Beynac, Roque-Gageac and Vitrac

October 20, 2022

It's another weather perfect cycling day and we planned a loop ride from Sarlat. We have been talking about how we want to do our remaining days of the trip, and with the weather holding, we want to ride. This will be our last time for any major cycling until we are back in France in the spring. Also we've noticed that the actual km cycled this trip has been rather low, what have we been doing? We console ourselves that maybe we haven't done the km but our elevation numbers are impressive!

So we are off, cycling out of Sarlat steeply up hill, almost 150m. We count our blessings that we don't have our panniers but we are wondering, is this tomorrow's route out?

We spin our way past picturesque villages and walnut orchards. This area on the Dordogne has a high concentration of fortified châteaux, as it was the dividing line between the French and English controlled territories during part of the 100 Years war. We will stay on the French side, but won't actually go in to any as our objective today is to ride, but we are looking forward to seeing how many we can spot.

Our plan for the day goes off the rails immediately upon our arrival at another of France's beautiful villages, Beynac with our first sighting of the town's magnificent Château de Beynac. It is one of the best-preserved and best known in the region. So we park our bikes and wander around the upper village and castle walls for breathtaking views of the Dordogne. We don't take the castle tour but spend time walking about and then carrying our bikes down the steep village steps. Well why are we hurrying anyways? This is France at it's best. We happily take loads of pics and I read the information boards about the history of Beynac and famous people from the past who have lived here. Beside Richard the Lionheart, one, more recent resident caught my eye: Aline Mosby (July 7, 1922 – August 7, 1998) retired to France and lived in a lovely house in the medieval village. She was the first American woman correspondent assigned by a major news service to the Kremlin. While in the Moscow, she met and interviewed Lee Harvey Oswald in 1959, four years before he assassinated President JF Kennedy.

This area is called the Valley of the five Châteaux. From the terrace and later cycling beside the Dordogne we think we saw Les Châteaux des Milandes and Castelnaud.

A quick 6km later and we roll into another of France's beautiful villages, Roque Gageac. The village is set into the limestone cliffs. We sat in the park on the water's edge to eat apples and nuts as we take in the arresting sight.

Our last stop is Vitrac with it's 12C church and well-kept manor home. By now we were starving and we decide to head for "home" and have a late lunch in our apartment. We did churn out some mileage but it still didn't amount to much. However we are hoping it was enough to get us ready for tomorrow as we've planned an 80km route to Bergerac, which will be our farthest day this trip.

The 12C Château de Beynac is one of the best-preserved castles in the region.

This very attractive village is spread along the northern bank of the Dordogne river, and then continues up the hill to the chateau perched above. Beynac is another one of the 'most beautiful villages in France'.

A walk around the outside of the walls for the views.

Making our way carefully down through the village of Beynac. So glad we don't have our panniers on our bikes.

Roqué Gageac village with cave entrances above.

The 12C church of Saint Vincent has been built in Romanesque and Gothic style in Vitrac.

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Today's ride: 33 km (20 miles)
Total: 1,359 km (844 miles)

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