Argenton-Sur-Creuse, France

En route to our vaction in the Perigord region of France, we made a slight detour to this town, located on the Creuse River in the Loire region. Our original plans were to take a train to Bergerac, allowing us to snooze a bit after our trans-Atlantic flight, and end the day biggest town in the Perigord Noir. Every travel sight I haunted mentioned the uncharming terrain and the ease of a train for transport. It made sense but it was not to be.

The rise of the delta variant made us pause, wanting to avoid too much contact with a lot of people, as well as requiring an additional 2/3 of a day masked up. So looking at something about 1/2 way between Paris and Sarlat, something convenient to the A20 as well, I came upon this really lovely and charming town. It was settled before the Romans invaded (that site is a bit north of the city and will be saved for a future visit), it is largely a medieval town with two bridges crossing the river and lots of paths to walk along. Even our hotel was small and charming and has a wonderful view. I think there are dozens, if not hundreds of towns that we could have chosen, and that in itself is what I love about being in France, you don't have to be good or lucky, there are lots of great options, and this is definitely one of them.