SAINT-CIRQ-LAPOPIE

Absolutely one of the most delightful little villages in France!
A new "Les Trois Mousquetaires" film could be shot here, without too many changes to the scenery and street scene.

Looted and razed by Louis the 11th, then by Henri the 4th, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie has nonetheless kept its medieval atmosphere. The narrow streets are lined up with lively façades. The old hospital, the abode of the Consuls and the Musée Rignault help the past come alive. The massive gothic church has engulfed the ancient roman-style chapel in its walls.

Many famous artists such as Émile-Joseph Rignault, post-impressionist painter Henri Martin, Pierre Daura and poet André Breton, came to live in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie at the beginning of the 20th c.

The village of Saint-Cirq Lapopie is perched on a cliff 100 m (330 ft) above the river and is one of the major beauty spots of the Lot valley. In the Middle Ages, Saint-Cirq Lapopie was the main town of one of the four viscountcies that made up Quercy. It was divided between four feudal dynasties, the Lapopies, Gourdons, Cardaillacs and Castelnaus. The village was dominated by a fortress made up of a number of castles and towers. Below the fortress, the village streets lead down to fortified gates. Many historic houses have stone or half-timbered fronts going back to the 13th-16th centuries. The houses are norrow and have steep tiled roofs. The gabled houses fronting on the street are separated by a narrow space called an entremi, which carried away rainwater and waste from sinks and latrines.

Beneath the Saint-Cirq Lapopie cliff there are watermills, weirs, harbours, locks and towpath to recall the days when river transport was the glory of the Lot Valley.

I fully understand André Breton who said : « J'ai cessé de me désirer ailleurs. »

On a personal note I can say... If I were French,... I would love living here!