If you travel around the Dordogne area there is a market everyday, the one in Sarlat is on Wednesday and we called in, as you do here. Sarlat is quite a big town and the attendance at the market was hugh, wall to wall people, lots of English spoken and American drawl. Again it seems to be a nice place but with that many bodies it was uncomfortable, so we bought a few things and went back to the car park and set sail for La Roque St Christophe.

This is a World Heritage Site and is a refuge built by the People of the Cliffs thousands of years ago and was peopled right up until the Renaissance period. It is literally a town carved into the rock of which there are a few in this area but La Roque St Christophe is probably the best known. It is truly an amazing place and it is a credit to the French that they have restored and made it accessible for visitors although you would need some stamina for the climb. There is of course a church, a forge, store rooms and living quarters, there are also some reconstructed lifting machines to show how goods and construction materials were lifted into place. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I’m not sure the photographs do justice.

Just a few minutes drive away is another cliff dwelling but this time it is a whole chateau, it’s full title Maison Forte de Reignac, Le Chateau Falaise. The front looks fake but was built against the cliff face then the rest of it was excavated from the rock itself. Of course it was originally the caves of the Troglodytes (love that word the French use it a lot) and was inhabited since prehistoric times but the front was added in the 17th century. Again an amazing place and again stamina is needed for there are a lot of steps, but the place goes on and on and up and up to the battlements at the top. Mind you the torture and execution exhibition was great!

That was enough climbing for the day and home to rest

Day 34 - Troglodytes Again..... La Roque St Christophe