The other Dordogne: exploring France’s unspoiled Périgord region

The department’s sleepy capital and historic market towns offer a snapshot of an old-fashioned rural way of life far removed from the tourist trail

It’s always good to be back in Périgueux. Though the administrative capital of the Dordogne lies in one of the French regions best known to British holidaymakers, it manages to remain relatively innocent of tourism. Yet this sleepy flâneur of a town, built on limestone quays above the River Isle, is full of charm.

It is, after all, at the heart of a proudly gastronomic region. Tourism contributes almost a quarter of the department’s income. But call the area by its regional name, Périgord, and the lens shifts. This is the country of truffles and cèpes, walnuts, poultry, confit duck and (like it or not) foie gras; of cheeses and sunflowers; figs and freshwater fish; buttery tartines and heady vin de noix.