Before going to bed last night we had to remove our festival wristbands from Bayonne.
Our plan for today was to visit the small town of Bergerac, situated around 70 miles to the east of Bordeaux. This was a shorter train ride than yesterday; only about an hour on a regional train. The train seemed quieter too, so we were hopeful that we weren't about to arrive and find ourselves in the middle of another festival!
When we did arrive, first impressions were that Bergerac was a really pretty place.
We walked out of the station, passing a war memorial...
...and then making our way down side streets which were decorated with beautiful hanging displays.
I really loved these colourful flowers
And the butterflies were pretty cool too.
We soon found ourselves outside the town's cathedral.
It wasn't quite as busy as Bayonne, but there did actually seem to be some sort of festival going on here as well. The streets were crowded with people who seemed to be waiting for something to start.
Eventually we worked out that there was going to be some sort of procession.
It started with policemen marching, then progressed to firemen...
...followed by other emergency services.
There were plenty of flags, and a band playing music.
Once the people had marched passed, it turned into a parade of vehicles. We started with police cars...
...then there were other emergency services vehicles, including some old-fashioned fire engines...
...and firefighters standing on the top of more modern fire engines, dressed in the colours of the French flag.
As with yesterday in Bayonne, we had very little idea what was going on But there was a good turnout for it and lots of clapping, so definitely interesting to see!
When the procession seemed to have come to an end, we made our way towards the old town of Bergerac.
There were some picturesque gardens here, with a statue of the French dramatist, Cyrano de Bergerac.
As you can see from the pictures, it wasn't a very sunny day today, but the streets of Bergerac were still fun to wander around.
We found a square with another statue of Cyrano de Bergerac and some beautiful timbered buildings.
Then down by the river we found a big Bergerac sign!
This is the river Dordogne and it was really pretty along its riverbank.
We were getting hungry by this point so we stopped at a restaurant in the old town for lunch. We had a great view while we ate!
In fact, the view got better while we were eating because the clouds started to clear. By the end of lunch the sky was looking a lot bluer
Now everywhere looked brighter and more colourful.
The historic centre of Bergerac is only quite small.
We soon ended up back down at the river, where we noticed a jet of water which hadn't been there earlier.
We enjoyed a little stroll along by the river...
...before crossing over the bridge to the opposite side.
From here we had a fantastic view back towards Bergerac.
We just had time for a final stroll around in the sunshine before catching the train back to Bordeaux
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.