Agonac     Saturday
Beaumont     Tuesday, Saturday
Belves     Saturday
Bergerac     Saturday, Wednesday
Brantome     Tuesday, Friday
Cenac     Tuesday
Cubjac     Friday
Daglan     Sunday
Domme     Thursday
Eymet     Thursday
Excideuil       Thursday
Issigeac      Sunday
Jumilhac     Wednesday
La Coquille      Thursday
Lalinde     Thursday
La Roche Chalais     Saturday
Le Bugue      Tuesday
Le Buisson – Cadouin      Friday
Les Eyzies     Monday
Mareuil     Tuesday
Monpazier     Thursday
Montpon      Wednesday
Montignac     Saturday, Wednesday
Mussidan     Saturday
Neuvic     Saturday, Tuesday
Nontron     Saturday
Perigeux     Saturday, Wednesday
Piegut     Wednesday
Razac     Saturday, Wednesday
Riberac     Tuesday, Friday
Rouffignac     Sunday
Salignac-Eyvigues     Tuesday
Sarlat     Saturday, Wednesday
Sigoules     Friday
Sorges     Sunday
St Aulaye     Saturday
St Astier     Thursday
St Cyprien     Sunday
St Genies     Sunday
Terrasson     Thursday
Thenon     Tuesday
Thiviers     Saturday
Tocane     Monday
Tremolat     Tuesday
Vergt     Friday
Villefranche du Perigord     Saturday

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■Corrèze: Pérols-sur-Vézère, Bugeat, Uzerche, Vigeois, Brive-la-Gaillarde
■Dordogne: Montignac, Terrasson-Lavilledieu, Les Eyzies deTayac, Le Bugue , Limeuil

The trip takes 5 days 4 nights, and the nights are spent “Wild Camping” on Islands and alongside the river.
The groups are a min. 2 and max 6 people.

The trip will run from 26 April -30 June and 01 September – October 26. ( No trips in July and August )

More info visit www.walkingdordogne.com

The town was completely transformed during the 19th century and in 1857, one of its own inhabitants, Léon Dessailles, an archivist and historian published its history. The little town was totally rebuilt, huddled around its churches of St. Marcel and St. Sulpice, and its convent situated just a little way down from the current bridge. Le Bugue is the home of the largest private aquarium in Europe, Canoe trips along the Vézére in summer, and some truely excellent restaurants.
Just on the ourskirts of the town they have constructed a living replica of a typical 19th century French village. Le Village du Bournat is unique, here you will find every day life and objects from a bygone age. Local craftsmen are on hand to demonstrate the dying arts and ancient skills of the Blacksmith, Tanner and Basket Weaver to name a few. A working farm with its ancient tools and implements, a School House with authentic furniture and toys, many of which are there to be played with, the church with its wedding in progress, the Walnut Oil Mill and the Still are all here, a whole microcosm of the French countyside as it was 100 years ago.

There are a number of Pre-Historic sites in and around Le Bugue which are open to the public. One kilometre to the north-west, we find Bara-Bahau cave. discovered in 1951 by the speleologist Norbert Casteret. In this 100 m long cavity formed from the soft crumbly rock – Father Glory compared to cream cheese – prehistoric artists engraved mysterious signs and outlines of aurochs, bears, bison, ibexes and horses with fingers, flint or sticks. The highly rustic style of these works make then difficult to date; they are probably from the ancient Magdalenian era ( 15,000 years B.C. ).
Three kilometres to the south you will find the Gouffre de Proumeyssac. It has been described as a “crystal lighthouse on the edge of a vanished ocean”. It is a vast limestone cavern almost 50 metres high, a large number of translucent stalactites which are still alive, thanks to a passing stream. “One of the finest showcases of underground France”, according to Norbert Casteret, Proumeyssac is a must for any visitor to the Périgord. With the remarkable efforts made by the owners to develop the site, you will not forget the experience of descending the chasm, from the summit, in a fragile basket.
Four kilometres to the east, the little village of Saint-Cirq has a prehistoric cave which features a representation of a full, human face. The Sorcier Cave or Sorcerer’s Cave as it is known, has a few dozen very fine engravings, including a dapple grey horse and a male figure with a complete human face. His particularly expressive features make him one of the most perfect wall engravings of humans ever found.

