It’s an impressive building, with remarkably preserved murals, Aubusson tapestries, wood panelling and a 17th-century organ. The abbey was founded in the 13th century to house the relics of Saint Anthony of Egypt, and pilgrims flocked here seeking a cure for Saint Anthony’s fire, a symptom of fungal poisoning.
In rolling countryside close to the Vercors massif, the abbey of Saint-Antoine watches over the village that bears its name. Stay Auberge Saint-Fleuret has a restaurant, pool, garden and 14 doubles from €112 (breakfast €9). Eat Brasserie du Château overlooks the river and serves good local fare (trout or steak, say), with three courses from €30. With mountains, rivers and gorges nearby, Estaing is a good base, and there are hiking trails from the village. In summer, there’s a son et lumière show on Wednesdays a Nuit Lumière festival on 15 August sees the village lit by candles and there’s a medieval weekend in September. Its narrow streets have hardly changed over the centuries. The village is on the Camino de Santiago, and its 16th-century bridge is Unesco-listed. Built by the illustrious Estaing family (former president Valéry Giscard d’Estaing acquired it in 2005), it mixes Romanesque, gothic and renaissance styles and is open to the public in summer. On the banks of the River Lot, Estaing is dominated by its 11th-century castle. Photograph: Jaubert French Collection/Alamy Stay L’Esplanade (, a family-run hotel and restaurant, has a terrace with beautiful views of the valley and doubles from €80. Eat Le Restaurant Cabanoix & Chataîgnes offers seasonal specialities using local produce from duck breast to homemade paté (three-course market menu €17). The Belvedere de la Barre is a great viewpoint, and Château de Monfort, La Roque-Gageac village and the Jardins de Marqueyssac are among attractions nearby. Fine houses line the streets, like the 13th-century Maison du Batteur de Monnaie and the former courthouse. Ramparts, fortified gates and towers – which served as prisons, first for the Templars in the early 14th century, then for French and English soldiers during the hundred years war – still stand.Īn entrance to caves used for shelter during times of trouble lies under the main square, Place de la Halle – the 450-metre network of tunnels can be explored, and a glass-fronted lift takes you up the cliff face to street level afterwards. One of the most beautiful bastides (fortified villages) in south-west France, it has a turbulent history. On a cliff high above the Dordogne, Domme has exceptional views over the surrounding countryside. Pesmes, BurgundyĪ gate in the medieval fortifications of Domme. Stay Le Moulin de Montrésor is a converted 19th-century mill with an outdoor pool and antique-filled doubles from €80 B&B. Eat The main place to eat is friendly Café de la Ville, which does staples such as entrecôte-frites (€19.90) and croque-monsieur. A riverside walk, Balcons de l’Indrois, provides wonderful views of the village, and its Jardinier Bridge was built by Gustav Eiffel’s workshop.
The 16th-century Logis du Chancelier, which has a watchtower, houses the town hall. The wool market, the Halle de Cardeux, has been restored as a cultural centre and exhibition space.
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In 1849, Xavier Branicki, a Polish count and friend of Napoleon III, restored the castle and filled it with art: sculptures by Pierre Vaneau, plus Italian Renaissance and Dutch paintings.īranicki gave his name to one of the streets, whose houses are partly cut into the rock behind. The church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste houses an Annunciation by Philippe de Champaigne (1602–1674). The remains of an 11th-century fortress are visible, but it’s the impressive Renaissance castle that dominates. On a riverbank an hour from Tours, Montrésor is a fairytale village with a rich history. Photograph: Tuul & Bruno Morandi/Getty Images Stay A riverside cottage with an outdoor pool 3km away, La Cassine sleeps four from €105 a night.
Eat Auberges des Peintres, a pretty restaurant in the centre, serves snails and creme brulee (two-course menu €16). River canoeing and visits to the gardens at La Mansonière are recommended. The village has charmed many famous painters, including Camille Corot and Eugène Boudin, and charcoal portraits of artists and villagers, sketched by candlelight, are on display at the Auberge des Soeurs Moisy (now a museum), which they frequented. Pretty houses around the church and along the river have been preserved, as has a lovely 15th-century chapel. Inside, 12th-century murals have recently been restored. It was later burned by the Normans, but the 11th-century church on the site remains, its saddleback roof and tower emerging from the trees.
On the Sarthe river in the Mancelles Alps, the village was founded by Saint Céneri, an Italian monk who built a monastery here in the seventh century.
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