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Dordogne The Dordogne region - aka Perigord - is beautiful rolling countryside of fields and forests, famous for its walnuts and paté de foie gras. People have lived in and managed the landscape for tens of thousands of years, and here are some of the world's premier prehistoric sites - the famous paintings of Lascaux and the caves at Les Eyzies. Perigord - divided now into Green. White, Purple and Black Perigords (and le Volveix is in the Green bit) - is named for the pre-Roman Gaulish tribe the Petracorii, centred on Perigueux. The departement of the Dordogne, slightly smaller than the traditional Perigord, and named after the river, was created during Napoleonic times. There are more than a thousand chateaus in the Dordogne, some of them spectacular cliff-top castles such as Beynac and Castelnaud and there are over three hundred of the 13thC market-centred "new towns" known as bastides, such as Domme, which offers a tremendous view over the Dordogne river. Other places to visit include the cliff-hugging village of Rocamadour or the river-hugging village of Roque-Gageac. Other key places not too far from Le Manoir de Volveix include, for practical items, Riberac, and for historical interest, Perigueux, Brantôme and Bourdeilles, Aubeterre, Sarlat, and last but not least, Bordeaux. Riberac is an old unpretentious market town on the Dronne. Birthplace of troubadour Arnaud Daniel in 1150, it has not since offered much to trouble the tourist in search of spectacle, though it does have a big market on Friday morning; the largest in the immediate area, it runs all year round. (There's a list of some other local markets here). Riberac can cater for most practical needs of those visitors who do not want to venture into small cities like Angouleme or Perigueux - there is free parking in the centre, with several banks, pharmacies, newsagents, estate agents, cafes, bakeries, shops and garages all within walking distance. For supermarkets there is a Leclerc just out on the road east towards Perigueux, and an Intermarché on the road south out of town. And only one set of traffic lights in the entire place. The Romanesque style of church, based around one or more cupolae, flourished in the Dordogne between the 10th and 12thC and the Riberac area is particularly full of them. Ask at tourist offices in Riberac, Tocane, Saint-Aulaye, Verteillac and Aubeterre for a road map of the Circuit des églises Romanes à coupoles du Ribéracois through surrounding villages like Siorac, Bourg du Bost and St-Martial Viveyrols. Some, like Grand-Brassac, can shock you with an audio-visual accompaniment that kicks in when you open the door. Aubeterre is a small, steep village built on high on a bend above the Dronne river, just over the border in the Charente. The village has antique shops and restaurants, and even a sandy beach and a decent swimming area with canoes for hire, but it is most famous for its spacious monolithic church - and associated graves - carved out of the rock over a period of 800 years. Périgueux is the capital of Dordogne Department and a vibrant modern town with a long history. Originally a Gallic settlement, the city passed to the Romans, whose remains include the Tour de Vésone, built in the first century AD. The church of la Cité and the Saint-Front cathedral are 12th century; constructed in the shape of a Greek cross, the domed cathedral was a rendezvous point for pilgrims on the long road to the tomb of the Apostle Saint James of Compostela in Santiago. The city was held by the English during most of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453), and in the 16th century it was a stronghold of Protestantism. Nestled under steep hills in a loop of Dronne 27km from Périgueux, Brantôme is a small town often called "the Venice of the Périgord" because of its waterways. Its Benedictine abbey dates to the late 8thC. Charlemagne is said to have donated to the brand new monastery relics of Saint Sicaire. The 60 metre tall Brantôme belfry is the oldest belfry in France. With several restaurants, some carved out of the cliffs, its riverfront bars and hotels and many 17thC buildings, Brantôme, once a stop on the Compostela pilgrimages, is a popular tourist destination. Not far away to the south west is Bourdeilles, also on the Dronne, with its fine castle. "The City of Art" and capital of Black Périgord, "the Frenchman's paradise," as Henry Miller called it, Sarlat is an astonishingly well-preserved medieval town. It's a bit of a trek from Volveix but worth it - Sarlat's honey-coloured stone buildings set in narrow winding streets is the greatest concentration of medieval, Renaissance and 17th-century façades of any town in Europe, though naturally it also has its share of tourist tat too. Several period films have been shot here, including Les Miserables, Ever After, the recent reworking of Cinderella with Drew Barrymore, and Ridley Scott's first film, The Duellists. Bordeaux has the busiest airport in the south west of France and so for many people is the gateway to the Dordogne; it is about an hour and a half's drive from the Manoir. With nine public museums, the Grand Theatre, the Bordeaux Aquitaine National Orchestra, a large public library, some fine architecture and its famous shopping street, the Rue Ste Catherine, the city has plenty to offer in its own right. The Bordeaux Tourist Office has guides to what to do and where to go, including wine tasting and wine tours. Bordeaux is of course one of the Great Wine Capitals - Bordeaux, Medoc, Sauternes, Pomerol, St-Emilion, Graves, Margaux and more come from the immediate area. The Romans settled what is now St Emilion and grew vines, but it was in the mid-12th century that the local wine first became internationally renowned, when Henry II of England married Eleanor of Aquitaine, heralding 300 (or possibly 900) years of dispute, trade and war over the English territories in France. Bordeaux - claret - benefited from tax concessions that made it the cheapest imported wine in England, and thence achieved a level of popularity with the English that has lasted to the present day, when the region produces more fine wine than any other in the world and around one-quarter of France's total appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) wine. If you don't like wine, there is always Cognac not too far away, home of the drink and of the fighter-bombers that cruise the skies on some weekdays (but not the weekends). As a historical footnote, Bordeaux has - temporarily - been capital of France three times in the last 150 years, on each occasion during war with Prussia/Germany, the last time for two weeks in 1940 just before the Vichy government was proclaimed. Some Market days in the region * Bergerac : Wednesday, Saturday
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