Lovely L’Isle-en-Dodon, France: What to Do in This Charming Small Town
In the Comminges region at the foothills of the Pyrenées, which tower above like a beautiful frame for the horizon, you’ll find the lovely and quintessentially French small town of L’Isle-en-Dodon.
This charming small village is about one hour from Toulouse in the Haute Garonne region of Occitanie in Southern France.
It’s a teeny-tiny village with just a handful of shops, cafés, and boulangeries, but it’s still worth a visit if you’re visiting this part of France.
With a marvelous Saturday market that enlivens the town, a lovely old brick church, and picturesque houses with colorful shudders that are so traditionally French you won’t be able to stop firing off your shutter, you can find enough to do in L’Isle-en-Dodon to spend a morning or an afternoon.
Here are my tips for enjoying this lovely Southern French village.
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Cross the Pont de la Save.
This small bridge leads to the town center of L’Isle-en-Dodon, leading from a parking area that tends to fill up on market days.
Constructed in 1901 after floods affected the town in 1897, this bridge feels like a portal that transports you from the modern times outside of it into the fairytale that is the old town center.
There is also some parking in the center of town, but it can often be filled by vendors and shoppers on market days. Still, the stroll to the old town center via the Pont de la Save is so scenic that it’s worth the extra steps!
Visit the Saturday Market.
My family visits L’Isle-en-Dodon so often because it’s home to an excellent Saturday Market.
The market takes over the small city center, which is compactly composed of a mairie (town hall), church, and a few small cafés where you can get an espresso, noisette (like a macchiato, espresso with a touch of steamed milk), or an allongée (what they call americanos here).
The Saturday Market really has everything you’d need to stock up for the week. It’s chock full of fresh and exceedingly local produce — this is an agricultural region of France, after all — as well as all sorts of saucissons (sausages) and fromages (cheeses).
There are also some prepared foods like paella, which is delicious and a great way to beat any hunger you build up while you browse the delicious traditional French flavors!
Stop by the local boulangerie.
Of course, there’s no French town worth its salt without a boulangerie, and there’s an excellent one right in the heart of L’Isle-en-Dodon.
Stop by the bustling La Huchette to pick up some fresh bread (pain paysan and baguettes). They also have some delicious specialty breads like mini brioches and buckwheat bread, as well as other sweets like homemade cookies.
This boulangerie and market is also a great place to pick up a high-quality bottle of wine or some organic teas or other goodies!
Step through layers of time in the historic church.
One of the more unique features of L’Isle-en-Dodon is its beautiful and historic Saint-Adrien Church, made of brick like many such churches in the region such as the famous brick cathedral of Albi.
It’s an especially historic church. Originally a castle church from the 12th century, it has a Romanesque sacristy in its heart, where the chapel used to be. The church was modernized for the first time in the 14th century when it was fortifiedlike much of the city. A chevet, a Gothic apse popular in the 12th century, and two turrets were added.
Another century later, a 33-meter high (about 100 feet) bell tower was added. Another modernization was the stained glass windows designed by Arnaud de Moles, who similarly worked on the Auch Cathedral, in 1520.
The way history places one layer atop the other is very evident in this church, making it unique despite its small stature and unknown status outside of locals.
Admire the town hall and its intriguing frescoes.
One unique facet of L’Isle-en-Dodon is its town hall (mairie), which is a bit unusual compared to other town halls. Here, you’ll find two incredible frescoes done by the artist Gaston Lagorre in the 1940s.
One fresco is a lovely triptych that pays homage to World War II resistance fighters, whereas the other represents the seasonal changes that take place in Occitanie. You can find these two pieces in the municipal council room, but you can find other works of art elsewhere in the town hall.
Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. Her blog posts merge her background as an educator with her experience traveling to 70+ countries to encourage ethical, meaningful travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. Now a full-time traveler, she has lived in Prague, Sofia, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
