Southwest France and Basque country trip 3-1/2 weeks

I was there 15 years ago and enjoyed seeing the reproduction cave since the colors are brighter and more to the what the originals may have been. But this was also a last minute add-on after seeing the real thing, which would be my preference if there again. Check out Font-du-Gaume if you can. Cap Blanc was also interesting as a single large cave with carvings, and I was the only one there at the time. These days, you might have to plan ahead to see these, but the chance to see the real thing is worth a little effort.

On your way to Cahors and the Lot you will pass right by Pech Merle, the cave art there is fantastic...the real deal not a reconstruction. Might as well check out Saint Cirq-Lapopie, it"s a cutie.

I don't see the point of spending half a day relocating from Sarlat to Cahors and half a day from Cahors to Condom. You can do Cahors and Pêch-merle (don't miss it, it's the real thing not a repro) as an easy day trip from Sarlat, and Sarlat to condom will only use up half a day.

Also... You're missing out the best bit of the Pyrenees, which is the centre of the range, from about Andorra to south of Orleron- Saint Marie

Some thoughts. I would try to change the one-night stays to day trips if possible.
Any special reason for 4 nights in Bordeaux? I didnt find it all that interesting. On the other hand, we very much enjoyed the nearby town of Arcachon and the Dune du Pilat.
I’d be inclined to visit one or more authentic pre-historic sites, rather than reproductions. L’Abri du Cap Blanc is unusual, in that it is relief sculpture, not painting. The tour is short - - half hour (?), and the location is close to some of the caves.

Thanks to all who responded. I am pondering your many suggestions, specifically whether to shorten my Bordeaux stay by one day and spend an extra day in Sarlat. My daughter, who visited Bordeaux recently, also wondered why I was spending 4 days in Bordeaux. I want to give us ample time to get over jet lag. I do want to visit Arachon and the dunes. I thought we could do this by train for the day. Other than that and exploring the city a little bit there is nothing else I want to do in Bordeaux. So maybe we can do this in 3 days rather than 4.
I am also considering eliminating the one night in Cahors and spending 2 days in Condom instead. I had wanted to meander our way south from Sarlat and explore the Lot river towns but that might best be accomplished from Condom without our suitcases in the car.
The suggestions for cave art are very helpful and make me realize how much there is to see there. We are pretty hedonistic travelers, preferring an afternoon at a local market to a museum or gallery but the cave art is what initially caught my eye many years ago in a National Geographic article when Laxcaux was first discovered.
Thanks again!

"spending an afternoon at a local market"

This is unlikely. The only afternoon markets you are likely to find are those set up for selling tourist tat. There may be some afternoon/evening markets during summer, but these won't be the ones that locals do their shopping at.

To go by train to the Dune du Pilat (I assume this is the one you are talking about), you will have to take a train from Bordeaux St-Jean station to Arcachon then take the "Baia" bus line 3 which goes to the dune. The bus stop is located just in front of the station. The complete trip takes about 1h30.

So, since it seems that you are in no rush to leave Bordeaux you can stay in Bordeaux for 2 nights, then make a round trip to the Dune du Pilat on Day 3 and leave for Sarlat in the morning of Day 4.

Me neither, I don't really see the point of spending a night in Cahors if you are based in Sarlat. Cahors is only about 60 km south of Sarlat, and if you want to explore the Dordogne + Lot which is north of Sarlat you will have plenty to occupy your days without spending the night in Cahors.

If you are a market lover, in Condom there is the traditional market on Wednesday mornings and the farmers' markets on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Condom being on your way to Salies du Salat, you could spend the night there when leaving Sarlat.
Especially since in September you could participate in the harvest to produce Armagnac (which left me with good memories of when I was young, and also some mornings headaches).
It would give you an interesting experience although not compatible with driving a car :)).

Everywhere in the villages of Dordogne, Lot, Gers, etc., big garage sales take place mainly on weekends. You will see posters along the roads mentioning "Vide Grenier" with the date and the name of the village.

They take place all day but it is best to go in the morning.

I'll add one more vote for Pech Merle. I've only been to 3 caves (including the Lascaux IV reproduction) but Pech Merle was amazing to me, I think because of the petrified foot prints in the rock. Wow. That really made a connection for me.

I’ll pile on here about Peche Merle. We did almost an identical itinerary minus Basque this past October. We did a week in Sarlat and 4 days in Bordeaux. We did a day trip from Sarlat to Cahors in the morning, lunch in Cirque de Lapopie, then the afternoon at Peche Merle. I picked this cave because everything I’ve been reading it won’t be long before original cave art is closed off to all tourists so I figured I’d see the real thing before it’s closed for good. I agree with Pam that the footprints made it an extra special experience. I definitely see why you are doing a night in Cahors and Condom to get to Basque. A few highlights we had was a stop in Perigueux to see the Roman ruins and the medieval center. It’s between Bordeaux and Sarlat. Another was Chateau de Commarque. It’s very interesting without much of the modern interpretation of things. One of my favorite days in Sarlat was a trip we took with a small local company to visit a truffle farm, walnut oil producer, fois gras farm, wine tasting, liquor distillery, old school bakery, and a local wine tasting. We drove around in old Citroens and ate lunch at a fantastic michelin starred place. Let me know if you are interested and I’ll share the company info.

