Fewer than a hundred inhabitants, half a million visitors, and one of the most dramatic churches in western France. Setting the Scene Talmont-sur-Gironde is a fortified bastide village of around a hundred inhabitants, set on a headland above the Gironde estuary in the...
Where a Palaeolithic river bend meets a 700-year-old Tuesday market. Setting the Scene The town sits beside the final extravagant meander of the River Vézère before it meets the mighty Dordogne just 5km or so further south at Limeuil. It’s hardly surprising,...
The historic heart of France’s second-largest Atlantic island (Ile d’Oléron), Le Château-d’Oléron has a citadel, oyster port and a daily market that fills every morning but Monday. First Impressions The name is intriguing, and the location, on the...
A peaceful crossing-point on the Clain where a grand château, a Romanesque church, and a visionary social experiment share the same quiet village. The Setting As with most ancient river crossings, there’s a palpable sense of an eventful past here, and since most...
A small commune in the southern Monts de Châlus where chainmail was once forged. Now it’s the lake and forests of the Parc Naturel Régional Périgord-Limousin on the Dordogne border that are centre stage as back-to-nature tourism booms. First Impressions Every...
