Just across the Corrèze border, but just 20 minutes from St. Céré, is the pictuaresque town Beaulieu-sur-Dordgone. Once the Roman town of Vellinius it was renamed by the Archbishop of Bourges in AD855, to the more appropriate Beau Lieu - beautiful place. And it still is!

The old quarter of Beaulieu, clustered around the Romanesque abbey church of St Pierre (check out the carved tympanum of the Last Judgement), is everything that a narrow streeted medieval town should be. Add to that it's superb river frontage and you have got a bit of a gem of a town.

Marshall Ney holed up in the nearby Chateau D'Arnac, after fleeing the battlefield of Waterloo, finally taking refuge in the abbey church in Beaulieu. Didn't do him much good - the restored French Monarchy promptly arrested him and shot him for treason.

Lively bars and cafés, a couple of good restaurants, estate agents, banks, shops, an excellent market... Beaulieu is a thriving town that does not close down in winter. A great favourite of British and Dutch expats and well worth a visit.

The 'Flower House'	Gabarre at Beaulieu	Penitents Church	House on the water, Beaulieu