Where Exactly Are You?
France is divided into administrative divisions. There are 22 régions, created in 1972, made up of the 96 départements created in 1790 (later modified by Napoleon) and usually named after a major river. The two-digit number used in postal codes and on car registrations refers to the département. Départements are further divided into arrondissements, cantons and communes.
In this part of France you may be in the Aquitaine or Limousin régions. The Dordogne is a département of Aquitaine. Prior to 1790, the area was known as Périgord—a name still widely used, especially regarding its cuisine. Périgord is subdivided into Périgord vert, blanc and noir, reflecting its hilly, chalky or wooded landscapes. The Lot, another river giving its name to a département, unites the Haut and Bas Quercy.
Attractions
- Rocamadour – attractive pilgrim town; France’s second most visited site
- Lascaux II – impeccable recreation of prehistoric cave paintings
- Cahors – pretty medieval town on the River Lot
- Sarlat – well-preserved medieval and Renaissance town
- Limoges – famous for porcelain
- Oradour-Sur-Glane – deserted village left untouched since its population was massacred in WWII
Overview
Often described as the most beautiful river in France, the Dordogne flows more than 300 miles west from the Massif Central to join the Garonne north of Bordeaux, forming the Gironde estuary. The wider region is famed for its landscapes, rural charm, and the highest concentration of prehistoric sites in Europe. Périgord is known for its simple, high-quality cuisine, often paired with Bordeaux wines, while its towns and villages retain traditional character despite their popularity with tourists.
Science
The Dordogne is rich in caves and chasms. Rainwater containing carbonic acid dissolves limestone plateaus, forming fissures that grow into chasms, underground rivers and lakes. As water finds new routes, old riverbeds dry up. Sites such as Padirac reveal spectacular formations—stalactites, stalagmites and calcite cascades deposited over millennia.
The caves of the Dordogne sheltered humans until roughly 10,000 years ago. Scientific exploration of the region began in the 19th century, largely through the work of French prehistorians. Discoveries continue: in 2000 an amateur explorer found a major cave in Cussac containing 30,000-year-old engravings of mammoths, rhinoceroses and unidentified animals. Ownership of such caves often becomes legally contentious, as archaeological value and tourism potential collide.
The life of prehistoric humans is understood through geological stratigraphy and the chemical and physical properties of rock layers. Many Dordogne cave paintings were preserved because rockfalls sealed their entrances and made them airtight. Dating the artworks requires varied scientific techniques. Carbon dating is less effective at Lascaux because the pigments were made from metal oxides such as iron and manganese rather than carbon. Small fragments—pigment grains, bones or charcoal—help establish timelines.
The original Lascaux caves were opened to the public in the 1940s, but by the late 1950s the breath of thousands of visitors had begun corroding the walls and encouraging algae and calcite growth. The caves were closed in 1963. Lascaux II, created in the 1980s, is a meticulous replica of the most iconic chambers, based on exact stereo-photographic surveys and reconstructed using the same natural pigments and techniques as the original artists.
Pre-History
Main Eras
- Stone Age: 2 million – 4000 BC
- Bronze Age: 4000 – 751 BC
- Iron Age: 750 BC – AD 43
Dates vary by region based on when societies transitioned to metalworking or agriculture.
Terminology
- Pre-history – Period before written records
- Paleo – ancient
- Meso – middle
- Neo – new
- Lithic – stone
- Homo sapiens – intelligent human
- Neanderthal – named after the Neander Valley, Germany
- Cro-Magnon – named after a cave in the Dordogne where remains were found
- Magdalenian culture – from the Madeleine caves; an Upper Paleolithic culture
History
Stone tools marked the beginning of a major shift in human development. Neanderthals lived in the region from roughly 90,000 to 40,000 BC, using fire, hunting large animals and burying their dead. Climate change eventually caused their disappearance. They were followed by Cro-Magnon humans—anatomically modern, highly skilled and artistically expressive—who decorated tools, made music and painted the caves we see today.
The earliest paintings date back 20,000 years, but the most sophisticated works—those at Lascaux—date to about 17,000 years ago. Tallow lamps burning reindeer fat enabled the artists to travel deep into the caves, shaping images to the contours of the rock walls. The caves provided shelter, water and natural hunting traps. Whether the paintings served ritual, symbolic or narrative purposes remains a matter of debate.
Introduction to the Stone Age
Paleolithic (2 million – 13,000 years ago)
- Lower Paleolithic: mastery of fire; large-game hunting
- Middle Paleolithic: Neanderthal period; improved tools; cave entrances used as dwellings
- Upper Paleolithic: Cro-Magnon period; Dordogne cave shelters; refined tools; emergence of art (Magdalenian culture)
Mesolithic (13,000 years ago): efficient hunting and fishing; early grain harvesting.
Neolithic (6,000 years ago): polished stone tools; agriculture; settled communities; megalithic monuments.
Arts
Upper Paleolithic cave art in the Dordogne features three themes: animals, humans and symbolic signs. Humans are rare at Lascaux; hand stencils appear elsewhere. Animal subjects include horses, reindeer, bison, mammoths, rhinos, bears and salmon. Rare animals tend to appear in remote parts of the caves.
The Lascaux works are prized for their quantity, craftsmanship and dynamism. Artists used the contours of the cave walls to create depth and movement, achieving realistic forms in the dim, flickering light of tallow lamps. As the climate warmed and herds migrated northward, this local artistic tradition faded.
Lifestyle and Food
Périgord cuisine is rustic, hearty and regionally distinctive. Duck and goose dominate the local diet. Their meat is preserved in fat as confit and appears in dishes such as cassoulet. Magret de canard (duck breast) is ubiquitous. Local starters include salade de gésiers (duck gizzard salad) and cou farci (stuffed goose neck). Duck and goose also produce rillettes and, more famously, foie gras.
