Saint-Cirq-Lapopie

Saint-Cirq stands on a limestone cliff about a hundred metres above a bend in the Lot, a village of stone and timber houses with steep tiled roofs that grew rich on woodturning; craftsmen here made boxwood taps for barrels, a trade that vanished. By the early twentieth century the village was emptying. The painter Henri Martin bought a house, and Andre Breton followed in 1950, writing that he had stopped wanting to be anywhere else; a circle of surrealists came with him and their presence brought restoration and attention. A fragment of castle wall stands at the top, and the Lot towpath below is cut into the cliff.

What you actually see

• The cliff position - the village a hundred metres above the Lot bend.
• The woodturners' houses - stone and timber buildings of the vanished trade.
• The Breton connection - the surrealist circle that saved the village.
• The cliff towpath - a path cut into the rock along the river below.

When to go

April to June and September to October; the village was voted a national favourite and is now heavily visited in summer, when the single lane barely moves. Early morning is the only quiet time.

Honest expectations

Parking is well below and charged, with a steep climb. The village is small and almost entirely shops and galleries in season. The lanes are steep and cobbled.

Nearby

Pech Merle lies north; Cahors is west.