Le Voyage Continue


Tomorrow morning I leave the charming and historical town of Sarlat-la-Canéda with its wonderful 15th and 16th century houses and take the early bus north-west to Périgueux, the heart of Périgord Vert.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eschif de Creyssac

Image
As it was a warm day I decided to take a stroll along the shaded banks of Pèrigueux's river, the Isle, which itself is a tributary of the mighty Dordogne. On the outskirts of Périgueux, as I was about to descend to the river, I came across quite a remarkable construction, a medieval outpost. This imposing wooden edifice was called the "Eschif de Creyssac" and was built in 1347. Before Pèrigueux became a modern town it was known as the village of Puy-Sainte-Front, named after the usual suspect. Puy means a volcanic hill and this outpost straddled its fortifications and served as a look-out post between the village and the river. From the riverside one also has a splendid visage of the domes and cones of the Byzantine Cathédrale-Ste-Front.
Read more

Bordeaux 4

Image
My balade this morning commenced by walking across the Pont de Pierre, a canal bridge spanning the Garonne and linking Bordeaux with the area on the other side known as La Bastide. This stone bridge was built by Napoleon in 1810. A little further past the bridge I came across the stunning Église Sainte-Marie de la Bastide built in 1867 by Paul Abadie on marshland. You may notice similarities with the Église Sacré Coeur de Montmarte, which was built by the same architect. La Bastide also has a Jardin Botanique which contained some Australian flora such as willow myrtle, bottle brush and cypress pine. Back on the other side on my way home I passed The Théâtre Français, one of Bordeaux's original theatres built in classical style in the 18th century with Doric and Ionic columns.
Read more

Agen

Image
Agen on the banks of the mighty Garonne, which flows through South-West France and Northern Spain before finally debouching into the Atlantic Ocean at Bordeaux, is another charming town with old lanes and  handsome wooden and brick houses. My first stop on my morning walk was the composite Romanesque and Gothic Cathédrale Saint-Caprais with its gorgeous water-coloured frescoes on the domed ceiling above the Altar and Choeur. I next headed to the Musée des Beaux-Arts, magnificently housed in four adjacent 16th and 17th century Renaissance mansions with its huge variety of archeological exhibits dating back to Roman times such this 2nd century AD head of a consul and a wonderful Art collection of painters such as Goya and Tintoretto. The town is famous throughout the world for its Pruneaux d'Agen (dried prunes) with their exotic flavours such as Armagnac, introduced by Benedictine monks, and I made sure to sample them. Tomorrow I continue west to Marmande.
Read more