Bergerac

Although we were looking forward to the next part of our French adventure a bit of us was sorry to leave our tower room and the friendly people who had been so welcoming at Chateau Lascours and who promised that if we ran into any troubles during our travels through France we had only to phone and they would come. On our way to Sarlat-la-Caneda in the Dordogne we stopped off at the lovely town of Bergerac through which the Dordogne runs.
The old town is a pleasant place to have a stroll in the sunshine and observe the different types of old buildings.
There is a statue of Cyrano de Bergerac in one of the squares and, while the town has become associated with him, there is actually no known connection between him and the town.
Bergerac has a Protestant temple as well as Catholic churches. For a period it was a Calvinist town during the religious wars of the late 1500s. We couldn't go into the Protestant temple (not because we are Catholic, it wasn't open) and for some reason my photo of the exterior was not good (maybe my iphone is Catholic and objected). The Catholic church of St James (Eglise St Jacques) contained an interesting sculpture behind the alter which was very different from anything I have seen before.
The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Bergerac was stunning in a different was. Much younger than the St Jacques it was built in the 19th century. On a much grander scale it had a beautifully highlighted statue of Our Lady behind the altar.
True to form, we visited a wine tasting place that showcases wines from the region and after tasting a few chose a glass each to sip while sitting on the sunny terrace looking at on the Dordogne flowing by.
All that remained was to make our way through the hilly countryside and narrow country roads to Sarlat-la-Caneda. We were looking forward to staying in a whole apartment rather than having only a room and being able to do some washing for the first time on our trip (I know, sounds weird to be excited about washing, right). After a bit of a battle with the one way system, narrow streets and tight corners after missing the car park entry we made it to our well appointed apartment in the old town. Our hosts made a good recommendation for dinner which we enjoyed on a balcony - the caramel tart I had for dessert was to die for.

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