As far as your Bordeaux leg goes, I completely agree with your daughter. We had four days in Bordeaux but two were occupied with wine tours: one to Medoc, one to St. Emilion. The other day trip was to Blaye. If you aren’t visiting wine country you have plenty of time to see Arachon and Bordeaux in three days vs. four.

Okay, I am taking all your comments into account and will definitely change my schedule. I do love local markets and do know that they start early, I was just attempting to wax poetic about markets. One of our earlier pleasures was getting to the market in Apt in Provence when the vendors were just setting up. We were drinking coffee watching them arrive and get to work. On that note I was thinking of adjusting our schedule so we would arrive in Condom on a Tuesday and leave the following Thursday so we would be there for the Wednesday market. We are timing our stay in Sarlat so we will be there for the Saturday market and I've printed off a schedule of all the markets in the Dordogne by day of the week.
By eliminating one day in Bordeaux and one overnight in Cahors we can stay 2 nights in Condom and 2 nights in Salies de Bearn. Is Salies de Bearn worth two nights or should I add one more night to Condom. We do like Armagnac.
I am definitely now planning on visiting Peche Merle. I think we would benefit from actually seeing the real thing and feel a deeper connection and appreciation.
Again, so many, many thanks to you all for your input.

We really loved Sarlat and enjoyed staying at Le Jardin de Sarlat, a B and B within walking distance of the town center. I would not skip the recreation of Lascaux - it is very well done. If you haven't yet discovered them, I highly recommend the Bruno Chief of Police series by Martin Walker, all set in a village near Sarlat. They really capture the feel of the Dordogne. (Bruno is a very compassionate cop.)

Thank you for the reminder of Bruno Chief of Police. I had read a couple of this series many years back. I still remember his description of making an omelet in one of them and it made my mouth water. I'm going to look for some more of these books. I also enjoyed the information about the wine industry they contain.

M.E.

We are going to be at a gite in La Roque Gageac for 10 days in June, and I am following up on all the posts relevant to the area. I am intrigued that you were able to print up a schedule of the local market days. Can you tell me where you found this information? I am doing a rough itinerary for us (all days' plans dependent on when/if we get tickets to Font de Gaume). So far, we will probably go to Sarlat's Wednesday market, but in our drives here and there we would like to pick up our culinary supplies at any local market. (We will probably have most dinners at our gite, eating out for lunch.) Your itinerary sounds similar to ours, except we will only stay in Bordeaux for an afternoon and night pre- and post-train journeys. (Picking up and returning the car in Bordeaux).

Thanks for any info you can provide about your plans, especially regarding the markets.

By the way, another recommendation for the Martin Walker "Bruno" books. I have read all but the most recent (on a waiting list at the library). They REALLY make one lust after the food and scenery of the Perigord!

Thanks for any info you can provide about your plans, especially
regarding the markets.

Here is a website that lists all the markets in France. It's in French only, use an online translator.

The link below goes to the Dordogne department page.

https://www.jours-de-marche.fr/24-dordogne/

Some places may be in the "Lot" department which adjoins that of Dordogne and is part of the same region (where are Rocamadour, Gouffre de Padirac, Collonge-la-Rouge, etc.)

Here is for the Lot:

https://www.jours-de-marche.fr/46-lot/

Click on the city name to get details about markets in that city.

Click on the market name, you will have details about the market itself.

By clicking on "Produits" (Products) at the top of the page and then entering a city name in the search field you will see farmers and producers listed for that city

Wow, JoLui! This is a great site. I can handle the French, and if there is some problem, my hubby will translate. I see, per this site, that Sarlat has a marche nocturne every Thursday, year round (not just July and August). I hope that is the case when we are there in June. The marches nocturnes have always sounded like fun, but we rarely travel in July and August, so we often miss summer fetes and activities. I plan on making note of where and how the Dordogne area markets are, small or large, so we can take advantage of shopping and eating like locavores. I can't wait for our trip there! Counting down the days and checking the Font de Gaume calendar daily.

Another aspect of local life are the "vide-greniers" (garage sale) organized on weekends and holidays.

You will see posters like this one mentioning the village and the date.

https://tinyurl.com/2jx6b33r

If you are interested, it is best to consult the list of those planned in the Dordogne (regular updates):

https://vide-greniers.org/24-Dordogne

Merci beaucoup! I will check it out.

I'm so glad you found a listing of markets. We've been travelling in the US for a bit and ignored this forum for a while. Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I found my market information at https://www.francethisway.com/tourism/dordogne-markets.php. But if you search for French markets in a particular region using any search engine you'll come up with several options. I was not able to find much about the night markets so I'm glad to see that information here. I'm just starting to plug in daily activities but have only gotten to Bordeaux so far.