Bergerac

[Mongoose]

Mrs M has just surprised me with a few days in Bergerac from Sunday. Not somewhere I’ve been before, but any tips on hidden gem restaurants, places to travel out to etc from our resident Francophiles would be very much appreciated. It’s going to be plane and train for 5 days.

 

[dirtybiker]

Mrs M has just surprised me with a few days in Bergerac from Sunday. Not somewhere I’ve been before, but any tips on hidden gem restaurants, places to travel out to etc from our resident Francophiles would be very much appreciated. It’s going to be plane and train for 5 days.

Chateau Monbazillac just south of Bergerac is a very nice winery with tours and shop etc. Very pretty and the wine is very good too.
DB

 

[Wapping]

Go in any direction, it’s the Dordogne, pronounced Door Dog Knee.

 

[wessie]

I would be on the train to St Emillion or Libourne (near Pomerol) then get on a wine tour or two.

 

[ChasF]

Bergerac is a pleasant town, much improved since they built the ring road a few years ago. The centre of the Bergerac wine growing region including well known appellations such as Montbazaillac, Saussignac and Pecharment (13 in all, I believe). The old town is a maze of streets leading down to the port which is famous for it ‘Gabarres’ flat bottom barges that allowed wine to be shipped to Bordeaux although Bergerac is well inland. The Gabarres are mostly used for tourist boat trips along the Dordogne river these days.

 

[Toddmeister]

Was there three weeks ago on a family holiday. A few things we enjoyed doing:

Kayak trip out of Le Bugue. We were driven upstream to Les Eyzies and then paddled back down to starting point. Nice bit of river which is a tributary of the Dordogne, easy paddling, not guided or anything, just given a kayak and off you go for 3-4 hours. We stopped halfway and had a picnic by the river.

Visit to a local vineyard for some wine tasting (and then we purchased a load!). We went to Chateau Terre Veillie, which I would highly recommend, but there are loads of them around, mostly family run, so just take your pick.

Visit any of the town markets and fill your boots with great food and wine.

Hope that helps

 

[Mongoose]

Thanks all!

 

[wilbjr21]

Was there three weeks ago on a family holiday. A few things we enjoyed doing:

Kayak trip out of Le Bugue. We were driven upstream to Les Eyzies and then paddled back down to starting point. Nice bit of river which is a tributary of the Dordogne, easy paddling, not guided or anything, just given a kayak and off you go for 3-4 hours. We stopped halfway and had a picnic by the river.

Visit to a local vineyard for some wine tasting (and then we purchased a load!). We went to Chateau Terre Veillie, which I would highly recommend, but there are loads of them around, mostly family run, so just take your pick.

Visit any of the town markets and fill your boots with great food and wine.

Hope that helps

I did the exact same thing with the kayak - very clean water and big fish

 

[Toddmeister]

The other thing we didn in Bergerac was put the kids out on the Street to earn some dosh!

My nephew is 11 years old and an insanely talented guitarist. He’s played gigs both solo and with his band and has his own battery amp kit. My youngest daughter is 13 and really enjoys singing, so as the whole family were on holiday together the two kids asked us if they could go busking.

We deposited them outside the Church in the centre of town and they did a 25 minute set and earnt 78 euros. Next day they went to a local market and did the same, this time earring 105 Euros in 45 mins.

They sang a variety of stuff from recent to old rock songs in both English and French (nephew lives in Geneva so is fluent) and they got quite a crowd around them. They had a lot of fun and the locals genuinely warmed to them!

 

[Davey B]

@Toddmeister What a brilliant thing all round....great for the kids

 

[Mongoose]

Wow!