Janette Norton - Walking in the Dordogne: 35 Walking Routes in the Dordogne-Sarlat, Bergerac, Lalinde and Souillac

Janette Norton was born in England but lived near Geneva with her husband Alan for over 40 years, raising four children and working in the marketing and educational fields. Her love of walking and exploring the mountains dated from the time she was a guide in Switzerland in her twenties, and the proximity of both the Alps and the Jura enabled her to continue her passion. After writing her first book on the Haute Savoie, she moved further afield to explore other areas of France, such as Provence, the Cevennes and the Dordogne. Sadly Janette died from cancer in January 2013, and her books are now revised by Alan Norton and Pamela Harris.

Alan Norton studied Physics at Edinburgh and Oxford universities before moving to Geneva to work at CERN on Particle Physics research. Since retirement, he has continued to participate in CERN experiments as a professor at the Italian University of Ferrara. As leisure activities, he has completed many mountain-running events at the rear of the field, and helped Janette with walking and map preparation for her guides.

Pamela Harris graduated from Reading University and then moved to Switzerland, where she taught English and Classical studies at international schools in the Geneva area. A long-time member of both the Alpine Club and the Swiss Alpine Club, she has walked and climbed extensively in the mountains of Europe and the Himalayas. For several years she walked with Janette and assisted with previous editions of her guides.

Walking in the Haute Savoie: North

Walking in the Haute Savoie: South

Walking in Provence: East

Walking in Provence: West

Walking in the Cevennes

WALKING IN THE DORDOGNE

35 WALKING ROUTES IN THE DORDOGNE REGION SARLAT, BERGERAC, LALINDE AND SOUILLAC

by Janette Norton
Updated by Alan Norton and Pamela Harris

JUNIPER HOUSE, MURLEY MOSS,
OXENHOLME ROAD, KENDAL, CUMBRIA LA9 7RL
www.cicerone.co.uk

Janette Norton 2018

Second edition 2018

ISBN: 978 1 85284 843 9

First edition 2004

Printed by KHL Printing, Singapore

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All photographs are by the authors unless otherwise stated.

Route mapping by Lovell Johns www.lovelljohns.com. Additional mapping by Alan Norton.

Contains OpenStreetMap.org data OpenStreetMap contributors, CC-BY-SA. NASA relief data courtesy of ESRI

The routes of the GR, PR and GRP paths in this guide have been reproduced with the permission of the Fdration Franaise de la Randonne Pdestre holder of the exclusive rights of the routes. The names GR, PR and GRP are registered trademarks. FFRP 2018 for all GR, PR and GRP paths appearing in this work.

Acknowledgements

It is a daunting task to revise a guidebook when the original author is no longer present to share her skills and experience. Fortunately Janette left us perfect records, as well as wonderful memories, making it a pleasure to pick up her legacy. Even so, we would not have managed without several friends who enthusiastically re-visited some of the trails, providing text updates, GPS traces and brilliant new photographs.

We are especially indebted to Alexa Stace, who lives near Gourdon and is our main contact in the Dordogne. Brimming with energy, she was helped by a local team of international co-walkers for this new edition: Anni Struthers, Ton Vervoort, Molly Meyer, Marie-Luce Berger and Neill Montgomery. Thanks to them all, with a special mention for Fanny Mollys dog and the most experienced of our local guides!

Special thanks also to our stalwart friends from the Geneva area: Rosemary Westermeyer, William Westermeyer, Carol Saynor and Richard Saynor. While they were busy with high routes for the Haute Savoie guides, they still found time to check trails and take photos in the Dordogne, a very different walking paradise.

It is a pleasure to work with Cicerone, a very special company: cosily small, efficient and demanding when needed, but above all human and understanding when it matters most.

Finally, we are extremely grateful for the information provided by the various tourist offices in the Dordogne.

Updates to this Guide

While every effort is made by our authors to ensure the accuracy of guidebooks as they go to print, changes can occur during the lifetime of an edition. Any updates that we know of for this guide will be on the Cicerone website (www.cicerone.co.uk/843/updates), so please check before planning your trip. We also advise that you check information about such things as transport, accommodation and shops locally. Even rights of way can be altered over time.

The route maps in this guide are derived from publicly-available data, databases and crowd-sourced data. As such they have not been through the detailed checking procedures that would generally be applied to a published map from an official mapping agency, although naturally we have reviewed them closely in the light of local knowledge as part of the preparation of this guide.

We are always grateful for information about any discrepancies between a guidebook and the facts on the ground, sent by email to updates@cicerone.co.uk or by post to Cicerone, Juniper House, Murley Moss, Oxenholme Road, Kendal, LA9 7RL.

Register your book: To sign up to receive free updates, special offers and GPX files where available, register your book at www.cicerone.co.uk.

Front cover: The Dordogne river at Beynac (Walk 26)

CONTENTS

Beynac castle and church (Walk 26)

The gardens of the Chteau des Milandes (Walk 25)

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

Since the first edition of Walking in the Dordogne was published in 2004, the area has become even more popular with British visitors, many of whom have made it their second home. In addition, tourist offices have become increasingly aware that walking is a popular activity, and have made a considerable effort to create more walking trails, and to waymark them clearly. Despite this, the crowds rapidly fall away once you start walking, and you are soon alone.

As revisers, we have had great pleasure in preparing this new edition and, in so doing, re-discovering this beautiful part of France. In the past two years all the walks have been re-done by ourselves or by a few helpers, some of whom have themselves made the Dordogne their home.