![]() High on the battlements of the Château de Castelnaud, a medieval pageant is under way. Jardins de Marqueyssac (admission £6.50 ) Castle Country It’s a place where your worries just melt away.’įifty-minute boat trip from £6.50 ( ) ‘For me, life without the river is unthinkable,’ Michel says, as he pilots his gabarre along a quiet stretch bathed in buttery sunshine. Much of the river remains wild, with kingfishers, otters and herons hunting along the banks, and wild salmon and freshwater eels navigating the currents on their spawning migrations. On sunny weekends, thousands converge on its pebble beaches, take to the water in canoes or enjoy views of the river valley from spots such as the Jardins de Marqueyssac – a lavishly restored hilltop garden, famous for its labyrinth of box hedges. Though many of the old industries have vanished, the river continues to play an important role in local life. ‘As a boy, my grandfather remembered seeing working gabarres on the river, so it’s important that we keep them sailing here,’ explains Michel Leger, a boat captain and amateur historian, who runs gabarre trips from the riverside port of La Roque Gageac. The railway ended much of the traffic in the early 19th century, but a few gabarres continue to ply the currents, now carrying cargoes of sightseers. In the boats’ heyday, during the 17th and 18th centuries, several hundred worked the waterways, ferrying cargoes of timber, walnuts, charcoal and grain to the Atlantic ports before returning with fish, spices, wine and salt. For centuries, the traditional mode of river transport was the gabarre – a wide, flat-bottomed barge known for its stability. It travels through some classic French landscapes, from the rumpled domes of the Massif Central to the rolling fields of the Périgord.Įdged by woods and criss-crossed by tributaries, the Dordogne’s character changes with the seasons: in summer, some sections dry to a trickle, but in winter, the river often bursts its banks, flooding villages and fields. Arising some 1,700m up in the mountains of central France, it runs for 300 miles west before meeting the Atlantic near Bordeaux. As he waits for his first bite, a wooden barge chugs past, the putter of its engine reverberating through the morning air.Īlong with the Loire, Rhône, Seine and Garonne, the Dordogne is one of France’s great rivers. Swallows dart across the water, hunting for freshly hatched mayflies, while a fisherman casts his line from a jetty, trying to tease grayling and pike from the tangled weeds. Frogs croak and songbirds trill along the banks, hidden among drooping oaks and weeping willows. ![]() It’s a warm summer morning on the Dordogne and the river is stirring into life. It has since been republished by various outlets including BBC.com (available to non-UK readers only). The article was originally published in October 2013 with photography by Andrew Montgomery. This trip for Lonely Planet Traveller magazine covers five different experiences in the region: a river cruise aboard a traditional gabarre barge, the medieval castles around Beynac-et-Cazenac, the architecture of Sarlat-la-Canéda, the prehistoric cave paintings at Lascaux and Périgueux’s weekly market. A rural region known for its rich food and gorgeous countryside, it encapsulates the essence of the French lifestyle. The Dordogne is one of France’s five great rivers, as well as one of the most picturesque parts of France. ![]()
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