EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

Midway between Villars and Thiviers on the main Périgueux-Angoulême road, ST-JEAN-DE-CÔLE must rank as one of the loveliest villages in the Dordogne. Its ancient houses huddle together in typical medieval fashion around a wide sandy square dominated on one side by the huge church of St-Jean-Baptiste , built in the eleventh century, and the rugged-looking Château de la Marthonie (July & Aug daily 10.15am-noon & 2-7pm; 20F/¬3.05) on the other. The château, first erected in the fourteenth century, has acquired various additions in a pleasingly organic kind of growth.

The tourist office (daily: April, May & Oct 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-5pm; June-Sept 10am-1pm & 2-7pm; tel & fax 05.53.62.14.15, www.ville-saint-jean-de-cole.fr ) is also on the square, as well as two attractive restaurants : the Coq Rouge (tel 05.53.62.32.71; closed Wed & Jan-March), whose excellent menus start at around 100F/¬15.24, and Le Templier , serving a varied weekday lunch menu at 78F/¬11.89, with dinner menus from 100F/¬15.24 (closed Dec-Feb, also Mon & Tues). On the main road through the village you can also eat at the wisteria-covered Hôtel St-Jean (tel 05.53.52.23.20; 160-220F/¬24-34; restaurant from 70F/¬10.67, closed Sun evening).