The Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in the southwest of France is characterised by an outstanding variety as a first choice holiday destination. Here you’ll find wine, cheese, castles, gardens, rivers and the Atlantic Ocean with wide beaches for those who don’t care about the sea.
Dordogne-Périgord
The historic county of Périgord and the barons Beynac, Biron, Bourdeilles and Mareuil correspond to the modern department of the Dordogne.
King Henri IV reattached the county to the royal house in the 16th century.
The Vézère and Dordogne rivers flow through the department which is now part of the Nouvelle Aquitaine region in south-west France.
The prefecture is Périgueux
We are in the Périgord (a part of the New Aquitaine) again with our caravan. The wish was to have as centrally located a place as possible. The internet research led us to the 3***-star-place Orpheo Negro.
Who is not with tent or camper on the way, its destination in the Internet before reservation should well regard and also by telephone after-hook. The density at camping sites is impressing. Everybody who has still a piece of land lying fallow has felt here, a camping site has opened. So we found with our Research on site of course also providers, whose places we found to be totally unreasonable and those who in our opinion were beautiful to Wow!
The four Périgords
The Dordogne stretches over the northeast of the Aquitaine Basin. The diversity of soils, vegetation and crops allowed the locals to divide their Périgord into four different areas.
The north of the department or «Périgord Vert», Green Périgord, looks like a huge chessboard of fields and meadows bordered by hedges and forests.
The central area around Périgueux is called «Périgord Blanc» – White Périgord because it consists of limestone which gives the soil a light colour.
The southwest around Bergerac is called «Périgord Pourpre» – Purpurnes Périgord – and is known for the vineyards that lie on the southern shores of the Dordogne.
And last but not least, the prestigious Périgord Noir lies around Sarlat la Canéda – Black Périgord. It got its name because of the dark green of the surrounding dense oak forests.
The Land of A Thousand Castles
Périgord is also known as the land of a thousand castles.
This was the core of the territorial conflict that took place between the French and the English in the Middle Ages, but which also had a religious background.
Countless fortifications or cities protected by city walls, fortified castles and villages were therefore built on the rocky hills with a good view over the rivers located below.
