The property “Franquettes” which is situated in Nabirat was built 5 years ago. in the Perigourdine style with a tower and steep pitched roof All the centrally heated, en-suite rooms are on the ground floor of a building that was designed to look like a timber tobacco-drying barn (sechoir de tabac) with its characteristic ventilation louvres. This rural part of South West France is littered with ancient examples of this type of barn.

The barn also houses the owners painting studio. In-front of the house among the walnut trees you’ll find our splendid private swimming pool that can be used by all of our guests.

Breakfasts are served each morning in our ‘art gallery’ dinning room.

Each of the 3 ensuite rooms are tastefully furnished, have beamed ceilings  with Oak parquet floors in the bedrooms and marble floors in the shower rooms . Showers have glazed doors not shower curtains.

• Internet is available in each room with high-speed WiFi & Ethernet
• There is ample parking next to the accommodations
• All bed & breakfast guests have the use of our Private Swimming Pool
• We can provide a 3 course Dinner including wine in our dining room (notice required)

‘Franquettes is situated in South West France (dept 24) between the villages of Nabirat and Grolejac. The beautiful medieaval town of Domme is just 15 minutes drive away and is a must for all visitors to the Dordogne region.A trip to the historic market towm Sarlat is also recommended with it’s cobbled streets and quaint alleys.Busy shops, art galleries and resturants abound and there is usually an interesting variety of street entertainers performing throughout the main season. We are only 5 mins from the lake at Grolejac (boats & Beach) and 10 mins from the river Dordogne with it popular canoe hire service.

‘Franquettes’ is a French Perrigourdine style house built in the ivory coloured stone of this area.The bed & breakfast rooms are all on the grounf floor of a building that was desgned  to look like tobacco drying barn (sechoir de tobac ) There are many ancient examples of this style barn in the Dordogne region.

Rocamadour is in the east of the Dordogne, about 50km from Sarlat.
General Info: Park in one of the large car parks at the top of the town.

Description: This is France’s second most visited tourist attraction after Le Mont St-Michel.  A magical town with golden houses clinging to the side of a cliff over the Alzou canyon, it is a holy shrine…. inevitably attracting many tourists.  Even with the crouds this is a must see attraction due to its unique location / character.

Our recommendations: Try to get there very early before the tourists arrive, or in the evening when the atmosphere is best and the crowds are starting to thin. Stop at L’Hospitalet to take photos of the village.
Nearby are the Gouffres du Padirac  – more caves with a boat ride through them – also very busy and requiring an early arrival!  Go there first and then to Rocamadour later in the day, or alternatively visit the nearby Corn Maze in Creysse.

La Roque Gageac is on the D703, 3km SE of Beynac and 12km S of Sarlat.
General Info: Travelling from the Beynac direction, there are some massive car parks just beyond the village.  This is one of several “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” in the area.

La Roque has a most dramatic setting, situated right beside the river, with many of its houses (see below left) built directly into the face of the huge cliff that overhangs the village.  Above this there are steep steps to incredible troglodyte caves with great views (see above) as well as a small botanical garden.

Our recommendations: This is a must see place although you shouldn’t expect to spend too much time here.  The troglodyte dwellings are worth the small entrance fee.  If you want to take a trip on a gabare (a type of boat) on the Dordogne, then this is the place to start.  We suggest you pre-book in the summer as it can get busy. For a pleasant change later try canoeing on the river.

Domme is in the center of the Dordogne, about 12km south of Sarlat.  You will see signposts for “park and ride” car parks…..we recommend driving into the town itself (not on Thursday which is market day).
General Info: Even if it wasn’t one of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, Domme would still be high on the list of places you must visit in the Dordogne.  Tourist office website.
Description: This is a marvellous example of a walled bastide town with several fortified gateways in the town walls.  It is situated high above the river with outstanding views of the Dordogne and the main châteaux in the area.  Underneath the market square there is a cave with stalagmites and stalactites.  There are a lot of tourist shops to browse!
Our recommendations: This town is beautifully atmospheric in the evening and on market day.  We recommend that you wander around some of the back streets to add to the atmosphere.

Sarlat, the capital of the Perigord Noir, is situated in the heart of a forested area – to the east of the great region of the Aquitaine and close to the Dordogne valley.

The name Sarlat itself, evokes both gastronomic and cultural pleasures. Its worldwide reputation is linked with its rich history from the Middle Ages onwards. Its evolution over the centuries has left it with an exceptional heritage.

