St-Émilion to Bergerac

May 1, 2019

Quiet roads

Today was May Day, celebrated as Labour Day in France. We expected many businesses to be closed and they were.

Our day started with a nice light (French) breakfast at 8:30, the earliest time offered. We were not looking for an early start, though, because the forecast didn't call for high temperatures and we didn't have a long day planned.

We were on the road at 10, cycling past some of the many chateaux and vineyards surrounding St-Émilion. The vines gave way to other crops as we passed Castillon-la-Bataille, where we stopped for lunch provisions. We found one open boulangerie (no sandwiches so could we get a baguette?), one boucherie/charcuterie (four slices of ham, please) and a fruit-and-veg (beautiful strawberries and oranges). Our route kept to the north side of the Dordogne, partly on the flats near the river and partly on the ridges.

There was a beautiful chateau above and to the right but I liked the terraced vineyard.

The bridge we didn't take (across the Dordogne)

We devoured our lunch on the shady lawn in front of the Mairie in Fougueyrolles, where there was an unmarked public toilet facility out back. After lunch, more ridge riding and then a lovely green descent to Le Fleix.

The rest of the ride into Bergerac was okay but not worth a special trip. Bergerac itself is, though. We did some circles finding our accommodation but we found it. The hosts were out (it's a holiday today) and needed an hour to get back after I called. It wasn't hard to find a place nearby to enjoy a beer while we waited!

Our accommodation in Bergerac, Le Colombier de Cyrano et Roxane.

I had a "Picon bière" while we waited. I hadn't heard of Picon before but it's a bitters from Marseille and often served with beer. It was really good!

Le Columbier de Cyrano et Roxanne is in a 16th century house with sloping floors and crooked walls, but modern plumbing.

No allowance for plumbing was made back in the 1500s, though. The toilet is in a tiny closet across the hall from our bedroom, next to a small room with a shower and sink, in turn next to another room with bathtub and sink. We seem to have this all to ourselves.

Our room. The photo doesn't show the slope of the floor very well but you can just see that the legs at the head end of the bed are raised about 2" or so above the floor.

Looking down the hall. The stairs down to the building entrance are on the left.

Bergerac was an early adopter of electricity, in the 1890s.

For dinner we went to La Scala, which advertises local and Italian cuisine. We're not in Italy, though, so we went for the 21.90€ menu. We enjoyed our meal and the wine. Not gourmand, but definitely tasty!

Waiting for our food, enjoying our wine.

The bridge over the Dordogne at Bergerac

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Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 122 km (76 miles)

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