Home of one of the great families of Quercy in the Middle Ages, the old part of the village of CARDAILLAC, about 10km to the north of Figeac off the N140, is gathered on the tip of a steep ridge above wild wooded valleys, an organic pile of houses, primitive machinery and crumbling fortifications of such antiquity you wonder how they're still there. The village has created what they call a musée éclaté, consisting of a tour (in French only) of several old houses and giving an insight into the lifestyle and practices of yore, like bread-making, drying chestnuts and preparing prunes (daily except Sat: July & Aug 3pm & 4.30pm; Sept 3pm; Oct–June by appointment on 05.65.40.10.63 or tel 05.65.40.15.65; donation expected). An additional plus point is the minute but delightful, simple hotel Chez Marcel, on the through road (tel 05.65.40.11.16, fax 05.65.40.49.08; under €30; closed two weeks in Oct & two weeks in Feb, also Sun eve & Mon), with a first-rate restaurant offering such delights as a gigot of lamb from the causse and the regional offal speciality, tripoux (menus from €13).
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