Sarlat was the first place in France to be safeguarded by being restored under the Malraux law of 1964. Its classification as Ville d’Art et d’Histoire (Artistic and Historic Town), is testament to its high architectural quality. Its medieval lanes and its large, sunny squares, particularly lively on market days, create an agreeable atmosphere.

Since 1928, cinema producers have found the authentic surroundings a perfect backdrop for historic films. The guided visits to the town, given by the Tourist Office, offer an introduction into the history of Sarlat and the opportunity to discover the charm of this medieval city with its Occitan overtones.

Sarlat has been awarded the exceptional three star classification by the Michelin Guide, making it equal to Europe’s most beautiful cities.

Gourdon lies between Sarlat and Cahors, conveniently served by the Brive–Toulouse train line, and makes a quiet, pleasant base for visiting some of the major places in this part of the Dordogne and Lot. It’s 17km south of the River Dordogne and pretty much at the eastern limit of the luxuriant woods and valleys of Périgord, which give way quite suddenly, at the line of the N20, to the arid limestone landscape of the Causse de Gramat.

In the Middle Ages, Gourdon was an important place, deriving wealth and influence from the presence of four monasteries. It was besieged and captured in 1189 by Richard the Lionheart, who promptly murdered its feudal lords. Legend has it that the archer who fired the fatal shot at Richard during the siege of Châlus was the last surviving member of this family. But more than anything it was the devastation of the Wars of Religion that dispatched the place into centuries of oblivion.

Gourdon is a beautiful town, its medieval centre of yellow-stone houses attached like a swarm of bees to a prominent hilltop, neatly ringed by modern boulevards containing all the shops. From whichever direction you approach, all roads lead to place de la Libération in front of the fortified gateway over rue du Majou, the narrow main street of the old town. It’s lined all the way up with splendid stone houses, some, like the Maison d’Anglars at no. 17, as old as thirteenth-century. At its upper end, rue du Majou debouches into a lovely square in front of the massive but not particularly interesting fourteenth-century church of St-Pierre, where in summer there’s a farmers’ market on Thursday mornings. The handsome Hôtel de Ville stands on one side of the square, and in place des Marronniers behind the church is the family home of the Cavaignacs, who supplied the nation with numerous prominent public figures in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the notoriously brutal general who put down the Paris workers’ attempts to defend the Second Republic in June 1848. From the square, steps climb to the top of the hill, where the castle once stood and from where there is a superb view over the Dordogne valley and surroundings.

A couple of kilometres along the Sarlat road in the direction of Cougnac from Gourdon, is a very interesting cave, the Grottes de Cougnac, discovered in 1949 (daily: April–June & Sept 9.30–11am & 2–5pm; July & Aug 9.30am–6pm; Oct 10–11am & 2–6pm; €5.35). It has beautiful rock formations as well as some fine prehistoric paintings rather similar to those at Pech-Merle.

In this area of France you can visit a Market every day of the week .Here are some of the easy to reach local markets:

Saturday Sarlat
Sunday St.Cyprien
Monday Les Eyzies
Tuesday  Gourdon
Wednesday Sarlat
Thursday Domme

Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be 17,300 years old. They primarily consist of primitive images of large animals, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. In 1979, Lascaux was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list along with other prehistoric sites in the Vézère valley.

History

The cave was discovered on September 12, 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas, as well as Marcel’s dog, Robot. The cave complex was opened to the public in 1948. By 1955, the carbon dioxide produced by 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 in order to preserve the art. After the cave was closed, the paintings were restored to their original state, and were monitored on a daily basis. Rooms in the cave include The Hall of the Bulls, the Passageway, the Shaft, the Nave, the Apse, and the Chamber of Felines.

Lascaux II, a replica of two of the cave halls — the Great Hall of the Bulls and the Painted Gallery — was opened in 1983, 200 meters from the original. Reproductions of other Lascaux artwork can be seen at the Centre of Prehistoric Art at Le Thot, France.

Since 1998 the cave has been beset with a fungus, variously blamed on a new air conditioning system that was installed in the caves, the use of high-powered lights, and the presence of too many visitors. As of 2008, the cave contained black mold which scientists were and still are trying to keep away from the paintings. In January 2008, authorities closed the cave for three months even to scientists and preservationists. A single individual was allowed to enter the cave for 20 minutes once a week to monitor climatic conditions. Now only a few scientific experts are allowed to work inside the cave and just for a few days a month but the efforts to remove the mold have taken a toll, leaving dark patches and damaging the pigments on the walls.