3 New Routes! Bergerac, Beziers & Pau with Ryanair

November 15, 2007

Plus 50,000 Seats For £5 Including Taxes!

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, today (12th Oct) announced three new routes from Bristol to Bergerac (Dordogne), Beziers (Languedoc) and Pau (Pyrenees Atlantique).

Ryanair will launch its 20th European base in Bristol in just three weeks, and will deliver 1 million passengers on 20 low fare routes from the airport in the coming year.

Announcing the new routes, Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary said:

“Passengers in the South West have just three weeks to wait until Ryanair launches flights from Bristol.

Our record advance bookings confirm that passengers in Bristol can’t get enough of Ryanair’s guaranteed lowest fares and in response, we are now adding three new routes to Bergerac, Beziers and Pau starting in May 2008.”

To celebrate these three new routes, Ryanair are releasing 50,000 seats from Bristol for £5 including taxes and are urging passengers to log onto http://www.ryanair.com/ immediately, as this offer must end at midnight on Monday. Special fares are available on most Ryanair routes from Bristol International for travel between 5th November 2007 and 12th March 2008.

Route Starts Frequency
Bergerac May 2008 3 x weekly
Beziers May 2008 3 x weekly
Pau May 2008 3 x weekly

Read more

Written by admin · Filed Under News 

An increase for property owners in the Dordogne?

November 14, 2007

Renovation can be taxing

To complicate the issue, work to renovate a building will incur VAT (TVA), at 19.6% only if it affects more than 50% of the building stock.
Similarily, repairs to a wall will be taxed at 19.6% VAT if it affects the whole wall,but 5.5% if only half of the wall is being repaired!
Additional complication, second oeuvre work;floors,door frames, wall partitions,plumbing, electricity,heating and sanitation will only incur VAT at 19.6% if the overall work to the building requires more than two of these types of work.
The move has left both builders and property owners confused and disgruntled.
Such is the complexity of these policies that where there is a disagreemen, people are returning to the tax office for clarification and are finding that response takes for ever.

Written by admin · Filed Under News 

Brive-Souillac airport to start test flights

November 14, 2007

By next year (2008) the new airport of Brive-Souillac is programmed to come into operation. Although originally conceived to service the town of Brive in the neighbouring département of the Corrèze, it is likely to be of use to all inhabitants of the Périgord Noir, due to its location at a point 25 kilometres from Terrasson and 40 kilometres from Sarlat. Market research has revealed that 5,700 second homes lie within 30 minutes’ drive, and that 53% of these belong to English owners. This number vastly exceeds those for the Corrèze (900) and the Lot (2,600) and reflects the greater popularity of the Dordogne for English buyers.

The new airport is to service flights to Paris, Lyon and London. It may therefore provide some competition to Bergerac, which has grown in importance. However, behind the apparent success of the older establishment is a degree of concern. Roumanières is currently running at an annual deficit of 600,000 euros, far in excess of the provisional estimate of 173,000. The difference appears to be accounted for by the removal of flights to Paris and by a shortfall in the anticipated number of international flights. The poor financial result has given rise to a dispute between the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Dordogne (the CCI) and the mayor of Bergerac. The CCI is in charge of Roumanières, but complains of a lack of co-operation on the part of the local authority, which was allegedly to cover the cost of much needed new parking lots. The CCI is threatening to withdraw from the airport management, and hand it (together with the financial shortfall) back to the town of Bergerac.

The spectre of Bassillac

Lurking up the road is a reminder of what may lie ahead: the old airport of Bassillac, just outside Périgueux, formerly much used by Parisians escaping to their weekend properties in the Dordogne but now without any scheduled services. The local authority in Bergerac will have to face the challenge of investment if it wishes to retain Roumanières as an investment, particularly when faced with the challenge of Brive-Souillac just up the motorway.

Impact on property prices

One indirect effect of these airport shenanigans is the impact on property prices in the area. Weekending and telecommuting Brits are now used to the facilities at Bergerac: the fact that luggage emerges on a roller in a windy tent is accepted philosophically in the light of the convenience of cheap flights from the UK. Property prices within a 30 minute drive of Roumanières have shown healthy increases. Doubtless the same will happen if UK flights operate to Brive-Souillac. But investment in infrastructure is long term, and history shows that local authorities may pay more attention to local voters than to the owners of holiday homes

Written by admin · Filed Under News 

Les Eyzies de Tayac

November 12, 2007

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is commonplace for Les Eyzies to be introduced as the world’s prehistoric capital and the numerous painted caves and, particularly, the proliferation of rock shelters only confirm this notion. The most varied prehistoric, and historic, styles and periods are represented, making Les Eyzies the archetypal town for travelling through the past. This vast, motionless promenade will enable us to appreciate more thoroughly the passing of prehistoric time. From La Micoque to Laugerie-Basse. from 300,000 to 5000 years B.C., prehistory at Les Eyzies lasted sixty times longer than history and one hundred and fifty times longer than the Christian era.
Even if you only have a passing interest in prehistoric times, Les Eyzies would be worth a visit. if only for its site. At the confluence of the Vezere and the Beune. the little village. out of which rises an old castle converted into a museum. clings to the bottom of tall cliffs containing shelters, caves and troglodyte dwellings. crowned with green oaks and juniper trees. Having crossed the Vezere. a little road which winds between the river and the rocks follows the prehistoric “Royal road” an unimaginable succession of caves and shelters in an impressive framework of cliffs.

