Situated on a cliff overlooking the Lot river in the south central region of France, is the small village of Saint Cirq Lappopie.
The small town is about an hours drive from Cahors. It has 13 monuments scattered throughout and the village itself is partially classified as a historical site.
It is also a part of the "most beautiful villages in France" association and I myself can confirm that it definitly lives up to its status. I realized almost immediately upon our arrival that this town was something special.
With a population of only 200 residents this was definitely one of the most quaint and charming places that we've been to in France so far.
We visited the town a few weeks ago now on our way to Carcassone. At the time the weather was pretty poor and unfortunately for me, my simple phone camera does not take great photos in overcast skies and poor lighting. This is the one time that I will say that the photos I took really do not do the place any justice.
Nonetheless, even with my humble photos you can still get a sense that you're stepping back in time when you visit this village.
The town is full of several nice restaurants and has numerous shops selling a variety of artwork, jewelry and clothing. There is even a wine museum that sells a wide range of local delicacies along with a large assortment of wine and spirits.
Surprisingly, the town didn't feel at all touristy either. We maybe saw one shop selling cheap knick-knacks. Not that there is anything wrong with cheap knick-knacks.
One thing that we did during our visit was climb a large hill located directly in the center of town.
From there you get an amazing panoramic view of the surrounding cliffs, the Lot river and the village itself.
From here you can see just how small the town really is. These photos show maybe just a little under half of the entire village.
After our climb to the lookout, we spent some time exploring the streets, both from above and below.
Needless to say, the town is very photogenic (or is it photographic?) with every turn providing something new to take a picture of.
Not all of the flowers were in bloom when we were there. In France there hadn't been much sun during the month of May, so most of the roses were just starting to show signs of new life. There were a few early bloomers though scattered throughout the many gardens in town. I can only imagine what the place looks like during peak flower season.
One of the photos above is of a green wall full of unbloomed flowers. That must be incredible looking in June when everything is in season.
The town has an old church and a tower that I'm guessing are among the historic monuments associated with Saint Cirq Lappopie. They always seem to be visible whenever you take a photo in town.
Another thing that you can do is walk along the river on a path that is literally carved into the cliffs lining the water. The path goes all the way to the town of Bouzies and takes about an hour to walk. We didn't have time for that but its something that I would do if we ever went back.
A picturesque little village that appears to be part of a movie set, frozen in time. At least, that’s how I look at it. The magnificent views from the top of that large hill must have been breathtaking as you enjoyed the stunning panoramas all around you. The Lot river gives a calming effect.
Yes it is very movie set like. I think they even used that term on the towns tourism site lol
I guess my intuition was right after all...haha. 😁
This is breathtaking! A French friend of ours who lives in the Philippines mentioned this place during conversations but I had no clue what it looked like. Beautiful!
Yeah its a nice town. Probably even prettier now that all the flowers are out and the skies are blue instead of overcast. Its a place that I would go back to. Thats so funny that your friend knows about it and cool. Its such a small town, so its kind of random that they have been there. Of course I say that knowing nothing about your friend hahaha. You'll probably tell me that they were born in France and know the whole country lol. Or its just a small world I guess?
I can imagine. My friend was born in France and he worked as a traveling salesman and then later established his own business and spent a lot of time on the road so he had been everywhere in France with lots of stories. If I remember correctly, he also worked as a truck driver when he was younger.
That makes sense. He probably knows a lot about France then for sure.
It certainly lives up to its status as the most beautiful village in France, it's like a live open door massive museum.
I should probably explain that "the most beautiful village" is actually a third party organization and that many villages in France are a part of it. A town has to meet certain criteria to be apart of the organization though. We've been to several other towns that are on the list and many really aren't that special. This one really lived up to the title though.
We have something similar in England as well, maybe you can hop across some time and do a comparison between English vs French beautiful villages!!!
I would love that. We want to do a week in the UK while we are here but covid is making it really hard for us.
Thanks for the tip Dane. I put it on my list; it's just S of Rocamadour which is also on that list :-)
Rocamadour is on my list as well along with Sarlat and a few small towns in that area. The Dordogne area looks amazing.
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Wow beautiful, I love France