Les Jardins du Manoir D'Eyrignac Les Jardins du Manoir…read moreD'Eyrignac are highly recommended in virtually all the guides for the Dordogne. Cost us EUR9.50 each to enter and we were suitably impressed as were the Michelin people who awarded it 2 stars. The gardens are mainly architectural, a masterpiece of symmetry, with many surprising vistas for the strolling visitors. Water is also used to good effect here and it is a really impressive tour. Now, for a tip. The main green garden has been supplemented by what is called a white garden, that is a garden, again with architecture planting and topiary and water fountains and the white comes from flowers, mainly from roses. These roses though don't come into anything approaching full

This is a "must see" kind of place for anyone interested in Neolithic cave art…read more The displays in the museum give context and insight into the astonishing art you see in the cave itself. The tour of the (meticulously reproduced cave) really brings out the wonder of the art, which was completed over a 500 year period 21,000 years ago! The tour guide spoke excellent English and showed a thoughtful and complete knowledge of the art and context.

This is Lascaux IV: #1 is the original cave discovered in 1940 by an 18-year-old and his dog, which…read morewas closed to public in 1963 when the light, heat, humidity, and exhalation produced by visitors was too damaging to this valuable artifact. #2 the replica opened in 1983 on the same hill. Unfortunately, the many tourists, along with their motor vehicles, continue to threaten the original cave. Thus, #4, grandly named Lascaux International Centre for Cave Art, was completed in 2016. (#3 is a traveling exhibit.) Lascaux IV can only be visited by joining the guided tour. I highly recommend you to reserve and prepay online, especially if you don't speak French, as there are very few tours in English and other languages. If you walk in and they are full, all you can see is the gift shop. At the tour, you get an tablet and a headphone. After some introduction, you walk into a replica of the cave. The cave replica was developed through 3D laser scanning and casting technologies to replicate the original cave form to a 1 millimeter tolerance. 25 artists spent 2 years hand-painting 900 meters of resin rock reproductions, using the same pigments that the prehistoric painters used 20,000 years ago to recreate the 1900 paintings and engravings that adorn the walls of the cave. Afterwards, you can spend as much time as you like in the multimedia exhibition, taking your time to take photos of the drawings, listen to more in depth explanation of each painting and watch videos about many aspect of the archeological site, which really makes me appreciate the artwork even more! Truly, the dynamic, expressive cave paintings are impressive. And that they are so ancient really give me a different impression of our prehistoric ancestors. The interactive exhibit is totally awesome, let me learn so much more than what a guided tour allows. I hope one day I can make it back again.

MUSEE DE L'AUTOMATE Europe's largest automata exhibition is…read morein the abbey of Souillac. It has some 300 pieces, mostly from the 19th and 20th century. Admission is six euro and is worth a visit particularly if you have kids in tow. Our favourite was Charlie Chaplin, hanging onto a lamppost and cheekily trying to kick his way out of his glass cabinet. A jazz band and a man with an uncontrollable laugh also brought enjoyment.

