Do you like queues? Getting turned away at the entrance to a restaurant? Driving around for hours looking for a parking space that will cost you the equivalent of the meal you were craving? So, don't visit these magnificent villages of Aveyron, Lot and Dordogne between July 14 and August 20. To discover them better, out of season, of course. Instead, let’s take the opportunity to discover these much lesser-known villages in the same regions.
Meyssac rather than Collonges-la-Rouge
The Place des Halles de Meyssac Philippe Graille
You have to go for a walk in Collonges-la-Rouge, between February and April, to appreciate the state of profound lethargy in which this beautiful Corrèze village, invaded in summer, hibernates. Especially since in Collonges-la-Rouge, a single main street splits the village, straight as a sword, crowded with ice creams with exotic flavors and a string of leather shops, which has never been a Corrèze specialty. 700,000 tourists descend on this town of three streets inhabited by a handful of the 500 inhabitants of the entire town. Impossible to escape the bottleneck.
An idea for a change:
you have to go to
Meyssac
(2 km) the streets of this cantonal capital are just as typical, the restaurants better, the inhabitants more welcoming and the houses just as red. And we are (almost) all alone.
Alvignac rather than Rocamadour
The main street of Alvignac, in Corrèze. Hollice Looney/Danita Delimont
No one ever gives the same attendance figure to avoid scaring people away. But the number of visitors to the Marian site of Rocamadour, in Corrèze, fluctuates between a minimum of 1 million and a maximum of 1.3 million. With again a peak in summer. Although it is impossible to park near the site, the car parks are far away and accessible only on foot - the one at the castle requires you to take a steep way of the cross on the hillside, nothing helps. Even out of breath we run to Rocamadour in all weathers, from July 14 to August 15.
Some restaurants have opted for self-service, just to prevent waiters from having to endure the bad mood of tourists, who are quickly tired of the particular configuration of the place and can make them nervous. “
We are always going up and rarely going down
,” explains a native. While another tells us “
Pray to the Black Madonna to keep visitors away.
". A shame!
An idea for a change:
Go to Alvignac (7 km), a very lively little village which was a former small spa town. The source is still visible in an Art Deco building where in the summer the Saint-Céré festival sometimes gives a concert. There is a church, a castle (Ségales) which cannot be visited, a few restaurants with friendly service and above all very few people. The village, although very close to Rocamadour, falls under the attendance radar. Hope it lasts...
Souillac rather than Sarlat
The splendid abbey of Souillac Philippe Halle
If, with its million visitors, Rocamadour seems excessively busy, we reach peaks with Sarlat-la-Canéda, in Dordogne. This pretty little town receives more than two million visitors throughout the year, but especially in the summer. Absolute horror. On Wednesdays and Saturdays market day, it can take two hours to get into town. As for parking, it's mission impossible.
The city enjoys an international reputation, the first to benefit from the Malraux law in 1962, to protect its historic center, a postcard masterpiece. The English and Dutch love the destination. The French too. But not in summer, to avoid absolutely.
An idea for a change:
the problem with Sarlat is that the world is overflowing everywhere, so you have to travel a little way to get past this wild horde of tourists. Go to
Souillac
, for example, 27 km away. Its abbey is one of the oldest and most beautiful in the region. Avoid the crowds by immersing yourself in the clear waters of the Dordogne river, which crosses the city.
Marcilhac-sur-Célé rather than Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
Saint-Pierre Abbey in Marcilhac-sur-Célé. Curios
Ah, Saint-Cirq Lapopie... Perched on a cliff, above the Lot, this town made fashionable by the surrealist poet André Breton, who owned a house there, is already an exhausting destination in itself when there is no to no one. Indeed, the perched village, dazzling in its beauty, offers steep streets that you have to climb (the free parking is 20 minutes away on foot). Not enough to discourage, come summer, the majority of the 400,000 visitors who storm it and transform it into tourist hell. Only one ally to avoid overflow: the dodger! When the sun is shining, we are south of the Lot, everything is burning. Including tourists who are discouraged and do not come to visit Saint-Cirq-Lapopie.
An idea for a change:
the little-known village of
Marcilhac-sur-Célé
, 24 km away, is one of its little gems whose address we pass on under wraps. The town, gathered around its religious buildings, is bathed in the waters of the Célé, a tributary of the Lot. At the foot of the limestone cliffs, this heritage site is conducive to daydreaming and calm far from the large crowds.
Muret-le-Château rather than Conques
The quiet village of Muret-le-Château. JP - stock.adobe.com
Of the 600,000 visitors who visit Conques, a large number of them in summer, many of them are walkers, since the village is one of the most important stages on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Responsible for the spirituality of the abbey, for which Soulages made the stained glass windows, the Premonstratensian order has always managed to preserve the small town's authentic character. Immersed in greenery, the heritage complex is nonetheless taken by storm on sunny days. Narrow streets and a small square in front of the entrance to the abbey church do not, it is true, help to distribute the flow of visitors.
An idea for a change:
there is no shortage of small villages around Conques, this part of the Aveyron territory remains wild and often unexplored. We loved Muret-le-Château, 2 km away, so quiet, so calm, whose high walls of the houses are covered with a slate roof that seems to defy time... So Calm.
In video -
Do you know the only French department that is not served by train?