Starting September 2011

Short bit of History.

During summer of 1789 was the outbreak of the French Revolution. There were numerous good reasons that started the French Revolution, but one of the largest was BREAD!!.. the price of bread was soaring. For example, in August 1788, 50% of a peasant’s income went toward the purchase of bread. By July 1789, this figure had risen to 80%.
Bread was a way of collecting taxes, and it was illegal for peasants to own an oven, grindstone and to bake their own bread. Some people risked their lives to supply bread illegally to the poorest peasants.
The most famous of these heroes was “Jacques le Croquant” He and his men put up communal ovens hidden away in the hills and forests, well guarded and well used.

Jacques le Croquant was captured in May of 1794 on the day of his 26th birthday …he was be-headed.
Just 2 months later in July 28, 1794 the French Revolution came to an end.

In the footsteps of Jacques le Croquant

This amazing journey takes you on a real exciting and fascinating journey back in time. You will get to see 5 ORIGINAL illegal ovens still tucked away.
You will travel along ancient paths, to ruined villages, the ruins of a Templar Hospital, and numerous caves and shelters.
A lot of this adventure is off the beaten track. The trip can be done in about 6 hours, but can be extended with various other hikes.

It is possible to do a shorter version of this trip, but we really do not recommend it unless you are really short on time.

This adventure is a MUST for anyone interested in Historic and adventurous off the beaten trail hikes.

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For more info visit : www.walkingdordogne.com

We are really looking forward to spending some time with Rip3d, who for the past 3 years has been a mtb guide for Walking Dordogne.

To read more about this Mountain Biking Globetrotter, take a look at some of his personal sites.

• www.highonmountainbiking.com
• www.mountainbiketrailsusa.com
• www.mountainbikemayhem.com
• www.rip3d.info
• www.mtb-trails.com
• www.youtube.com/user/RIP3D#g/u 
• www.flickr.com/photos/rip3d/ 

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Ode to the Clan is ideal for kids aged between 7 – 12, it goes without saying that the young ones must have an adventurous spirit.

The good news is, parents get to come along absolutely FREE

** At least one parent required per 2 kids
** Max size per group is 3 kids and 2 adults (parents)

For more info about this and other tours in the Vezere Valley please visit : www.walkingdordogne.com

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The Dordogne region in southwest France conjures up a vision of England as it used to be 50 years ago – a green rural paradise of quiet little villages nestling in shallow valleys. It offers the walker a beautiful environment in which to walk, surrounded by delightful pastoral countryside, sweeping fields of crops and walnut orchards plus dramatic vistas from cliff tops. The 30 routes, split between the regions of Sarlat and Bergerac, move through this countryside, taking you along valley bottoms and into woodlands and leave plenty of time for exploring the historic sites or just sitting in the delightful surroundings of a village caf?. Illustrated with the author’s own colour photographs and sketch maps, this is a comprehensive guide to exploring the region on foot.

Product Details
Amazon Sales Rank: #1184018 in Books
Published on: 2010-01-01
Original language: English
Number of items: 1
Binding: Paperback
160 pages
Features
ISBN13: 9781852844158

Condition: New
Notes: BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.

If you are planning  to visit the nicest region of France, why not stay at the nicest accommodation the nicest region has to offer?Le Chèvrefeuille is a beautiful 18th century farmhouse bed and breakfast, gite complex combining modern comfort with historical charm. Located in the picturesque and tranquil hamlet of Pechboutier, Le Chèvrefeuille bed and breakfast offers five charming en-suite rooms and three self-contained gites, each with a private terrace and garden. Enjoy a magnificent meal of fine food and local wine freshly prepared by Ian, our trained chef and served in our stunning central courtyard.
Just 5km from the market village of St Cyprien, 7km from the ‘prehistoric capital’ of Les Eyzies and 17km from the medieval town of Sarlat, our accomodation provides the perfect location from which to explore the castles, rockart, caves and medieval villages which make up the vivid and diverse history of this region or simply to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing holiday.

Le Chèvrefeuille Gites

Le Chèvrefeuille has three Gites, or self catering accommodation.

La Petite Maison is our one bedroom gite, contained on the upper floor, it has one bedroom, living area which includes a small kitchette, bathroom and seperate toilet. It has a private terrace area set in its own cottage garden with furniture and BBQ.

