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Souillac
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The first place of any size east of Sarlat is
SOUILLAC
, at the confluence of the Borreze and Dordogne rivers and on a major road junction. Virginia Woolf stayed here in 1937, and was pleased to meet "no tourists … England seems like a chocolate box bursting with trippers afterward." There are still few tourists, since Souillac's only real point of interest is the twelfth-century
church of Ste-Marie
, just off the main road. Roofed with massive domes like the cathedrals of Perigueux and Cahors, its spacious interior creates just the atmosphere for cool reflection on a summer's day. On the back of the west door are some of the most wonderful Romanesque sculptures, including a seething mass of beasts devouring each other. The greatest piece of craftsmanship, though, is a bas-relief of Isaiah, fluid and supple, thought to be by one of the artists who worked at Moissac. Behind the church, the
Musee de l'Automate
(Jan-March, Nov & Dec Wed-Sun 2-5pm; April, May & Oct Tues-Sun 10am-noon & 3-6pm; June & Sept daily 10am-noon & 3-6pm; July & Aug daily 10am-7pm; 30F/€4.57) contains a collection of mostly nineteenth-century mechanical dolls, which dance, sing and perform magical tricks, and which will appeal mainly to children.
The
tourist office
(July & Aug daily 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-7pm; rest of year Mon-Sat 10am-noon & 2-6pm; tel 05.65.37.81.56, fax 05.65.27.11.45,
souillac@wanadoo.fr
) is on the main boulevard Louis-Jean Malvy, next to the handsome, old
Grand Hotel
(tel 05.62.32.78.30, fax 05.65.32.66.34; 160-220F/€24-34; closed Nov-March), with comfortable rooms and an excellent restaurant (closed Wed; from 75F/€11.43). There is cheaper
accommodation
at the
Auberge du Puits
, in the pretty place du Puits in the old quarter (tel 05.65.37.80.32, fax 05.65.37.07.16,
aubpuits@souillac.net
; under 160F/€24-220F/€34; closed Sun evening, Mon & Dec-Jan), with good food from 80F/€12.20. There's also a large riverside
campsite
,
Les Ondines
(tel 05.65.37.86.44; closed Oct-April), and a
gite d'etape
at Le Gachou on the Martel road (tel 05.65.32.27.17). You can rent
bicycles
and
canoes
from Quercyland (tel 05.65.32.72.61), next to the campsite, and bikes only from Carrefour du Cycle, 23 av de Gaulle (tel 05.65.37.07.52). Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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France,
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