The chalk uplands which surround Les Eyzies are rich in flint, crisss-crossed with dozens of secret clefts and valleys, dominated by cliffs with hidden caves made fine hunting country for prehistoric man. Solid natural materials abound for making weapons and tools, and the shelter of the rock formations made the Périgord a perfect place to live. 100,000 years ago neanderthal man walked the valley of the Dordogne and left sufficient remains to make it a focal point of prehistory. Although he was named after the small valley in Germany where, in 1856, bines were found that fit his description, it was at Le Moustier, near Les Eyzies, that archaeologists first catalogued his weapons and tools.
The oldest human skeletal remains found in the Dordogne are of Neanderthal Man. The Moustier site yielded three complete skeletons another was found at Le Rigourdou, and at La Ferrassie, near Le Bugue, seven were unearthed, including some young children’s. These skeletons reveal that Neanderthal Man rarely lived to the age of thirty, and had Sophisticated burial rites involving funeral ceremonies. In some cases. the bodies were placed in dug graves and covered with earth, stones or slabs. Such respect for the dead must surely indicate that Neanderthal Man was capable of Philosophical reflection and perhaps a belief in an after life.

In March 1868, the geologist Louis Lartet, financed by Henry Christy, discovered the first five skeletons of Cro-Magnons, the earliest known examples of Homo sapiens sapiens, in the Cro-Magnon rock shelter at Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. These skeletons included a fetus, and the skulls found were remarkably modern-looking and much rounder than the earlier Neanderthal.

The Dordogne is split into four areas: the Périgord Vert (green), the Périgord Blanc (white), the Périgord Pourpre (purple), and the Périgord Noir (black). Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil lies in the Périgord Noir area.

Written by admin · Filed Under Towns & Villages 

Caves of Lascaux

November 12, 2007

 

 

 

Lascaux is a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the Dordogne département. They contain some of the most well-known (Upper Paleolithic) art, dating back to somewhere between 15,000 and 13,000 BC. They consist mostly of realistic images of large animals, including aurochs, most of which are known from fossil evidence to have lived in the area at the time. They were added to UNESCO World Heritage Sites list in 1979.

The cave was discovered on 12 September 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas. Public access was made easier after World War II. By 1955, the carbon dioxide produced by 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 in order to preserve the art. After the cave was closed, the paintings were restored to their original state, and are now monitored on a daily basis. Rooms in the cave include The Great Hall of the Bulls, the Lateral Passage, the Shaft of the Dead Man, the Chamber of Engravings, the Painted Gallery, and the Chamber of Felines.

Lascaux II, a replica of two of the cave halls - the Great Hall of the Bulls and the Painted Gallery - was opened in 1983. Reproductions of other Lascaux artwork can be seen at the Centre of Prehistoric Art at Le Thot, France.

The cave contains nearly 2,000 figures. Many are too faint to discern, while others have deteriorated. Over 900 can be identified as animals, and 605 of these have been precisely identified. There are also many geometric figures. Of the animals, horses predominate, with 364 images. There are 90 paintings of stags. Also represented are cattle and bison, each representing 4-5% of the images. A smattering of other images include seven felines, a bird, a bear, a rhinoceros, and a human. Among the most famous images are four huge, black bulls in the Hall of the Bulls. There are no images of reindeer, even though that was the principal source of food for the artists.

The four black bulls are the dominant figures among the 36 animals represented in the Hall of the Bulls. One of the bulls is 17 feet long — the largest animal discovered so far in cave art. The bulls appear to be in motion.

A painting referred to as “The Crossed Bison” and found in the chamber called the Nave is often held as an example of the skill of the paleolithic cave painters. The crossed hind legs show the ability to use perspective in a manner that wasn’t seen again until the 15th century.

Of the non-figurative images, one researcher has speculated that the painted dots are maps of the night sky, since the patterns correlate with various constellations

Written by admin · Filed Under Tourist Attractions 

Markets in the Dordogne

November 11, 2007

Market days in the Dordogne

Local markets in the Dordogne, are tourist attractions themselves, and it’s great fun to spend a couple of hours strolling around a market  . The markets are often the best place to buy fresh local produce, and most towns are at their best and most colourful on market days.

