Mortal Coil

As part of the same trip that started with a few days in beautiful Paris, we travelled south to the Dordogne / Limousin area for a few more days of exploration, relaxation, and degustation before joining up with some friends in the region for a three-day wedding extravaganza.

Our route took us from Limoges down to the Dordogne river itself, which is festooned with medieval villages and chateaux hewn out of hillsides and perched atop cliffs. Many of the villages and chateaux were variously at odds with each other during the Hundred Years War, with the French hunkered down in one redoubt while just a kilometer away, on the other side of the river, Richard the Lionheart might have been planning his next conquest. We were able to variously visit or canoe past many of these during our first couple of days.

Click on any of the photos below to view larger versions on Flickr – and click them again once you’re there if you want to see full screen!

Castelnaud-la-Chappelle

Beynac-et-Cazenac

Panorama of the Dordogne from Chateau Beynac-et-Cazenac

Roses of Beynac-et-Cazenac

Interior staircase of Chateau Beynac-et-Cazenac

Over the course of our visit we moved North, away from the Dordogne river, and visited many quaint (and quiet) villages en route, including Bourdeilles and the very picturesque Brantôme, “the Venice of the Dordogne”.

Roses of Bourdeilles

Brantôme Panorama

Canalside door, Brantôme

Hungry Ducks of Brantôme

No Parking, Brantôme

More images can be found in my Flickr set “The Dordogne and Limousin – June 2012“.