Spectacular cliffs, studded with caves and rock shelters, create a fascinating backdrop to the fields and woods.  It was simple for our ancestors to find shelter here from the cold of the Ice Age.

Food was abundant - fish in the rivers and vast herds of migrating reindeer went past their door! Nuts, fruits, berries, mushrooms and fuel were plentiful in the forests.

‘Nature’s larder’ is still well stocked today - traditional sources of truffles, cepes and other mushrooms are family secrets.  Wild boar and deer are still common in the woods and figure strongly on menus of local restaurants.

Much of the the landscape is still heavily covered by trees. Our ancestors used oak and chestnut to construct their houses -  this still goes on today along with many of the associated craft skills.  Tools have changed little over the centuries too.

The Dordogne and Vezere Rivers were important communication links dominated by many of the thousand castles of the region.

Today they provide leisure facilities for fishing, swimming, canoeing and rafting.  Kingfishers are a regular and special sight along the river banks - a sure sign that the water is unpolluted.  

Butterflies, often types rare in Britain, are common in the meadows.  Numerous wild herbs and flowers, especially stunning red poppies, add colour to the fields and roadside verges from early Spring.