La Roque-Gagaec, Dordogne, France

The golden yellow houses with their traditional Perigord rooves, line the river and spread up the hill behind. This was our home base for the first half of our trip, and it is a beautiful setting. There are some very majestic houses here, but ours was quite modest. We were sandwiched between Le Belle Etoile Hotel and the troglodyte fort, which is set in the cliffs 40 metres above La Roque Gageac, as well as significant vestiges of the 12th century construction are still standing. The strong defensive position of La Roque Gageac and the fortress whose defences continued to be elaborated up to the 17th century meant that it held an important strategic and defensive position in the area.

The streets were crushed with tourists all day long, but early in the morning and in the evening there is nary a soul about and we sat on the side of the Dordogne River reading and doing a modest amount of people watching. Really a lovely place.