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Dordogne-Perigord

Sarlat , first meeting

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Sarlat the town in France, City of Art, where the color of honey is added to each ray of sun through the warmth of its stone buildings and is, without doubt, the gilt on the lily and where a guided visit will enchant you. One just needs to visit and discover the Dordogne Valley to understand why the Périgord is also known as the " Land of 1001 Châteaux ". Amid all these treasures is SARLAT, City of Art, where the color of honey is added to each ray of sun through the warmth of its stone buildings and is, without doubt, and the gilt on the lily and where a guided visit will enchant you.
Sarlat is also where (excepting Paris), most movies are shot. ²-
Park your car at the entrance of the city: you will avoid a lot of aggravation. A good parking to start is the “Grande Rigaudie”. It is likely that many other towns in France possessed as many curious and picturesque lanes, as many handsome buildings, but modernization gradually destroyed these treasures of the past, and we can now rejoice that the city was miraculously saved thanks to a law promulgated on the 4th of August 1962 (loi Malraux) by which the old town received sufficient financial aid to undertake a program of restoration, and now the old facades are again as they were under their magnificent stone roofs and the old quarters have been rescued from their lethargy by a lively and lived-in town.
Try to start early on foot, you plunge right away in the intimacy of the urban scale. I mean: walk up the intimate and richly detailed rue Tourny, and from there you will led to the “Cour des Fontaines: you are already enthusiastic. Have a stroll to the Ancient Cimetiere, where the tombstones have been arranged.
Enter the rue des Consuls, where a maximum of magnificent edifices are built, look at no, also 8 and 10. Place du Peyrou, duck into the medieval alleyway of the passage Henri-de-Segogne to another highlight of Sarlat on the Place de la Liberté: THE HOTEL DE MALEVILLE. (Now the tourist office), a 16th century combination of three houses, with two district facades: one French-one Italian.  Situated in part of the House of Vienne or Maleville as it is better known. It is composed of three wings joined together - Italian Renaissance style at the rear with a medieval-style turret and French Renaissance in the foreground. Doorway surrounded by a tympan decorated above with medallions representing HENRI IV and possibly his favourite, Gabrielle d'Estrée or his wife, Marie de Medicis.
But notice how the area is full of parasites: the souvenir shops!
Wander around the place de la Liberté and via de rue Cahuet, discover the CATHEDRAL SAINT SACERDOS  (6th century bishop of Limoges), which construction began in 1504 and lasted for two centuries. Originally part of the church of a Benedictine abbey (XII and XIV), largely rebuilt in XVI and XVII centuries. Lacks architectural unity interior and exterior - the main gothic-style structure has been built between the apse and the bell tower. The base of the bell tower has groin vaulted ceilings, Carolingian faces and is topped by a bulbous roof, the large entrance was added in the XVII century, over which can be seen undated statues of unknown origin. The interior has interesting paneling and statues - stalls (XVII), retable (XVI and XVII) and an organ built by J-F Lepine, a well-known organ builder. (will be continued)