Marketing the Good Life in Sarlat

Nowhere will you see a truer description of joie de vivre than in this Dordogne Valley market town. Farmers, cheesemongers, craftsmen, hunters and housewives bargain with gusto and humor over such essentials of the good life as mushrooms, fine cheeses, homemade pates, foie gras , ducks, geese, walnuts, wine and the truffle.

Sarlat is capital of Perigord Noir province because its dense forests, dark oak trees and rich alluvial soil make it appear even blacker than the surrounding Dordogne, one of France’s most verdant and fruitful regions.

Founded in the 9th Century by Benedictine monks as an abbey, Sarlat became an important market town during the 13th and 14th centuries.

Shortly thereafter most of the magnificent hotels (town houses) were built with the warm, golden limestone of the area, creating a medieval-Gothic-Renaissance architectural harmony.

The town also had an intellectual-artistic bent in its early days, still prominent each summer and fall with its renowned outdoor theater set in the main market square.

But it is the town’s vivacity and good humor that leaves the most lasting impressions. A local 16th-Century military hero was beheaded at the Bastille for his part in Perigord’s numerous revolts.

A legend says that after the guillotine blade fell he was asked: “What did you feel?” “ Alors , just a bit of a draft,” he answered wryly.

To here: Fly Air France nonstop to Paris, or American, Air Canada, Delta, Pan Am, TWA or Continental with changes, then take Air Inter on to Bordeaux. French National Railroads has trains from there to Sarlat and many other towns in the Dordogne Valley, so inquire about France Vacances rail passes.

How long/how much? A day or two for Sarlat, more if you’re using it as a base for exploring the Dordogne. Most small towns in France have very good hotels and inexpensive room prices. Sarlat is no exception. Also dining is wonderful in this agricultural town and remarkably affordable.

A few fast facts: France’s franc recently traded at 16 cents, or 6.25 to the dollar. Weather glorious from May through September. In autumn it’s brisk but beautiful, spring is sometimes rainy. You can roam the Dordogne at will in a rental car but you won’t need it in this walking town.

Getting settled in: La Couleuvrine (1 Place de la Bouquerie; $36 U.S. double) seems to bring Sarlat’s character and much of its beauty under one roof. The medieval facade in rough limestone is made up of one of the town towers set in ancient ramparts. Public rooms breathe an aura of Sarlat’s past with period furnishings. Bedrooms have simple country furniture and marvelous views. It has a superb restaurant. We’d love to spend about a month in this one.

La Madeleine (1 Place de la Petite-Rigaudie; $46 to $51 double) is a formal hotel, its lounge having a decorative collection of old French movie posters. Bedrooms bright and airy, with full carpeting, TVs and most comforts. There’s a fine old wooden bar off the lobby, and a formal dining room.

St. Albert (Place Pasteur; $34 double) has a small and somber lobby, with neat and very simple bedrooms upstairs. An annex is opening across the street next summer with double room prices at $48. A full suite for $58, which may be the buy of the century.

Regional food and drink: Sarlat, along with Perigueux to the north, turns out the Dordogne’s best and richest dining. Start with tourain blanchi, a hot garlic soup for the gods. Then try to choose from such Sarladais specialties as truffle omelet; crayfish flambeed with cream, cognac and truffle sauce; partridge with morels; neck of goose stuffed with sausage meat, foie gras , truffles and Armagnac.

Mique is a local craving the town claims as its own: a mixture of corn and wheat flour, pork fat and eggs formed into a dumpling and cooked in bouillon. It’s eaten instead of bread with ragouts and stews. A local version of potatoes (sliced in a casserole with alternate layers of truffles) is heaven-sent. You can’t go wrong sticking to Bergerac or Cahors wines here.

Good dining: Most French hotels have fine dining rooms, a must in a country that knows its food so well. Hotel La Couleuvrine’s is a staging of rustic elegance: beamed ceiling, enormous fireplace, rough-hewn stone walls, crocheted cloths over linen and lovely place settings. Two set menus ($12 and $22), the first with such as a trout terrine, veal with wild mushrooms, cheese and dessert. The second brings you pate de foie gras, trout fillet, cassoulet, hot chevre salad and dessert. Everything is prepared and served beautifully, and the wine selection is excellent.

The restaurant at St. Albert is a gathering place noted for its adherence to classic Perigordine dishes. We made a point of sticking to these as we went through: tourain blanchi, confit de canard (duck preserved in its own fat), miques (see above), potatoes with onions and wild mushrooms, petits pois with local ham. This all went down very well with a red Cahors wine.

Going first-class: Le Vieux Logis (Tremolat; $98 double) is very near the ultimate in a French country home, being a member of the Relais & Chateau group of owner-run establishments and about 28 miles from Sarlat. The rambling old stone farmhouse is breathtaking in its beauty, with colorful vines covering the walls, formal gardens and a grape arbor surrounding the place.

All of the rooms and four apartments are furnished differently with antiques and the finest fabrics, some rooms having old timbered ceilings and canopied beds.

The dining room is an old tobacco barn with its 30-foot ceiling extending up past the original massive beams and former loft. Walls are again of rough stone, with an ancient tapestry lighted as the focal point. The menu skips few Perigord specialties, and the service is brisk. French President Francois Mitterrand was moved to offer warm compliments on the menu.

On your own: Stop by the tourist office at Place de la Liberte for a map of the town, with a walking tour laid out past its major buildings and points of interest. The 16th-Century Maison de la Boetie has probably the most interesting facade in town, if not in all of the Dordogne. Also try to see Maison Selve de Plamon for its 17th-Century wooden staircase in the inner courtyard.

Be sure to spend some time in Place de la Liberte when the main market is open, also Place des Oies (Goose Square) as geese and the treasured foie gras are being bargained over.

Sarlat is the perfect base for visiting such lovely Dordogne towns as Les Eyzies, Domme, Beynac, La Roque-Gageac and the Bastides. The last is a series of colorful fortified towns of the 13th and 14th centuries built by the French and English before and during the Hundred Years’ War for control of the Dordogne and all Aquitaine.

For more information: Call the French National Tourist Office at (213) 271-6665 or 272-2661, or write 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 303, Beverly Hills 90212, for a brochure on the Dordogne, another on accommodations and a map of southwest France. Ask for the Sarlat package.

French National Railroads at (213) 274-6934 will send information on France Vacances rail passes.