Périgord is a renowned major tourist area, there are beautiful villages and towns everywhere, and trying to pick one to show you isn't easy.
However, I just happened to be passing through Issigeac recently, and stopped to take a few photos.
It was early in the morning and the sun was not yet fully up. Even so I think you'll get an idea of the town's medieval charm.
Issigeac was first mentioned in the 12th century, and has a long and interesting history. It also has everything that one would want from a small town; being set midst the wine growing areas of Bergerac, Monbazillac, and Pécharmant.
If you're thinking of moving, it's quite a nice place to live!
50 comments:
So picturesque. The houses look wonderful in the morning light. A beautiful place to live in so many ways
They look very tall and beautiful...
Absolutely lovely. I've noticed that many of the towns/villages have names that end in "-ac ". Does this have any significance or meaning?
The suffix 'ac' means that it has Roman roots.
Some of the building are stunningly beautiful.
And 99% of the small town is made up of original medieval buildings.
I just love those old buildings.
Fabulous town; almost on a par with Monpazier.
I'll come and be your neighbour.
I'll bring the wine for the house-warming.
I'm fairly sure we drove through there years ago on our tour of Europe in an ambulance! That timber framed house looks so familiar!
Beautiful. I understand why you fell in love with the place some forty plus years ago. Warn me when the orange-wall house is on sale. I'm a good neighbour. Promise.
Greetings Maria x
Those were the days Kev. Touring Europe in an old ambulance. Listening to The Eagles, and reading Karowac. Perfect.
Sorry, Kerouac!
Yes, it's beautiful area both architecturally and otherwise. As long as you promise to pull down the wall, I'll let you know.
A lovely area with many beautiful buildings and pretty villages, and one we investigated when we were looking for a holiday home, years ago.
Like many areas Périgord is much better visited out of the main holiday season, when you can stroll around the streets and alleyways without fighting your way through hoards of tourists.
September is always a good time to visit. The weather is usually perfect, and the tourists are all back in their offices.
Every thing is so beautiful.
Stephenson can drive down with the glasses in the Volvo.
Lovely, totally unspoilt by 'architect designed' glass and wooden boxes. Unlike the UK where we're rapidly losing all our old buildings to barn conversions and the like.
Many of the small towns here are completely medieval; almost unchanged since the 12th/13th centuries.
The UK seems desperate for housing, here there is no such problem.
That is so beautiful. I can understand why you've chosen France. That a place can be so casually Roman or Medieval is astounding to me. There are so many places in the world to visit. Curious, are many of the residents able to communicate in English? (for us poor North Americans who took French in school but still can't hold a conversation). -Jenn
Lovely town. I think if we had neglected our buildings as much as the French did, then we would have more of the same. WW2 didn't help, though.
I imagine you'd be OK with your English. A lot of French people love to practice their language skills.
Bath has done pretty well. You're probably right about the neglect, but you should see what some of them are doing to their lovely old buildings these days. Enough to make you weep.
What are the house prices like?
So much was lost in Bath during the 1960s - not the big show pieces, but lots of minor architecture that was a crucial part of the story of the City.
Cheap compared to Blighty. You can still buy a lovely old farmhouse with buildings and land for around €300- to €400,000. The same thing in the UK would be well over double.
The 60's were a bad time for town planning. It was if they'd just discovered concrete.
Shawn got there before me. The city planners did more damage than Hitler in the 1960s. Row upon row of Georgian buildings were bulldozered to make way for the developers to make money.
You can quadruple that for the Bath area.
Also, the Georgians demolished every wonderful medieval building here during the height of their town planning.
Another good reason for staying put. Cro !
Don't forget though, Cro, it depends where you go in France. We have been to areas where they definitely don't speak English.
I believe such ruthless demolition goes under the name of "progress"...
We have been in mid to late October and it has been perfect. Bright sunny days but very cold at night.
Whenever we have driven through France, it's like stepping back in time ( apart from the odd modern monstrosity shoved in between delightful medieval properties ..... or orange wall !!!! ) So pretty Cro ... love the shutters ( I had a pair of old French shutters from my husband for my 60th birthday !!!! Most women want diamonds!! XXXX
What a lovely looking village, Cro. We're thinking of moving, but only in a I-wish-we-could-move-abroad-with-our-American-passports kind of way.
So prettier tha in wales me thinks
Lovely!
can you imagine the effect of these photos when one lives (and we are fortunate in North American terms) in a place where no building is older than 145 years? As I live longer, I am more and more convinced of the effect that x100s of years of human civilisation have on the psyche of those who now inhabit a place. Be it France or Germany or the UK or elsewhere, one is struck by the continuity and the shared history and spirit which such buildings as these represent.
You're right, some of the old towns around here really haven't been touched since they were built. It's exactly like stepping back in time.
Go on Bea, throw caution to the winds!
Yes, I can't remember anything similar in Wales. Ludlow is nice, but that's over the border.
Indeed.
I was privileged to attend one of the world's oldest schools; officially founded in 970 AD (but much older), and the house I lived in was supposed to be the oldest continually occupied domestic building in Europe. It's all a part of our wonderful European heritage.
Yes, I was being optimistic.
I was just reviewing a few posts that I've missed over the last week or so whilst I've had other things occupying me when I saw the name. I thought I had posted about a visit or two I'd made there when staying near Duras which I used to do reasonably regularly. Unfortunately I've not been to France for several years. I miss sitting having coffee and watching French life go by as only French life can.
I agree, sitting outside a small café is a wonderful way of passing time.
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