Trip Report: Paris, Lyon, Dordogne, Lot, Toulouse

PARIS: 4 nights

Day/night 1 (Tuesday, March 26) —Arrival: We arrived at CDG at about 9:40 am and took the train to Châtelet-Les Halles, a short walk from the Apartments du Louvre St. Honoré location just a few blocks from the Louvre. Thanks to those of you on the forum who recommended Apartments du Louvre. Our studio apartment was ready when we arrived, and we were happy with our choice. The neighborhood was lively and there were many restaurants nearby. After picking up sandwiches from a nearby bakery, we spent the afternoon walking around the general neighborhood, basing our walk on parts of Walks 2 and 3 in Frommer’s 24 Great Walks in Paris—a resource also recommended by several on the forum. It was raining most of the time, but we managed not to get too wet. After a light dinner, we called it a day.

Day/night 2 (Wednesday, March 27)— We spent nine nights in Paris in 2010, so we didn’t have to try to pack in a lot of major sites. We chose to focus on a few new sites, and a return to the Musée d’Orsay. Our main activities for Wednesday were visits to the Cluny Museum, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Saint Sulpice church, and a long walk on the Left Bank and through Ile St-Louis. The Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cluny exceeded my expectations—they are stunning, and I was surprised at how large they are. We ended our afternoon with ice cream at Berthillon, where there was no line when we arrived.

Day/night 3 (Thursday, March 28)—A day trip to Chartres Cathedral.** The cathedral was impressive and we are very glad we went to Chartres, but it was so windy and rainy that we were unable to explore the town. The recommended restaurants were packed because everyone went to them as soon as the first cloudbursts hit. The wind gusts were so strong that I was afraid they would knock me down a few times. After grabbing a quick lunch of galettes, we headed back to Paris, where we visited La Madeleine and took a walk in the Left Bank neighborhood where we stayed back in 2010.

Day/night 4 (Friday, March 29)—We arrived about 20 minutes early for our 9:30 am reservations to see the Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism exhibit. We enjoyed this excellent exhibit for about 2.5 hours, then spent a little time in the main exhibit halls before heading out for lunch. We spent the afternoon walking in the Marais, using parts of walks 6 and 7 from Frommer’s 24 Great Walks in Paris. Partway through our walk we rested and had Amorino ice cream at Place des Vosges. I had been hoping to extend our walk to include the Promenade Plantée, but we were tired, and still ended the day with 17,500 steps.

LYON: 2 nights

Day/night 5 (Saturday, March 30)—My birthday! We travelled to Lyon on the TGV, which was very relaxing after our three days of intense walking. It was pouring when we arrived, so we took a taxi to Hotel des Celestins, recommended by RS and several forum members. After checking in, we found a light snack, visited the TI for Lyon City Passes, then walked to the Center for the History of Resistance and Deportation. We completely underestimated how much there was to see. My husband loves history and wanted to read and listen to everything, so even though we were there for about 2.5 hours, we saw less than half of the exhibit. The museum is pretty low-tech, and probably not for everyone, but my husband could have spent many more hours there. For my birthday dinner, I had made a reservation at Brasserie Le Sud, which was a good choice for us, with a varied menu that had lots of options. We enjoyed a slow and relaxing dinner there. One note: we did not find restaurant portions in France to be any smaller than we are used to at good restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. We often could not finish our main dishes if we both ordered a first course and we wanted to be able to eat dessert.

Day/night 6 (Sunday, March 31)—My husband’s birthday! Yup, we have back-to-back birthdays. We started with the excellent walking tour led by the Lyon TI and included with our Lyon passes. The tour was very informative, and included three traboules. After a little more exploration of Vieux Lyon, we went up to Fourvière Hill. The views from near the Basilica on the hill were great—we could see snow on the Alps. We walked over to the impressive Roman ruins and made a brief visit to the Gallo-Roman museum. We could have spent hours there, but we wanted to walk around and get more of a sense of Lyon. So we took a metro up to the start of the RS Croix Rousse walk and walked down as he suggested. After a light dinner (tartines and dessert), we walked around for a while, until the lights came on up at the Basilica of Notre Dame. Overall, the city wasn’t as brightly lit as we expected, and the lights came on late as it was the first day of daylight savings time in France.

