Floating on the river

The mighty Dordogne river

The Dordogne is crisscrossed by three main rivers: the Dordogne, the Vézère and the Céou. Though the Dordogne is the largest, all three of them have extremely swift currents, making them perfect for canoeing, an idyllic afternoon adventure Tom and I tried last week. When I say 'canoeing', I mean sitting in your canoe and letting the current take you lazily down the river; the paddle is mere decoration (at least it was for me)!

Tom got the more 'difficult' job of steering

We started at Castlenaud, where a van drove us up-river to Vitrac, and dropped us and our trusty vessel off for the afternoon. The canoe-rental companies are very trusting: you don't need to leave any credit card info to rent the boats, and you can take as long as you want to get back! It took us 2 hours to cover the 14 minute driving distance :)

That said, it was a beautiful way to view the landscape, and you're able to stop along the way at any of the islands to have a picnic or go for a swim. There was even a snack bar set up on one island for thirsty travelers!

A view from the canoe of Chateau Castlenaud.

Yesterday was blisteringly hot, so Tom and I went in search of a cool swim. We ended up in the beautiful and tiny village of Limeuil, dubbed 'the most beautiful village in France' (as it seems are most of the villages in this area!) It is a medival, walled town, with, as usual, tiny streets:

Apparently no horses allowed, but cars are?!

Limeuil is also beautiful as it is at the apex of both the Dordogne and the Vézère rivers, so it is surrounded by water, and the lovely arched bridges that seem to be the norm here. We set up camp at the little picnic area, and enjoyed some delicious local peach wine and went for a swim in the seriously strong current!

Limeuil: where the two rivers meet.

After our liesurely lunch, we went off to check out Le Bugue, a town not far away from the beach, on a quest to find a bakery that apparently makes the best almond croissant in all of the Dordogne. Sadly, we never found it, but we explored the town anyways.

Crossing the Vézère into Le Bugue, which also has a fabulous market on Tuesdays!

And this wouldn't be a true Anna+Tom post unless there was a food photo, so here is a photos of our dinner the other night!

YUM!