English and I pantoimed my way through it. We enjoyed their company. We had a glass of wine with them one night and it was well located in the town like right around from the market where they have the markets. Martell is not a very touristy town, even though it’s lovely. No, I I agree. I I liked it. It was a good jumping off point because then we went to Rockamador. We made the big mistake of parking at the bottom. Then we walked and we walked and there is a tram that will take you, but because we were kind of offse, the tram wasn’t running frequently. So, we just like, okay, let’s just walk this and then we can eat more for lunch. And so, you know, that was kind of our our thought. And then we get up to the level where the town is and we realize not done. No, we’re not done. Not done. Not done. And the station, the cross and walking up and it was gorgeous. The views we would just stop and turn around the views and just the town streets and it’s a little touristy, you know, they do have a lot of Yeah, I call them like t-shirt shops and all that. It was absolutely UNESCO World Heritage site and I could understand why. So, Hokad, you have to try and park at the top. Drive up and up and up and up as far as you can and park up there and then they have elevators. If you park at the bottom and you find the elevators, I think you pay 15 bucks or whatever and you can ride the elevators all the way up or all the way down or back and forth and it makes your life a lot easier because that is seriously steep. Well, I I ate a lot of bread that day. There you go. It’s like, “Oh, I can eat that. Oh, I can have an ice cream. I can Yeah, I justified a lot of eating that day.” So, that’s how we do it. Yes. Well, that is I get that. I get that. And um Oh, so then we explored Martell. They have seven towers and that’s what Martell is famous for. But I wished I had been there during truffle season because evidently they have a big truffle walnut festival and I would want to go do that. I would want to hunt truffles and I love truffle flavor. So that’s, you know, that would be something that I’d like to do. So then we returned because we were actually pretty close and I told you I wanted to canoe on the Jordone. So we went back to Larok Gagnak and the weather was beautiful that day. We rented a canoe and so we could go by we went by all of the cool places, you know, the towns and things that rather than looking down, we were looking up and there was so much current to the river. Honestly, we dipped our paddles maybe three times and just floated. And then they met you at a place, you know, they like, “Oh, there’s a giant beach ball hanging out there. Just paddle towards the shore.” And then they pick you up and take you back to your car. And it was absolutely stunningly beautiful. What was the company that you rented your boat from? In that town, Loro. Yeah, Jack. In that town, there are canoe companies just right down by the river. Okay. Just pick one. Yeah, pick one. Pick one. I I think they all did the same thing. And you know, we picked the one we picked because the guy smiled at us and waved and he seemed nice and the price seemed like what I would pay in the United States with transportation to and from. But it was it was really really fun. I definitely enjoyed that. We also went to Joffrey de Padriak. It’s the underground cave for the pad. I would highly recommend that for people with kids. We went. Honestly, it couldn’t have been any better. There were hardly any people there, which I can tell how many people could possibly be there by how they have like wait in this line, wait in this line, wait in this line. And we had a reservation. We walked up, climbed down into the cave using the stairs, and oh my gosh, got down there. It’s magical under there with the water and all the lights. And in our boat, there was just one other couple. That was it. Wow. and you just floated along and the guide was, you know, talking to us in French and English and just talking about the cave formations and I loved it. So, I would suggest, you know, going early in the day, having a reservation and going at the beginning of April, like not during Easter time, you know. Exactly. Yeah. So, there are times in the year where you really need a reservation for this one. Other times, it’s not so bad like you experienced. I’ve only been there when it was very very mobbed. And actually, one time we stopped by hoping to get a ticket and we couldn’t get a ticket. So, it can happen that if you don’t have a reservation, never mind. Not today. And I had no idea because they had us kind of in groups and so I thought, oh, you know, this it might be have a lot of people. And then I got down there and I’m like, I’m taking pictures of this and there’s nobody in the pictures. I’m like, this is amazing. Like I said, this was an amazing amazing trip. And after that, we went to Ortois. O a U T O I R E. Okay. And there’s only 350 people that live in this village. And they have a waterfall hike. And so we hiked out to the waterfalls. We went through the little village. They had some wine tasting and they had some cheese tasting places open. You know, not much going on. I saw a house that if I was in the market to buy a house, I would have bought it. It was the most charming stone cottage and it was so beautiful and the people were very lovely and we had our peanut butter and jelly on a