Taxi Toulouse → Saint-Cirq-Lapopie

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is arguably France's most photogenic village: a medieval eagle's nest perched 100 metres above a meander of the Lot, in a landscape of limestone cliffs, oak forests and emerald water. This village of 200 inhabitants, listed among the 'Most Beautiful Villages of France' and voted the nation's favourite village in 2012, has bewitched artists for centuries. Andre Breton, the father of surrealism, bought a house here in 1950 and declared: 'Saint-Cirq-Lapopie: I have stopped wishing to be elsewhere.' Art and literature permeate every stone. Houses from the 13th to 16th centuries, with brown-tiled roofs cascading down the cliff, house artisan workshops (wood turners, coppersmiths — the village's traditional trades). The 15th-century fortified church offers a vertiginous panorama over the Lot valley from its terrace. Below, the towpath follows the Lot to restored 19th-century locks. The Pech-Merle decorated cave (25 km), with its 25,000-year-old prehistoric paintings (spotted horses, negative hands), completes this exceptional cultural excursion. A taxi from Toulouse is the most practical way to reach this isolated site with no direct public transport.