Market day in Le Bugue is on Tuesday when the whole town comes alive with the vibrant colours and smells of the local produce that is on display. This has become one of the best markets in the region. Here you can buy anything from a lawn mower to freshly cooked Paella and what better past time than to sit in one of the many cafès with a glass of wine or a “Chocolat Chaud” and watch the world go by.

This cave is known for its numerous mammoth paintings and etchings, more than 150 have been counted so far! These were spread throughout the cave and almost exclusively in groupings. Rouffignac also has its own “Sistine Chapel” called Le Grand Plafond. The ceiling here is richly decorated mammoths, bison, ibex, and horses reminiscent of Lascaux.
The main difference is that these were drawn only in black line on a ceiling only two feet tall (The ceiling in Lascaux’s main chamber is about 10 feet tall). Al of this was done of course with the light of a fat burning lamp more than a half mile from the entrance to the cave. Even Michelangelo would have had difficulty here.

The authenticity of some of Rouffignac’s artwork is often called into question. In particular the wooly mammoth drawings here caused early prehistorians a lot of trouble. The tail end of these creatures included a strange flap of skin near the anus. This anatomical mystery was authenticated when in modern times the remains of wooly mammoths were found in Siberia with this same feature. So these drawings couldn’t have been fakes. No one knew of this feature until modern times.

Along with the paintings and engravings found in these caves there are also a number of “tectiforms.” These are pattern-marks that repeat themselves within a cave or regions of a cave. Some are painted dots, rectangles, lines, and triangles, and others are engraved scratchings. In Rouffignac there are miles of lines drawn in the soft mud of the walls by fingers. Researchers have studied the shape and size of these finger flutings and determined that these markings were made by eight different people at least three of which were children under the age of eight. The children must have explored extensively as their markings are found even in the remotest areas of the cave. They appear to be like a kind of signature or sign specific to a cave, area of a cave, a people group, or artist group. Because of the uniformity of the markings they are thought to be an early form of writing or least a way of signing one’s name. Could this be the beginnings of written language dating back to over 15,000 BC?

Original article can be found here

Henry Christy (26 July 1810 – 4 May 1865), English ethnologist, was born at Kingston upon Thames. He entered his father’s firm of hatters, in London, and later became a director of the London Joint-Stock Bank.

In 1850 he started on a series of journeys, which interested him in ethnological studies. Encouraged by what he saw at the Great Exhibition of 1851, Christy devoted the rest of his life to perpetual travel and research, making extensive collections illustrating the early history of man, now in the British Museum. He travelled in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Mexico, British Columbia and other countries; but in 1858 came the opportunity which brought him fame.

It was in that year that the discoveries by Boucher de Perthes of flint implements in France and England were first held to have clearly proved the great antiquity of man. Christy joined the Geological Society, and in company with his friend Edouard Lartet explored the caves in the valley of the Vezere, a tributary of the Dordogne in the south of France. Christy’s funding contributed to the discovery of Cro-Magnon man in 1868 in a cave at Les Eyzies de Tayac.To his task Christy devoted money and time ungrudgingly, and an account of the explorations appeared in Comptes rendus (Feb. 29th, 1864) and Transactions of the Ethnological Society of London (June 21st, 1864). He died, however, on the 4th of May 1865, of inflammation of the lungs supervening on a severe cold contracted during excavation work at La Palisse, leaving a half-finished book, entitled Reliquiae Aquilanicae, being contributions to the Archaeology and Paleontology of Perigord and the adjacent provinces of Southern France; this was issued in parts and completed at the expense of Christy’s executors, first by Lartet and, after his death in 1870, by Professor Rupert Jones.

By his will Christy bequeathed his magnificent archaeological collection to the nation. In 1884 it found a home in the British Museum. Christy took an earnest part in many philanthropic movements of his time, especially identifying himself with the efforts to relieve the sufferers from the Irish famine of 1847.

Édouard Lartet

Édouard Lartet (May 15, 1801–January 28, 1871) was a French paleontologist.
The geologist Édouard Lartet discovered the first five skeletons in March 1868 in the Cro-Magnon rock shelter at Les Eyzies

Lartet was born near Castelnau-Barbarens, departement of Gers, France, where his family had lived for more than five hundred years. He was educated for the law at Auch and Toulouse, but having private means elected to devote himself to science. The then recent work of Georges Cuvier on fossil mammalia encouraged Lartet in excavations which led in 1834 to his first discovery of fossil remains in the neighborhood of Auch. Thence forward he devoted his whole time to a systematic examination of the French caves, his first publication on the subject being The Antiquity of Man in Western Europe (1860), followed in 1861 by New Researches on the Coexistence of Man and of the Great Fossil Mammifers characteristic of the Last Geological Period. In this paper he made public the results of his discoveries in the cave of Aurignac, where evidence existed of the contemporaneous existence of man and extinct mammals.