DORDOGNE: 5 nights

Day/Night 7 (Monday, April 1)—We picked up a car (rented through AutoEurope) at the train station and drove to Sarlat-la-Canéda, in the Dordogne. The drive took a little over 5 hours and most of it was very scenic, with rolling green hills/low mountains—we could see a bit of snow at the highest points. We checked into our one-bedroom apartment at Villa des Consuls, and went out to walk around Sarlat. Our apartment was perfect for us, with a spacious living area with kitchen and a bedroom. The bathroom was split, with a shower room off the bedroom and toilet off of the living area. I know some people don’t like this arrangement, but it is fine for us. There were only 5 steps down into the apartment, and we had a large and inviting terrace over one of the main streets. I would gladly stay there again. Although the weather was often cloudy and we had occasional short periods of rain during our second week, the sun did break through for a while even on the cloudy days, and the temperatures were mild.

Day/Night 8 (Tuesday, April 2)—I had purchased 11:15 tickets for an English tour of the Grotte de Font de Gaume when they went on sale online a week or two in advance. There were only 11 people on our tour (the maximum is 13). A very enthusiastic tour guide led us through the caves, explaining the discovery of the caves and pointing out features of the paintings, which are approximately 17,000 years old. He was very careful to distinguish between the known facts and speculation about the motivations of the artists. I had been a little worried about rough footing, tight spaces, and steps on the cave tours, but they were not a problem, and I enjoyed every moment of the tour. We would have liked to visit the Prehistory Museum next, but it is closed on Tuesdays, and we never did have a chance to get there. After a pleasant lunch of large salads in the town of Les Eyzies, we returned to Sarlat by a scenic, less direct route. As we were driving, we realized that we were passing near Limeuil, which is one of the designated Most Beautiful Villages of France. By the way, I have the book The Most Beautiful Villages in France in English and used it in my planning, and I think a new edition has just come out, if you are interested in the villages. While I had not planned to visit Limeuil, we liked its setting on the Vézère River, and decided to stop. It was a good decision. The village Is lovely, and we only wished we had more time. The gardens looked very worthwhile, but we didn’t have enough time to justify paying to visit them. Our next stop was Domme, one of the villages featured in the RS Guide and another Most Beautiful Village in France. Domme was fairly large and attractive with good views of the Dordogne, but it was nearly deserted. We went to the TI to ask where we might buy a cold drink, and were directed to the nearby square, but nothing was open at 4:30 pm.

Day/Night 9 (Wednesday, April 3)—We started our day with an outstanding tour of Lascaux IV in English. Our guide explained why the paintings were so well preserved at Lascaux and, like the guide at Grotte de Font de Gaume, was careful to distinguish scientific evidence from speculation about the artists and significance of the paintings. After the tour, we spent over an hour viewing the outstanding films and exhibits, which take advantage of modern technology and are very engaging. We had a good lunch at the café, and then returned to the Dordogne river valley. We had planned to canoe on the river the next day, and went to investigate the canoe rentals, but we learned that the river levels were too high for the canoes to go out. Then we crossed the river to visit Castelnaud-la-Chappelle, another Most Beautiful Village in France, with its castle perched on a hill above the river.

TO BE CONTINUED. . .

DORDOGNE CONTINUED

Day/Night 10 (Thursday, April 4)—We spent the day exploring two more Most Beautiful Villages: Beynac and La Roque Gageac. Both villages have impressive sites along the Dordogne. We began in Beynac by walking all the way up the hill to the castle. By the time we got there, we didn’t have time to explore before our parking expired, so after a quick stop for a cold drink, we walked down, got our car, and returned to the top of the hill for lunch and a visit to the castle. The audioguided tour was excellent, and a highlight of our trip. We then headed to La Roque Gageac and took a one-hour gabarre ride on the river. The gabarres are boats built to resemble the traditional boats that were used to transport goods from the Dordogne to Bordeaux. When they noticed that we were English-speakers, they generously ran an additional boat so we could hear the narration in English. After the boat trip and a walk through the town, we returned to our apartment and took advantage of the good weather to enjoy some wine on our terrace before dinner.

