 La
Roque-Gageac, a magnificent village officially classified
as one of the most beautiful in France,
nestles into its high, south-facing rock cliffs in a bend of the
River
Dordogne and enjoys an almost
Mediterranean climate.  The site has been inhabited since prehistoric times, as witness the many flint axe-heads and other stone tools found in its fields and gardens. During the Gallo-Roman period the quieter life under the "Pax Romana" encouraged people to set up quite sizeable settlements on the gentler slopes to the east of the village, and even to lay a Roman road. But from the year 850 onwards, the dangers presented by the incursions of Viking longboats, in particular, led the populace to seek shelter and build fortifications on the safest site, between cliff and river. The Hundred Years War, and then France's bitter "Wars of Religion", turned La Roque Gageac into a key stronghold, impregnable and densely populated.
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Most of its present buildings date from this period, together with its troglodytic forts in the cliff-face (which can be visited) and vestiges of the former summer palaces of the Bishops of Sarlat. The Renaissance period saw the construction of some beautiful homes, such as the Manoir de Tarde, the manor-house of the Tarde family, which dominates the heart of the village to this day.
"gabares" (the Dordogne's traditional flat-bottomed boats), as well as abundant commercial fishing, which continued right up to the beginning of the 20th century. The village's situation turns it virtually into a large natural solarium, and this has made possible the creation of extraordinary "exotic gardens", alongside the church, halfway up the cliff, with luxuriant sub-tropical and Mediterranean plants. You will find the warmest of welcomes from La Roque-Gageac and its inhabitants, known as the "Laroquois", as well as wonderful gastronomic experiences in a region famed for its fine food. 
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THE EXOTIC GARDENS OF LA ROQUE-GAGEAC |
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As
you round a bend of the River Dordogne and see La
Roque-Gageac, for the first time, the view of this unusual
mediaeval village nestling under
its high rock cliffs, is truly spectacular. You get the impression
that you might almost be in the hills of Provence, a good 300 kilometres
or so to the south-east - an impression borne out when you climb up
the little pedestrian path, lined with palm trees and oleanders, which
starts from street level between the postal hut and the bistro. The stepped path leads you to the village church, perched on a rocky spur surrounded by luxuriant vegetation which really does seem to belong more to the Mediterranean: numerous palm-trees, of different kinds and sizes; the luminous colours of a further generous spread of oleanders; large banana trees, their broad leaves giving shade to the pathways; elegant cycads; palm-lilies and arborescent yuccas; giant bamboos; pomegranates, lemon and orange trees, olive trees, loquats, kiwis, mimosas, jasmine, passion flowers, hibiscus, bougainvillea… and not to forget, clinging to the rock higher up, some big agaves, aloes and prickly pears. |
Visitors
nearly always raise the same fascinated question: how is it that
this little oasis, which one would have thought more appropriate
to Andalusia or the Canary Islands, can thrive so well here in the
open, without protection, its plants almost in their wild state?
The simple answer is that the village's situation, lodged between
the south-facing cliffs and the river, virtually turns it into a
large natural solarium, with
a near-Mediterranean micro-climate found nowhere else in this region:
"The Périgord's own little Nice," as some locals
call it. - • - For all botanical details or guided visits, please contact Mr Gérard Dorin (24250 La Roque-Gageac - Tel./Fax: 05.53.29.40.29). As a matter of interest, for the gardeners among you, Mr Dorin was not only the inspiration behind La Roque-Gageac's exotic gardens but is also vice-president of the French Palm-Tree Association. - • - |
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From the courtyard in front
of the church, looking out from high over the valley, you get the
best view of the little patches of terraced garden and the positive
jungle of colour climbing the cliff-face, with all the many species
of plant and tree intermingling at several different levels.Other villages
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