Walking in the Dordogne. Janette Norton

restored, followed by those in other towns and villages. At the same time the many châteaux and prehistoric sites were gradually opened to the public, and the first tourists began to arrive.

      And this is when the British rediscovered the Dordogne, attracted by its mild climate and beautiful countryside, and by the slow pace of life. They bought up crumbling farms, manors and mills to renovate, seeing the area as an idyllic – and inexpensive – place to retire to, or for a second home to visit on extended holidays. The Dutch and the French themselves soon followed, and by the end of the century tourism had become a major industry.

      People now flock in to wander round the unspoilt villages, visit the historic sites and taste the delicious regional specialities – and also, it is to be hoped, to explore the surrounding countryside on foot.

      Busy main square at Sarlat

Plants and flowers

      The Dordogne, with its mild climate and gentle rainfall, is an area where almost everything grows, and there is a richness of vegetation that you do not see with the dry hot summers further south.

      In such a large area it is not surprising that there is considerable diversity in the vegetation. North of the river there is extended woodland which is mainly deciduous, with chestnuts, oaks, beech and hawthorn, the most striking being the false acacia with its hanging clusters of creamy flowers. Around Sarlat and Souillac you will find plantations of walnuts and oak trees, with truffles growing at their roots. Further south, on the limestone causse, are plants more usually associated with a Mediterranean climate, where you will find evergreen holm oak, juniper, broom and dwarf conifers.

      A variety of cereal crops are cultivated, and around Sarlat you will still come across a few fields of tobacco and the long wooden barns where the leaves were hung to dry. This was once the largest tobacco producing area in France, although very little has been grown since 2013 when farmers stopped receiving subsidies for growing it. And of course there are the famous vineyards around Bergerac, where the countryside is flatter and the gentle slopes are covered in vineyards as far as the eye can see.

      In addition to the variety of trees and crops, the region hosts an abundance of flowers. In springtime you will find primroses, violets, periwinkles and wood anemones, as well as early flowering bulbs such as snowdrops, wild daffodils, small yellow tulips and white Star of Bethlehem. Later in summer the woods are full of tall white asphodel lilies, and the open fields carpeted with ox-eye daisies, purple sage and aquilegias. The banks of rivers and streams are bright with yellow irises and marsh marigolds, with delicate fritillaries, water avens and a variety of tall rushes. On the rocky cliffs above the river bloom creeping plants such as saxifrage and stonecrop, and in the limestone areas of the warmer south you will find lavender, thyme and rosemary. The flowers continue into autumn, when you will frequently come across carpets of tiny pink cyclamen in the woods, and autumn squill in open areas.

      The most exciting aspect of this area for any flower-lover in spring and early summer is the multitude of wild orchids in the fields and woods, not just the odd specimen but large clusters of them. Some of the most impressive are the tall lizard orchids and the lovely dark lady orchids. Many grow on grassy verges, where you will frequently see early purple, pyramidal, white butterfly and fragrant orchids, whereas red and white helleborines thrive in shady woodland. Other less common varieties are the purple loose-flowered orchids, the curious tongue orchids and the ophrys varieties of bee orchid.

      Clockwise from left: Lady orchid, Wild tulips, Pyramidal orchid, autumn flowering Cyclamen, Star of Bethlehem.

      Suggested books:

       A Naturalist’s Guide to the Wild Flowers of Britain and Northern Europe, by A Cleave and P Sterry (John Beaufoy Publishing)

       Field Guide to Orchids of Britain and Europe, by Karl Peter Buttler (Crowood Press)

       Wild Flowers of the Mediterranean, by David Burnie (Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Handbook)

Wildlife

      The Dordogne has a history of hunting dating back to medieval times, when knights galloped out of their castles to shoot deer and wild boar, which were plentiful in the vast forests. Over the centuries the wildlife was decimated, but fortunately the recent ecology movement has had a positive result. Although hunting continues, and you will frequently come across tall hunting platforms in the woods for spotting game, there is now a defined hunting season, for both animals and birds.

      A hunting platform in the woods near Monestier (Walk 4)

      Wild boar still live in the woods, and red and roe deer in more open areas. The red squirrel, so rare in England, is frequently seen here, and you may be lucky enough to glimpse an elusive civet cat, pine or stone martin. Foxes, badgers, rabbits, voles, weasels and stoats are more common, and one rodent that is slowly gaining ground in the lakes and rivers is the coypu, a big furry creature with a long tail, rather like a beaver, originally introduced from South America. Unfortunately, their increasing numbers are destroying the riverbanks, the natural habitat of otters and water voles, and so measures are now being taken to eliminate them.

      The Dordogne river used to be alive with trout, salmon, eels, pike, bream and the rarer turtle, but now, due to repeated over-fishing, sewage and insecticide, numbers have diminished. Recently steps have been taken to remedy this, and hopefully numbers will increase again. The rivers and streams are also the home of water birds, and wild ducks, coots and moorhens nest in the reeds and marshes. You will often see herons watching for fish, standing on one leg in the shallows, and if you are lucky, you might catch the blue flash of a kingfisher as it skims over the water.

      Birds are everywhere, even in the vineyards where the red-legged partridge has made its home. In the woods and fields are pheasants, woodpeckers, thrushes, robins, nuthatch, blackbirds, coal tits and other common species, as well as woodcock and nightingales. Above the rocky cliffs of the Dordogne, cruising the thermals, are buzzards, black kites and peregrine falcons, the latter re-established only in the 1980s. The cliffs are riddled with the nests of colonies of swallows, swifts and sand martins, especially along the Vézère river, and the dank, dark caves, once the home of primitive man, now harbour thousands of bats.

      A flamboyant hoopoe: photo Tristan Lafranchis

      But the most eye-catching bird to be seen in the Dordogne, especially in the south, is the flamboyant hoopoe, which flies in at the end of April after wintering in Africa. His long curved beak, pink chest and pied wings are offset by a huge crest which opens up on landing to make him look like an Indian chief – a sight worth seeing!

      Suggested books:

      RSPB: Birds of Britain and Europe (Dorling Kindersley Pocket Guide)

      Wild Animals of Britain and Europe (Collins Nature Guide)

How to get there

      By car

      Many of the walks in this book cannot be reached without a car. If you come by train or air, all the main car hire firms operate from stations and airports, and information about rental can be obtained before you leave.

      If you bring your own car, Cherbourg, St-Malo and Caen are convenient ports to drive from, all served from Portsmouth and Poole by Brittany Ferries (www.brittanyferries.co.uk). For detailed travel itineraries and route planners, see www.theaa.com, www.rp.rac.co.uk, and www.viamichelin.com.

      By air

      With