Souillac

After a six-hour-long drive, we arrived in the tiny town of Souillac, in the Périgord Noir region, where the estimated population is about 4,000. They seem to stay inside most of the time.

Souillac was the site chosen by the Benedictine monks of Saint-Pierre d'Aurillac to establish a priory in the 10th century. Two centuries later, a large Romanesque abbey, Sainte Marie de Souillac, was built, but which due to wars was later completely ruined. In the seventeenth century the Benedictine monks of St. Maur rebuilt the Sainte Marie abbey church and buildings.

Our bed-and-breakfast hotel, in a building from the 16th century, is pleasant and their breakfast buffet is scrumptious and plentiful. It's on the quiet Place Saint Martin, right next to what's left of the Saint Martin church. Every Friday they set up a nice street market. We also visited the Sainte Marie de Souillac abbey and Place du Puits, whose old drinking water fountain still works.

There's not that much else to see in Souillac proper, but it's a great base to explore the region because of its proximity to most of the destinations in the area.