04/11, Wednesday
Bergerac...as in Cyrano of Bergerac. Cyrano is a fictional character based on some true events. The author chose Bergerac as Cyrano's town of origin, and Bergerac has adopted him. Fortunately, there are only a couple of statues, a restaurant, and a theater with his name and image.
Bergerac's true heritage is it's wines and tobacco.
As it is raining, we duck in for lunch at Le Petit Taverne. Mom has a salmon salad and a salmon main dish. I have rabbit paté (on the menu it is called 'terrine', so I had expected soup) and grilled beef. Chocolate mousse and a luscious frothy meringue topped the meal off.
We visit the wine and inland water shipping museum, which those activities made the town wealthy. We also see the National Tobacco Museum that traces 3000 years of history and civilization.
We pass on riding in the "gabarres", flat bottomed boats on the Dordogne since it is windy and rainy. They were used during the Gallo-Roman days to get and to deliver goods. It is amazing the lengths people went to for trading.
Then we go to the Recollets Cloister that was built in 1630 for monks until the French revolution. It was then replaced by a Protestant church. It now is the House of Bergerac Wines and has a marvelous timeline from prehistoric times till the present.
Several neat medieval houses that are now B&B's
A very authentic, lived in and doesn't appear to be touristy town at all is our final stop of the day. It is called Issigeau and I pick up a few items at the little market. Nothing like shopping in a medieval town !
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