In his work in the Périgord district Lartet had the aid of Henry Christy. The first account of their joint researches appeared in a paper descriptive of the Dordogne caves and contents, published in Revue archéologique (1864). The important discoveries in the Madeleine cave and elsewhere were published by Lartet and Christy under the title Reliquiae Aquitanicae, the first part appearing in 1865. Christy died before the completion of the work, but Lartet continued it until his breakdown in health in 1870. His son Louis Lartet followed in his father’s footsteps.

The most modest and one of the most illustrious of the founders of modern palaeontology, Lartet’s work had previously been publicly recognized by his nomination as an officer of the Légion d’honneur; and in 1848 he had had the offer of a political post. In 1857 he had been elected a foreign member of the Geological Society of London, and a few weeks before his death he had been made professor of palaeontology at the museum of the Jardin des Plantes. He died at Séissan.

More than 160,000 visitors come here each year, to spend a few hours or a whole day. The originality and unique character of the place have made it the number one touristic site in the Dordogne.

Here is a place that will delight both younger and older visitors and will give them the opportunity to find out what life was like in a Périgord village some 100 years ago, to preserve handycraft traditions thought to be lost, to sample the local specialities, and to bridge the gap between the generations.

One of the most interesting features of the village is the number of craftsmen who work here, bringing back to life before your eyes many trades which have become very rare. You will be amazed by their congeniality and friendliness.

■The baker, he comes to his stone oven specially to bake bread before your eyes.
■The wood-turner, do you know how the old-fashioned tops were made?
■Basket-weaving and Wheat-braiding, see how the slim stalks are intertwined between the weaver’s nimble fingers, to become a basket.
■The Farrier no one matches his skill for manufacturing old fashioned nails and luck-bringing horseshoes.
■The Barrel-hoop Maker, how to select the best branches to make hoops that will encircle the barrels containing our finest wines…
■The Spinner, discover how, from the coarse wool from our sheep, one can spin and work the immaculate strands, as our grandmothers used to do.
■The Potter, see her hands gradually give shape to jugs, vases, jars which she then decorates with talent.
And many more…

Opening dates and times
The village is open from 18 February to 11 November
Opening times: May to September from 10am to 7pm – October to May: from 10am to 5pm

Contact
24260 Le Bugue sur Vézère
Tel. 05 53 08 41 99 / Fax 05 53 08 42 01
www.lebournat.fr

The Beune Valley has been occupied for a very long time. Around Commarque, prehistoric man has left numerous traces of his passage. Not far from the site at Commarque, Paleolithic man left two female statuettes known as the Venus of Sireuil and the Venus of Laussel.
On the other side of the valley, in the shelter at Cap Blanc, one can admire a frieze of prehistoric sculptures. Under Commarque Castle there is a cave where Magdalenian man carved animals on the wall, notably a very beautiful life-sized horse (not open to the public).

The Uncertain Origins of Commarque

The most reasonable hypothesis would be to attribute the founding of a keep at Commarque to one of the two abbots of the same name who succeeded the abbey see of Sarlat during the last third of the XIIth century: Garin (1169-1181) or Randolph de Commarque (1195-1201). The building of a tower allowed them to contain the ambitions of their vassals the Beynacs, with whom they had a relationship of conflict. It was a member of their family who obtained its guard. The first Lord of Commarque, thus, was a “milites castri” or knight, who followed orders from the Abbey of Sarlat. In the XIIth century, a concentration of population existed there, made up of a keep with living quarters, a chapel and house towers: it was the castrum of Commarque.

The Beynacs, Lords of Commarque

There is mention of Commarque in archive documents from 1255 onwards. Maynard de Beynac became the lord of the château. The house towers were held by the lineages of lesser nobles, the names of several of which are known: the Commarque, the Cendrieux, the Gondrix, the La Chapelle… Each house tower had an enclosure, its own access, and ditches. The lord and knights fought over the rights of justice, land and other property.

