Bordeaux and Périgord 2019
101 impressions of Bordeaux and Le Bugue (Périgord / Dordogne) 9.7.2019 - 19.7.2019.
Bordeaux 9.7. - 13.7.
And so our next journey starts
Upon arrival we were surprised by the Garonne which is (naturally) brown on the last kilometers to the coast. You can find the details on InvisibleBordeaux Blog if interested.
That's what our flat looked like. On the top floor of an old building, over 80 steps on the stairs.
The angel on a monument on France's biggest square can be seen from seemingly everywhere in Bordeaux ... it will appear again ... once or twice ... or thrice
First day in Bordeaux and we decided to walk around town for some sight seeing. First station was, of course, the angel (once) from close up: the "Monument aux Girondins" on the "Place des Quinconces"
Close to our flat we found this nice courtyard of the "Cour Administrative d'Appel"
We also passed the "Cathédrale Saint-André de Bordeaux from outside ...
... and from within with it's originally placed churck-clock
View along the road from "Place Jean Moulin"
Our tour continued to "La Grosse Cloche" ...
A pretty little florist shop we encountered on our tour.
... followed by "Porte Cailhau" ...
... and the "Miroir d'eau" which had too many children playing in it to capture "good" reflections
Later that evening we took this shot of the angel (twice)
On our second day we passed a lot of time in the "Jardin Public" which was the perfect choice for a hot day.
And of course we managed to sneak in the third angel ;-). Later in the afternoon we made a tour along the Garonne up to the "Cité du Vin".
The next morning, after tea and scones, we revisited the "Miroir d'eau" and took this photo on the "Place de la Bourse" just across the street.
Here all four of us in one picture.
Me, flabbergasted by my reflection.
After a quiet day in the park, some shopping and dinner, we stumbled into this public performance of the national opera. Unfortunately we missed the first part. See this news coverage for more about it.
Here a more close up shot.
And for our finale in Bordeaux a forth angel
... and a fifth and last one while we're at it.
Saint-Émilion 13.7.
Saturday morning we started for our second stay in Le Bugue. On our way we made a stop for lunch and a short walk in Saint-Émilion. Here the center of the village, on the square just below we had our lunch.
The panoramic view from the viewpoint
Us in front of the village ...
... and as treat I managed to snap Judy in the same spot. Shot just in front of the tower you see on the last pictures on the right side.
And, just in case the eye-catcher in the center of the last picture distracted you ... here's the view of the village
And to close it off, a nice view on the church spire
Le Bugue - Périgord - Dordogne 13.7. - 19.7.
Later that afternoon we arrived in Le Bugue (in the middle of the picture). A bit over 100 m above the village we found our Gîte "Le clos des étoiles". This is the view from the pool area.
Later that evening we were treated with fireworks in the village below, since we arrived on the eve before the French national holiday.
Le Bugue, this time with the pool ...
... and here our Gîte where we spent the week.
The next morning we visited market in Saint-Cyprien, one of many markets in the region. The afternoon we spent relaxing at the pool.
On Monday we started our week by visiting "Les jardins suspendus de Marqueyssac" in the "vallée des châteaux". Here a view from the entry to two other castles: Fayrac (left) and Beynac (right)
One of the main attraction of the gardens are the, according to their brochure, 150'000 boxtrees (and no: we didn't verify the number).
Another attraction, apart from Judy (who was only there for the day), is the little castle with its 500 ton roof, traditional for the region.
A good look on the castle of Fayrac.
On the other side of the Dordogne we could see yet another castle: "Le château de Castelnaud"
A look from the 1.6 km riding-alley a former owner built. The castle of Beynac framed by trees.
Village built below the rocks: "La Roque-Gageac"
Almost a kilometer from the castle there is a vantage point with a beautiful look over the valley.
Judy caught in the net ... over 100 m long and about 5 m up in the trees.
A look along the straight riding-alley mentioned before.
Besides the long alley along the whole gardens there are several kilometers of diverse paths, including these narrow stairs.
Here a 360° from one of the many vantage points.
To end our visit: a photo of another of the rather unusual garden paths between the high boxwood hedges.
And here our heading. To the right between the trees you can see Beynac.
