Location

Situated in South Western France at the Northern tip of the Aquitaine Region, the Dordogne Department is considered by many people to be one of the most beautiful areas in France. There are four fairly distinct areas making up the Department , all centered around Perigueux, all having quite different characteristics and range from Nontron in the North, (Perigord Vert) to Sarlat in the South East, (Perigord Noir), Bergerac in the West  (Perigord Pourpre), and Riberac in the North West (Perigord Blanc).

The Dordogne area is predominantly rural, with little industry, the economy is based mainly on various farming activities and forestry, with a lot of mainly small enterprises growing walnuts, maize and tobacco, raising ducks and geese, and of course - Wine! The Bergerac AOC is a highly respected label, and there are many fine Chateaux in the area, the designation Perigord Pourpre for that area comes from the deep purple colour of some of the wine.

St Cyprien is situated just North of the River Dordogne, roughly equidistant (i.e. about an hour or 30/40 miles) from Bergerac, to the West ; Perigueux, to the North ; Cahors, to the South ; and Souillac, to the East on the Auto route.

Le Rocher Rouge is two miles from St Cyprien and one mile from Meyrals (the nearest boulangerie!), and about two and a half miles from the River Dordogne. The area around St Cyprien is considered to be the heart of the Perigord Noir, so called because of the abundance of oak trees in the area which give the woods a dark appearance, especially in winter, and bounded by the medieval town of Sarlat la Caneda, the bastide village of Domme, and the Cro-Magnon sites (prehistoric man) at Les Eyzies, each of which is approximately twenty minutes drive away.

Less than ten minutes away are the picturesque Chateaux of Beynac, Castelnaud and Millande (of Josephine Baker fame), and the spectacular village of La Roque-Gageac, built into the cliffs alongside the Dordogne. The nearest large towns are Bergerac, Perigueux, Brive and Cahors at about an hour, with Bordeaux , Toulouse  about two hours.

Those of you who have read Michael Crichton's book "Timeline" will have realised that Le Rocher Rouge is located right in the area where the action of the book takes place, and Bezenac where the fictional "Chateau de la Roque" is situated is only some three/four miles along the valley from us. (Michael Crichton is the author of "Jurassic Park").The area is also featured in Jean Auel's block buster series" Earth's Children" on life in pre-history, as the Ninth Cave, home of the Zelandonii is situated at Les Eyzies.
As one of the principal centres for the study of pre-history there are numbers of sites  being researched, and new discoveries are still being made, a new series of cave paintings was discovered in 2002 at Le Buisson, some 7/8 miles down river from St Cyprien.

Climate

As we are situated to the west of the Massif Central we tend to get weather which is more "Atlantic" rather than Mediterranean, this means that the weather tends to be moister than say Nice or Cannes, but the countryside is correspondingly much greener; as we are only about 60 miles north of Nice in latitude the temperatures are broadly the same, i.e. July and August expect to be in the nineties (30+C), but we are free from the Mistral, which as you may know can be very uncomfortable

The temperature seems to be on average about 10 degrees warmer than Britain, and it gets warmer sooner and cooler later, so holidays both earlier and later in the year are quite feasible, and the area is both quieter and cheaper than high season!Spring comes 2-3 weeks earlier than in Britain, and is quite delightful, and September is the time for locally grown figs, walnuts, chestnuts, greengages and other harvest goodies.

Food!

There is an abundance of good, very reasonably priced restaurants throughout the area ; although all types of cuisine can be found, the majority serve menus based on the regional specialities, duck, foie gras , cassoulet and truffles ( not the chocolate variety!), there is usually a children's menu, and vegetarians are well catered for.

There are two excellent restaurants within 2 - 3 minutes drive where a "menu" can be obtained from €10 to €16 i.e. about £7 to £12. For those more venturesome souls then within 15- 20 minutes drive virtually any standard of cuisine can be obtained from the € 8 "plate de jour" up to the  € 50 gourmet menu. At nearby Les Eyzies there are two Michelin starred restaurants which are quite outstanding.

French markets are an experience, and the one at St Cyprien on Sunday mornings is no exception, full of atmosphere as the locals meet and gossip, or take coffee and aperitifs at the several open air cafe/bars. A full range of mainly local produce is available, and a full meal can be assembled from the many stalls offering ready to eat food, how about a starter of fresh Atlantic oysters, or perhaps a selection of saucisse or charcuterie or foie gras;  main course from the rotisserie, local chicken (or duck or quail or pork), followed with local (or Dutch ) cheeses, goat, sheep and cows cheese in abundance, and finish with one of the many desserts on offer, walnut or prune tart, various gateaux, or as a really special treat one of the choice cakes from Luccos', master pattissiére (and usually sold out by 11.am).

There is a market on every day of the week within a twenty minute drive where fresh local produce can be bought, there are two  good supermarkets in St Cyprien, and butchers and bakers etc. There are large supermarkets at Sarlat, and a very big Leclerc Hypermarche at Perigueux where virtually any fish or meat can be obtained to suit the most demanding recipes for those who prefer to cater for themselves!

Shops

Most every day items can be obtained in St Cyprien, there are Chemists (pharmacy), Hairdressers, Banks, Boulangeries, several Bars, Cafes, Pizzerias, etc; garages covering the major marques ( French!), and as always, a shop selling sun tan cream , sun glasses and ice cream! There are two good quality wine shops (caves), and two very good patissiéries, one of which also sells home made ice cream, (the afore mentioned Luccos'), and also a particularly fine producer of foie gras and other delicacies who have a shop on the premises.