Belvès to Bergerac and back

Our first complete day in Belvès found us with a full (but, limited) schedule. Café just around the corner from our hotel was followed by wonderful pastries (apple and apricot) from the little boulangerie/patisserie a few metres down the street in the other direction.

Then, we needed to buy some essentials which we accomplished at several establishments throughout the day. We took a circuitous route to Bergerac, which took about 1½ hours, through some lovely country and a number of small villages. Bergerac is one of the larger cities in the region (population: 26,000) on the Dordogne river. It is a commercial and agricultural centre, especially wine and tobacco. We did some shopping and had a great lunch at the Autour d'un Verre restaurant. This pleasant little restaurant specializes in tartines which are open-faced sandwiches. Steve's was a combination of jambon de pays, a cheese called pur brébis and confiture des cerise noirs. Susan's was magret fumé with cabecou (a local kind of goat cheese) and honey. All washed down, of course, with a pichet of local red wine.

After lunch we toured around Bergerac for a bit and then set out to visit one of the local wineries - Château Terre Vieille - which is a few kilometres east of Bergerac. They make some well-thought-of wine, so we had a tasting and purchased a couple of bottles (one to drink here; one to bring home). Then, back to Belvès by another route, just in time to relax a bit; explore a bit and then have dinner at Le Home. We weren't expecting too much here and were not disappointed. The weather today rated a so-so 1.5 on the Knowmark Weather Scale.


Château de Bannes southeast of Bergerac on route 660


It is hard to get lost


Parking Inondé (Bergerac)


Restaurant Autour d'un Verre (Bergerac)


A view of Belvès


Cros de la Sal, from Château Terre Vieille


Château Terre Vieille