An awesome city : Sarlat

Sarlat, France is a fabulous historical place. What can you see in Sarlat and Dordogne area? An alternative to Lascaux II because you actually get to see the real thing, these caves have 250 examples of Upper Paleolithic art, either etched into the rock or painted. You enter the caves on a tourist train that follows a one-kilometre course, and if you don’t speak French it’s worth getting the audio guide, which is provided on an ipod. It’s also a good idea to get there as early as possible as entrance is limited to 550 a day, after which people are turned away. Dating to around 13,000 years ago, 158 of the representations depict mammoths, but there are also bison, woolly rhinos and if you keep your eyes peeled you’ll also see four humans.

Another market well worth a visit is the indoor market at Eglise Sainte-Marie. Enter through the gigantic steel doors, and you’ll see stalls piled high with everything from spicy saucisson to local St-Nectaire cheese. Don’t forget to look out for the church’s main attraction; a glass lift that rises up through bell tower to reveal breathtaking views over the rooftops of Sarlat and beyond.

Perigueux: The old Roman town of Perigueux is deliciously small and provincial. Farmers flock into town on Saturdays and Wednesdays to sell their produce at the superb morning market. Wooden trestle tables crammed with fruit and veg vie for attention with the pearly-white domes of Perigueux’s Byzantine cathedral, evocative of St-Mark’s Basilica in Venice. Around the corner on place St-Louis, the November-to-March duck market sees gourmets and grandmothers furtively hand over cash in exchange for goose hearts, duck livers, every imaginable part of the duck – dried-blood pancakes called sanguettes included. Come December, the heady aroma of black truffles heightens the foodie excitement.

Looking for hotel rooms in Sarlat? The place de la Liberte is the epicenter of the town, which is also where the weekly farmer’s market is held and where the many regional specialties are offered for sale: black truffles, the world famous “foie gras” (duck liver pate), figs, nuts and more. Many movies and television series have been filmed in Sarlat as the town features one of the most pristine medieval architectural heritage in the world. Expatriates from around the world flock to this medieval jewel of a city, in the search of sunlight, culture, food and overall lifestyle. The proximity of the Dordogne River, along with its many outdoor activities (canoeing, rafting, fishing, biking, hiking, etc) is a huge draw for people of all ages and from all walks of life. You’ll therefore routinely hear English, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, German and of course French, spoken in the streets of Sarlat as well as in the surrounding towns and villages of Carsac, Cenac, La Roque Gageac, Beynac, etc. Read more details on https://sarlathotel.com/.