The Local Area

The Lot 'the real France', lying a little to the south of the Dordogne is a picturebook landscape of small villages, rolling hills and valleys with fields of sunflowers, tobacco, melons and vines. The river Lot winds its way through rolling hills and limestone gorges, which are dotted with caves through some of the oldest vineyards in France.

It is a diverse region, with inland beaches and pretty bastide medieval towns, with castles and chateaux perched on cliff tops. The area is famous for cepes, pickled walnuts, and foie gras, black truffles and other gastronomic delights.

The light reflecting off the white stone buildings with their external stairs (or bolets) overhung by gently pitched tiled roofs is notably southern in character.

Activities

The area offers a host of activities and places to visit to suit all tastes. Those who enjoy history and architecture can tour the wealth of medieval towns and villages throughout the area. The more active can choose from a range of sporting activities including canoeing, swimming, fishing, golf and horse riding.

Preniac is also ideal for both cycling and walking with numerous pathways and roads where traffic is the exception rather than the rule. Preniac itself is on the long distance GR65 walking route, which runs parallel with the route of St Jacques of Compostella, an ancient pilgrimage that runs through southwest France and across the Pyrenees to Spain..

There are local markets six days of the week, bakery, restaurants and supermarkets only 5 minutes away, and Cahors itself within 20 minutes. Preniac is perfectly situated to enjoy them all.

Throughout the summer months there are many fetes and festivals in the area to enjoy. These can range from music festivals to firework displays or simply celebrating the local produce.

The Cahors vineyards straddle the river Lot for 50 kilometres, running east to west . The area is famous for its rich red wine and there are numerous vineyards to visit.

Places of Interest

Cahors, the prefecture of the department, is built on a tight loop in the river Lot and is said to be the first real town of the south with its typical red brick buildings, avenues of plane trees and confused medieval street pattern.

There are many cafes and restaurants to choose from, and Cahors hosts a twice weekly market selling local goods and produce. Also worth a visit is Cathedrale St Etienne, set in the middle of the old town and the much photographed 14th century Pont Valentre.

Rocamadour, world famous 12th century site of Christian pilgrimage, is an extraordinary site, a medieval town built into the rock face rising 500 feet above the valley and well worth the visit. There are many underground caves in the area, and two of the best are The Gouffre de Padirac, one of the largest caves which includes an underground river journey and Pech Merle, a series of caverns with magnificent paintings around 20,000 years old.

There are many pretty medieval villages along the river Lot including St Cirq-Lapopie, a beautiful village built on top of a rocky outcrop above a loop in the river. Puy L'Eveque and Luzech are also well worth a visit and there are numerous bastide villages and towns in the area including Lauzerte and Castelnau.

Further afield lie the beautifully preserved medieval towns of Gourdon and Sarlat and the Dordogne River and to the south Moissac, Montauban and Toulouse.