Just 5 km from the market village of St Cyprien, 7 km from the ‘prehistoric capital’ of Les Eyzies and 17 km from the medieval town of Sarlat, our accomodation provides the perfect location from which to explore the castles, rockart, caves and medieval villages which make up the vivid and diverse history of this region or simply to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing holiday.

Ferme de Tayac, a lovely B&B in a 12th century former Farmhouse / Monastery situated in Tayac, a quaint little village in the heart of the Vezere Valley and only 5 minutes walk from Les Eyzies, the Prehistoric Capital of the World. The rooms are all en suite, spacious and comfy, all with views and in former Monks quarters and oozing history. Built up against solid rock, which means that both downstairs and upstairs are on ground level, walls of solid rock, ancient oak beam structures, fortified walls 3 feet thick, a massive and original wine press in the huge dining room, monk’s carvings in the stone walls, and lots and lots more.

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The sanglier are shy creatures and are only seen on rare occasions but the deer are often in the fields near the house, early morning or at twilight, and to the discomfort of the gardener like to come into the garden at night to sample the produce.

The house is set in the heart of the Perigord Noir and is in the “Golden Triangle” – a convenient drive to the medieval town of Sarlat, to Bergerac and Perigueux, Beynac, Castlenaud, Marqueyssac etc.

We are only a short drive from the Abbey churches of Caduoin and Paunat and the Bastide villages of Beaumont, Monpazier and Domme.

Les Eyzies with its prehistoric sites is a short drive away. The river Dordogne is a 2 minute car ride or a 20 minute walk from the house and at the river is a bathing beach and canoes for hire to explore the beautiful river.

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Our rooms

We offer two comfortable bedrooms each with a double bed, which are set in their own self-contained segment of the house with their own shower and toilet facilities. The rooms are well furnished in a mixture of French and English styles. Both rooms have views along and across the valley to the woodland.

2011 rates for our rooms are 60 Euros for Bed and Breakfast per room per night inclusive.

Breakfast

Susan is renowned for the quality and quantity of her exceptional breakfasts. Choose from fresh bread, toast, brioche, croisants, newly baked muffins and cakes, cereals, yoghurts, fresh fruit salad, jams, local honey, fresh coffee, tea and hot chocolate. On a Dordogne summer morning guests often prefer to take breakfast sitting on the terrace enjoying the warm sunshine and the beautiful view across the fields.

There is a choice of accommodation which is open throughout the year. Either a double or twin room both of a generous size 6.2m x 4.3m featuring vaulted ceilings with exposed beams. Each room has a large shower room with WC and washbasin. The bedrooms are finished to a high standard including heating, WIFI, tea and coffee making facilities and a sofa bed which offers the flexibility for each bedroom to sleep up to 4 people. Both rooms benefit from an oak pergola covering the large enclosed terrace and a BBQ is available.

Breakfast can be taken in the room or on the terrace overlooking the garden and pool. The salt water swimming pool is 10m x 5m and enjoys a sunny aspect. The large gardens are enclosed and there is a 4.3m trampoline and a climbing frame with slide, making this an ideal vacation for younger guests.

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The region has plenty to offer. Explore the nearby Châteaux or visit the numerous caves including Les Eyzies which is a World Heritage site.

If your looking for action there are many activities such as canoeing, cycling, horse riding or walking. After a full day of adventure why not relax by the onsite pool or treat yourself to an evening of hot air ballooning over the Dordogne valley.

You can also contact La Borie Chic by :

Telephone 05 53 28 40 14  |  from outside France 00 33 (0) 5 53 28 40 14
Mobile 06 86 92 13 68  |  from outside France 00 33 (0) 6 86 92 13 68

Email andrew.chick@wanadoo.fr

Post
La Borie
24220 Meyrals
Dordogne
France

Please visit our website for more info : www.laboriechic.com

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Reccommended Accommodation

B&B Ferme de Tayac, a lovely 12th century former farmhouse and monastery in the heart of the Vezere Valley and just 1 min. from the center of Les Eyzies. www.fermedetayac.com

In and around the town of Les Eyzies de Tayac are a series of prehistoric rock dwellings, the caves include some of the most significant archaeological finds of the Upper Paleolithic (from about 40,000 to10,000 years ago) and Middle Paleolithic (200,000 to 40,000 years ago) periods they are especially noted for their extensive wall drawings. Les Eyzies is ideally situated in the the Vézère valley which contains 147 prehistoric sites dating from the Paleolithic and 25 decorated caves.