Town Market Day
Agonac Saturday
Beaumont Tuesday, Saturday
Belves Saturday
Bergerac Saturday, Wednesday
Brantome Tuesday, Friday
Cenac Tuesday
Cubjac Friday
Daglan Sunday
Domme Thursday
Eymet Thursday
Excideuil Thursday
Issigeac Sunday
Jumilhac Wednesday
La Coquille Thursday
Lalinde Thursday
La Roche Chalais Saturday
Le Bugue Tuesday
Le Buisson - Cadouin Friday
Les Eyzies Monday
Mareuil Tuesday
Monpazier Thursday
Montpon Wednesday
Montignac Saturday, Wednesday
Mussidan Saturday
Neuvic Saturday, Tuesday
Nontron Saturday
Perigeux Saturday, Wednesday
Piegut Wednesday
Razac Saturday, Wednesday
Riberac Tuesday, Friday
Rouffignac Sunday
Salignac-Eyvigues Tuesday
Sarlat Saturday, Wednesday
Sigoules Friday
Sorges Sunday
St Aulaye Saturday
St Astier Thursday
St Cyprien Sunday
St Genies Sunday
Terrasson Thursday
Thenon Tuesday
Thiviers Saturday
Tocane Monday
Tremolat Tuesday
Vergt Friday
Villefranche du Perigord Saturday

Most markets are significantly larger during the summer months.

During the summer many towns also have nocturnal markets (marche nocturne) where you can eat, drink and listen to music in a communal atmosphere.

Have we missed a market?? Please let us know.

Written by admin · Filed Under Local Events, Useful Info 

B&B Ferme de Tayac

November 11, 2007

B&B Ferme de Tayac. The most loved and talked about B&B in the Dordogne. Ferme de Tayac, a beautiful 12th century former farmhouse / monastery situated next to St. Martin, the fortified church of the lovely peaceful village Tayac, and 1km from Les Eyzies known as the “Prehistoric Capital” of the world.
For hundreds of years Ferme de Tayac was worked by the Monks, and with all of it’s authentic buildings,ruins, rooms carved into the rock, meter thick fortified walls and original oak beam construction, it’s no wonder that Ferme de Tayac is a much loved and talked about B&B.
The bedrooms at “Ferme de Tayac” are former Monks quarters, all with lovely peaceful views of the valley and the many Prehistoric dwellings in the cliffs rock face.
The Vezere valley in the “Black Perigord”,where Ferme de Tayac is situated is known to be the most beautiful region of France,and with more than 250 UNESCO sites, has earned title of being the Prehistoric Capital of the World.
B&B Ferme de Tayac is the ideal place to stay whilst exploring and enjoying everything this amazingly beautiful area has to offer. All the main attractions (and there are LOTS of them) are within 20 minutes from Ferme de Tayac, some are even in walking distance, and one of them is Ferme de Tayac.

Visit the official Ferme de Tayac web site : www.fermedetayac.com

Read travellers reviews about Ferme de Tayac:

Written by admin · Filed Under Accommodation, Breaking News 

Explore the REAL Dordogne

November 9, 2007

Dordogne, also known as the Perigord is without a doubt one of the most interesting and diverse
regions in the world. The Vezere Valley in the “Perigord Noir” is with it’s more than 250 UNESCO
sites of interest, the undisputed “Prehistoric Capital of the World”. Prehistoric dwellings, caves,
rock shelters and lots more, most of which are only accessible on foot.
However, Dordogne has much more to offer than just relics from the Prehistoric era, castles,
bastides, medieval towns & villages, all of these,and lots more, all in the stunning and amazing
scenery the Dordogne is famous for, hills, cliffs, windy rivers, great weather, friendly locals, and
lots more make the Dordogne one of the most interesting and exciting places in the world.

Walking Dordogne takes you to all the well kept secrets that are only accessible on foot. To see
the “Real Dordogne” you will have to get off the roads, and on the tracks. Let us take you back,
to the places our ancestors called “home” more than 260000 years ago.

For more info please visit http://www.walkingdordogne.com/

Written by admin · Filed Under Activities 

Dordogne Info

November 8, 2007

Welcome to Dordogne Info, the one stop site about the Dordogne.
This site will be updated on a reguler basis, and the viewer will be kept up to date about things happening in and around the Dordogne, but we will also be posting useful information that will help both visitors, and locals.

TheDordogne.info  is another “de Paulus” Project for promoting the Dordogne.

de Paulus has more than 30 web sites promoting the Dordogne. If you have a web site or buisness in the Dordogne, and you would like to get it high on the search engines contact de Paulus and see what he can do for you. 

www.depaulus.com 

Written by admin · Filed Under News 

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