Cénac et St Julien, Dordogne, France

With winter now upon us and an icy blast forecast for next week, my thoughts keep heading back to the lighter, warmer days of last summer and my trip to the Dordogne.

It was the first time I had ever visited the region and I was taken aback by how gorgeous it is. 

The beautiful, green undulating countryside, with the Dordogne river carving through it, is picture perfect.

It is quite literally littered with pre-historic cave art, medieval, limestone villages (some of which are so picturesque that they almost rival those in our Cotswolds....), castles, fortified towns and romantic chateaux . 

Domme - fortified town

View of Domme

Honey coloured buildings typical of the area

Street in Sarlat

The culture vulture in me just did not know where to start exploring! 

Of course I almost forgot to mention the vineyards, which produce simply heavenly wine, I can assure you. 

Oh and the restaurants, the cafés... I can go on and on but don't worry, I will stop there.

My base was Cénac et St Julien, which is the perfect location for touring the area otherwise known as the Perigord Noir. 

View over Cenac et St Julien

One must-do for visitors in the area is canoeing down the Dordogne and we chose to do this from Vitrac to Castlenaud le Chapelle. 

The river carries you through some amazing scenery and viewing the castles, caves, limestone cliffs and historical buildings from the water was incredible. Yes that was “from”...not “in” the water – despite my niece’s best efforts to make me view it via the latter!

To satisfy my niece's desire to get wet though, we enjoyed a brief swimming interlude during our picnic stop, much to her delight.

The company we used for this little adventure was Canoes et Loisirs and the organisation and service was first class. If you get the chance you must have a go too. I promise you will love it.

Now, no stay in France is complete without a visit to the market and those at Cénac and Sarlat did not disappoint. Although word of warning - get there early. Very early. When we left, the queue of traffic trying to enter Sarlat was massive and did not look much fun.

Horseriding was also on the agenda so we tried out a couple of equestrian centres close to Cénac et St Julien. 

One called "Ferme équestre de Simon", and the other "Etrier de Vitrac". 

The owner of "Ferme équestre de Simon" is incredibly friendly and the amusing hand gestures for some riding terms that do not fall within the remit of our French vocabulary had us in hysterics and made the experience that much more enjoyable. 

Yes some more of that please....

The quality of the horses are fantastic in both centres and the traditional Périgordian style stables at Etrier de Vitrac have been recently renovated and are beautiful. 

Etrier de Vitrac

The wide grins etched on the riders' faces upon their return from both hacks said it all .

On the last night we stayed nearer to Bergerac airport at a Chambre d’hôte called Chateau le Tour, which is a hidden gem. 

The owners are Dutch and speak fluent English. They are so charming and laid back that they make you instantly relax and feel a part of their family as soon as you walk through their door. 

In the evening you have the option to dine with the hosts and the other guests, which we did and the conversation and laughter did not stop until the early hours of the morning. 

The night ended with everyone in the extensive grounds stargazing and working out all the constellations. This area has little light pollution and the visibility of the billions of stars blinking down at us and putting on their own light show was breathtaking. 

A very memorable experience in spite of the constantly flowing, delicious, local wine! 

The food is sumptuous, the pool is fabulous, the setting a dream. I will let the photos speak for themselves. 

 A perfect end to a most enjoyable holiday.

As you can probably tell, I cannot wait to return as soon as possible!

If you have also discovered any hidden gems in the area I would love to hear about them.