Bergerac
City Tours
Our host in Bergerac : Marie Cécile Grasseau
Production : 
© 2019
Our host in Bergerac : Marie Cécile Grasseau
Production : © 2019
Bergerac is a city of art and history. Here, on the banks of the Dordogne, it is good to live. People here like to eat and laugh. Gastronomy is the theme here: for example, fresh poultry with foie gras on a piece of toast. This promises to be a good meal. The whole thing is enjoyed with a wine of the region, of course.
But wait!
There are wines here that the locals like. Probably only the locals. In any case, I really fell for it in the supermarket, because I know beer, not wine.
Two approaches: 1. follow the recommendation of the waitress in the restaurant, or 2. let yourself be initiated into the secrets of the local wine offers on the second floor of the Office de Tourisme.
Here is my brief guide - especially for the RV community.
The city has a campsite directly on the river. It is just as suitable for motorhomes as for caravans. The old town is within walking distance, so it's a very comfortable starting point.
Looking for a suitable place to stay for the following year, we did not inquire about prices, but met a German in a motorhome who wanted to spend only one night in Bergerac and who recommended Camping Le Paradis.
Bergerac itself welcomed us with its charm and much friendship. We were here for barely two days to get an overview. This we take with us as a realization: We must come again, the France-typical dimensions of the parking garages, especially in the exit areas endanger their own sheet metal and rims and the parking fees are manageable.
The beautiful old town with its historic half-timbered houses simply has to be hiked. This is half as bad even for foot lazy, like me. For one thing, the old town is not huge and for another, if you want, you can fall from one restaurant to the next. Nobody has to starve and die of thirst here.
It's definitely a good idea for any visitor to check in at the Office de Tourisme at Quai Cyrano. Here's some good advice for the clueless.
And then there is Cyrano de Bergerac, who is merely a literary figure. Although Savinien Cyrano, the real-life model for Edmond Rostand's hero, never stuck his long nose into the town in Périgord, he nevertheless became one of the most famous Bergeracois. The town owes its fame to this character and his spirit is felt everywhere.
There are also tangible things, such as the Tobacco Museum, which, with its collection unique in Europe, recalls the history of an extraordinary plant that over the millennia has sometimes been considered divine, sometimes cursed. Although it is currently pilloried, it has nevertheless shaped all civilizations in sociological, economic, cultural, artistic and political terms.
This is the most famous town in the Périgord Noir and one of the most famous and visited places in France.
On the outskirts of Montignac the cave of Lascaux. It is famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings, estimated to be up to 20,000 years old.
The beautiful old town with its historic half-timbered houses simply has to be hiked. It is not big, so half bad for "foot lazy".
It is said that deep in the heart of the fortress the echoes of the battles of the Hundred Years War still reverberate.
During the Hundred Years' War, Castelnaud was a strategically important fortress due to its exposed river location, which was difficult to attack.
Milandes Castle is known worldwide thanks to Josephine Baker and remained the unchallenged residence of the Caumont family until the French Revolution.
Château Court les Muts includes 68 hectares of vineyards, 15 km southwest of Bergerac, spread over the clay and limestone slopes of the Dordogne Valley.
On a two-hour "bike" tour on a railroad line with old bridges, viaducts, tunnels and stations, we ride through the Périgord.
On the hills above the Dordogne we meet Pierre-Yves Kuster on his goose and duck farm, one of the most beautiful and traditional farms.
The stalactite cave of Proumeyssac is also called «crystal cathedral» because of its huge underground vault..
For a long time this underground vault is not known. It was discovered on January 28, 1995 by a speleologist from Mussidan, Jean-Luc Sirieix.
Founded in 1669 by the Marquis Jacques-François de Hautefort, the Hôtel Dieu de Hautefort in Périgord was a rare hospital foundation in France.
A unique exhibition dedicated to photographer Robert Doisneau is on display at the former Carlux train station.
A place inhabited for 55,000 years, located in a cliff washed out by the Vézère River with a remarkable number of dwellings.
The National Museum of Prehistory is a place of memory of the history of prehistory, a repository of objects.
Within the narrow confines of the city you will walk in one day from the Gallo-Roman period through the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
