Expat American writer Henry Miller said of the Dordogne, “...this great peaceful region of France...must have been a paradise for many thousands of years”.

My last visit to France’s Dordogne region was exactly 30 years ago and nothing like paradise. It was, instead, a long, harrowing trek from London in a cramped campervan with two grumpy toddlers at the height of summer’s tourist season. Not keen on being strapped in a hot speeding vehicle for hours at a time, staying in overcrowded campsites and subsisting on cold frites, Toddler A used every opportunity to show off her expertise in potty training and parental manipulation. Every 20 minutes or so she would howl from the back of the van, “Need potty!” My husband would then swerve into the nearest ditch and slam on the brakes. Pots and pans, towels and toddlers flew from front to back of the van, followed by a race to reach the rear chemical toilet in time ... at which point Toddler A would declare, “Don’t need it any more”.

Is there any better way to start a French holiday than with a long, lazy lunch? After a short flight from Stansted to Brive-la- Gaillarde’s impressive new airport, it’s only a matter of minutes before we’re in our rental car, out of the airport and deep in the heart of rural Dordogne.

We head straight to Martel, a once prosperous medieval town famed for its seven towers and elaborate 18th century wood-roofed marketplace. Fame and riches may be long gone but Martel’s charm, ambience and marketplace still flourish, especially on twice weekly market days and every Wednesday evening in summer, when locals gather for live music and dancing. And joy of French joys, dotted round the marketplace are several small but punch- above-their-weight cafe´s and bistrots, including Le Petit Moulin.

It turns out that the best way to work off those stratospheric gourmet lunch calories lies just half an hour’s scenic drive south, to the extraordinary perched town of Rocamadour. We’ve come for a vigorous afternoon workout led by welcoming local guide, Ce´cile May.

Rocamadour has been a famous Christian pilgrimage site since the Middle Ages. The town and its ancient holy shrines cling spectacularly to surrounding cliffs as if suspended between heaven and earth. For more than nine centuries pilgrims have, like us, trekked the 14 stations of the steep and winding Chemin de Croix or climbed the 216 steps to the top of the site’s rocky plateau, often on their knees in penance, to worship at the statue of the Black Madonna or in the Chapel of our Lady of Rocamadour. More than one million visitors come here each year (... over 900 years? Do the maths for a mindblowing number). Notable past pilgrims include England’s King Henry II, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and many other penitent royals and celebrities.

Next, we’re off to a very different kind of sanctuary and our stop for the night, the chic Hotel Le Pont de l’Ouysse at Lacave. It’s scenically tucked into the hillside overlooking the banks of the River Ouysse, a tributary of the Dordogne, with emerald waters rushing below and the fairytale Chateau Belcastel towering above. The hotel has been in the Chambon family for five generations. We’re energetically greeted by Elliott, the family’s setter, and Michelin star chef Stephane Chambon, who runs the show with father Daniel and brother Matthieu.

After check-in, Stephane leads us to the vast hotel kitchen where he creates daily changing menus with top seasonal ingredients from nearby farms and fields. Ste´phane treats us to a demo on the astonishing art of asparagus, using succulent white and green spears he’s handpicked from the hotel gardens that morning.

If you’re on a Foodie trip to the Dordogne, or just an ordinary mortal who likes a good meal, you won’t want to miss market day at the first stop of our new day, Sarlat-la-Caneda. Nicknamed “the Black Pearl of Pe´rigord”, “the Medieval Jewel” and “Sleeping Beauty”, Sarlat is an attractive, historic town in its own right. But above all, Sarlat is Dordogne’s gastronomic capital, renowned for its food.

As well as vibrant weekly farmers markets, Sarlat has a cornucopia of food events all year round. January’s Truffle Festival is packed with tastings, Michelin-starred chefs, truffle hunting demos with trained dogs, and a chance to compete in the famed Foie Gras and Truffle Culinary Academy. March brings the Fest’Oie (Goose Fair), when Sarlat hosts gaggles of geese marching noisily through town and gastronomic goose meals where you may sample their less fortunate relatives. There are also organic food nights, Gourmet Celebration Days and Christmas markets.

We hit town during les Journe´es du Terroir, a wondrous seasonal showcase of local game and produce. Sarlat’s medieval centre is packed with stalls, tents and tables full of plump strawberries, asparagus the size of baseball bats and mushrooms the size of footballs, tender Quercy lamb, sweet and fruity Vin Paille´ (straw wine) and ubiquitous foie gras. The region’s walnuts are so superb they have their own appellation: AOC Noix du Pe´rigord. And Sarlat’s market boasts walnuts galore: in cakes, tartes and crumbly biscuits; caramelised, creamed, chocolate- covered or whipped into cheese ‘sucettes’. There are endless varieties of walnut oil, walnut wine, fat cracked-open nuts offered up for tasting and bulging sacks of crushed shells, ready for use as cat litter.

The Dordogne region is not only rich in natural beauty, wildlife, history and cuisine, it’s home to no less than 16 of the coveted Le Plus Beaux Villages en France – the most beautiful villages in France. We’re introduced to this uniquely French accolade on our next morning’s visit to one of these jewels, La Roque Gageac. The village is spectacularly set between steep honey-coloured cliffs and the Dordogne River; its stone houses with their distinctive Pe´rigord roofs line the riverside and spread up the hill behind.

We toast all this beautifulness with a glass of walnut wine on board a gabare, a traditional flat-bottomed barge docked on the pier below the village. A gabare cruise is an unmissable, affordable treat, taking you on a relaxed ride down the most stunning stretch of river, surrounded by gorges, perched castles, vibrant wildlife and lush greenery. By the way, if you’re looking for more of the watery outdoors, the Dordogne has it in bucketfuls: opportunities for fishing, wild swimming, river horse-trekking, canyoning, canoeing, cave diving etc. are everywhere.

As for us, we’re on way to perhaps the most beautiful of all the Beaux Villages, Collonges-la-Rouge. Collonges was the first to receive the prized title and certainly stands out from the crowd. It’s been called “a doll’s house village, dressed in red from head to toe”, probably because the entire village is built from rich, red sandstone. Hard to imagine this tiny place, now home to 80 permanent residents, was once a politically important town whose wealthy citizens built the remarkable houses, towers and monuments that ring the village. At the height of summer, Collonges’ narrow streets are packed with tourists, who come for its open air festival, comic fair, candlelight tours, fine little cafes and restaurants, or just to wander and wonder.

Among the village’s most prominent citizens are Jacques and Camille Breuil, whose families have been here for generations. They run Le Cantou, where we’ve come for lunch. It’s a well loved, always full, country bistrot, serving hearty traditional fare from noon til night on red check-clothed tables, shaded from the fierce heat by vine covered trellis.