After a steep ascent from the river to the castle of Beynac, here part of the village through a castle side entrance. We took some photos of the way up while descending, when we had enough breath to do so.
Some more old houses on the castle level.
The "reverse view": Marqueyssac as seen from Beynac.
The castle from close up ...
... and through a gate.
After lunch and a short walk we started our descent and here come the photos of it.
Medieval village at it's best ...
... also available with flowers.
... or with view over the valley.
That day there were lots of canoes the Dordogne. Here some of them with Marqueyssac in the background.
More old facades ...
... and narrow paths ...
... with lots of plants.
And to close our visit off some more canoes with a sightseeing boat in the foreground.
On Tuesday we vistited "Lascaux IV". A reproduction and museum around a cave with about 2000 cave paintings. Mostly of aurochs, horses and stags. This is how parts of the cave are presented in the museum part.
And here a picture showing some of the museums interesting architecture.
After the caves we visited "Le parc du Thot" showing some of the animals of the "cavemen time". Like ibexes ...
... and wolves, whose feeding time we caught. Chicken was on the menu and the alpha ate most of it.
On our way home we made a stop at the "Abris de Laugerie-Basse", where they found remains of rock shelters ... and no, these are not those remains, but a rebuild. ;-)
Their tablet even allowed to take some silly augmented reality photos.
... and another one.
Apart from the "normal markets" in the region there is at least one "marché gourmande" every evening. On Tuesday we went to the market just below our stay, in Le Bugue. To these markets you bring your own plate and cutlery. In the middle there are tables and all around you can find different food stands. Also there is live music. Great idea and a nice evening.
It seems every village in the region has it's own war memorial, remembering their fallen from the two world wars. This is the one in Le Bugue.
This night I played around a little with my tiny tripod and it worked surprisingly well, as this and the following photos show.
The photos were taken around our gîte.
On Wednesday we decided to go on a hike around Saint-Léon-sur-Vézère. Here the church and tower from a bridge ...
... and through the trees after the first few steps of the hike.
Due to the warm and dry weather the Vézère had low water. Nature probably didn't like it much, but sometimes it looked quite nice.
On our hike we encountered lots of mossy trees which made the path look as if we were in a fairy tale.
Along the path we found other little "abris", those overhanging rock formations, typical for that region.
As soon as there are some holes in the rocks, plants grow from them.
Along our path, we came along these old shelters.
After about three hours we ware back at the starting point ...
... had a look at Saint-Léon's tower ...
... at the village ...
... and the church, before taking a lunch break.
On Thursday, our second last day, we visited "La Roque Saint-Christophe". One of the bigger "abris" with traces, showing men have been living there for at least 55'000 years. The entrance is guarded by this medieval soldier.
Here the cut, in part created by nature, in part by humans ... picture including a Judy for scale ;-)
The first inhabitants lived probably more at the bottom of the rocks and later generations built their houses inside and higher up in the rocks.
Here a model of how the rock village looked before its destruction in 1588. The part we could visit (and you see in the last pictures) is the long straight floor almost on top. On the right you see the church they built.
And here how the church looks today. The holes in the floor you see on the right were graves. The reason they wanted to bury some people in rock eluded us though.
I'm not convinced, had I lived there, preacher would have been the best job for me.
There are replicas of several different types of cranes they built to lift up heavy loads from the Vézère to their village. As far as I remember 50+ meters - the Vézère is hidden by the trees below.
Here a look from the shelter out into the valley.
Allegedly the worlds "longest stairs hewn from one rock".
Here a wall they rebuilt to get a better impression of how it looked and felt ... not many windows and pretty dark inside, even on a bright summer's day, in case you wondered.
A look at the whole rock from the other side of the Vézère.
In the afternoon we payed a visit to Sarlat-la-Canéda.
Another medieval town with narrow alleys ...
... beautiful houses ...
... their church from an unusual perspective.
Friday evening, after an enjoyable 10 days in France we took our flight back home. Here a prominent view on Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alpes. I think now I know why it has that name.
Approaching Zürich we could see our house near lake Zug ... ok, maybe not the house exactly ... but ... almost ...
And after a loop to the East paying our reverence to Winterthur (sorry for the noise), we landed safely.