Four Dordogne gîtes, on 250 private acres
La Roche-Chalais is a small town, in the West of the Dordogne.
Latitude/longitude: N 45.15578, E 0.04582
Unlike many towns in this area, it relies upon local industry and agriculture for its main financial input and does not become a "ghost town" outside the main tourist season.
Rural, undeveloped, peaceful, quiet. These adjectives best describe the immediate neighbourhood.
We are in the very western part of the Dordogne, in a region known locally as the "Dronne-Double", named after the river Dronne and the forest of the Double, an ancient mixed woodland. The undulating landscape has been gently transformed by man’s pastoral activity over the centuries. Although predominantly woodland, there are many small farms which has resulted in the clearing of the trees for pastureland, vines and crops, often in small isolated patches.
An interesting and almost unique feature is the myriad of small to medium sized "étangs" (small lakes) originally created to provide watering points for live stock in the dry summer months and fish to supplement the diet of the “paysan”. Some, like our middle lake, date from the early 18th century. Many of the well maintained, accessible forest tracks pass close by these attractive little aquatic areas.