Cycling Tour in Dordogne

Some call it the “cradle of mankind” for Dordogne is home to prehistoric sites unparalleled anywhere else in the world. The cave paintings of Lascaux date back 17,000 years and the Vézère valley received UNESCO World Heritage standing for its wealth of primordial dwellings, artifacts, sculpture and painting.

In recorded history, the county of Périgord was first inhabited by four tribes of Gauls. In the Gaulish language, “Petrocore” meant “four tribes”, eventually leading to the name Périgord, of which there are correspondingly four parts: Périgord Noir (Black), Blanc (White), Vert (Green) and Pourpre (Purple). Its people were called Périgordins (or Périgourdins).

Tranquil now, Dordogne contended with a long and bitter history of invasion and strife.  First the Celts came, moving across France to reach the area some 2,500 years ago. Skilled metalworkers with developed trade routes who constructed their towns on hilltops, the Celts established the first cities here, including in modern-day Périgueux.

Next the Romans brought their language and culture, introducing the first vines to the region. The wealthy among them lived in splendid villas nestled within large farms. The Petrocores resisted their Roman occupiers. Remnants of the Gallo-Roman period still dot the countryside, among them cluzeaux (manmade shelters dug out of the rock, either above or below ground). Such refuges accommodated entire local communities during the resistance.

Vandals, Visigoths, Francs, Moors and Vikings would all follow before four 'baronies' were established to shore up the region. Then, perhaps the most powerful woman in 12th-century Europe, Eleanor of Aquitaine, remarried Henry II of England in 1152 and Périgord passed into English suzerainty.

Given its situation in the borderlands between the monarchies of France and England, the area would play a tragically active role in more than three hundred years of fighting, concluding with the end of the Hundred Years’ War in 1453. The rival Chateaux of Beynac and Castelnaud and fortified town of Domme are vestiges of these turbulent times.

Calmer periods followed. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, fine Gothic and Renaissance residences rose in Périgueux, Bergerac, and Sarlat. In the countryside, nobles built more than twelve hundred châteaux, manors, and country estates. Sadly, the second half of the 16th century saw the terrors of battle resurface with the Wars of Religion, which were exceptionally violent in Périgord as Bergerac was a powerful Huguenot stronghold.

The French Revolution, in turn, ensured more upheaval, leading to the Great Terror in France, which lasted until 1794. Just ten years later, Napoleon Bonaparte would be crowned emperor with enormous support from the public. Many people from Dordogne joined his armies to great success until the disastrous march on Moscow in 1812.

Following the fall of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, poverty increased in southwestern France before the 19th century brought tourism and rural depopulation—although it would take tourism another 100 years to balance the effects of such an exodus of young people from the countryside. Among other factors, tourism motivated the efforts to rebuild some of the neglected castles, estates and villages that give the area its present-day charms.

There would be another exodus due to the wars of the 20th century. While most blood was spilled on the fields of northern France, many able-bodied men marched out of Dordogne. Those left behind were active in the French resistance during World War II.

Our journey focuses on Périgord Noir for its captivating collage of unspoiled natural beauty, romantic châteaux, and wealth of history. Within coveted French cuisine, this is the land of fois gras, duck confit, black truffles, Bleu des Causses and Rocamadour cheeses, strawberries, walnuts, and Bergerac and Monbazillac wines.

By bike or on foot, come discover Dordogne, hidden gem of France. À bientôt! (See you soon!)