The Rise of the Beynacs

During the course of the XIVth century, two major lineages had the first regrouping of lands by successive acquisitions. The Beynacs succeeded in constituting a veritable castellany around Commarque when they retook the rights of Marquay and of Sireuil from the Cendrieux and imposed their suzerainty on the den of Laussel. The Commarques took back the lands and rights from the descendants of the other knights, either by buying them or through alliances. From the middle of the XIVth century, the entire lower courtyard had become the noble house of the Commarques: they now disposed of a defensive parameter largely exceeding that of the Château of Beynac.

The Patrimony of the Beynacs Combined

In 1379 Pons de Beynac, Lord of Commarque, married Philippa, 12 years of age, heiress of the lords of Beynac. By this alliance, the lords of Commarque acquired the castellany of Beynac and its dependencies.

The Hundred Years’ War

During the Hundred Years’ War, the Beynacs stayed faithful defenders of the throne of France. Pons de Beynac enjoyed several political favors: he was among the clients of Beaufort-Turenne, of the Avignon papacy and of the Anjou party. The extension of Commarque Castle between 1370 and 1380 has been attributed to him. He undertook heightening the keep and the curtain wall, and had the crown of machicolations built which was inspired by the Palace of the Popes in Avignons.

The Decline of the Beynacs and the Commarques

Nevertheless, the Beynacs came out of the Hundred Years’ War badly. First of all, in 1406, the English, driven by Archambaud d’Abzac, seized hold of Commarque. The whole family was brought together and made prisoner. A tax, ordered by the king, was levied on the inhabitants of Perigord and Quercy to pay the ransom. The castellany of Commarque began to break up. In 1395, Pons lost the suzerainty over Laussel . He was unable to retain Domme. And in 1441, the Beynacs went under the influence of the Count of Perigord, a visible sign of their political weakening. During the 1500s, it seems that the resident families had already deserted the castrum of Commarque.

The Wars of Religion

During the Wars of Religion, the Beynacs were loyal to the cause of the Reform. From Commarque, which was his base of operation, Geoffroy, Baron of Beynac and Lord of Commarque, launched several attacks on Catholic hideouts in the area and even furtively took hold of Sarlat. In 1569, Commarque Castle was taken for the first time by the Catholics led by the seneschal and by the Governor of Perigord. It is without doubt following this siege that the vaulted room collapsed. As the new master of Commarque, Geoffroy installed a garrison there which, by way of reprisal, would be hanged the same year.

The Abandon and Renaissance of Commarque

Guy de Beynac, the last castellan living in Commarque Castle, died there in 1656. The site was definitively abandoned in XVIIIth century. A century later the castle was in ruins. In 1968, Hubert de Commarque bought his ancestors’ ruins. He undertook the consolidation of the most damaged parts. Since 1994 there have been successive phases of consolidation and restoration. Hubert of Commarque has given Kleber Rossillon, the creator of the Museum of Medieval Warfare in Castelnaud Castle and the Gardens of Marqueyssac, the task of opening the Commarque site to the public. A program of archeological research has been in place for several years.

Open hours

April and all saints holidays: from 10:00 am- 6:00 pm
May, June, September:
from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
July and August: from 10:00 am – 8:00 pm
Last admissions 1 hour before closing.

Free parking
Parking located 600 m from the site.
A specially fitted forest path leads to the entrance of the site.

2008 Price

Individual price
Adults: 6 €
Children (10 -17 yrs): 3 €
Children (-10 yrs): free

Group price
(for 20 or more persons)
Adults: 5 €
Children: 2,50 €

Confiscated during the French Revolution, the Château des Milandes went through several owners who did not make any particular mark on its history. In 1870, a rich industrialist, Monsieur Claverie, acquired it, restored and enlarged it to give it the appearance it has today. In this Monsieur Claverie was largely inspired by the Neo-Gothic architectural movement led by Viollet le Duc. The exterior was modified or rebuilt during the 19th Century and some parts, such as the square tower were raised. On top of this tower, a 36m3 water tank was built, fed by a spring passing under the Château. In fact the tower served as a water tower, the first modern convenience in the Château. The gardens, laid out in the 15th Century, were also reorganized in the 19th. The farm on the site of the present gardens was removed and a new one built a bit further away. It was reputed to be a model’ farm, extremely modern for its time. Making use of the additional space available and the perspectives opened up, Monsieur Claverie laid out a new garden “a la française”. The wine trade, important in the region from the 14th Century onwards, made a significant contribution to the local economy. “Gabarres”, flat bottomed boats, carried wine for export to England and Holland down the Dordogne to Bordeaux. Monsieur Claverie built the wine cellars, an outbuilding in the form of a barbican, in which he placed enormous vats called “foudres” (tuns) each containing some 45 barrels of wine. On the death of her husband Madame Claverie sold the Château in 1920 to a Monsieur Mallez and the Chapel to the Commune of Castelnaud.

