Page 401 - Lonely Planet France’s Best Trips (Travel Guide)

Eating & Sleeping

valley below St-Cirq boasts one of the best views
Figeac 1 of its hilltop profile. Lovely, traditional rooms
have terracotta-tiled floors and French windows
5 La Dinée du onto the garden. ‘Seigneurale’ rooms boast
Viguier Gastronomy €€ sunken baths, slate bathrooms and the like.
(%05 65 50 05 05; www.chateau-viguier-figeac.
fr; 4 rue Boutaric; menus lunch €23, dinner
€32-80; hnoon-2pm & 7.45-9pm) Figeac’s top Cahors 4
table is a must for foodies into creative cuisine 5 L’Ô à la Bouche Modern French €€
incorporating fresh, regional ingredients.
Choose between beautifully prepared dishes (%05 65 35 65 69; www.loalabouche-restaurant.
including lobster, oysters, and locally reared com; 56 allée Fénelon; menus lunch €22-40,
duck. dinner €28-45; hnoon-2pm & 7.30-9.30pm
Tue-Sat) Book ahead to get a seat in this ATLANTIC COAST 37 THE LOT VALLEY
4 Hôtel La Grézalide Hotel €€ small, contemporary restaurant that takes
(%05 65 11 20 40; www.grezalide.com; Grèzes; its creative, local cuisine quite seriously. The
d €105-188, tr/f €145/185; pWs#) You’ll welcome is warm and the ingredients are the
need a car to reach this beautiful country finest the region has to offer.
estate, 21km west of Figeac in the quaint village 5 Le Marché Regional Cuisine €€
of Grèzes, but it’s worth the drive. Rooms
in the 17th-century manor make maximum (%05 65 35 27 27; www.restaurantlemarche.
use of its architecture, with solid stone and com; 27 place Jean-Jacques Chapou; lunch menu
original floorboards. Public rooms display art from €20, dinner menus €27-42; hnoon-2pm &
collections, and the courtyard garden, pool, and 7.30-9pm Tue-Sat) Food sourced from the region
fantastic regional restaurant (menus €26 to stars at this urbane bistro. Puce-and-cream
€45) round it all out. armchairs set the designer tone; the short menu
changes with the seasons.
4 Hôtel Jean XXII Hotel €
St-Cirq-Lapopie 2
(%05 65 35 07 66; www.hotel-jeanxxii.com;
5 Le Gourmet 2 rue Edmond-Albé; s €57, d €68-77, q €89;
Quercynois Regional Cuisine €€ hreception closes 10.30am-4.30pm; W) Next
(%05 65 31 21 20; www.restaurant- to the Tour du Pape Jean XXII, this excellent
nine-room hotel mixes original stone, greenery
legourmetquercynois.com; rue de la Peyrolerie; and well-worn wood with a dash of metropolitan
menus €21-38; hnoon-2pm & 7.30-9.30pm minimalism. Rooms sleep one to four people;
mid-Feb–Dec) St-Cirq’s top table offers an there’s a reading area on the 1st floor where you
enormous menu, ranging from nougat de porc can unwind in leather armchairs.
(pork medallions) to country cassoulet (stew).
Escape to the little patio to catch evening rays 4 Grand Hôtel Terminus Hotel €€
setting over town. (%05 65 53 32 00; www.balandre.com; 5 av
4 Hôtel Le Saint Cirq Hotel €€ Charles de Freycinet; d €75-115, ste €150; aW)
(%05 65 30 30 30; www.hotel-lesaintcirq.com; Built c 1920, Cahors’s original railway-station
hotel evokes an air of faded grandeur. Most of
Tour de Faure; d €88-128, d €108-148, f/ste from the rooms are large and comfortable, with hefty
€158/218; iWs) This luxurious hotel in the
radiators, claw-foot baths and king-size beds.

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