Sept 10 Perigord

So we have decided to spend a few days here in a tiny chambre d'hote (shambra dote) near a tiny town of Meyrals. The road into it is a one lane, two way road, wide enough to pass an oncoming car only with the luck of being in a wide spot like a driveway. Yeah, its way off the beaten path! It has the benefit of being central to the Perigord region.

This may be our favorite region of France. It has archeological ruins dating back to Neanderthals. Roman and Gallic churches and settlements. Sites along the great pilgrimage route of St. John de Compostello of the early middle ages. Renaisance cities, and 17th century chateaus. All this in a setting of unspoilt rural charm.

Today we went to la Rocque Ste. Christophe, a village built in the side of a cliff overlooking the Vezere River. This site has been occupied for over 50,000 years. In the middle ages the rude caves were developed into an entire village by insetting timbers into the rock to brace walls jutting out from the sheer walls. Later during the internal Crusade and then the Hundred Years War with England it was fortified more and used as a stronghold on the river.

From there we meandered through a quaint little village, Ste Leon Vezere, and had a nice lunch riverside. It seems every village of worth a stop and a little dream about having a small house there. It seems we are not alone in this fantasy. We heard English spoken here constantly. Brits. Seems they are buying up this part of France in quantity. Including it turns out the chateau we visited next.

Based on photos we saw in the tourist guide, we visited Chateau losse. It had been in a single family's ownership until sold to the Brits just recently. It has been thoroughly restored by them in the 80's. Well, for once we were disappointed. It has a few rooms open to tours, and these have great furniture and tapestries. The actual building is so well restored that it looks like new construction. And the gardens are just not much to look at. The elaborate box wood hedge in the photo that is trimmed to look like basket weaving was there, but only about 10 square feet in area. The group led on tour was too big, so many didn't even for into the room as the guide gave his uninspired talks. Well, the first time we felt a little swindled at one is these.

In fact, we continue to be impressed with the way France has developed its tourism industry over the years. There has been a big national investment in the tourism infrastructure, and local governments and businesses have cooperated to a great extent to make attractions top notch. Things like signage have been so greatly improved that it is now reliable, not to the supreme extent of day, Germany, but quite good. And the system of Office d' Tourisme is unparalleled in our experience. Every city, town and village has one that is informed, helpful and aggressive in promoting itself in the best ways. For example, not only do they keep an up to date list of the chambre d' hotes in their area, but they call each of them every day to know which have vacancies.