Edited to add: While touring the castle at Beynac, we learned that the castle was home to the Lady and the Unicorn Tapestries for a time, although the exact dates weren't given.

Day/Night 11 (Friday, April 5)—For our last day in the area, we drove to the Eastern Dordogne. The RS guide recommended Martel and several other villages, but I had become interested in the village of Collonges-la-Rouge based on information in my book of the Most Beautiful Villages. JoLui on the forum had also recommended this village, confirming my desire to go there after Martel. Collonges-la-Rouge is very different in appearance due to the red color of the stone used in the area. We picked up walking tours of both villages at their Tis, and they were two of our favorites. While they lack the spectacular riverside settings of the four villages RS recommends along the Dordogne, both are very pedestrian-friendly and attractive. They ended up being two of our favorites, and we spent about two hours exploring each village. We learned that two villages in a day are plenty if you want to do more than take a quick look. We enjoyed lunch on a main square in Martel, where my confit de canard was one of my favorite meals of the trip. After returning to our apartment, we enjoyed one last glass of wine on our terrace before heading out for dinner.

THE LOT: 2 nights

Day/Night 12 (Saturday, April 6)—We were sad to leave the Dordogne, but looking forward to visiting the Lot river valley. On our way to St.-Cirq-Lapopie, we stopped for a few hours in Cahors to walk and picnic along the river, admire the Pont Valentré, and briefly tour part of the center of Cahors. Our arrival in St Cirq was stressful: our host told us that we could drive into the village square to drop off our luggage, but Google maps or Via Michelin (can’t recall which I was using at the time) tried to send us down a pedestrian lane. As soon as we turned into it we realized that it wasn’t the road, but backing out onto a narrow road with two way traffic on a Saturday was not fun. We finally managed it, and called our host to learn where we could enter the village with our car. We stayed at the RS-recommended Auberge le Sombral. As there are few comments on this property on the forum, I plan to write a (very positive) review. The location was great, right across from the TI. I was worried my knees would have trouble with the village’s hilly terrain, but it was okay. We visited the TI and did a little exploring before dinner. There were quite a few tourists (mostly European), but it didn’t feel overcrowded, especially as evening approached.

Edited to add my review of Auberge le Sombral is here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france-reviews/review-of-auberge-le-sombral-in-st-cirq-lapopie

Day/Night 13 (Sunday, April 7)—Our last cave visit was to Pech Merle, on the other side of the river. As at the Grotte de Font de Gaume, the paintings here are the originals, approximately 20,000 years old. The tour was in French, but they gave us a booklet with most of the information, and a video in the museum before the tour prepared us for what we would see. Once again, we were awed by the cave paintings and the mystery of why they were created and who they were for. We returned to the village for a big lunch because we had learned most restaurants would be closed by Sunday evening. Then we walked part of the towpath along the Lot River—we started in Bouzies and walked about 2 km before turning back. After exploring more of the village back in St-Cirq-Lapopie, we enjoyed our next-to-last last ice cream of the trip at our host’s small café on the main square.

TOULOUSE: 1 night

Day/Night 14 (Monday, April 8)—We left early to drive to Toulouse, where we returned our car and checked into the Hotel Albert Premier. As acraven and others on the forum have mentioned, Toulouse is a very attractive city, and we loved it. We picked up a map from our hotel and walked for five hours to see many of the tourist sites. We visited the Grand Rond and Jardin des Plantes, walked along both the Canal du Midi and the Garonne River, and enjoyed lunch and dinner on two of the beautiful squares. The weather was mostly sunny and warm, and everywhere we went we were surrounded by beautiful buildings in the characteristic orange-pink of Toulouse and mostly French people enjoying the city.

Day 15: We flew home from Toulouse, with a very long layover in Munich. Our flights went smoothly. I always wish we could stay longer in Europe, but it is good to be home, too.

What a great report! Thank you!

Fun to read, thank you! A well-planned trip, making good use of open-jaw flights, too bad about the Paris weather but if you were going to get rained on the big city was a better place for it than the rural valleys.

