Day 1: Amboise to Sarlat-la-Canéda
It wasn’t fun getting up at 5:30 to catch our train but we made it out the door by 6:30 as planned. The streets were unsurprisingly empty at that hour. The train to Bordeaux was not packed. The station was, when we arrived. We first grabbed two seats next to sniffly twitchy guy but he was freaking us out so we moved.
Our second train was more of a local with more scenery along the way, like canola fields and castles on the horizon.
It wasn’t a fun one-mile walk to our hotel, probably because I wasn’t drinking water because the restroom on the train was gross. We stopped at a Lidl (for our first time ever) and got alcohol and breakfast. Love an excuse to have pain chocolat every morning. We got stuck behind a clueless slow-moving family taking up the whole sidewalk but we weren’t in a hurry.
We booked our hotel room primarily for the terrace and it turned out to have an excellent courtyard view.
We had a tapas style dinner at Coin Coin (that’s quack quack in English) around the corner. The old part of Sarlat is gaslit after dark, accentuating the old-world feel and the golden stone walls.
Day 2: Sarlat
Sarlat is beautiful and great for wandering. We followed Rick Steves’ walk in reverse (since we were staying at the far end), then filled in with other streets and alleys. Here is the market square, viewed from the statue of the boy who sits watching it. This was much more crowded on market day.
Uphill from the town center is the Lanterne des Morts, or lantern of the dead. There are competing theories about what these structures are, but they are often near cemeteries. This is a well-preserved example from around 1180.
This life-size bronze statue of three geese is in Marché aux Oies (Goose Market Square) where live are still sold during festivals. Goose and foie gras are local specialties. Here’s a close up of one of the gaslights.
After our walk we had some afternoon cognac on the terrace, then did the scenic elevator after they reopened at 14:30. Since we were the only English speakers, the spiel was in French. They hollowed out a tower in town and installed an open top glass elevator. It stops at the top of the tower where you stand while the guide explains things, then circulate to take photos. It was very warm up there on a not very warm day. I can’t imagine how hot it would be in summer. The views are great.
We tried — and failed —to find the city gate near us, then went to Carrefour for Calvados, wine, and crackers. We had a delicious dinner at La Couleuvrine. Like other parts of Europe there are lots of cute, well-behaved dogs here.
Day 3: Dordogne Villages Tour
We did a nice tour of nearby villages in the afternoon.
Back in town we walked to the train station to see if the other route was easier to walk. The upper route is easier, no steep inclines. We made a slight detour to Lidl on the way back to our place.
One of our sources of amusement here are the pigeons trying to build a nest on the beam above our balcony. They can’t fly straight at it so they come swooping in over the table. They seem to reject (or lose) as much building material as they keep.
Day 4: Manoir de Gisson Museum
I had two goals for today: go to the Manoir de Gisson museum, and sit on the terrace in a lounge chair and read. I achieved both.
The museum was excellent. It not only had nicely furnished rooms, but mannequins in period costumes.
We went for a walk after the museum, trying to take in streets we hadn’t seen yet. It seems like around every corner there’s another little alley or courtyard.
In addition to the overall beauty of the golden stone walls, Sarlat is full of details like this stone-roofed gable, half timbered buildings, and this trompe l’œil clock. We enjoyed our stay here and could see coming back for longer.
Essentials
Lodging
We had the two-bedroom Montesquieu flat at La Villa des Consuls. We cetainly didn’t need the second bedroom but we wanted this covered balcony. (And made good use of it.) There’s a twisty steep staircase that makes transporting baggage challenging. At least it’s only up one floor. The inside of the the suite is as nice as the terrace. The terrace was used for filming in a movie called The Duellists. Which we kind of vaguely remember having watched? We may have to watch it again. The location in the old town was great. Close to everything yet quiet.
Dining
We had a tapas style dinner at Coin Coin. It started chaotically — they had a tour group upstairs — but the food was really good. We shared local potatoes sarladaises, dried duck, salmon tataki, a grean bean salad, and foie gras. Also a bottle of local white wine. Our other meal out was at the restaurant at La Couleuvrine. It was almost empty when we arrived but filled up fast. We ordered from the set menu: foie gras spring rolls, duck with potatoes, almond cake and cottage cheese (more like whipped cream cheese) with currants and other fruit. Everything was delicious, especially the duck. We were able to book online for both restaurants.
Transportation
We took the train into and out of Sarlat and were able to walk everywhere we needed in town. There isn’t really any public transportation in the area or any place to rent a car in Sarlat, so we booked a tour to get to some of the local villages. We really didn’t want to rent a car, which is the only other way to get around the area.