#SARLAT DE LA CANEDA PATCH#

We walked through the old town but the walk back up to the campsite from town was probably the worst bit - did I mention the 37 degree heat? No shade and 2 tired children - 1 on the tag along that my husband pushed up the hill and the other walking while I pushed her bike and my husband’s! We had loads of water when we got back and lots of shade as well as a dip in the pool. There is a snack bar at the end so we stopped for ice lollies before negotiating our way back through town. We stopped regularly for water breaks and my eldest and I walked a bit with our bikes. After lunch and a dip in the river we headed back to Sarlat - the incline back is slight and not as bad as we thought it would be. Fortunately there was also a tap with eau potable just in the car park.

#SARLAT DE LA CANEDA PATCH#

There is an Etang further on but we didn’t want to over do it in the 37 degree heat so we headed back to river and headed to a patch of river we saw from the bridge where you can hire kayaks and canoes. We crossed the Dordogne and carried on but started to cycle away from the river without finding a town or a river beach. We thought we’d do the less ambitious route to Groléjac which we thought had a river beach as stated on the map. We ended up walking up the hills! The route is lovely through woods and is mostly quite shady. We thought we’d try this route from the Huttopia Sarlat campsite which is the other side of town! A rather precarious trip through the one way system in town with a 7 year old on her own bike and a 5 year old on a tag a long. The moody teens enjoyed the experience and thought our barefoot guide was great. These are working people and this is their livelihood which they kindly allow the public to have a peek at.

This is a working farm that uses traditional methods and machinery, it is not a sanitzed factory museum. You are able to sample products at the end of the tour, there is no obligation to buy, it is hard to resist though as the oil is so lovely and the wine delicious. We were advised to wait as another tour was just finishing and that guide spoke some English, he was funny and charming and we understood and learnt a lot about farming walnuts in the region. We arrived in time for the tour although the guide didn't speak any English and our French is basic at best. We have spent time in this area of the Dordogne and have visited most of the major sites in the area, this however, is something I wanted to do, and selfishly draged my teenage children along, when all they wanted to do was get back to the pool!

Sarlat de la caneda