croissant in that village. So I remember that cuz my husband looked at me goes, “This is the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I’ve ever had.” Ah, it happened to be on the way. I’m like, “Oh, we have to stop there. It’s a balage.” You know how you just you know we were kind of I mean I had planned this around the villages so you know that was gonna have to wrap up I’m afraid because we’ve been talking a long time. Okay. Okay. Well the only one I want to mention is okay we went to Karan and that was cool. But Kans Rouge Kou. Yes. The red village. Oh my gosh. I love that. And we ate at Lamar. M A R A. Mata. I C H E R La Mer Maer. Okay. Anyway, I had the best duck burger in my entire life. It was so good and I love the village. And then our last one was Tin and that was you could climb up to the top and they had a French garden on top of the roof. Tin. How do you spell that? T uh U R E N E. Joanna. Okay. And so you parked and then you hiked up to the top of the castle and there was a beautiful French garden up there and we talked with the gardener kind of talked and so I would highly recommend these. Wonderful. Wonderful. It sounds like you had an amazing time. Are you planning more trips to France? Not yet. Not yet. I’ve got a couple other trips I’m going to do other places. Yeah, other places. I’ll get back there because I have some picked out in southern France. So that’s might be the next. Wonderful. And I like that you just stayed four nights in each places. You didn’t try to rush. You had plenty to do everywhere you went. I mean, you didn’t get bored, right? No. And that’s the whole thing is like you have to look. I mean, that’s why it was one night in conchk. That’s what we had to do. But the other ones I’m like, you know, have a home base and just keep coming back to it. Never. I wasn’t bored. As a matter of fact, I was like, I wish we had four more nights to do cuz I had a couple more boalages that were nearby that we didn’t see. But it was wonderful. I love your country. I really really love your country. Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Jackie. It’s been a delight talking to you. Thank you so much for sharing all of that. And well, whenever you come back, I hope you have just as good a time as last time. I will. I will. And thank you so much. And I love your walking map. Oh, the voice map stuff. The voice map of M Matra is fantastic. My husband and I did that when we were in Paris this last time, and I will want to go back and do the rest of yours. Thank you. and thank you for being you and putting all your time and effort into this. I appreciate that. Thank you very much, Jackie. And wherever that takes you next time. Okay. Thank you. Bye-bye, Annie. [Music] Again, I want to thank my patrons for giving back and supporting the show. Patrons get several exclusive rewards for doing that. You can see them at patreon.com/join us. That’s p a t r e o n. Join us. No spaces or dashes. I don’t have any new patrons to thank this week, but I’ll be chatting with all my current patrons on Zoom this weekend, and that’s always a fun time. I would love for you to join them, too. You can do it for as little as $3 a month, but if you can afford it, I would love to have you pledge some more so you can have access to more of the rewards. And to support Elise, go to patreon.comart e- lys t. Every September, France celebrates leour dupatiman or heritage weekend. This year it’ll be on Saturday, September 20th and Sunday, September 21st. And this year they have a theme, architecture. It’s a chance to step behind the doors of places that are normally closed to the public. All over Paris and every region in France, millions of people line up to explore government buildings, private mansions, museums, archives, even parts of the Elise Palace. And best of all, these visits are free for that weekend. I will not try to list every one of them because every aonismo of Paris will have events. Every city in France will do the same. The list is very, very long. Here’s the thing. Some of these visits are so popular that the minute tickets become available, they’ll be sold out. Those visits are free, but you need a free ticket. That’s how they know how many people they’re going to let in. So if you’re in France that weekend, my recommendation is that you start searching for your particular town or and select what you’d like to visit and keep searching for that place, the name of the place and just say tickets and or something like this. Most of these pages are not going to be in English because, you know, it’s ephemeris. It’s just 2 days and there’s not much point translating a page that’s only relevant for 2 days, right? So, search in French and do it every day until you find what you want. You have to be determined to enjoy this really to the fullest. Some highlights this year include in the first of Paris, the gorgeous building of the bank de France Royale. So there’s several administrations in there and the triumph car. So that’s fun because it’s never open to the public normally. It’s a small triumph by the comedy. Frances is also open normally. You can only see some of it when you go to a show. In the second jean is funf and it’s usually open some but they open more things. And in the third, the LI Enri is going to be open to the public and we’ve mentioned it a ton on this podcast because it’s a place where a lot of