The Massif Central & The Dordogne

Week 19 – 8th to 14th October

The Massif Central

Continuing the country theme we moved into the Massif Central; this region covers a large part of the centre of France and we only touched on a small part of it and, like Provence, the scenery was spectacular. The region is full of thick forests and carved by many rivers to produce some stunning gorges.


Gorges de l’Ardeche

This is the first, and most spectacular gorge we came. It runs for 35km in the valley of the Rhone and the road follows the top of the winding gorge providing plenty of beautiful viewpoints.

At times, it is a sheer 300m-drop

Not a bad spot for a picnic

Finishing up at the Pont d’Arc; the river carved its way through the limestone to create this beautiful arch.

We had a really lovely day through the gorge and it was great because there were hardly any vehicles on the road. If anyone reads this and fancies visiting, the one thing we thought was that in high season it would be absolutely appalling and you’d be stuck in traffic and fighting to reach viewpoints!


Mont Aigoual

Driving through the valley of the Herault, the narrow, very twisty road made its way up towards the 1565m summit of the mountain. It was a lovely drive with some beautiful views; there was a fair bit of heat haze so the photos aren’t too clear, but this one should give an idea.

At the top, it’s said you can see a third of France; from the Alps to the Pyrenees – perhaps on a very clear day. All we know is that it was bloody cold and windy up there and we were quick to get back into the comfort of the Lunar!


Gorges du Tarn

In parts, this gorge was just as dramatic as the l’Ardeche, but in parts it also had a softer feel to it and we passed through some lovely little villages where the houses seemed somewhat precariously built into the rock face.

The Dordogne

We were expecting great things from the Dordogne region but, whilst we found the countryside pleasant enough, it wasn’t spectacular; nowhere near as exciting as the previous 2 regions. As a result, we ended up moving through much more quickly than we first anticipated. If you like caves this would be the place, there are loads of them!


Gouffre de Padirac

We haven’t done many classic tourist attractions and decided to stop here; a huge limestone sinkhole. You descend about 100m and then walk into the darkness of the cave; a little boat takes you part way and then you walk through the rest. It is full of massive stalactites (some almost from floor to ceiling) made by the accumulation of lime, along with underground lakes and waterfalls. It was very cool and neither of us has seen anything like it on such a large scale before.

The Dordogne Villages

The Dordogne River itself is populated with many little villages and some are very pretty with beautiful old buildings, such as Cerannac

and La Roque-Gageac, whose houses sit under the overhanging cliffs.

The view from our campsite on the Lot River. It was quite eerie actually as we were the only people on the site!