Gignac, Turenne, And A Big Storm

Next day, June 23rd, we were off again, to the east, to see more le plus beaux villages, despite severe weather warnings. As the clouds gathered, we stopped for a bit at Gignac, to look at its parish church. Then we hunkered down in an underpass, avoiding potential hail. As the storm passed, we drove on to Turenne, only to find the road barred by a downed tree. The town's road crew was already out with a chain saw--alas, ours is in our camper in the US--and cleared the way in a few minutes. We looked at Turenne from a distance, in the rain, and then drove on.

Parish church at Gigeac; oops, sort of a distorted view

Interior; pretty much everything of this vintage and region is
Romanesque

View from the parking lot

Watching the storm clouds brew

Paris is more beautiful in the rain; not so Dordogne in a gale

It wasn't a big tree

But big enough to ground even the tourist train

The chain-saw guy and his helper got it all cleaned
up in minutes

In Turenne's suburbs

It was still raining, so we decided to save Turenne for next time

Perigueux

Our next outing was a drive to Perigueux, capital of the Perigord, an hour from Sarlat, our main interests its Cathedral of St. Front and its Medieval quarter. We were impressed with Perigueux. We skipped the Roman bits since a) we were tired, and b) we saw lots of Roman bits in Rome in the spring. The drive to and from Perigueux was interesting as well, passing through some of the more scenic parts of Dordogne/Perigord.

En route, much of which is lined with these huge limestone cliffs;
the same as those containing Lascaux, other cave art; also a variety
of cave/domiciles from yester-year/yester-aeon

The Cathedral of St. Front; once a beautiful 12th century Romanesque,
re-done in the 19th by the same architect who did Montmartre, sort
of a distorted faux-Byzantine disaster; generally regarded as one of the
ugliest churches in France

Curious building on the outskirts of the old town;
watch out for that first step...

Love the curvy alleys in the Medieval warren

Great signage; and in English too; sometimes

We got into the cathedral just minutes before its
astonishingly early closing (4PM)

The tower is apparently the only Romanesque bit
to have survived the 19th century re-do

Moving right along, outside a shoe repair shop

Bon Camino!

Some Renaissance structures...

Got cutlery?

Not suitable for heavy goods vehicles, as the Brits
would say

Just outside the Medieval quarter, it looks a bit like
Paris

Until you reach the Tour Mataguerre, the last of
the 28 towers of Perigueux' 12th century ramparts

Luthier shop

Half-timbered all around too

Youngish personnes frolicking on the cathedral roof

On the drive back to Sarlat, a semi passes under a massive cliff
overhang

Passing through Les Eyzies, ground zero for paleolithic archaeology
and home of the famous museum...nous y sommes alles, nous l'avons fait...

More cliffs, more overhangs along the river highway

And chateaux

Including this apparently disused beauty

Built right onto the rock

Sarlat-La-Canéda

Sarlat-la-Canéda is one of France's more beautiful towns. We had planned on staying there almost a week, using it as a base of operations in the Dordogne, but ended up spending 10 days for our self-quarantine. Our apartment was less than a kilometer from city center, and we walked into town on several occasions, especially on market days. More Sarlat pix coming in later posts....

Our studio apartment in Sarlat; very comfy, except no air conditioning,
and the temps reached 102 at one point...

Tower of the Eglise Saint-Marie, now the covered market

Main pedestrian drag, cathedral tower

Among the famous town sculptures

Enormous doors on the covered market

The cemetery monument, known affectionately by some
as "the bullet"

Inside the cathedral

Famous house; one of Montaigne's friends; 16th

Street scenes...

On Wednesday market day

In the covered market

Scooping up some Breton apple pastries

Cheese

Little libraries are very popular in France too