The bastides in the Perigord region are medieval “new towns” built during the 13th and 14th centuries. They came about because of the territorial and economic conflicts between the English and French crowns. Rulers and lords founded bastides to populate empty lands, secure trade routes and bind local populations to their authority.
Unlike organic medieval villages built around a castle or monastery, bastides were planned “using a strict geometric, orthogonal checkerboard street plan.” The heart of every bastide is a large central square. Domme, the village in which we are staying is a notable bastide. It was founded in 1281 on a cliffside overlooking the Dordogne River.
Because Domme is a notable bastide, it is on the tourist circuit. That translates to groups of tourists walking through the town with most of the shops and the few restaurants catering to that mass tourist trade (just can’t get away from the tourist groups!). Once the sun goes down, the village goes back to the villagers but, unfortunately, the dining options get very limited, i.e., one local restaurant.
Changing the pace, we drove to La Roque-Gageac for another delicious dinner at La Belle Etoile. It was only a few kilometers from Domme, but driving on the narrow, windy and steep roads is a challenge as it is truly dark. Without GPS, it would be impossible to find one’s way around as there are so many small country roads. Interestingly, they are all marked and the roads are paved.
The drives are a bit longer, so the village visits are getting fewer! The first stop on the Purple Route was in St.-Amand-de-Coly to see the Abbey, which was truly impressive.
On to Saint-Leon-sur-Vezere, where we would loved to have eaten at Le Petit Leon, but we settled for L’Alto as it was open.
And back to Domme to L’Esplanade for the evening.
The next day and not on any list was a visit to the village of Sarlat. We had lunch at l’Esprit Sarlat, which had a contemporary interior. Again, a delicious meal, but we prefer the older buildings as they are so much more atmospheric. Wanting to visit Sarlat “proper” we followed the GPS guidance right into the heart of the village. . .bad move! The streets are extremely narrow, but fortunately there was a road that was actually meant for cars that took us out of the heart of the village. Sarlat is one of the best preserved medieval cities in France.
We had dinner at the local restaurant Chez Pierrot, to which we walked. And, for our final day we picked one village off the “Blue Route” and drove to Luzech. By this time, although the villages were truly charming, we were “villaged out” and ready to go on to Paris.