very smart and famous people, French people went to high school. You get me? There are 20. I can’t list them all, but if you start googling for the places nearest to you or places that you’ve heard might be open, don’t give up until you found something for you. Heritage weekend is one of the most exciting ways to experience France. Not just the postcard sites, but the hidden layers of history that usually stay behind closed doors. I know near me we have several chataus that are never open to the public, but one of the deals when they get public monies to uh help keep the chateau in good repair is that they have to open it a certain number of days in the month. And so that’s why almost all the chats in France that get public monies will be open on the journey. So, it’s worth checking and good luck getting tickets, especially if you want to go to the Eliza Palace. Good luck with that. So, we had a kind of a scary/f fun experience the last few weeks at my house. We had an old fridge was wasn’t that old, but it was an Electrolux fridge. It’s a French brand. Shittiest fridge we’ve ever had. Okay, just never buy an Electrolux fridge. Anyway, it was not working properly. It was giving us all sorts of problems. And so my husband decided, last time I was in Spain, he decided to get a new fridge. And when they came to deliver this fridge, they removed the old one and tried to put it in. And they couldn’t fit it in. It’s a standard 60 cm size width, but it wasn’t going in. And the guy said, “I’m sorry, we can’t put it in. What would you like us to do?” So he said, “Well, let’s keep the old one and put the new one in the garage and when my wife comes back, we’ll see what we can do.” And in the meantime, I thought about it, thought about it, meld it over, whatever. And then I decided, okay, I can scrape off a couple of millimeters of this is how crazy I am, of um plaster. But when I looked at it more carefully, that wasn’t going to happen because well, because there’s some metal bits and there’s some brick bits and I could scrape off plaster, but I cannot scrape off brick. Okay. I’m not that good. Then my brother-in-law said, “Oh, you could I could put a I had a 7 cm wall there.” He said, “I could redo that piece of wall and do just a 5cm wall.” Okay. But then you have to mess with the baseboards. You have to mess with the tile. It was just Yeah. Or we could just redo that section of the kitchen, which is getting older. It’s probably 15 years old, but I just wasn’t enthusiastic about spending all that money on a part kitchen. That’s fine for now. I mean, eventually we’re going to have to replace it, but for now it’s okay. So, a couple of nights ago, I told my husband, “Okay, I want to try to shove that thing in because the delivery people couldn’t get it in, but maybe I can.” And I had been looking at this wall very, very carefully. In the meantime, we got rid of the old fridge and plugged in the new one in a different part of the kitchen where we didn’t want it to stay, but it was just a temporary solution. And so we empty the fridge, push it in the right position, and I swear to God, we pushed so hard to get that thing in. And we did it at an angle, a little bit so that I saw if we can get it a few millimeters in at that angle, then we can straighten it out and push it in. Because the previous fridge was the same width. So there was no reason why this new fridge, which is a Lebe fridge, it’s a German Liber fridge, much better brand, and we’ve had a Liber fridge before, and it was good. And we pushed and we shoved and we shook and it took 20 minutes, but we got that thing in, and it was such a relief to have the fridge. And so it’s very, very tight in there. It has room in the back for venting, but it’s a tight spot. So there you have it. The adventures of Annie’s Kitchen in France. This time I’m stubborn. That’s probably why this podcast still runs is because I’m stubborn. Once I get it in my head that I will do something, I will do something, including shoving a fridge into space that’s too small according to the professional delivery people. I can’t believe that. when they were doing the delivery, my husband tried to argue with them to try harder. And he said, “Well, talk to my wife.” And I talked to them and I couldn’t talk them into trying any harder. And um if I had been there, maybe I could have been more menacing. I don’t know. All right. My thanks to podcast editors Ann and Christian Civan who produced the transcripts. Next week on the podcast, an episode with Greg Furry that I’m calling Bondugar Dog Sleds and a Dash of Chaos with returning guest Greg Furry. It was a great conversation. Thank you so much for listening and I hope you join me next time so we can look around France together. The Join us in France travel podcast is written, hosted, and produced by Annie Sergeant and copyright 2025 by Addicted to France. It is released under a creative comments attribution non-commercial, no derivatives license. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat up [Music] here. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Hey. [Music]
Have you ever dreamed of exploring French villages at your own pace? In this episode, Village-Hopping in the Dordogne and Beyond: A Traveler’s Guide with Jackie Barnes, host Annie Sargent talks with traveler Jackie Barnes about her recent road trip through one of France’s most beautiful regions.