Foie gras production involves force-feeding ducks and geese for 15–18 days until their livers triple or quadruple in size. The delicacy is typically eaten chilled with bread, sliced with a warm knife and paired with sweet regional wines. Though controversial today, it dates back to ancient Egypt and was later refined by the Romans.
Périgord is France’s leading producer of strawberries, harvesting around 20,000 tons annually. Walnuts are also widely grown and appear in many desserts. From Limousin comes clafoutis, a baked cherry custard.
Truffles
- Underground fungus known as “black diamonds”
- Grow on roots of oak and hazelnut trees
- Found using trained dogs or pigs
- Harvested November–March
- Best eaten fresh; flavour reduces when preserved
- Only about 4 tons harvested annually (hundreds of tons in the 19th century)
- Périgord truffles are prized for their aroma, colour and texture
- May sell for up to $300 per 100g in Paris
- Used in sauces, omelettes, pastas and more
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Born in 1122, Eleanor of Aquitaine inherited a domain larger than that of the French king. She was queen of both France and England, divorcing Louis VII (with whom she joined the Second Crusade) and later marrying Henry II of England. Mother of ten— including Richard the Lionheart—she supported her sons in rebellion against their father, leading to her imprisonment until Henry’s death.
Cultured, politically influential and long-lived, Eleanor is considered one of the most remarkable women of the Middle Ages—sometimes called the “grandmother of Europe.”
Wines
Viticulture in France dates back to Roman times. In the Middle Ages, monasteries cultivated vines to produce sacramental wine. Vineyards often developed near ports for ease of export. The 19th-century phylloxera epidemic destroyed 10,000 square km of vines. After WWII, French grape varieties were grafted onto resistant American rootstocks.
The nearby Bordeaux region is one of the world’s great wine regions, producing mostly red wines such as Médoc and Saint-Émilion. Cahors wines are nearly black and have a peppery flavour. Regional whites include Graves, and the sweet wines of Sauternes and Monbazillac—classic companions to foie gras.
The Visit
Sarlat
The capital of Périgord Noir, Sarlat is a beautifully preserved medieval and Renaissance town with cobbled lanes and atmospheric squares. Highlights include Maison de la Boétie, Hôtel Plamon, Place de la Liberté (site of the Saturday market), Cour de la Fontaine, Cour des Chanoines, and the Lanterne des Morts behind the cathedral. The town grew around an 8th-century Benedictine monastery and saw significant damage during the Hundred Years War and Wars of Religion. A major restoration in the 1960s revived its architectural splendour.
Cahors
Cahors, capital of the Lot département, sits within a bend of the River Lot. Its most famous monument is the fortified 14th-century Pont Valentré. Medieval houses, narrow lanes and market squares cluster in the eastern peninsula between Boulevard Gambetta and the river. Prosperity in the Middle Ages came from river trade and the presence of a university founded by Cahors-born Pope John XXII. The town later passed to the English in 1360 for eighty years and was sacked in the Wars of Religion.
Rocamadour
Rocamadour clings dramatically to the cliffs above the River Alzou. Its Cité Réligieuse contains seven chapels, including the Chapelle Notre-Dame with its 12th-century Black Madonna, long venerated for its miracles. In 1166 the preserved body of a hermit—declared to be Zacchaeus, later known as St Amadour—was discovered, boosting the town’s prestige as a pilgrimage site. Visitors today may reach the site via elevator or by climbing the historic 216-step Grand Escalier.
Lascaux II
Located a short walk from the original cave, Lascaux II recreates the Hall of the Bulls and the Axial Gallery using identical pigments and techniques. Antechambers house displays explaining cave archaeology, pigments, dating methods and objects such as tallow lamps and flints. The original cave was discovered in 1940 by four teenagers searching for their dog, Robot, who had fallen into a hole—his fate is unknown.
Grotte de Rouffignac
Rouffignac contains original 13,000-year-old cave drawings of mammoths, woolly rhinos and bison. Visitors ride a small underground train along a dry prehistoric riverbed to view the engravings.
Gouffre de Padirac
This vast chasm, 30m wide and 75m deep, likely formed when a cave roof collapsed. Explored in 1889, it reveals immense caverns, calcite waterfalls and underground lakes. Visits include a boat ride on the subterranean river followed by a walking tour.
Oradour-Sur-Glane
This ruined village near Limoges has been left untouched since the massacre of its 642 residents by the SS on June 10, 1944. Women and children were locked in the church and killed; men were shot in barns and garages. The village remains a powerful memorial, with the Maison du Souvenir and a museum documenting the rise of Nazism and the events of that day.
Limoges
Limoges produces half of France’s porcelain. The discovery of kaolin in the region enabled the production of hard-paste porcelain beginning in 1771. Porcelain is fired three times at extremely high temperatures and is prized for its whiteness, translucency and strength. Limoges enamelware also uses local metal oxides to create vivid colours. The town is divided into two districts: the historic Cité and the Château district with shops and the half-timbered Rue de la Boucherie.
An American in the Dordogne
Josephine Baker, the celebrated African-American performer of 1920s Paris, purchased the Château des Milandes near Sarlat in 1947 and created an experimental multicultural community she called the “Rainbow Tribe.” She adopted 12 children from around the world and opened the estate to visitors. Financial difficulties eventually forced its sale in 1968.
Baker rose from poverty in St. Louis to stardom on Broadway and then in Paris, performing iconic routines such as her banana-skirt dance at the Folies Bergère. During WWII she served as a Resistance agent, earning the Légion d’Honneur. Later she became a vocal civil-rights advocate in the United States. She worked until her late 60s and died in 1974 shortly after a triumphant retrospective performance in Paris.