November 9–15, 2027 · Six Nights
A house inside the medieval walls of Sarlat becomes a temporary French home — markets, deep time, châteaux, and the black diamond of the Dordogne. Venture out when inspired, cocoon when the weather turns, gather again around food, wine, and conversation. Immersive, not luxury.
The goal is not to visit France, but to inhabit it for a week. The anchor house sits in Sarlat's cathedral district, steps from the Wednesday and Saturday markets — cars become excursion-only, never daily infrastructure. Guests participate at their own level: a morning in the market, a coffee and a book, a return for lunch.
November is the quiet season — fireplaces lit, misty river valleys, walnut and duck country, and the opening of truffle season. Five private ensuite rooms mean no one negotiates a bathroom and everyone gets a door. A hosted table of five, tended by three — closer to a dinner party than a tour.
A house inside the medieval walls of Sarlat — 11 Rue d'Albusse, in the cathedral district, a short walk from everything. Five private ensuite rooms and a studio, each its own quiet world of old stone and warm light, and a terrace over the rooftops. Step inside.
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Each day brings new discoveries. Click to expand and explore what awaits.
The journey opens in Paris. Land, settle, and let the city hold you for one evening — a walk, a glass, a first dinner together — before the run south in the morning. Tonight there is no agenda but arrival.
The morning train south to Brive, then the drive on to Sarlat — arriving on market day. We walk straight into the Wednesday marché to provision the week's kitchen: the golden-stone lanes, the stalls, the lantern of the dead, a first taste of the Périgord. Then we settle into the residences — keys, rooms, a first glass, and a welcome table where five solo travelers begin to become a group.
A morning drive to Château des Milandes for the 11:15 falconry show — the season's finale on Armistice Day — and the château's remarkable story: Josephine Baker, the Rainbow Tribe, the Resistance years, the gardens after. Lunch in the valley, then home to rest before the week's one great table: dinner at Le 1862, Les Glycines — one Michelin star, Chef Pascal Lombard.
The spine of the week: two of the greatest Paleolithic sites on earth, one river valley, 17,000 years side by side. A morning at Font-de-Gaume — one of the last caves with original polychrome paintings open to the public — a gourmet lunch in Montignac, and an afternoon at Lascaux IV, the complete facsimile and international center of cave art.
Sarlat's legendary Saturday market at the opening of truffle season — truffle vendors, foie gras, walnut, the whole terroir, steps from the house. Choose the ingredients together, carry home the black diamond, and cook the week's centerpiece meal as a group. Afternoon free — a fortress at Beynac or Castelnaud for the restless, or cocoon.
A wide-open day and a suspended garden above the Dordogne — the unhurried close the week has been building toward. A slow morning in the village, an afternoon among the 150,000 hand-clipped boxwoods of the Jardins de Marqueyssac (the finest panorama in Périgord), and the last supper as a formed group at L'Adresse — confit duck and foie gras.
Checkout from both houses, and the train north — carrying a week of the Périgord home.
Not part of the set week — offered for the restless. Rocamadour lies the opposite way from the valley châteaux, so it wants its own half-day: slot it into Saturday afternoon after the market, or a morning if the group prefers. (Its natural partner, the Gouffre de Padirac, closes for winter in early November, so Rocamadour would stand on its own.)
Five private ensuite rooms at La Demeure de Bacchus — no one negotiates a bathroom, everyone gets a door. Solo travelers, above all.
Ten in total — five solo guests, tended by a host, a guide, and one Meritage staff member. Closer to a dinner party than a tour.
Each traveler is selected for the journey. Submit your application and we'll be in touch.
Apply for Fall 2027