May 18, 2023
In Perigueux
Time out in Perigueux
Thursday is a very lazy day. But, without demeaning the city, it’s partly our reason for being in Perigueux. We make the most of a leisurely breakfast, attend to the laundry and enjoyed some reading time.
Later we do an even more leisurely passaggio to the old centre. The Cathédrale Saint-Front dominates the centre, and it is a huge, building, lacking the appeal perhaps of some of the gothic style cathedrals, but all the same, architecturally it’s an impressive building. The interiors of many of the Romanesque style churches have been kept quite plain. Le Citē, near where we’re staying, is an enormous, almost cuboid, structure with two large domes, and has a pretty much unadorned interior.
It’s a quiet day, being a public holiday, Ascension Day. Quiet, that is, apart from the continual ringing of bells. We note that this is the third public holiday since we arrived in France- not that we’re opposed to the concept! It does mean most shops are closed, though fortunately the boulangerie near us is open and doing a roaring trade.
This is not just another French provincial city of stately buildings of the past 200 years, there’s also plenty of evidence of Gallo-Roman civilisation too. The original settlement of the Gauls, on a loop in the river, meant it was the ideal spot to establish and defend themselves. The Gauls were something of a Roman construct but were Celtic in origin. The Romans seemed to have deemed much of France as Gallic.
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Saturday is market day so we retrieve our bikes from the garage and take a spin around the city. Ann is keen to make a risotto with the remnants of last night’s roast chicken- we have a wonderful oven, though it required some serious translating work before I found the right part of the oven’s touch screen for last night’s sumptuous dinner. For the risotto, beans and spring onions are procured from the vegetable market.
We also find a bike shop and ask if we can borrow their pump to check our tyre pressures which just need a few pounds added. I try to be careful not to put too much pressure as otherwise the centre tread gets worn much too quickly. I settle for 55psi. In 2018, in the very hot summer Ann’s tubeless tyres seemed to sweat fluid a lot and needed topping up. They’re fine now.
In the afternoon we head out of town along the Isle for 15 kilometres or so. It’s a pleasant path, without being spectacular, taking us along the water with plenty of green trees, past sports fields and small farms. The outskirts of the city on this side look a little tatty in parts but there are plenty of people out walking and cycling. It’s nice to be moving along a trail and breathing reasonably fresh air.
Tomorrow we head a short way south to Eyzies and the Dordogne.
Today's ride: 27 km (17 miles)
Total: 1,144 km (710 miles)
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