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It is particularly interesting from an ethnological and anthropological, as well as an aesthetic point of view because of its cave paintings, especially those of the Lascaux Cave, whose discovery in 1940 was of great importance for the history of prehistoric art. Les Eyzies de Tayac is also home to the National Prehistoric Museum, Font de Gaume, Combereilles, Cro Magnon Shelter, The Grand Roc, Fortified Church of Tayac ( Saint Martin) and many, many more sites of interest.

Reccommended Accommodation

B&B Ferme de Tayac, a lovely 12th century former farmhouse and monastery in the heart of the Vezere Valley and just 1 min. from the center of Les Eyzies. www.fermedetayac.com

La Borie des Combes offers you the following accommodation.

La Maison

This charming French Stone House dates back to medieval times and is set in the small village of Bezenac in the heart of the Aquitaine region in the fantastic Dordogne (dept 24). It sits on a hill overlooking the breathtaking Dordogne River. Bezenac was ground zero for the 1999 book by Michael Crichton “Timeline”, which is definitely recommended reading before or during your stay, as this immediate area was a hotbed of activity during the Hundred Years War and is chronicled in “Timeline” as well as many other books.
The house is situated in the quiet village of Bezenac, an easy 20 minute drive from Sarlat. This small village is not usually visited by tourists so a peaceful stay is the order of the day here if you wish, yet you are within a few kilometers of dozens of must see sites, super market, shops and places to eat that will make you wish you never had to leave. As close as we can trace the origins of this house, we’ve found out that it probably was built in stages, in the 13th or early 14th centuries. Many of the houses in France, and specifically in this area, date back to around the years 1100 and 1200 AD.
A lot of the original deeds for these houses in Dordogne were written in Latin. Most didn’t survive the ravages of time and war and the original dates of construction are often never known and can only be estimated buy examining the construction style and the materials used.

The meter thick stone walls in our house are more than simply an attractive building technique. The mass of the stone makes the house cool in the summer and stable in the colder months. Even in very hot weather with outside temperatures of 100° F, the interior of the house is rarely over 82° even with the doors and windows open. This, is with no air conditioning. In colder months, after the house is initially heated it retains the heat and is very cozy. There is a large gated, private courtyard with parking for two to three cars with additional parking at the back of the house if needed. A full laundry is available for your use.

The Studio

The studio has its own story to tell. There is a large semi-circular stone roofed bread oven or la borie at the far right end. This is where bread was baked not only for this house but for the entire hamlet. Back in medieval times and possibly into the ninetieth century, bread was baked right here, for the community. In those days every house didn’t have all of the conveniences that could provide the basic necessities so there were key house’s that had the necessary facilities to perform specific task’s. Our property was one of those key homes. The name of the Maison “La Borie des Combes” loosely means “the bread oven in the niche on the side of the hill”. Other houses in the area had similar specific distinction in regards to communal living. We were told the last time the oven was used was during WWII when the village baked bread here late at night to avoid the Nazi troops smelling and confiscating their bread. Today, unused, the bread oven is just part of the diverse history of the area and a distinguishing feature of the property to enjoy.

The studio sleeps two comfortably on a fold out couch that is made more like a bed than a couch, a cook top stove, sink and small fridge. It’s fully stocked with all of the necessities needed for simple cooking as well as all linens and towels. There is a table and three chairs for inside dining and if you wish, you may move these outdoors to dine in the courtyard or small side yard. It has a full private bath with shower. The fully equipped laundry is also available for your use.

The Studio Consists of:

• Fully self contained – sleeps two

• Private entrance

• Fold out couch bed

• Cook top, refrigerator, sink and food storage

• Full bath with shower

• Full Laundry facilities – Fully stocked with Linens, towels & Table cloths

• Free WiFi  High Speed Internet

Chambre Gold

This beautiful bedroom suite is private, warm, cozy and comfortable. A golden glow permeates the air here and this suite is a joy and the perfect place to have a restful stay. It has a comfortable full size bed, love seat, comfy chair and a writing desk. It’s equipped with your own coffee maker and mini fridge, so if you want to have a leisurely morning you can take your time. It has its own private full bath fully stocked with towels and hair dryer. There is a private stone patio with a table and chairs if you’d like to sit privately outside. You also have full use of the laundry facilities. This room may also be linked with the loft above it. The stairway you see in the picture is secured for privacy when using this suite by itself and can be opened up for use as an additional bedroom when the loft is rented simultaneously.