Barbara N: thank you for this helpful trip report, especially the information on Limeuil, Collonges-la-Rouge, and Toulouse (which we haven't visited). Will bookmark in the event we travel that way again.

Loved the report, but I have to protest that thanks to it, I now have to figure out how to squeeze in 3 additional villages and 1 extra cave into our visit to the Dordogne in October.

It sounds like you put your "Most Beautiful Villages" guidebook to very good use. What a lovely trip!

I enjoyed this very much! I appreciated all the detail since the only place you visited that I have been is Paris. Lyon sounds particularly inviting.

Barbara, happy to read this even though I heard a bit about it on our zoom meeting. Thanks for writing it up! May I ask how you booked the apartment in Paris? Booking.com?

Hi Tammy--I booked directly at apartmentsdulouvre.com. Several on the forum recommended them. I think their Marais location is more popular, but only the Saint Honoré location was available for our dates. I was on a waitlist for a one bedroom, but one never became available. I booked all of our accommodations directly.

Thank you!

Excellent TR, thanks so much! We've been thinking about a trip to Lyon, you've definitely convinced us. Ah, the Dordogne has now been added to the endless list of options to visit!! I do think heading how after 15 days, wishing you'd stayed longer, yet happy to be home is just right. Thanks again.

BethFL and Sandancisco--If we had more time, I would have suggested that my husband return to the Resistance and Deportation Museum and I would have gone to the Musée des Canuts to learn more about the weaving industry in Lyon. And we both might have gone to the Beaux Arts Museum, taken one of the one-hour cruises included with the Lyon City Pass, or spent more time at the Gallo-Roman museum. Another day would have been good. The Musée des Tissus is closed for renovation, and I'm not sure when it will open, but that would also interest me.

Sandancisco--I will do a photobook and bring it to one of our East Bay meetings.

Wonderful trip report, Barbara! So glad you had a successful trip to France after your long wait! Reading your report makes me want to return to France.

Looking forward to seeing your photobook at our travel group meeting.

OH! You're that Barbara.... Ha, no wonder this was such an excellent, in-depth TR & it makes me want to explore France further!! Looking forward to seeing those photos.

Allan, How long will you be in the Dordogne? I know you will have a great trip.

Sandancisco, Yes, we met at one of the recent meetings. Hope to see you again soon.

Barbara N, we'll be there for 7 days in early October. Beynac will be our primary base for most of the trip.

Thanks Barbara! Just curious if you had any sense that Paris was more crowded the usual, pricier, or that sights were blocked off given the upcoming summer Olympics? We're thinking about a 5-day trip from April 26- May 1st (leaving on the May Day national holiday).

Jane, Dick and GeoffB--Thanks for reading. Dick, we knew going in that the weather might be iffy. Looking back, it only significantly affected our Chartres visit.

Christine--I'm looking forward to showing you the photos and getting your thoughts on our next trip (Alsace/Berner Oberland/Lucerne).

Sandancisco, I did not have the sense that crowds or prices were affected by the upcoming Olympics this early in the year. I suspect you will be fine, but you might ask on the forum to see if any of our French members respond.

Barbara, thank you for this wonderful trip report! I’ve been to some of the places you visited, and was enchanted! Now you’ve given me some more villages to add to my next trip to the Dordogne and Lot regions. We loved St. Cirq Lapopie, and also walked along the tow path, in fact that is how we reached the village, on foot! Thanks for bringing back many lovely memories.

Your next trip sounds a lot like mine…I’ll send you a pm.

I enjoyed your writing style…thanks for taking the time to write and share your report.

Laurie

Thanks, Laurie. I sent you a pm. I think our Alsace & Switzerland trip is a few months before yours--I'll be sure to write a trip report.

Ohhhh based upon what great research and TR's you write, I'm looking forward to Alsace! When are you going? We ended up going to Stockholm for a few nights, so easy only an hour away and had a really nice visit, no airplane flights was a nice change.

Hi Sandancisco! I read your Stockholm report and enjoyed it. We leave on June 4. Our full itinerary is here if you want to take a look:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/please-review-our-alsace-berner-oberland-luzern-daily-plan