Monestier, the village where La Tuilière is situated, is south-west of Bergerac, in the Dordogne.The local village, Monestier, nestles in a little hollow and has a school, a church and a Relais restaurant and bar. A few kilometres to the north lies the village of Saussignac, which has a château, a church, and a Post Office.  From there you can descend the slopes down to the small town of Gardonne, which lies astride the River Dordogne. Gardonne has most of the facilities which are needed on a day-to-day basis, including several bakeries, a small supermarket, a hardware shop and hairdressers.

For more extensive amenities, one can drive about twelve kilometres to the east along the Dordogne to Bergerac, or about nine kilometres to the west, also along the Dordogne, to Ste. Foy-la-Grande. Both of these towns have supermarkets, restaurants and anything else you might need.
The first map gives the location within France and shows approximately where Monestier is in relation to some of the larger cities and towns of France.

Click here for more detailed map from Gardonne, on the Bordeaux to Bergerac road, take the D4 south and La Tuiliere is 2 km from the village of Saussignac

Reaching Monestier can be by a number of different rourtes.

The easiest way is to fly to Bergerac and hire a car at the airport in order to cover the last fifteen or so kilometres from the airport, Aérodrome de Bergerac-Roumanière, to La Tuilière. However, it must be said that you cannot take home much wine if you arrive by aeroplane.

The second way is to take a cross-channel ferry to Caen or St. Malo and drive down, probably via Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers and Périgueux. The best crossing is overnight, which allows plenty of time to drive down and arrive late afternoon or early evening. The return trip is also fairly easy if you book the evening crossing back, since you have ample time to drive back during the day and you gain an hour during the crossing due to the time difference between France and the UK.

The third route is to take the short sea crossing from Dover or Folkestone, or the Channel Tunnel, and drive down via Paris, Tours, Poitiers and Périgueux. This is a rather longer drive and it is a rush to get to Bergerac before the supermarket on the western outskirts of town closes at 8.00 p.m. Even that requires an early crossing, since the time difference between France and the UK loses you an hour as you wait to arrive in France.

This second map shows, schematically, the location of some of the local villages and towns mentioned on this web site. It also gives an indication of their distances from Monestier.

 

If you haven't driven in France before, it is advisable to read about the particular rules of the road which apply in France, particularly the rules about "priorité à droite" and the meaning of road signs which, in one or two cases, are different to the UK.