We had been planning on cycling in the Dordogne for quite some time now so when we discovered that the brakes on our bikes were not functioning properly, we were quite disappointed. It was already past mid-day by this point so we decided to use the good weather to do some scenic driving and instead visit a few more "plus beaux villages". Our first stop was Domme, perched on a cliff above the Dordogne river. It was a very sleepy and quiet town and all the 'terrasses' that would have been packed with summer tourists were closed for the off season. We wandered along the ramparts of this once fortified town and were afforded with some splendid views over the surrounding countryside – fields of walnut trees, broken up by the river, small towns and châteaux perched on limestone cliffs. We even got a great view over to the Marquessac gardens and Beynac off in the distance. If we were to ever considering living in France, we both agreed that the Dordogne would rank close to the top. From the ramparts, we walked through several streets through this small town admiring the roofs made of slate and some of its older buildings.

Our next stop was La Roque Gageac, the village we had gotten a birds’ eye view of from the Marquessac gardens the previous day. As we approached town, we noticed that the main road in front of the town had been torn up due to road work. We were hoping to sit on a terrace somewhere in town and enjoy a café while writing postcards but that was not to be. There wasn’t a single shop or restaurant open so we resorted to a quick wander through the one street of town. It had a very picturesque château on one end and steep cobblestone streets linking the houses on the upper level of town. Visiting these villages in the off season definitely means that you have the village to yourself but they are so sleepy, they sometimes feel deserted.

Our final stop was the little town of Castelnaud, only a few kilometers from our campsite. We parked at the base of the town and began the steep hike up to the castle for a view. Partway up, we abandoned our climb because we decided that the views would be very similar to those we had gotten in the past few days. The town was completely quiet as the other two had been earlier today so it was a very short stop. We found a phone booth near the parking lot and had a pleasant, long chat with Anne to wrap up the day.