Day 4: A Vézère/Dordogne loop - 63kms

Leaving the panniers at the hotel we headed off along the Vézère River. We detoured up the the little village of St Cinq before dropping down via a dirt track to Le Bugue. I remember this place from my last trip here in 2003. I remembered having lunch down by the river.

After topping up our coffee and getting some supplies for lunch it was again riding the undulating road beside the Vézère River until reaching the village of Limeuil.

Limeuil is one of the 'Les plus beaux villages de France'. There are many examples of these villages in the Perigord region. It's one of the things that makes this area so great to cycle. Limeuil has been operating as a centre of economic and transport since the middle ages. It is on the join of the Vézère and the Dordogne rivers so has a very impressive outlook with the two bridges.

Our next stop was the 12th century Romanesque church at Trémolat. During troubled times, the whole village would shelter within the fortification of the church.

After crossing the Dordogne river, we headed up a shaded valley to the Abbaye du Cadouin. Another old and impressive church. A bit more climbing to do, then it was follow the rivers and find the flattest way home. Enough climbing for today. So the weather has been hot but not humid. Fortunately many of the climbs have been largely in the shade.