Sarlat to Bergerac

October 21, 2022

Today was always going to be a big ride. Now that the season is winding down, we have had trouble finding food and or accommodation in smaller towns and had decided to make it all the way to Bergerac, a mid sized town that is know as the home of Cyrano de Bergerac, from a well-loved French play. 80km and 900m of climbing; not as much as some of our Pyrenees days but we have gotten fat and lazy since then!

Before leaving Sarlat, we wanted to see the old church that had been converted to a market with huge steel doors. It is an architectural masterpiece of old and new, but has only a few shops with high-priced charcuterie wares, so we looked but didn't buy. The roads were still wet from the overnight rain as we lumbered up the same steep hills that started yesterday's ride. From the top of that hill, the ride continued, mostly on smaller roads, up and down hills, through farmland, quaint villages and ever more subdivisions of new houses, presumably for the holiday market. This part of the Dordogne has more fertile land than upstream or the Lot and the numerous chateaux testify to its popularity since long ago. As well, the Dordogne was the official boundary between the French and English territories during the Hundred Years War, so the river was heavily fortified and protected.

Both Sarlat and Bergerac are in the Dordogne basin and so should be an easy, flat, along the river cycle; but no, the steep cliffs beside the river force the roads to go up and down, or far inland, making this a demanding-and interesting- ride. After a long climb, then a huge descent, we came into Limeuil where we picnicked on the riverbank. Sadly the view of the swans playing beneath the old bridge was marred by the knowledge that we had to climb way up again to get over to the next bend in the river. Still, we were feeling strong, the kilometres ticked by, the threatening rain only drizzled on us before blowing elsewhere and then we were back down by the river.

After a day on peaceful, country lanes we were shocked to come out onto a road busy with truck traffic and with no shoulders. After a couple hundred metres of hell we were glad to see the turn-off onto what was marked as an unpaved road, but turned out to be a greenway: a fabulous, paved bike path along the side of the river for the last 15km into Bergerac. We easily found our apartment, then the grocery store for a hearty home-made supper and collapsed into bed.

The old church converted to a marche couvert in Sarlat. The huge steel doors at the far end are inscribed «L’architecture est un mélange de nostalgie et d’anticipation extrême »

The main shopping street in Sarlat. Wouldn’t that basket look good on Ann’s bicycle?

At Limeuil, where the Vezere river meets the Dordogne.

Lunch at Limeuil, where we watched swans in the river.

Reflected bridge over the Dordogne coming into Bergerac.

Heart

Comment

Link

Today's ride: 82 km (51 miles)
Total: 1,441 km (895 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	9
Comment on this entry	Comment	0