A trip with Héliclub du Périgord or Montgolfiers du Périgord is a memorable way to reveal the grandeur of the landscape and to peek at some of the lovingly maintained private manoirs and châteaux hidden away in the forests. Photo credit: Chanet/ CRTAįor a bird’s-eye view of the “valley of a thousand châteaux” you need to take to the air, by balloon or helicopter. Lascaux IV, or the Centre International de l’Art Pariétal. Hood down for maximum fresh air (no air con here), you get used to the roaring of the little engine, the surprisingly comfy ride and the yacht-like heeling over on bends, and soon enough there’s a big smile on your face as the signposts guide you towards what is one of France’s most visited historical sites, Rocamadour. Starting upstream near the city of Brive-la-Gaillarde (handy to fly into from Paris or London), I have a few miles of rolling roads through the upland plateaux of the Causses, with their distinctive stone walls and stone shepherd huts, to get used to the sensation of driving the iconic 2CV. 24), that is only one part of the story of a river whose source is high up in the volcanic hills of the Auvergne and which weaves its way along the limestone canyons of Corrèze and the Lot, before meandering through the Dordogne Valley, where it enters the famous wine-growing estuary near Bordeaux. Photo credit: FotoliaĪlthough there is a département called Dordogne, (No.

Dordogne france map regions