Destinations
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Dordogne 6 – 13 May 2010
A taste of the good life
The department of the Dordogne in south-west France is justly famous for its pretty villages, cave paintings, elegant towns and landscapes of river valleys and quiet countryside. Less discovered is the wildlife: a charming mix of flowers, birds and butterflies.
Orchids are the most striking natural asset: up to 25 species can be found. Half of these are around our base at Castang. Birds on the doorstep include red-backed shrike, cirl bunting, melodious warbler, wryneck, honey buzzard and black redstart.
Castang
Castang is a hamlet close to the Dordogne river above the village of Le Coux et Bigaroque, not far from St Cyprien. Cathy and Keith Parker are our hosts; Cathy is from Montcaret, a little farther west along the Dordogne valley, and Keith is from England. The house was once a Pergordian tobacco farm of great character and charm, parts of which are thought to be more then 400 years old. The farmhouse, together with its complex of converted barns, provides comfortable accommodation around a sunny terraced courtyard. Dinner, after a leisurely aperitif, is one of Castang’s great features. Five courses of the best of the region’s cuisine, from soup to dessert, accompanied by local wines, are prepared and cooked by Cathy.
Castang’s large meadow has many hundreds of green-winged orchids along with tongue and pyramidal orchids. Loose-flowered orchids grow where the meadow gets damper down the hill, close to where golden orioles and nightingales can be heard and, with a little luck, seen. Beyond the orchid field, the area is a mix of meadows, cropped land and woods, cut by the wide river valleys of the Vézère and Dordogne.
Golden oriole
See our web page about
orchids in the Dordogne
Castang
Marsh fritillary
Common redstart at Castang
Midwife toad at Castang
