Holiday destinations 2019: Cop a load of Bergerac

But I discovered it’s also an unrelated town in south-west France, less than two hours’ flight from the UK and a 25-minute drive from a luxury gite complex called La Palanque in Eymet, where I took my wife and two children for a half-term break. Bergerac was on our itinerary but first we made the most of Eymet – a medieval town which sits in an agricultural and wine region of the Dordogne, 60 miles east of Bordeaux. When we arrived, the sun was still blazing and temperatures reached 28C during the day. Night-time and early morning were chilly though. 

La Palanque is a chateau-sized estate, where the former First World War equestrian training centre has been renovated by its British owners. 

The guests’ entrance is through a massive set of arched farm doors set in the estate walls. Inside, the vast stable block has been converted into five luxury self-catering gites. 

Josh and Mariana, who manage La Palanque, were perfect hosts and made our stay a joy. The gite’s two bedrooms – one en suite – had comfortable beds and wooden shutters on the windows that completely blacked out the light. 

Each gite has an ultra-modern kitchen/lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on to a huge lawn with a children’s play area. 

The grass slopes down to a 25ft heated pool, toddlers’ splash pool and tiled terrace with wood-burning pizza oven. There are also rooms where Pilates, yoga and meditation classes are held. 

Beyond the pool is a small copse and in the distance is the Dropt river, which attracts wildlife including deer, kingfishers and egrets. 

Our plan was to explore the region by bike and boat. 

We were expecting to puff our way up the hills but staff at the town’s GoodTurn Cycles provided us with a pleasant surprise – e-bikes. Just pedal as much or little as you like. 

My 10-year-old daughter Ella was slightly too small to ride her own, so she hopped on to the back seat of mine. 

With maps in hand, we set out on a five-hour round trip which would take in a wine-tasting session at the Domaine du Siorac winery with picnic lunch. 

Our route led along the winding country roads past vineyards, plum and apple orchards and ploughed fields. 

The traditional homes and dairy farms in the area are built of bare stone and look very rustic, their asymmetrical tile roofs like upturned boat hulls. 

Vineyards in the department produce four grape varieties – cabernet sauvignon, merlot, sauvignon blanc and Semillon. 

So, as we rode our e-bikes through quaint villages to the Domaine du Siorac, I planned my tasting session – a red, followed by rosé, dry white and dessert. 

We arrived at the cream-painted farmhouse on the edge of the village of St Aubin de Cadelech after 90 minutes. Muriel Landat, the seventh generation of her family to run the business greeted us. 

The shelves are not only lined with wine bottles, but also duck pate, olives and vinegars. We were ushered on to the patio where Muriel put out chairs and rolled out an empty barrel to use a table. 

The vineyard, which was established in 1818, produces 74,000 bottles of organic wine and juice a year. 

A platter of cured ham, cheeses, duck paté, prunes and bread went down a treat. 

Our ride back to Eymet was all downhill and alongside the snaking Dropt. 

In summer, there is the option of exploring the river by canoe, but they had been packed away for the season. 

Instead, we drove 25 minutes to Bergerac and climbed aboard a traditional barge for a cruise down the Dordogne. 

For centuries the 300-mile long river was the main communications route between Bordeaux on the west coast and the Auvergne in the east. 

Now it is a tourist attraction. We and 10 others boarded the Carpe Diem and cruised away. Our guide talked us through the history of Bergerac, from its blossoming in the Middle Ages to its decline in the 17th century. 

The Carpe Diem is a traditional wooden barge with rows of wooden benches and a canvas roof for shade and our gentle hour-long trip along this wide waterway with islands full of wildlife was a great way to break up the day (gabarres.fr €9.50 adult/€6.50 child). 

Back on shore, we strolled around the home town of the fictional character Cyrano de Bergerac. Its beautifully atmospheric narrow lanes are lined with leaning medieval timber-framed buildings. 

At the top of the hill, where the castle once stood, is a cathedral and in the main square the weekly market was on. 

Cheeses, honey, fruit and vegetables were on sale along with meats and fish. The town is well worth a stop-off, if only for a coffee and tart in one of its numerous street cafes. 

The food in the region is beautiful. We lunched at La Grappe d’Or restaurant in the hilltop village of Monbazillac about 10 minutes’ drive from Bergerac. 

The restaurant looks very upmarket with its wood-panelled walls and white linen table cloths but it wasn’t priced that way. For just over €100 euros the four of us had three courses and drinks, including wine. 

The stand-out dishes were country vegetable soup starter, duck in pepper sauce main, and chocolate tart dessert. 

Eymet is an 800-year-old ‘bastide’ town (“Bastides” were fortified towns built during the Middle Ages by the kings of France and England) and is one of the few to have a fortified castle of which the walls and dungeon still stand. 

The battlements are in remarkable condition with plaques detailing key events. 

The town is set around the medieval market place (a 10 minute stroll from our gite) and the the produce stalls are set up every Thursday with traders offering mushrooms, truffles, fish, waffles and fruit and veg. 

There’s plenty on offer in the riwn – history buffs can take a guided torchlit night tour of the sights and for foodies there are festivals celebrating oysters and white wine while another, the Medieval Roaming, features Middle Ages-style street entertainers. 

Away from the towns, we took Ella and her brother Heath, 15, tree climbing at Vergtaventures near Périgueux (vergtaventures €11-21). 

They loved the exhilarating, and completely safe, obstacle course in the sky as, wearing harnesses, they bravely worked their way across swings, floating footpaths and zip wires over a lake. 

We took another step back in history at Chateau Bridoire in Ribagnac, which was ideal for youngsters thanks to all the games and activities on offer.

There is the tour of the castle with its huge original kitchen, elegant wood-panelled dining, games room, bedrooms, armoury and spooky wine cellars. 

In the courtyard, we petted horses in the stable block and played traditional games including archery, a gentler form of jousting and let loose with a huge catapult (chateaudebridoire.com €9.50 adult/€6.50 child). 

What I learned from our holiday is not to judge the area by a map. A slow meander down the backroads and waterways reveals there is far more to the place than tranquil countryside. 

It’s all about knowing where to stop and how far back in time you want to go.