Visiting Rocamadour and Sarlat for Medieval History in the Dordogne

Our goal for the next leg of our journey was to see the landscapes and attractions in the Dordogne River region of France, specifically Rocamadour. I had been there 30-plus years ago and I vividly remember the scenery and the views and I wanted to show Mike. We also had some great meals, including a lunch at a Michelin-starred restaurant. Plenty of food porn in this article, skip to the bottom if you must.

Where We Stayed

For this portion of our trip we decided to stay in a small Bed and Breakfast in the town of Cales, which is between the main attraction of Rocamadour and the secondary attraction of Sarlat, with its castle. We don’t usually do the B & B thing (they call them Chambres d’Hotes in France) but it was an interesting change. All of the other guests were Spanish but our hosts spoke pretty good English and gave us some good recommendations for places to visit. We had a lovely room at the top of a flight of stairs, which was always a challenge, but we managed. While the breakfast was great, we didn’t have any time to enjoy the lovely swimming pool in the backyard.

Our host strongly recommended that we make restaurant reservations because it was the height of summer. The first night in Cales we decided to have dinner at a local place recommended by our host. We ate a lovely meal on the patio of Le Petit Relais we watched the main crossroad of the tiny town.

Off to Rocamadour

First thing in the morning after we arrived, we headed to Rocamadour, a 20-minute drive from our accommodation. We had a dinner reservation at a restaurant in the town of Rocamadour. I figured we would have enough time to return to our accommodation to change before returning to Rocamadour but it didn’t work out that way. There was just too much to see and a long walk to town from the parking lot.

Rocamadour, a UNESCO site, is famous for two reasons. First, there is a series of chapels built into the rock set vertically on the side of a hill. The chapels are here because this is where local lore says they found the remains of Saint Amadour, identified as Zacchaeus, one of Christ’s disciples. It is said that at the end of his life, he lived in seclusion in the caves of Rocamadour. The result was Rocamadour becoming a major pilgrimage site. Secondly, Rocamadour is also pilgrim stop on the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. The many famous and not-so-many-famous pilgrims are memorialized via plaques between the sanctuaries. However, not all pilgrimages were voluntary. In the 13th century, heretics were forced to make a pilgrimage to Rocamadour to have them repent.

The Chapels of Rocamadour

Rocamadour is a medieval city with several gates with a wall on three sides and the mountain on the fourth side. There are seven chapels in the church complex, which is what everyone visits. The town itself is also charming but the main attraction is the seven chapels. There are also some interesting frescos to be seen on the walls inside the church complex. One 15th-century fresco depicts the dead as aggressive, which is understandable considering the Black Plague and the Hundred Years’ War occurred during that time. Since most visitors arrive at the village at the bottom of the hill, the chapels are entered from the bottom up a grand staircase. From the five or so chapels on this level, you can climb to a funicular that takes you to the remaining chapels at the top of the hill.

A Little Shopping

Our parking was way out of town at a crossroads with some restaurants and shops. On the way back to the car, we decided to browse one of the shops that just happened to have real truffles and foie gras de canard (duck liver pate), one of our favorites. The one we bought was a local delicacy. After we visited the town and all of the churches, we decided we didn’t have time to return to our room to change but we did figure out how to move the car to a location, much closer to the restaurant I booked.

Dinner in Rocamadour

Our dinner in Rocamadour was on a patio at the bottom of town at Beau Site -Jehan de Valon. The view of the bottom of the canyon was very nice and our dinner was excellent. Ah, the food in France. For dinner, we started with an excellent cold gazpacho, perfect for the summer. We paired our dinner with a lovely bottle of Gaillac, a French red wine. We shared a ceviche that was like a fish carpaccio. Then I had beef and Mike had the veal and we shared dessert of drunken fruit and sorbet. It was a marvelous dinner.

Visiting the Town of Sarlat-la-Caneda

Our lovely hosts suggested we visit the nearby medieval town of Sarlat the next day, so off we went. Sarlat has old buildings, a large shopping street, and an outdoor market with all kinds of artwork and handicrafts. We spent several hours walking around town and we had lunch at a small place in a charming alleyway.

Chateau de Castelnaud

After we visited the town of Sarlat, we went to Chateau de Castelnaud. The Chateau (castle) was built in the 13th century by the local lord. Over the centuries, the castle fortress overlooking the Dordogne River was claimed and reclaimed by a variety of people. Today it has an artillery gallery, a weapons museum, a blacksmith, trebuchet demonstrations, and an area with people enacting a real sword fight. The castle is restored and has lots of activities that cater to children but we found it quite interesting as well. In addition, the view of the river is spectacular. On the summer day we were there the river was full of kayakers enjoying the day.

As we were leaving, there was a demonstration of a trebuchet that launched large round cannon balls. Here is a video.

Lunch at Le Pont de L’Ouysse

On our final day in the area we had lunch at the Michelin starred Le Pont de L’Ouysse. This was on the list from our hosts but the only time we could get in was lunch on the day we were planning to drive to Bordeaux. This wasn’t a problem because Bordeaux was only a few hours drive. This restaurant is set next to a small stream with a ruined bridge, i.e le pont. The dining patio was lovely and the meal went on and on. But the dessert was the most entertaining. Here is a video.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Would you put Rocamadour on your to-visit list?