Listen to this episode ad-free Jackie shares how she and her family designed a flexible Dordogne road trip that let them visit charming towns, sample local food, and enjoy the landscape without feeling rushed. From famous stops like Sarlat and Rocamadour to less crowded villages along the river, Jackie explains what made each place special. She also talks about driving in rural France, finding parking in small towns, and the importance of leaving room in your schedule for spontaneous discoveries.
Annie and Jackie compare notes on French markets, restaurants, and the kind of authentic encounters that happen when you stay in smaller inns or gîtes instead of big hotels. They also highlight cultural differences, from the rhythm of French mealtimes to how Sundays feel completely different compared to North America.
This episode is packed with practical tips for anyone planning to go beyond Paris and explore provincial France. You’ll hear why renting a car is essential, how to balance sightseeing with relaxation, and which Dordogne villages Jackie would happily return to again.
If you are searching for advice on exploring the Dordogne, planning a Dordogne road trip, or simply want inspiration for your next journey to France, this conversation will help you see what’s possible.
Subscribe to the Join Us in France Travel Podcast to get weekly episodes with trip reports, itineraries, and deep dives into French culture and history. Don’t just visit France—experience it like a traveler who knows where to look.
Table of Contents for this Episode
[00:00:15] Introduction and Theme of the Trip [00:00:30] Today on the podcast [00:00:51] Podcast supporters [00:01:25] Magazine segment [00:02:17] Annie and Jackie Barnes [00:02:31] Planning the Journey [00:05:33] Driving in France [00:07:57] Exploring Sarlat and Surroundings [00:10:29] The Knights Templar [00:11:22] Strawberries in March in Paris [00:15:24] Visiting Chateau Milandes and Castelnaud-la-Chapelle [00:16:33] Castelnaud-la-Chapelle [00:18:12] Cycling Adventures on Voie Verte from Sarlat [00:21:28] You Can Ask for a Doggy Bag in France [00:22:47] Language Barriers and Cultural Experiences [00:25:12] Exploring Cahors and Malbec Wine [00:25:37] Font-de-Gaume Cave Paintings [00:26:58] Hiking from Bouzies to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie [00:29:52] Visiting Saint-Vincent-Rive-d’Eault and Wineries [00:33:30] Theft of Reliquaries and Sainte-Foy’s Story [00:35:30] Capdenac [00:36:18] Exploring Martel and Rocamadour [00:39:07] Canoeing on the Dordogne River [00:40:15] Gouffre de Padirac Cave Adventure [00:41:54] Autoire Waterfall Hike and Final Thoughts [00:45:26] Thank You, Patrons [00:46:02] Support Elyse [00:46:10] Le Journée Européenne du Patrimoine [00:49:56] Personal Update [00:53:59] Next week on the podcast [00:54:20] Copyright More episodes about the Dordogne