Karen Wright: Dordogne is the perfect culinary location

It was yet another riverside location, this time on the banks of the Dordogne on the very edge of a small town called Beaulieu sur Dordogne. When travelling in a motorhome, as opposed to when towing a caravan, I like to find a campsite within walking distance of a small town so that we can easily get out and about without having to move the motorhome.

This small town was perfect in every way, the location obviously, but also it had a small medieval quarter which immediately reminded me of the animated film Beauty and the Beast, all the turrets and winding streets and stepped alleyways. It was a very pretty place to walk around and explore. The town has all the small shops, the bank and a tourist office that you might hope for and which are certainly an asset on any touring holiday. I booked the site through the Caravan and Motorhome Club European brochure along with all the other sites we booked for the trip.

We did take the motorhome out on one of the days and had a good long drive through the beautiful Dordogne countryside. Our destination was the third most visited village in France, La Roque –Gageac, an historic settlement perched above the Dordogne and built into the cliffs that tower above. We took a boat trip on the river which we really enjoyed as it let us admire the scenery from a different perspective.

I did lots of cooking while staying on this site, I cooked duck with Sarlat potatoes but instead of orange sauce I grilled some apricots that I had bought at the market. Those apricots needed using up so another evening I made a chicken and apricot tagine which was very scrumptious. The French markets are out of this world, I can easily spend a morning just browsing. Our last day was spent relaxing on the campsite before packing up once again and driving further south to the Aveyron area where we were due to join a seventeen-night escorted tour arranged and booked by the Caravan and Motorhome Club.