Not very far away, the village of Le Fleix, nestling in the “cingle” (river bend) that bears its name, invites you to discover its reminders of the inland waterway activity in particular the hold of a gabarre and timber-framed houses, some of which were built using wooden frames that were recovered when the gabarres were disassembled. You can also go trekking along the towpath, along the riverbanks, to Bergerac’s dam, then continue on to Prigonrieux, by following the river flow. And, why not head off from Bergerac’s charming port on the Dordogne for…a gabarre trip a wonderful way to view the town from another perspective. Just a stone’s throw from the port, the streets and alleyways of the historic centre are an invitation to stroll around and discover the magnificent architectural heritage overflowing with history. There is also an amazing elevator reserved exclusively for migrating fish, and a self-guided signed interpretative trail relating the history of the channel and its “gabarres”.Īt the heart of the om Bergerac to Port-Sainte-Foyīergerac’s history goes hand-in-hand with that of the Dordogne River because, although the town developed around its castle, which no longer exists, its real heart was down by the port - an ever-so generous heart, beating wildly in time with the movements of the many gabarres which moored there. paraded by upstream and downstream… Then the railway arrived on the scene and, just a few decades after it was commissioned, it went on to replace the waterway, elegant craft made way for trains, deckhands became railway workers…The channel bears witness to the inland waterway life of the Dordogne through a hiking trail which begins at Mauzac, takes in the bastide de Lalinde, the Port-de-Couze catchment, Saint-Capraise-de-Lalinde port and channel-bridge and ends at the Tuilières Dam here, an ingenious staircase of locks prompts the channel to flow into the river. When the water was high, heavy cargoes of wood, cereals, paper, iron and wines produced in the region, as well as salt, sugar and spices which were obviously from far-distant lands. On the other side of the port, a lock marks the entrance of the Dordogne’s side channel : this 15-kilometre-long infrastructure, engineered in the middle of the 19th century, enabled “gabarres” (traditional flat-bottomed boats) to reach Tuilières safely, as they avoided the fearsome rapids of the Grand Thoret, of the Gratusse and the Pesqueyroux with its legendary dragon, the Coulobre. The lifestyle and culture of the Dordogne valley attract both visitors and incomers from all over France, but also from many other countries, particularly Britain and Germany.Back in the days of inland waterway om Mauzac to Bergerac The main season for tourism in the Valley of the Dordogne is from June to September, with July and August being high season. In Périgord, the valley widens further to encompass one of France's main gastronomic regions, with vineyards, poultry farms and truffle-rich woodlands. In the towns, which are major tourist attractions because of their history and architecture, the quaysides are lined with eating and drinking places. Camp sites and holiday homes have proliferated wherever the valley floor is wide enough to accommodate them.īelow Argentat and around Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, the valley widens to accommodate fertile farmland, well-watered pasture and orchards. In several places the river is dammed to form long, deep lakes. The cliffs, steep banks, fast flowing water and high bridges attract both walkers and drivers. The upper valley of the Dordogne is a series of deep gorges. The Dordogne is one of the few rivers in the world that exhibit the phenomenon of a tidal bore, known as a mascaret. It flows generally west about 500 kilometres (310 mi) through the Limousin and Périgord regions before flowing into the Gironde, its common estuary with the Garonne, at the Bec d'Ambès ("Ambès beak"), north of the city of Bordeaux. The river rises on the flanks of the Puy de Sancy at 1,885 metres (6,184 ft) above sea level in the mountains of Auvergne, from the confluence of two small torrents above the town of Le Mont-Dore: the Dore and the Dogne. The Dordogne and its watershed were designated Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO on July 11 2012. The Dordogne ( French pronunciation: ( listen) Occitan: Dordonha) is a river in south-central and southwest France.
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