Market Day at Sarlat

My favorite destination in the Dordogne: the exquisite sandstone turrets and golden-hued alleys of Sarlat-la-Canéda. Thanks to André Malraux, Minister of Culture in the 1960s, the city was plucked from certain decay and destruction* and given a new life as a beautifully restored Medieval city. When Malraux passed a law for the preservation of France's historical monuments, Sarlat became his pet project and millions were pumped into its renovation.

Saturday is market day, where you can find all sorts of delicacies from the Perigord: foie gras, duck confit, candied walnuts. The honeycomb walls are splashed with color. Because Sarlat's tiny streets are often jam-packed with tour groups, the secret is to go in the off-season-- January for example, when the temperatures are mild but the crowds have dispersed. Plus, January is in the thick of truffle season!

*In fact much of the Dordogne was crumbling and slowly slipping away, as detailed in W.S. Merwin's beautiful book, The Lost Upland. Now Sarlat is a humming ville-ruche, and hamlets like La Roque are living museums for tourists to marvel at and appreciate. (And the Brits are back: buying up property where the 100 Years War raged centuries before.)

P.S. Check out Salon.com's "Literary Guide to the World" for an excellent synopsis of Merwin's books and the Southwest region.