In 1938 Josephine Baker the Vaudeville star rented the Château and then bought it in 1947. Born in the slums of St. Louis, her childhood was spent in the streets, getting by, along with other black kids, she grew up sleeping in cardboard shelters and scavenging for food in garbage cans. At the age of 13,she left her parents’ house and got a job as a waitress. In 1918, she started work for the BOOKER WASHINGTON THEATER Dance Troupe, first as a maid, then, fairly soon after, as the “Funny Girl”. In 1924 she became dresser to a troupe of “Girls” where, when one of them fell ill, she took her place at a moments notice. She rapidly became the main attraction, and her success made her famous. Soon after, a producer, Caroline DUDLEY, offered her a chance of a European tour as she was recruiting black artists for a show in Paris. Josephine accepted, but with a certain trepidation. On her arrival she soon discovered that people could be so open-minded; not like her beloved, but cruel, racist USA. Now, far away from racism and racial segregation she was free to take part in the struggle on behalf on her brothers and sisters, a battle in which she felt morally obliged to participate. France became her new country,Château des Milandes her new home and she remained there to the end of her life. Baker engaged in undercover work for the French Resistance during World War II. She became an “honorable correspondent” and became sub-lieutenant in the Women’s Auxiliary of the French Air Force and was awarded the “Medal of Resistance” and the “Legion d’Honore”. In 1940, Baker moved to MoroccoIn 1942, she toured the region performing for the resistance. She returned to France in 1944, got married in 1947 to Jo Bouillon, an orchestra leader, and was back in the States in 1948, where she became an activist for civil rights. She was back at the Milandes Château in 1954, with the intention of raising a family of ethnically diverse children that she had brought to France from her tours around the world. She called them her “Rainbow Tribe.”In her last years, Baker suffered struggles, financial difficulties, and poor health.She died on April 12, 1975, four days after the opening of Josephine, a show based on her life. Her funeral took place in her beloved France, the country which she had adopted as her home and had taken her into their hearts.

What an incredible day!. We met our guide for the cave region, Bart Vranken, just after breakfast, and before long he had us spellbound. His knowledge of history, art and philosophy was so well integrated, and he is so articulate, that the information came forth like a river, and all we had to do was to stay alert and process it all! This was a man with a plan. Bart arranged for us to be the first tour of the day at Rouffingnac, so no crowds would mar our experience?..

LE MENTALO
LES EYZIES
Tél / Fax : 05 53 06 92 01
map (G 7)

CAFE DE LA MAIRIE
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 06 98 26
map (F 6)

LAUGERIE BASSE
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 06 97 91 – Fax : 05 53 06 30 70
map (F 5)

LE FONT DE GAUME
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 35 18 00 – Fax : 05 53 35 18 01
map (E 11)

LA MILANAISE
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 35 43 97
map (E 5)

BAR ALEXANDRE
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 06 96 04 – Fax : 05 53 06 96 04
map (D 5)

LE PETIT GOURMAND
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 06 94 84
map (E 5)

LA METAIRIE
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 29 65 32 – Fax : 05 53 29 65 30
map (J 14)

DU CÔTÉ DE CHEZ CLO
LES EYZIES
Tél : 05 53 03 95 20
map (F 6)

LA SOURCE
TURSAC
Tél : 05 53 06 98 00 – Fax : 05 53 35 13 61
map (C 9)

LA TRUFFIERE DE GASTARY
MEYRALS
Tél : 05 53 30 34 61
map (K 13)

AUBERGE DES CINQ CHENES
SAINT FELIX DE REILHAC
Tél : 05 53 03 20 76 / 05 53 03 22 61
map (D 2)

AUBERGE DE MEYRALS
MEYRALS
Tél : 05 53 29 22 08
map (J 10)