MONPAZIER
, founded in 1284 by King Edward I of England (who was also Duke of
Aquitaine), is one of the most complete of the surviving bastides , and
still relatively free of the commercialism that suffocates a place like
Domme. Picturesque and placid though it is today, the village has a
hard and bitter history, being twice - in 1594 and 1637 - the centre of
peasant rebellions provoked by the misery that followed the Wars of
Religion. Both uprisings were brutally suppressed: the 1637 peasants'
leader was broken on the wheel in the square. Sully, the Protestant
general, describes a rare moment of light relief in the terrible wars,
when the men of the Catholic bastide of Villefranche-de-Périgord
planned to capture Monpazier on the same night as the men of Monpazier
planned to capture Villefranche. By chance, both sides took different
routes, met no resistance, looted to their hearts' content and returned
home congratulating themselves on their luck and skill, only to find in
the morning that things were rather different. The peace terms were
that everyone should return everything to its proper place.
Monpazier is now severely depopulated. As
the street ends the fields begin, and you look out over the surrounding
country. There is an ancient lavoir where women used to wash clothes, a
much-altered church and a gem of a central square - sunny, still and
slightly menacing, like a Sicilian piazza at siesta time. Deep, shady
arcades pass under all the houses, which are separated from each other
by a small gap to reduce fire risk; at the corners the buttresses are
cut away to allow the passage of laden pack animals.
The best place for an overnight stay
in Monpazier is the Hôtel de France , 21 rue St-Jacques (tel
05.53.22.60.06, fax 05.53.22.07.27; €34-46; closed mid-Nov to mid-Dec),
with a fine regional restaurant from €13.72. There are two campsites
in the vicinity: Camping Véronne , 3km north, signed off the D660
Bergerac road (tel 05.53.22.62.22; closed mid-Sept to mid-June), and
the more luxurious Moulin de David , roughly the same distance to the
south (tel 05.53.22.65.25; closed early Sept to mid-May).
Another possibility is to base yourself in one of the attractive villages within a twenty-kilometre radius. BELVÈS
watches over the surrounding country from a ridge-top just 5km from
Siorac on the Dordogne, and its Hôtel Le Home , on the through road at
the top of the hill, provides good cheap accommodation
and food (tel 05.53.29.01.65, fax 05.53.59.46.99; under €24-€34; closed
Sun; restaurant from €9.15). Make sure you take a look at the heart of
the old village and place des Armes, with its old pillared market and the tourist office
(June-Sept daily 10am-12.30pm & 3-5pm; rest of year closed Wed
& Sun; tel & fax 05.53.29.10.20). The nearest campsite is at
Les Nauves (tel 05.53.29.07.87; closed mid-Sept to mid-May), 4.5km off
the Monpazier road, and there's a small camping à la ferme called Le Bon Accueil (tel 05.53.29.08.49; open all year) at the hamlet of Gratecap near St-Amand-de-Belvès.
VILLEFRANCHE-DU-PÉRIGORD
lies 20km further south in the midst of wooded country above the River
Lemance. Built in 1261 in lovely warm-coloured stone, it retains much
of its bastide layout. At the end of the main street, whose medieval
halle is splendid, is the good-value Petite Auberge (tel
05.53.29.91.01, fax 05.53.28.88.10; €34-46; closed Fri evening &
Sat lunch Dec-Feb; restaurant from €12.96), set among gardens 500m out
of the village.
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