Chambre Gold consists of:

• Beautiful fully private bedroom suite with full bath

• Private entrance

• Full bath with shower

• Love seat, two chairs and desk

• Mini Fridge & Coffee Maker

• Full Laundry facilities – Fully stocked with Linens & towels.

• Outdoor seating area on a stone patio.

• Free WiFi  High Speed Internet

The Artists Loft

It is huge and is truly unique. With fourteen hundred square feet (130 sq meters) of living space, it’s a house of its own. We’re left the floor plan very open so as not to spoil the open feeling.

It will have a large double bed and enough floor space to house a small army. It also havs its own kitchen, full bath with tub/shower with all linens and towels provided. Plenty of shuttered windows, stone walls and two skylights that swing open to let in the fresh air. It features a large bar, CD player with a selection of great CD’s, a writing desk, large comfortable sofa and two overstuffed chairs. It also has private parking and entrance. If need be, this space can be linked to Chambre Gold for additional sleeping room and another full bathroom. You’ll also have full use of the laundry facilities and courtyard.

There is an outdoor table with umbrella that seats four with a view of the valley and outdoor lounge chairs.

Free WiFi  High Speed Internet

Prices

More Info

Please visit our official website : www.francestonehouse.com

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Discovered in 1901 by D. Peyrony, the Cave, 130 m long, contains about 250 paintings. The visitor can only see 30 of them, the most beautiful ones and the best preserved. After 60 m underground, the “Rubicon” is the beginning of the decorated part of the cave, with red dots on the left wall. These caves were not used as dwellings, they were shrines, according to A. Leroi-Gourhan The Grotte de Font-de-Gaume is famous for its cave paintings from the Magdalénien period. It is entrance is 20 m above the valley floor of the Beune valley, at the lower edege of a huge limestone rock.

There are many polychrome paintings and some engravings. The 240 figures show 80 bisons, which are the dominant motive. Most other pictures are also animals, 40 mammoths, 23 horses, 17 reindeers and deer, eight primitive cow, four goats, a wolf, a bear, and two rhinoceroses. More interesting, but less frequent, are four hand outlines and 19 geometric figures.

The cave was first settled by Stone Age people during the last Ice Age – about 25,000 BC – when the Dordogne was the domain of roaming bison, reindeer and mammoths. The cave mouth is no more than a fissure concealed by rocks and trees above a small lush valley, while inside, it’s a narrow twisting passage of irregular height in which you quickly lose your bearings in the dark. The first painting you see is a frieze of bison, at about eye level: reddish-brown in colour, massive, full of movement, and very far from the primitive representations you might expect. Further on a horse stands with one hoof slightly raised, resting. But the most miraculous of all is a frieze of five bison discovered in 1966 during cleaning operations. The colour, remarkably sharp and vivid, is preserved by a protective layer of calcite. Shading under the belly and down the thighs is used to give three-dimensionality with a sophistication that seems utterly modern. Another panel consists of superimposed drawings, a fairly common phenomenon in cave painting, sometimes the result of work by successive generations, but here an obviously deliberate technique. A reindeer in the foreground shares legs with a large bison behind to indicate perspective.

Location: Les Eyzies-de-Tayac. 1km from the centre of Eyzies on the left side of the Beune valley.

Open:

MAR Thu-Tue 9:30-12 + 14-17:30,
APR-SEP Thu-Tue 9-12 + 14-18,
OCT Thu-Tue 9:30-12 + 14-17:30,
NOV-FEB Thu-Tue 10-12 + 14-17.
Closed 01-JAN, 01-NOV, 11-NOV, 25-DEC.

Dimension: Length = 400m. Guided tours : every 40min. Only 200 visitors per day, reservation necessary! Address : Grotte de Font-de-Gaume, BP 7, 24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, Tel: +33-553068600, Fax: +33-553352618

Reccommended Accommodation

B&B Ferme de Tayac, a lovely 12th century former farmhouse and monastery in the heart of the Vezere Valley and just 2 min. from Font de Gaume. www.fermedetayac.com