In between exploring prehistoric caves, we made a lunchtime stop in Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère, another of the
Les Plus Beaux Villages de France.
The little village has about the same population as La Roque-Gageac, but its more “huddled together” topology makes it feel smaller. Its highlights are the 12th-century Romanesque church, a couple of watchtowers at the edges of the village, a nice grassy promenade along the bank of the river Vézère, and a few curious artisan shops.
The church is pretty impressive for the village of this size, but it should be noted that it’s a fairly common occurrence in southern Europe to find grand churches in small locales.
The remains of the lovely frescoes on the church’s ceiling.
One of the watchtowers.
The monument to the native sons and daughters who perished in the World Wars. In a village of this size, it takes on additional solemnity, IMHO.
On the opposite bank of the river, the typical rock formations.
And a few other perspectives.
There is also a local château, which is privately owned, that I did not make a determined attempt to photograph on the account of intermittent rain.
A cute little village, Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère, whose most important characteristics are being only moderately popular – and, therefore, far from busy with tourists – and not being overly renovated, which helps safeguard its medieval charm. We lingered on the riverbank over a nice lunch at the local establishment, but you could technically spend just under an hour here and see everything there is to see.