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The Villages of the Dordogne

By Noel Henderson

According to a recent survey in The Times, Rachmaninov's second Piano Concerto remains the most popular piece of 'classical' music, despite the oft-heard criticism of how hackneyed a piece it is. So it is with the Dordogne when it comes to holiday destinations in France. For many regular British holidaymakers, the area to which they return time and again is described simply by the name of its favourite river.

The start in Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne makes clear some of the reasons for this. It's a typical tourist town in a tourist area, if a town at all: some might call it a large village. The hotel, solid and reassuring, is right in the middle and is less than five minutes' walk from the river. There are two nights here with a gentle circuit in between, a route of less than five miles via Sionac, but one which rises two hundred metres, nevertheless, enough to offer a reminder that the Dordogne is a river which cuts its path between hills. None of the daily distances is excessive, but every day requires a certain degree of effort, every day takes the walker over hill and over dale, and every day reminds you how worthwhile the walking is. (The last day's optional walk, for example, takes you into a landscape which, though only a few kilometres from one of the most popular tourist roads in the Dordogne valley, is so remote that, except in the high season, you can walk for hours and see hardly anybody, which explains perhaps why it is an area where resistance cells were active during WWII.)

Between Beaulieu and Port-de-Gagnac you are walking across the hills separating the Dordogne from its tributary, the Cère, but you start by crossing the Dordogne itself and finding your rhythm on the flattish lanes alongside the river. The ascent away from la Cybille goes on for about three kilometres but is never so steep that you wonder why you are doing it. And this is typical of the week's walking: there are ascents every day, some long, some steep, but none which is both long and steep.

When you reach your hotel in Port-de-Gagnac you are alongside the River Cère: many of the bedrooms look out over the river and the hotel-restaurant, though unpretentious, is a popular one with local people. This is perhaps where the serious walking starts: the route to Loubressac includes an ascent before Glanes, an ascent over Pech Pilar and an ascent into Loubressac itself. And yet, despite three ascents and a distance of around eighteen kilometres, you may well reach Loubressac by mid afternoon, feeling quite pleased with yourself. The walking is generally good underfoot, the waymarking is clear and the views justify the effort, not to mention the thrill of reaching Loubressac. There are those who claim that 'un des plus beaux villages de France' is a pretentious title, but few would question Loubressac's claim, nor that of Autoire which is an option for the next day.

Autoire is different from Loubressac and different again from Carennac but all are outstandingly picturesque. Loubressac has its spectacular hilltop location; Autoire is crammed into a narrow, steep-sided valley; and Carennac, on the banks of the Dordogne, has dozens of buildings in the warm, honey-coloured local stone, buildings which look as though they have been there for centuries, which many of them have. Loubressac and Carennac are both on the walking route; those who wish to see everything worthwhile in an area where so much is worthwhile will make sure that they make the most of the opportunities provided within our walking notes to visit also both Autoire and the caves of the Gouffre de Padirac. The days are short enough to allow these and other visits. (There are few areas with as much evidence, albeit minimal evidence at many sites, of prehistoric civilisation: you will see a number of signs directing you to dolmens as you walk.)

The walking between Loubressac and Carennac, returning you to the Dordogne itself, is deceptively easy for a long way, possibly the longest level stretch of the whole walk but, just as you think that dropping back to the river is going to give you a gentle finish, then comes the ascent up to Magnagues. Even in the streets of Carennac you are diverted uphill and away from the main road before being allowed to cut back down to the mairie and your hotel. Nevertheless, this is soon forgotten with the exhilaration of arriving at your final destination and the opportunity to cool off in the auberge's welcoming swimming pool.

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