To make the most of this visit, you should try to time it for Wednesday or Saturday, market day.

Leaving the Moulin de l'Abbaye about 9 a.m. after a copious breakfast, it takes about 20 minutes to reach the regional capital and county seat of the Dordogne. This is a land of chalky plateaux and wide prairie valleys, crisscrossed by the Auvézère and l'Isle rivers.

The domes of St. Front Cathedral seem to stand detached in the sky. In Périgueux, city of art and history, you'll especially appreciate "La Cité," the remnants of the Gallo-Roman agglomeration where the Vésone tower still stands, which constituted the cella (sacred hall) of a temple. The tower is the starting point for visiting the ancient Gallo-Roman city. In the old town around rue Limogeanne and Place St. Louis you'll find houses dating from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

The market place is firstly the street of the merchants: butchers, charcutiers, cheese sellers, pastry makers, food and table shops: this is the food-lover's version of Ali Baba's cave. The street opens onto the market itself, a shady square where farmers sell their seasonal fruits and vegetables. There are delicious Gariguette and Mara des bois strawberries, freshly picked in the Vergt region, 20 km south of Périgueux, and then there are truffles from Sorges. Let yourself be tempted by some duck sausage, as was Richard Villain, chef at Le Moulin de l'Abbaye, who served as our guide to the best producers.

Further downstream, in the L'Isle Valley, we come to St. Astier where several half-timbered houses have been preserved and whose Romanesque church includes a crypt that is a vestige of an ancient religious building. Then Neuvic, where the 16th century château that retains some medieval characteristics is one of the best examples of the early Renaissance in Périgord.

Before you get to Montpon, the departure point for the "volcanic column route" of the Double, you'll arrive at St. Martial d'Artenset, where you can take a trip down the l'Isle river in a "garbare," a traditional boat.