River Dreaming

2009-07-20T21:43:00.008+01:00

River Dreaming is in the French town of Sainte-Foy-La-Grande in the Gironde, where the Saturday market is one of the best in the whole of France. The town boasts several excellent restaurants featuring delicious Perigord food, and is in the middle of wine country. Saint Emilion and Bergerac are close by, and Bordeaux is an hour away by train. The town also lies on the Vezelay route to Santiago de Compostela. Canoe the river, visit the vineyards, sample the food, go fishing, horseriding, swimming or birdwatching - there are herons, hawks, ducks and swans just below the balcony.

Street map of Ste Foy La Grande

2009-07-20T21:42:00.015+01:00

Click on map to enlarge

Access to Sainte-Foy-La-Grande

The great thing about staying in Sainte-Foy-La-Grande is that you don't necessarily need your own transport. The train system is excellent: Bordeaux is an hour away, St Emilion for exploring the vineyards is 25 minutes and Bergerac, with its airport, great shops and restaurants, just 15 minutes.

The TGV from Paris to Libourne takes three hours; change here and then take the train to Ste Foy - it takes around 30 minutes. The schedules are the same as above.

Coming by road from Bergerac, take the D936 direct to Ste Foy.

Sainte-Foy-La-Grande

2009-07-20T21:42:00.014+01:00

This bastide town is more than 750 years old, and boasts one of the best markets in France. It's held every Saturday.

There's wonderful local produce, fish and shellfish from the coast including succulent oysters, cheeses from around the Dordogne, pates and sausages, preserves, local wine, meat and poultry and crusty traditional bread, as well as clothing, books, antiques, fabrics and art. The main roads in the town are closed to traffic for most of the day.

The town has a number of restaurants of varying prices:

The Globetrotter is on the main square, Place Gambetta, less than a minute's walk from the apartment. It has a pleasant outdoor eating area as well as a cosy interior. It's a great place for a beer or glass of wine, the daily specials are good value, and salads and pizzas generous.

Cafe Culture on market day

On Rue de la Republique, you'll find Restaurant de la Tour which has daily specials and a menu du jour. The duck kebabs are very good.

Lucetti is an excellent Italian restaurant on Rue Victor Hugo.

Our favourite restaurant is Les Sarments in Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Sit outside on a balmy evening, or round the cosy fire in winter, which is used for cooking excellent steaks and magret de canard.

For special occasions, Au Fil de l'Eau can't be beaten. It's tucked under the bridge just inside Porte Ste Foy and has superb fare.