Scenic Dordogne's Photo Forum / Gallery

LES EYZIES lies at the heart of an unspoilt area of great natural beauty with rolling hills, tranquil rivers and fascinating cliff and rock formations It has some of the world’s most beautiful caves and some with outstanding crystallisations.
Les Eyzies is the home to the National Prehistoric Museum which houses one of the world’s most complete collections of prehistoric artefacts.
A prehistorian once said that there were only 2 prehistoric sites in Les Eyzies, those on the right and those on the left bank of the river!

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Tayac is a very small picturesque village that is part of Les Eyzies, although it does not get as overly busy as Les Eyzies.
Tayac is built up against a hill, and around the fortified church "St. Martin" Tayac is about 800 years older than Les Eyzies, and has a lot of hidden secrets from the Prehistoric Periode, such as a "Roman Temple", Neanderthal settlements, a pre-historic troglodyte site, and a spring that contains healing powers.

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Beynac and its castle is undoubtedly one of the finest in France. The village where Paul Eluard was born is built in stages above the water's edge, at the bottom of a 150 metre cliff, topped by an impressive fort. This eagle's nest might seem rather austere if it were not for the sun lighting up its golden walls, mirrored by the Dordogne. With its changing colors and the luminosity of the stone, the sky and the water, Beynac is a paradise for painters and photographers in all seasons.

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The Château de Castelnaud dominating the commune of Castelnaud-la-Chapelle, overlooking the Dordogne River in Perigord, France, is a medieval fortress that was erected to face its rival, the Château de Beynac. The oldest documents mentioning it date to the thirteenth century, when it figured in the Albigensian Crusade; its Cathar castellan was Bernard de Casnac. Simon de Montfort took the castle and installed a garrison; when it was retaken by Bernard, he hanged them all. During the Hundred Years War the castellans of Castelnaud owed their allegiance to the Plantagenets, the sieurs de Beynac across the river, to the king of France. In after times it was abandoned bit by bit, until by the French Revolution it was a ruin.

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The little town of Rocamadour (pop. 780), one of France's most unusual places of pilgrimage, lies in an extremely picturesque situation, clinging to the rock face above a gorge on the Alzou (which is frequently dry) in the Causse de Gramat in Quercy. In the Middle Ages pilgrims flocked here to honor the Black Virgin of Roc-Amadour (12th C.). Above the town is its 12th C. castle, which is reached on a steep flight of steps with the Stations of the Cross. It is not known with certainty who St Amadour was - perhaps a hermit named Zacchaeus from Jericho. The great shrine of Rocamadour is the Chapelle Miraculeuse with the Black Virgin.

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The site of Limeuil has been lived on since prehistoric times (various artefacts dating from approximately 10,000 BC have been found). Limeuil, listed as « One of the Most Beautiful Villages of France », is essentially a medieval village as the three fortified gateways and ruins of the castle and ramparts testify.

A short stroll around the village gives a taste of the diversity on offer; at the foot of the two magnificent bridges, built in 1891, a sandy beach leads down into the clear water. A little further along, the 15th century port entrance which leads up to an extremely steep street is carved with the water levels reached during the great floods.

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Lascaux is a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne département. They contain some of the most well-known (Upper Paleolithic) art, dating back to somewhere between 15,000 and 13,000 BC. They consist mostly of realistic images of large animals, including aurochs, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. They were added to UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979.

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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

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All the pictures in this Album have been taken by us, on our trips.

Horse riding, walking, canoeing, mountain biking, this is the real way to experience the REAL Dordogne.
Walking Dordogne and Unforgettable Dordogne will take you to the places that are only accessible on foot, canoe or horse if you want to experience the real Dordogne, you will have to get off the roads, and on the tracks.

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B&B "Ferme de Tayac". The most loved and talked about B&B in the Dordogne. "Ferme de Tayac", a beautiful 12th century former farmhouse / monastery situated next to St. Martin, the fortified church of the lovely peaceful village Tayac, and 1km from Les Eyzies known as the "Prehistoric Capital" of the world.
For hundreds of years "Ferme de Tayac" was worked by the Monks, and with all of it's authentic buildings,ruins, rooms carved into the rock, meter thick fortified walls and original oak beam construction, it's no wonder that "Ferme de Tayac"
is a much loved and talked about B&B.

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