We headed deep into la Dordogne region to Brantôme, the oldest part of which is on an island encircled by the river Dronne The Benedictine Abbey was founded in 769 and held sacred relics of Saint Sicarius (probably his toenail clippings or the sole of his sandal). Being on the (aforementioned - see previous posts) pilgrim route, these relics attracted pilgrims to the abbey, who also brought a bit of cash to Brantôme, (rather like the expat community does now). Unfortunately the Vikings, of all people, rowed up the Dordogne and Isle rivers to the Dronne, and promptly laid waste to it in the mid 800s. It's had a few knocks since then but essentially what is there now is from the mid 1500s and looks really rather nice.
We wandered the narrow streets and had lunch by the river, feeding the trout morceaux de pain. Then we decided it was time for an adventure.
Allo Canoë are purveyors of paddling trips and for a fistful of Euros provided équipement nautique, to facilitate this extravagance. From their centre d'opérations, we travelled West to Bourdeilles, passing chateaux, weirs and overhanging river-carved rocks. As ever, canoeing is such a fantastic way to see things, quietly passing through a place is très tranquille. Accompanied by thousands of dragonflies, we arrived just in time to leap on the bus for a lift back to the car. Then home, where a bottle of Bordeaux waited.
On the way back we passed through Villebois-Lavalette, where they don't use roadsigns in the traditional way (to assist smooth passage) but do have a rather fetching chateau to make amends:
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