Grapevine & Passiflore are our two bedroom gites, located in our 19th century barn. They are identical in dimensions and layout, each with an individual private terrace over looking our beautiful meadow garden.They are on two floors with the bedrooms on the first floor & living area on the ground floor.

Grapevine plus Breadroom can be combined to create a three bedroom gite. The breadroom is our superior bed and breakfast room connected to the grapevine gite by their terrace areas and offers an additional bedroom en-suite for extended family, parents and friends whilst offering a degree of privacy.

Outside area and Facilities

Le Chevrefeuille has large gardens with open and shaded areas ideal for relaxation and play. The large meadow garden is for the exclusive use of guests staying in the gites Passiflore, Grapevine, & the Breadroom, who all have immediate access from their individual terraces. In the meadow garden, large walnut trees offer splendid shaded areas for eating or reading and from this garden you gain a beautiful view over Pechboutier and its woodland which provides a delightful spot for bird watching. A children’s play area located at the bottom of the garden provides entertainment for children in a safe environment that can be viewed from the terraces for the comfort and relaxation of the parents with total peace of mind.

We offer an indoor children’s playroom including toys and for those who wish to explore the stunning countryside of the immediate area we have bikes available, including a child’s bike seat.

Baby equipment is available, which includes cot, bedding, changing mat, toys, highchair, soft chair and stair gate.

Washing machine, ironing facilities and washing line are provided for the use of our guests.

There is ample car parking facilities

B&B Rooms

Le Chèvrefeuille has five chambre d’hote or bed and breakfast rooms all of which are en-suite. We have two standard double rooms, two family rooms and the “bread room” which is our superior double room and is located outside in our beautiful courtyard.

Rooms

All our bed and breakfast rooms are all of a good size, all with European king size beds (with exception of the garden room which has a standard double bed and breakfast ) and shower en-suites.

Breakfast

The price of the room includes breakfast which consists of fresh croissants, a selection of fresh breads and pastries, fruit, yoghurt, cereals, juice and tea/coffee.

Dining

In addition to the varied local restaurants we are able to offer beautifully cooked evening meals using only the best fresh local produce. Dinner consists of a table d’hote menu of four courses plus coffee for Euros 23.50 per adult, 10 for children and is served in our magnificent courtyard.

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For more info visit : www.lechevrefeuille.com

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Fonluc offers the best and most unique horse riding experience in the Dordogne and Vezere Valley Horse riding in the Dordogne is an absolute unique experience, nowhere else in the world can you visibly travel through more than 250000 years of history, from neanderthal dwellings, through Cro-Magnon settlements to Medieval towns and villages, all within a day. The Vezere valley in the hart of the Perigord Noir is with its more than 250 UNESCO sites of interest the undisputed Prehistoric Capital of the World. Most of these sites are only accessible on foot or horseback. Vezere Valley, Lascaux, La Madeleine, Commarque, Font de Gaume, these are just a very small list of the treasures on our doorstep.Ferme de Fonluc guarantees you horse riding trips and multi day treks that you will never forget, you will get to see the real Dordogne, and see places in the Prehistoric Capital of the World that tourists never get to see.

Gite Accommodation

Although this site is new, and pretty empty, we do have a lot of content to post, and hopefully in the near future others will start posting Dordogne Trail info as well.
Also, all Walking Dordogne Trails will be mapped using GPS, this should happen in the first half of 2011. It will then be possible to download the GPX, KML or TCX file to import to any GPS .

Any upcoming news and info will be posted here..

Mountain biking in the Dordogne offers a unique experience, offering mountain bikers miles of trails that takes the rider through stunning ancient scenery, riddled with caves, shelters, overhangs, troglodytes, ruins and stunning views. The trails in the Dordogne are probably the oldest trails in the world.

In the past 5 years, the  Dordogne has  spent a lot of time and money clearing, marking and connecting hundreds of trails, creating a fantastic, well marked  trail system. The downside is, that maps and / or trail books for mountain biking are non existent.

The trail option I went for was clockwise, and started with a scenic easy climb through the medieval hamlet of Tayac, but after just 3 minutes disappeared onto a singletrack into the woods. The following 20 minutes is climbing up an ancient very rocky track. The track levels out slightly and takes you onto a dirt double track for another mile. A singletrack on the right quickly drops off, this is the trail you have to take, so make sure your gears are out of granny and you are prepared for a fast bumpy, slippery and grade 3 technical downhill.. choose your comfortable speed and your path, and stick to it, be easy on the brakes, ‘cos this is a “slip & slide” section.