Are you traveling through France and want to experience south-eastern fine dining? This is the…read moreplace for you. My boyfriend and I came here to celebrate my birthday and I am now happy, full, and a little drunk. They apparently have a much more economic fixed lunch menu at 40-something euros each, and a few other options at 80-something and 90-something each. But it was my birthday and I do love my foie gras, so the menu classique at 116 each, it was, and we were not sorry. The menu was apparently a sampling of re-imagined regional classics - and I'm a sucker for local foods. They started us off in a cozy room and sat us in front of a fire, which was much welcomed in this stubborn spring weather, brought out two glasses of champagne, and a plate with 3 amuse-bouche to start. The first was a toothpicked slice of artisanal cured salmon in beetroot juice under a layer of cream, topped with... duck I want to say? YUM. The second was a duck meatball with pistachios I believe. The third was phenomenal, something that I am sure to dream of for years to come. We were instructed to eat it all in one bite and when it comes to food, I do as I am told. A breaded little square of heavenly goodness that when bit into melted into liquid foie gras just sliding down your throat. I would like one/ten of those everyday before each meal, for the rest of my life please. Ok. Now to the meal, amazing. I'll try to remember it all. We were started with an oyster on a half shell poached in moscato, with a moscato foam and bits of crunchy bacon. Then an asparagus veloute that I suspect was made with witchcraft as asparagus soup in my house never quite tastes that good.... Some raw shaved asparagus, the top halves of some beautifully lightly poached asparagus, and a perfectly poached egg with truffles embedded into it's whites... too good to be true? I think so too. Wizard. Moving on to a beautifully cooked lobster accompanied by Normantie potatoes, small fingerling cooked deliciousness, accompanied by a generous amount of roasted garlic, a lobster claw, and more lobster chunks, all arranged in front of us by our magnificent maetre d'hotel (master of hotel?--more on him later). While the potatoes, the lobster, the garlic, all beautiful and elegant, the real star of the dish was the sauce. A brown --meat sauce--as my boyfriend calls it. Salty, tangy, buttery, savory, herby - all the good stuff. Then we were brought out a mill fouille of meat. What is this, you ask? Thin slices of cooked to perfection medium rare stake and decadent delicious foie gras. Topped by an inflated potato skin, a sweet, buttery carrot, on the side was a mille foille of potatoes, and then another brown meat sauce a little sweeter than the previous, and really just.... perfect. By this point i was almost too full.. and there's more. so much more. Then comes the cheese course. a wonderfully fragrant and almost spicy block of blue cheese, hugged by two very thin sweet crackers and a bit of salad scattered about. a slice of a red wine poached pear with such a beautiful fragrant cinnamon flavor. Simple, elegant, and beautiful. Then we were brought a mini cheese cake, a bit larger than an amuse bouche on a plate decorated by chocolate sauce, raspberry sauce, slices of citrisy things, all together simply delicious. Next was the real desert? MORE! a out tiny marble sized piece of poached pear with a dot of chocolate up top. a pear sorbet. a cream/topped with pear jello/topped with a custard thing that was absolutely delicious. a small square of saffron flan with a gingerbread like cookie crumble on top. yum. and next our maetre d'hotel brought this out for everyone, he said compliments of the chef? a plate with a basil infused strawberry cream...a little caramel nut pie?! a big bar of orange zest white chocolate, and pistachio covered dark chocolate, and a walnut covered wafer. I could die. actually..Did I!? The food was phenomenal, the place was perfect, with a beautiful garden outback that's worth a walk around and lent itself to some beautiful (if I do say so myself) photo opps. The staff was kind, courteous, and extremely helpful. We asked our maetre d'hotel who is extremely knowledgeable to please pick out our demi-bottle of white and red, and man were we happy we did, he also assured us he would be reasonable with the price, which since I wasn't paying, couldn't have mattered less to me! Muahahahaaa! I kid, I kid. It was definitely nice to know we wouldn't be charged 3,000 for a bottle of wine. We started with the white-beautiful, crisp, light, floral, not too dry, but a very nice bottle of white. and then the red was the real showstopper, we opened it up right after the lobster and I swear with every gout(taste) I could taste that roasted garlic stronger in my mouth. This red had such an amazing and unusual aftertaste of butter. I wanted to slather it on some bread and then bathe in it. Perfect meal. Will dream of this for years to come

Hidden in a wood and on the bank of Vezere, is the La Madeleine site, a cliff village. Findings…read morehere were and are of such an importance to the understanding of the Upper Palaeolithic period that the Magdalenian culture forms part of such studies. Physically, the site is not as impressive as the neighbouring Christophe but the collection of underground rock shelters, where remains of a chapel, walls and shelters and workshops are visible, and the site above the Vezere, all combine to give one a feeling how life was lived here for century after century. Many of the ancient buildings outlived the castle that was built above them. Entrance fee: EUR5.50