Saving This For Later: A Family Holiday in The Dordogne

Every year I say I’m going to put this together and then September comes like a wave and washes all my good intentions away. My youngest is about to start the nursery class at the local infant school. However, his first proper day isn’t until 17^th September. That’s really quite a long way away isn’t it? I didn’t buy school shoes before the summer holiday, because well, you know why. But now I’ve got to find some. On top of managing the after school club schedule and a new pick up and drop off routine… in which I’m now the only one picking up and dropping off. Did I mention my husband was going to New York on a business trip next week? Why not!?

I am laughing in equal measure I promise. The truth is that you do just get used to the chaos and I guess somewhat create additional space for it psychologically. But before I really get bogged down in packed lunches, I wanted to share the intel on a place which I almost feel qualified to call my own.

My mum moved to a converted farmhouse in a little Dordogne (also referred to as Périgord) village 12 years ago from the suburbs of Cape Town. She was looking for a life back in Europe which offered a more comparable lifestyle to what she’d left behind: sunnier, warmer, a lot more square footage for your money than Blighty. Initially, she rented for a year in northern Dordogne, but found it too remote and quiet. She settled on the western border close to Aubeterre sur Dronne (actually itself in the Charente), one of les plus beaux villages de France, in the environs of Ribérac town and roughly equidistant from Périgeux, Bergerac, Angoulême and St Emillion. Slightly further afield is my second favourite French city, Bordeaux, but that’s another guide for another day.