The trail takes you down to a road, that you must follow for 2 minutes to continue  off road. Ride over the bridge, and make an immediate left down the steep short path that leads to the river, continue past the canoe outfitter and follow the river for about 2 miles.. Cross a railway line, and take an immediate left and follow the double track for a few miles, passing a very picturesque  medieval hub of  houses. The trail leads to a rural road that you will have to follow for a few miles.. This road is a steep climb, taking you to the top, so keep telling yourself that you will soon be on a long sweet downhill singletrack.
The downhill is fast and fun, somewhat rocky, but technically a grade 2, however, there is little room for error at these potential high speeds.

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The smile on your face will soon disappear, ‘cos you bottom out to a long and tiring climb, the good news is, you are nearing “Hells Gorge”
Hells Gorge is just under 2 miles, but believe me, it is steep, extremely fast, slippery as an eel in a bucket of snot, rocky, bumpy, blind spots and it bottoms out onto a busy road. Being Gung Ho on Hells Gorge is definitely not a good idea, and I suggest you do a “Granny Run” before you attempt this section… don’t get me wrong, Hells Gorge is not a technical run, as in “Technical” but due to a combination of all the above, it is a very demanding section, with zero room for any errors.

The Gite

The Gite is situated at the far end of the old stone built farm house, furnished with taste and retaining much of the original architectural features of stone and oak beams. The Gite has its own private parking area and patio for outdoor eating and sunbathing and its own private entrance.

The Gite has an open plan sitting room and dinning area and well equipped kitchen with cooker – fridge – washing machine – dishwasher – microwave and gas fired central heating for those colder days of Autumn Winter and Spring, a French window opens to the courtyard and garden there are tables and chairs where you can relax or dine under the shade of a giant weeping willow tree or sunbath in the garden

The bedroom on the first floor with a large comfortable double bed has an en-suite shower toilet and hand basin and a full height French window looks out on the courtyard and garden

On the second floor a twin bedroom again with en-suite shower toilet and hand basin, the feature of this room is the exposed ancient beams of the construction of the roof

The Gite is let on a weekly basis from 4 o’clock on Saturday to 10 o’clock on Saturday.

Bed & Breakfast

We have 5 comfortable bedrooms at Les Papillons.

Room No.1

A charming room with twin beds that can be set as a double bed if wished – the room has a shower room and toilet just across the stair landing

Family Suite Rooms 2 and 3

Room No.2

a twin room with antique French twin beds and Room No.3 a room with an English antique double bed – which make up a family suite with connecting door and share an en-suite shower room and toilet which is situated in Room No. 3

Room No.4

A comfortable room with a view from the window of Beynac médiéval Château this room has an antique double brass bed and the room has an en-suite with a shower toilet and hand basin.

Room No.5

This room also has a wonderful view of Beynac Castle it is a cosy room with an en-suite shower room with toilet and hand basin the bed is a French antique double bed which very comfortable although smaller than the normal double.

Room No.6

The larger of the 2nd. Floor bedrooms with two windows looking out to Beynac and having an en-suite shower room with toilet and hand basin; The feature of this room is the wonderful ceiling beams which make up the ancient roof structure

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The Vezere Valley is about history, so our choice of accommodation must be about history. We are thrilled to use B&B “Ferme de Tayac” as our accommodation, a lovely B&B in a 12th century former Farmhouse / Monastery situated in Tayac, a quaint little village smack bang in the middle of the Vezere valley and only 5 minutes walk from Les Eyzies, the Prehistoric Capital of the World. The rooms are all en suite, spacious and comfy with views and in former Monks quarters and oozing history. Built up against solid rock, which means there are 2 ground levels, walls of solid rock, ancient oak beam structures, fortified walls 3 feet thick, a massive and original wine press in the huge dining room, monk’s carvings in the stone walls, and lots and lots more.

Situated in Les Eyzies de Tayac, in the heart of the Vezere Valley means B&B Ferme de Tayac is the ideal place to use as a base to explore the region.
Evening’s and morning’s can be spent relaxing at the large pool, or anywhere else in their lovely gardens. And for those who have not had enough walking, there are numerous lovely walks that can be done from B&B Ferme de Tayac.

For more info about B&B Ferme de Tayac, visit their official web site: www.fermedetayac.com

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