I had something of a duel with the wine merchant in Autoire, and lost, to the tune of six bottles of Marcillac, six rosé, and three bottles of Gaillac bubbly – we can’t call it champagne! To be honest, I was all T-eed up earlier for a similar dual in Loubressac, but it was lunchtime, and even wine sellers have to eat...for three hours apparently!
Autoire has gathered its heritage of pigeon lofts, brown tiled roofs and country manor houses in the hollow of a cirque on the limestone plateau between Figeac and Gramat over centuries; yet it remains small enough not even to register on some tourist maps. The village takes its name from the mountain stream that gushes down from the Causse de Gramat plateau in a series of waterfalls that are a delight to visit, just outside the village.
Under several baronages, in the 14th century Autoire became one of the vassal dependencies of the viscountcy of Turenne.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Tourist information: Vallée de la Dordogne, www.vallee-dordogne.com
If planning on having lunch in Loubressac, it might be wise to make a reservation: www.loucantou.com
Even so, the protection the village needed when the English arrived, confident and all-defeating from their conquest of Haut Quercy, was not forthcoming, and Autoire saw more than its fair share of destruction during the Hundred Years War. In the 16th century, the Calvinists laid waste to the village, and peace did not return until 1588.
Today, the village is serene and peaceful, a perfect walking base for the GR480 and eight other walking trails, with plenty of scope for mountain biking and fishing.
AUTOIRE