Le Breuil

Les cabanes du Breuil - The huts of Le Breuil

On holiday in Sarlat-le-Caneda for a week, a lovely old town in the Dordogne. In the Sarlat tourist office we found a wonderful Guide to walks in the area around Sarlat: "Promenades et randonnees en Perigord Noir Sarladais" [the immediate area around Sarlat is known as the Sarladais, part of the larger area known as Perigord Noir - black Perigord]. The guide features 32 loose leave sheets with descriptions on one side and maps on the other. The maps are 1:25000 scale reproduced from the series produced by the Institut Geographique National. Many of the sheets have more than one walk or variants of the main walk, so there is something for everyone.

We thought we'd start with something gentle. This 6 km walk starts from the car park by Les Cabanes du Breuil (more on them below) and meanders in a gentle circle up and down through woodlands and fields back to the start. Wild flowers, birdsong and cicadas for company.

Rating: 3 stars.

The path between Thomas and Le Breuil

Sightings

Among the wild flowers we spotted several wild orchids and others we could not identify, like the blue one below.

Wild orchid (left)

Les cabanes du Breuil

These dry stone huts are very old and were once part of monastic land. After being abandoned for many years they were reoccupied by three craftsmen at the end of the nineteenth century and 50 years ago the grandparents of the present owners began a process of restoration. More information can be found on Les cabanes du Breuil website.