French cities along the Dordogne

Those who seek the upper Dordogne will come by and Uzerche Brive. Even before reaching the plateau south lawn of Limoges, they can go back and look at the church Solignac, a large department-style vaulted Périgourdin.

The churches of the Bocage tend to have a mixed character. Some are Périgourdin fit, but most are Limousin. Around here they are made of hard granite stone, to work hard. The builders seem to have vengeance on the recalcitrant materialcarving of capital and the brackets under the roof grotesque, as in Vigeois.

The juggler, who offered his deed to God before the altar, sometimes doubling back heels behind the ears. The jewel of the region is Uzerche. As the hill from the roads is low, taking on a ridge in a horseshoe curve are the Vezere, dark towers of a tooth against the wooded slopes of the opposite side, like a city after a Madonna enthroned in an image.

'S full ofRoads in the fifteenth and sixteenth century, when every home has a stair tower. They say: "The man who has a house in a castle in the Limousin Uzerche," and the feeling is quite close to the truth. The city lies by a Romanesque church, long and dark, with a fine tip and a round tower as an attachment to its western end.

Uzerche west of the Castle de Pompadour, the leader of a great effort. It 's funny to see his thick guard towers, andto reflect that this is the castle, feudal titles and was the mistress of Louis XV was granted. But two cautions must be expressed in that regard.

First, Madame de Pompadour never lived in it, should have been the most barbarous to the limit. And secondly, the gates and the outer wall rose above are the only authentic part of the castle. The rest was destroyed during the revolution. The main building is an accurate reproduction. E 'by the officials of a state of life stallion, is the authenticLubersac Castle, a few miles north.

Uzerche south of the road passes through pastoral land, the old city of Donzenac in Brive-la-Gaillarde. The title gallant, or suits Brive, a small town prosperous and happy. He lives in the train, in part as a cross, but also exporting it first fruits and fruits in Paris. This track is often used to convey five-star world cruise in Paris, depending on the route.

The basin of Brive mustits extraordinary fertility of the alluvial deposits and a cliff of red sandstone, which is always fertile ground, both in East Lothian or Limousin. The city descended from the train in Correze, stopping at the Church of San Martino. This has been a rise in the tall pillars, the structure restored with a skills gap.

The market is on Saturday at the church a good place to find the true peak. Many of the places between Brive and Perigueux is equally well-attendedfrom Brive, including towers and the odd Hautefort Abbey of St-Robert in his small town that feels very old, and a number of small towns on the Vezere.

Turn the mountain next to the Correze, and you walk through the canyon of the river near the rolling, whose beauty is only partially damaged by a series of caves. On the south side of the road climbs the ridge of Aubazine. The village has a beautiful view and a great abbey church. Aubazine is absolutely level, according to the Cistercian tradition;And 'good all the same proportions.

It closes a window of the old "grisaille, gray glass fantasy, which is all too much in recent years, copied, stands a beautiful set of carved choir in the eighteenth century with the language portraits of notables of the village, and men are not so honest , and the tomb of St-Etienne d'Aubazine.

There is nothing close to the tomb, carved and shaped like a sanctuary with scenes of the reform abbot monks leading to the sanctity of life andDeath. The monastery buildings are home to an orphanage run by nuns, which displays them as friendly to visitors, also addressed the curious tourists from around the world luxury cruise.

There's something sad Tulle, perhaps because it is closed on the river bank. This is an old district with some beautiful houses, but the best part is the high tower of the church. To the east of it the land slopes down to the "mountain" Limousin. It 's a beautiful tourist attraction and was visited in particular byLuxury cruise passengers around the world.

This is not a mountain, but a plateau about 2,000 meters above sea level, partially fenced, planted with small lakes, with heather and light in August. Here and there a breath take a road runs south along the Dordogne gorges. Ventadour stand on the ruins of one of them. They look good from afar, but there is not much of a castle, whose history is as romantic as the name of the left.

Here, if it was the stronghold of the Viscounts of Ventadour, a sonBernard was born in a castle serfs. The viscount gave the child an education delicate operation, and had all the troubadours, the one that was dedicated to making love songs and love.