Today we will head to Bergerac and South of Lalinde into part of the very large wine growing area of the Dordogne.
Cyrano de Bergerac
Bergerac has a charming ' old town ' that winds it's way down to the river, with a wide choice of outside restaurants and cafés, it's a great place to walk around and then take a café for a bit of people watching. With it's Maison des Vins and Musée du Tabac and the fabled Cyrano, there are some interesting places to get a better understanding of the region. The Dordogne has literally 1000's of old tobacco barns, built from stone or timber, these medium sized, high roofed barns have adjustable ventilators along their sides to manage the air-flow for drying tobacco leaf. The farmers were paid by dry weight. Today, most of these barns sit empty or are convered into holiday houses as the period of tobacco growing has more or less left this region. The cigarette factory in Bergerac which produced the famous Gitane and Gauloisse has left and the tobacco growing industry collapsed with this departure of the factory.
From Bergerac we will head to Monbazillac with it's beautiful Chateau and commanding view over the Dordogne valley. Monbazillac is famous for it's luscious sweet white wine made from sun kissed Semillon grapes, it really is a nectar of the gods. Used extensively when eating foie gras or with one of the many local cheeses, you must try this and free samplings are available at the cellar in front of Chateau Monbazillac . From Monbazillac we will head to Sadillac, a pretty médiéval village and well worth a stop. We then drive through Singleyrac, Flaugeac, Fonroque, to Ste-Eulalie-d'Eymet towards the Lac (Lake) L'Escourroux for a stop at the look out then head back to
Eymet
Eymet, a French Bastide town and fortified Chateau. Today, Eymet is very popular with the British, with a very large permanent population along with the many summer visitors. There are some excellent restaurants on the square and it's a pretty place to sit in the shade, enjoy some excellent local cuisine and admire the surrounding buildings. After our stop here we head off again driving through Razac d'Eymet, St Aubin- de-Cadelech, St Capraise-d'Eymet, Plaissance to stop at Issigeac. This is one of the delights in the area. A médiéval village built on a ' spoke ' design with fabulous stone and wood houses overhanging the small lanes. The village is used extensively for '
Issigeac
period ' TV and Movie production and their Sunday morning market is a real treat, perhaps a bit busy in the summer season but a great atmosphere. It also has a more recent and interesting history with the town hall being the local base for the SS during WWII. After the Normandie landing, many of the local men and members of the résistance were brutally treated then executed by the Gestapo as punishment for the strenuous efforts of the résistance to stop any local troop and tank movements (there was a large Panzer unit stationed here) towards Normandie. Mouleydier a village between Lalinde and Bergerac was bombed, then completely flattened by the German army as part of this punishment. Our property is on Rue des Martyrs du 21 Juin 1944 named in recognition of these brave local men and women.
From our visit to Issigeac we then head to Montaut, Monzac, Bayac and we are back at Port- de- Couze and approaching Lalinde and Maison Porte del Marty.
