What are some pretty, very small villages in South-West France?

Hi everyone ! With my little sister, thanks to my Grandma's advices, we made this trip last year in Gers. First, visiting Eauze, a little town, ancient Roman bishopric. Today, it's quite a sleepy town, with one market per week and a few restaurants but during the III-IV° s, it was a much bigger city, due to the economic development of Aquitaine. Archeologists found a villa, a domus and a treasure : the treasure can be seen in the museum of Eauze ; the domus, typical of urban architecture, is located near to the big commercial center of Eauze and is well presented ; finally, the villa is located in Seviac, about 10 miles of Eauze. Secondly, visiting Larresingle, a tiny bastide. Finally, the abbaye of Flaran, a nice old abbey transformed today in a contemporary art gallery.

Of this list - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Plus_Beaux_Villages_de_France#Aquitaine, I can attest to Beynac and Domme being high on the list in Acquitaine. Beynac is very picnic friendly (and La Tonnelle quite good on food). St Cirq La Popie in the Cahors region is stunning, and not short of restaurants

Thanks for both answers.  My trip went wonderfully. Now that I'm back, I should probably give some sort of answer to my question.  I stayed in Aubiet, Anglars-Julliac, Le Bugue, and Saint-Avit-Sénieur. The largest of these towns was Le Bugue, with about 3k people. Aubiet and Saint-Avit-Sénieur were both absolutely perfect tiny towns. Aubiet had this wonderful chorus of frogs going into the night, and Saint-Avit a very charming town center and abbey ruins. Anglars did not have any town center, but it is incredibly gorgeous location in the Lot valley. Le Bugue was a bit too hectic for my taste. My general route was: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Toulouse%2C+France&daddr=Aubiet%2C+France+to%3AAuch%2C+France+to%3ACassaigne%2C+France+to%3ACondom%2C+France+to%3AAnglars-Juillac%2C+France+to%3ACahors%2C+France+to%3ADomme%2C+France+to%3ALe+Bugue%2C+France+to%3ATr%C3%83%C2%A9molat%2C+France+to%3ALes+Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil%2C+France+to%3ASarlat-la-Can%C3%83%C2%A9da%2C+France+to%3ALe+Bugue%2C+France+to%3AP%C3%83%C2%A9rigueux%2C+France+to%3ASaint-Avit-S%C3%83%C2%A9nieur%2C+France+to%3AMonbazillac%2C+France+to%3ABergerac%2C+France+to%3ASaint-%C3%83%C2%89milion%2C+France+to%3ABordeaux-M%C3%83%C2%A9rignac+Airport%2C+M%C3%83%C2%A9rignac%2C+France&hl=en Prior to my visit, I was very unaware of the developmental differences between the areas that I was travelling. The Dordogne/Perigord region has had extensive immigration in from the British Isles. The Cahors/Quercy region much less. The Gers/Gascony region very little. So the kind of touristic infrastructure that you might find in the Perigord will not be as prevalent further south. Condom, for example, a sleepy town of 7k people, had less tourist-orientated businesses than Les Eyzies, with 1k. Aubiet had only restaurant/inn and one boulangerie for 1k, compared to Les Eyzies, which had about 5 of each. Conversely, the foreign influence and heavy tourism has had a probably not salutary influence on the food, prices, etc. of the Perigord. Some of the cuisine in the Perigord felt like Perigord Disneyland: the purveyors felt the need to simply rehash the greatest hits in order to give people the "Perigord" experience they had come for. The locals in the Perigord were also considerably less friendly than those further south. So to answer my question, virtually all towns in the region are quite charming, you just have to adjust down in size as you go further north to find a similar experience.

1. Rions (Recommended) Hidden in the Aquitania region (Department Gironde) is Rions; a tiny village with lovely vineyards in all directions. It is essentially a wine country, belonging to the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux and Cadillac wine regions - a narrow stretch of over 50 Kms, producing one of Europe's most revered wines. Demography: Population : 1,578 inhabitants Population Density : 148.2 /km² (383.8 /sq mi) 29.7 km - about 39 minutes from Bordeaux 2. Castelmoron-d'Albret (Recommended) Officially the smallest village in France, Castelmoron-d'Albret is spread over just 3.76 hectares (roughly the size of the Place de l'Étoile in Paris). It is one gem of a place, with less than 100 inhabitants, 18th century walls, and tranquility at its best. One of the unique things to see here are the doors of the local establishments; very ornate, old-world and rustic. Makes for amazing photographic subjects. Demography: Population : 62 inhabitants 77.2 km - about 1 hour 4 minutes from Bordeaux 3. Beauville (Recommended) A Bastide village of the Midi-Pyrénées Region (Department : Haute-Garonne), Beauville dates back to the 16th century. This village has a very beautiful arched square. Known for its exquisite linen, this place also boasts of a beautiful lake with horse riding along its banks being a popular activity. READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.mygola.com/offbeat-and-the-smallest-towns-in-southwest-france/q4630

Try Beynac. An  adorable village by the river with an amazing  castle on the hill. Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Beynac

I have been living in a small village in Haute-Garonne for about six months.It is a pretty region, full of natural beauties, architectural gems and colourful markets.There are plenty of pretty little towns in the area: Martres-Tolosane, Auch, Saint-Lizier...If you'd like to have an idea of the look and feel of the area, you can visit http://www.rozimages.com/en/tag/midi-pyrenees/ (disclosure: it's my partner's).Pic: a street in Martres-Tolosane, © http://www.rozimages.com.

RionsHidden in the Aquitania region (Department Gironde) is Rions; a tiny village with lovely vineyards in all directions. It is essentially a wine country, belonging to the Premières Côtes de Bordeaux and Cadillac wine regions - a narrow stretch of over 50 Kms, producing one of Europe's most revered wines.Castelmoron-d'AlbretOfficially the smallest village in France, Castelmoron-d'Albret is spread over just 3.76 hectares (roughly the size of the Place de l'Étoile in Paris). It is one gem of a place, with less than 100 inhabitants, 18th century walls, and tranquility at its best.One of the unique things to see here are the doors of the local establishments; very ornate, old-world and rustic. Makes for amazing photographic subjects.BeauvilleA Bastide village of the Midi-Pyrénées Region (Department : Haute-Garonne), Beauville dates back to the 16th century. This village has a very beautiful arched square. Known for its exquisite linen, this place also boasts of a beautiful lake with horse riding along its banks being a popular activity.

Come to Lectoure, a small town on a rock with a fantastic cathedral. It's like 30min fin the south from Agen and the motorway. You must have a lunch or dinner in summer at "Le Cochon Bleu" (the blue pig). It's cafe-library-restaurant situated in the main street. You will have a very tasty meal for a very reasonable price, thus good wine is proposed by Richard the owner. His wife is cooking all the meals at the back of the cafe as a mum do it. Generous, tasty, good looking. The perfect combo. If you're a too hot, go for the downstairs room which is really fresh on summer. Hope you'll enjoy and say that you come from my part!

When I was a kid we lived in a little village named Domme, in the Dordogne dept. It's a walled village on top of a hill close to Sarlat. Haven't been there in close to 40 years but I'm sure it's still there. If you are looking for an authentic rural French experience, you'll find it in Domme.