After the Marathon de Bordeaux AG2R LA MONDIALE: Dordogne and the Périgord Noir

The Route: Bordeaux → Sarlat-la-Canéda (4 nights, day trips by car) → Bordeaux → Bordeaux Airport Logistics: Hire car from Bordeaux, around 2h15 to Sarlat via the A89. One base for all four nights, with day trips by car rather than changing hotels. Marathon Month: November Duration: 4 nights

Bordeaux ──(≈2h15 hire car via A89)──> Sarlat-la-Canéda (4 nights, day trips by car)
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Bordeaux ◄──(≈2h15 hire car)──────────────────────────────┘──(tram line F)──> Bordeaux Airport

The Marathon de Bordeaux AG2R LA MONDIALE finishes on Quai Richelieu, and from central Bordeaux the Périgord Noir, the black Périgord, is a genuine change of pace: about 200 km east by road, roughly 2h15 by hire car via the A89, into a landscape of limestone cliffs, walnut orchards and villages that predate the vineyards most visitors associate with this part of France. A car is the right tool here rather than an optional extra: rail links into the smaller Dordogne valley towns are limited, and the region rewards a single fixed base with day trips radiating out from it rather than moving hotels every night.

November in the Périgord Noir sits well outside the canoe season on the Dordogne river, which effectively runs May to September, so this is not a trip built around the water itself. What November does offer is the region's other defining produce: this is duck- and goose-fattening season, which makes it a genuinely good month for foie gras and confit on a menu rather than a compromise, alongside walnuts from the autumn harvest, a Périgord staple in everything from salads to cake. Black winter truffles, the region's most famous product, are not yet in proper season in November: the main Périgord truffle markets run from December into March, so treat any November truffle mention on a menu as an early, limited offering rather than the real thing.

Nights One to Four: Sarlat-la-Canéda

Sarlat's old town is one of the most completely preserved medieval and Renaissance centres in France, largely because a 1960s conservation law, the Loi Malraux, protected it from the kind of postwar rebuilding that changed many other French towns; the honey-coloured limestone facades and lauze stone roofs are the direct result. The centre is compact and mostly pedestrianised, which makes it genuinely walkable on sore legs, though the streets themselves are cobbled rather than flat, worth noting for the first day or two after the marathon. Sarlat's Saturday market fills the old town's squares and streets year-round, produce changing with the season rather than the market itself closing, and is worth timing a visit around if the dates allow.

For day trips by car, the Dordogne valley's signature villages sit within 15 to 30 minutes of Sarlat. La Roque-Gageac clings to a cliff face directly above the river and is best seen on foot along its single riverside street, flat and short. Domme, a fortified bastide town on the opposite side of the valley, trades river-level flatness for a clifftop position and a genuine panoramic viewpoint over the Dordogne, reached by a short but real climb, or a more forgiving option via the town's own tourist petit train if the legs are asking for it. Château de Beynac and Château de Castelnaud face each other across the valley from opposing clifftops and both remain open through November, though hours reduce outside the main season, so check current times before setting out rather than assuming a summer-length visiting window.

For prehistoric art, Lascaux IV, the full-scale facsimile of the original cave near Montignac, stays open year-round and is the more reliable November choice over some of the smaller, more seasonal show caves in the region: the Gouffre de Padirac, for example, a vast natural chasm further east with an underground river tour, typically closes for the winter season, so it should not be built into a November itinerary without checking current dates first. Lascaux IV's own visit runs close to two hours and covers both the reproduced cave paintings and a supporting exhibition on how they were made, indoor and level-floored throughout, a reasonable option even on legs still recovering from the marathon.

The drive between Sarlat and its outlying villages passes through the walnut orchards that give the Périgord Noir one of its other defining local products: look out for roadside stalls selling walnuts and walnut oil directly from growers, a genuinely regional souvenir rather than a generic one.

Where to stay: Plaza Madeleine Hotel & Spa, a four-star property on the edge of the old town, gives a comfortable, spa-equipped base with off-street parking, useful for a car-based stay. Hôtel La Couleuvrine, built into part of Sarlat's medieval ramparts inside the old town itself, trades some modern comfort for genuine character and a shorter walk into the historic centre.

Where to eat: L'Assiette Sarladaise, in the old town, runs a menu built around Périgord Noir classics, duck confit and foie gras among them, in a setting that matches the surrounding streets. Le Grand Bleu, a more formal gastronomic address, suits a splurge dinner on one of the four nights, built around the same regional produce with a more considered, tasting-menu approach.

Getting Home

The return to Bordeaux is the same roughly 2h15 drive via the A89, ideally timed to allow a fuel and hire-car drop-off buffer before a flight. From central Bordeaux, Bordeaux Airport (BOD) is reachable by tram line F, changing at Quinconces or Hôtel de Ville depending on the specific service, or directly by car if the hire company has an airport drop-off point, which is generally the more convenient option after a multi-day car-based trip rather than returning the car into the city centre first.