La Roque-Gageac on the river

La Roque-Gageac is one street deep. The village runs along the north bank of the Dordogne with a limestone cliff rising straight behind it, so the houses are pressed into a strip barely wider than their own footprint — ochre stone, lauze roofs and, because the cliff shelters it and it faces due south, a microclimate warm enough for palms and banana plants in the gardens.

The defining photograph is taken from the water or the far bank: the whole village in one horizontal line with the cliff above and the river in front, best in the last hour of light when the rock face goes gold and the water flattens. The flat-bottomed gabare boats that run from the quay put you on the river for the same view, and they are also a good frame in themselves from the bank.

Inside the village, a steep path climbs past the troglodyte fort and a small exotic garden to a terrace above the roofs. It is a genuine climb on uneven steps and it is the only high angle in the village.

Parking is the practical problem: the riverside lot is small and full by mid-morning in July and August. Early is better for space, for quiet and for the light on the village lanes; the cliff view is for the evening.