|
The Dordogne river flows some 312 miles from source to sea. On
its journey it passes through the départements of
the Correze, Lot and Dordogne, creating as it goes some of the most
spectacular scenery to be found in France.
Rivers being mediaeval highways and with the Dordogne being one
of France's most strategic rivers, it is not surprising that some
of the most formidable castles and fortified houses were built around
here because of the rivers' proximity.
Our legacy is a stunning landscape, liberally dotted with historic
Chateaux, ancient Bastides and mighty manor houses - including
in our area, no less than 6 of the officially designated most beautiful
villages in France (Les Plus Beaux Villages de France).
You can get to know our part of France by selecting a département
name from the scroll down menu below.
To
access photos and information on just Les Plus Beaux Villages de
France - The most beautiful villages in France - in our part of
France, please click this link or the logo to the right.
Getting to our part of France is not difficult, but it will
be a whole lot easier when the much heralded new airport of Brive-Souillac
opens in 2010. Once open, the new airport is expected to have a
similar effect on property prices as elsewhere in France served
by no-frills airlines such as Ryanair, Flybe and easyJet . Just
outside the village of Cressensac, Brive Souillac airport will be
only 40 minutes from St Céré, 20 min from Beaulieu
and 10 minutes from Souillac. In the meantime, the best cheap flights
are to Bergerac for the Dordogne, Limoges for the Correze and Rodez
for the Lot.
Having the A20 autoroute on the doorstep, means the channel ports
are about 7 hrs drive from Souillac, with Paris some 5 hrs away.
The new (part completed) A89 east west motorway intersects the A20
at Brive, bringing Bordeaux and the Atlantic coast that much nearer.
Have breakfast in St Céré and you could get in a late
ski on the Alpine slopes around Geneva the same day. Why you would
bother, though, as there are perfectly good (and inexpensive!) ski
resorts within 1hr 20 minutes drive of St Céré.
There is an express train service from Paris to Brive and then
on to Souillac. Rumours abound about a TGV service into the new
airport from Paris, but, at the moment, they would seem to be just
that - rumours.
The Dordogne river valley region of France, is extremely
fertile, with crop-laden valleys (until recently, tobacco was a
serious crop), lush green cow and sheep pastures, fruit and nut
(chestnuts and walnuts are major exports) orchards and well wooded
hills. This all means one thing - water and sunshine in fairly even
amounts!
The rain mainly falls in late winter/Spring. We say mainly,
because sometimes we get very spectacular thunderstorms in late
August, which carry enough rain to seriously worry Noah. Fortunately,
they are short-lived and a welcome respite for the lawns. For the
summers here can be seriously hot and dry.
Our favourite time of year is Autumn, not just because of the incredible
colours of the deciduous woods that are such a feature of the Dordogne,
Correze and Lot, but because Autumn tends to be sunny, clear and
warm well into November.
Winter is usually heralded by mornings of Brouillarde ,
right at the end of November/early December. A heavy morning mist
caused by the sharp temperature changes between night and day. It
is a timely warning to ensure that your winter supply of logs is
as it should be. For winter is fast approaching.
This year was a bit of a damp squib and it never really got to
the stage of worrying about brass monkeys. Frosts melted by midday
and it only snowed twice - each time being completely gone by after
lunch. Caution is needed, however, as even the locals are saying
this winter was pas normal. Mind you, they pretty much say
that all the time - whatever the weather! Suffice to say, that in
2007 we were snowed in for two days, only getting out when we finally
found the snowchains filed under boxes and boxes of builder stuff.
The lowest it has got (for 2 or 3 days), was minus 17, which was
a bit of a shocker. Thank heavens for log burners and cheap wood!
<back to previous page
|
