We left Issigeac and drove 200 kms through the most amazing tiny villages and towns, and through three Departments (which are like small regions) to our next destination, Meuzac. The whole area is full of Bastide towns, chateaux perched on hilltops, rivers, great farming country, and tiny roads where going more than 60km/h is almost impossible!

The area is also very quiet, and many of the sights have closed down for the winter break . We stopped at the Beynac Chateau and it had already closed down for the next 2 months - boo hoo. But it was a great building even from the outside. Steep path, wonky roofs, and colourful flowers in the cemetery next to the Chateau (France has just had a public holiday to celebrate the dead and all the cemeteries are covered in brightly coloured flowers). The towns in this area are set along the Dordogne River, and we crossed it from side to side to see the villages of Le Buisson-de-Cadouin, la Roque-Gageac, St Cyprian, and Sarlat, stopping at each one to admire the beauty. (Garth just said he was going to tape me pronouncing French village names because my accent is better than Billy Birmingham's - he said listening to the tape would provide a hilarious pick-me-up for any French speaker who would just assume I was taking the piss....).

By the time we got to Souillac, it had taken us more than 5 hours and we had managed the huge distance of 100kms, with 100km still to go . So to ensure we arrived at our next cottage in the countryside while it was still light, we got onto the autoroute, haring along at 130km/h with the little Ford Fiesta shuddering in fright. Lots of muttering from Garth about how his VW Golf would have hugged the road much better than the Ford, and what a waste it was having a 130km/h speed limit when you are driving a crappy car...

We finally arrived at our cottage (called Chabrenas). It is also very beautiful, and we are glad we are staying a week. It is a few kms from the nearest village, Meuzac, and it is owned by an English couple who have lived in France for 11 years. It has beautiful china, linen and furniture, and a log fire as well as radiators in each room. Given we are staying well out of season, we are paying the princely sum of €260 per week for it, which seems ridiculously cheap. Having had quite a few two day stays lately, it is very nice to be in one place for a week. It means we don't feel we need to rush around to see all the local sights.

We finally unpacked our warm coats as the weather has turned quite chilly. But again, we managed to dodge most of the rain that has been pouring down on many areas of France, causing flooding in many areas (unlike Garth's niece, Helen who is cycling across France and has had a very wet trip so far!!).