La Roque Saint Christophe

Staying in the Dordogne today with a visit to La Roque (Roc) Saint Christophe overlooking the Vezere river. This is a fascinating site if you’re interested in historical sites.

Eighty metres up the limestone rock face, and over a kilometer in length is the largest troglodyte settlement in Europe. The site was occupied by man from neanderthal times through the middle ages until the start of the renaissance period. The effort needed to build at these heights, hauling everything up the cliff face, must have been out weighed by the security from raiders and wild animals.

At the time of visit the charge was 9€ for an adult, given the size of the cité, the historical interest and the lovely views over the river, I don’t think this was a bad price. There’s a gift shop on-site and a café and toilets at the car park below. Due to the number of steps I would rate the site as unsuitable for wheelchair users and anyone who has difficulty climbing stairs would struggle.

More information can be found on the La Roque Saint Christophe web site.

Collonges-la-Rouge

One of the advantages in living in this part of the Dordogne is that we’re close enough to the attractions in the neighbouring departments. Today we visited Collonges-la-Rouge, a delightful village in the Corrèze. Built from delicious red sandstone the village features some excellent restaurants and a number of gift shops. There’s a pay car park on the edge of the town, which I should image will get very busy in-season. Parking was reasonably priced at 3euro for the afternoon\ We ate lunch at Le Cantou and very nice it was.