Moving on from Verteillac we drove a short distance to Brantôme to stay at a site recommended by our Dutch friends. It ticked a number of boxes – nicer outlook (though we couldn’t get a riverside plot), bigger plot which Hercules could fit on as well as Horatio, access to the river for cooling off, an easy walk or bike ride into the town with plenty of restaurants, plus an on-site café.
It was the height of the tourist season – not a time we would normally camp – and that plus the river, swimming pool and other children’s activities meant it was not exactly a quiet site and we did appreciate the peace when we finally went home!
However, it was great to explore Brantôme – another revisit as we did travel through it, stopping briefly, during our 2012 epic. So we cycled into town one evening for dinner, cycled another time to the local canoe business, and drove out to a couple of pretty nearby villages and a great restaurant.
The canoe trip on the river was our only one this year – we totally missed out on the Dordogne River trip we love due to a mixture of Covid, very high river levels which stopped hiring, and avoiding the peak tourist times. Back to the Dronne – the river at Brantôme – where they had the more kayak style of canoe (no back rest) and insisted you only had single paddles. We went with the flow (!) as it was a shorter trip than we usually do, but by the end we agreed no more single paddles, regardless of the canoe style!!
The river is much smaller than the Dordogne and mostly shaded by trees large enough to form a virtual tunnel for much of the way. There were 4 weirs to deal with and luckily everyone was helping everyone else as the water level was lower than ideal and we were all grounding! One weir featured a small chute where I lost my paddle having forgotten to hold it over my head (though to be fair these organisers failed to mention this). So, after we had submarined at the front and I was suitably soaked, another kayaker found it and brought it over to us… phew!
At the end you could do a circuit of Brantôme as its actually on an island in the river with one side flowing slowly enough you can paddle upstream to cross your final weir in the wrong direction and return to base. This was well worth doing as you get another perspective on all the riverside buildings.
We also visited Bourdeilles a little downriver of Brantôme, and Saint-Jean-de-Côle which was a little upriver. Both very pretty spots with a selection of cafes and worth a visit if you are in the area. Bourdeilles has a striking medieval castle which has a later Renaissance addition, and is connected to Brantôme by Pierre de Bourdeilles who used the name Brantôme and was the secular abbot of the Abbey of Brantôme, Lord of Saint-Crépin de Richemont, a French soldier and writer.
If you look at the Wikipedia entry for Bourdeilles you will also see the following Notable Resident mentioned – “Charles Paterson, known as Bod (1998- ) is a British expat and casual rugby enthusiast descended from the Penrith region in northern England. His degenerate behaviours are the subject of local mythology.”
Not much to say about Saint-Jean-de-Côle that can follow that!
There is a footnote to this story regarding Horatio – not epic enough for a separate post like the Exhaust Tin Rabbit – but nevertheless worth recording! We packed up on our final day which was a Sunday (its important to know that). Everything was ready by 10am and B got into Horatio to start him, the step alarm started, and continued as I couldn’t get the step to go up. B cut the engine and investigated. It wasn’t me, it wasn’t even the switch which we have already replaced once, something else was afoot 😉
For those of you who don’t know, the reason for the alarm is that you cannot travel with the step down – it sticks out and is dangerous – so this incident meant we were suddenly at the mercy of the campsite (if we could not leave), our car insurance (which in France includes breakdown assistance), and Sunday Lunch in France (which is sacrosanct – well all lunches are, and Sunday is definitely not over populated with workers either).
The campsite said we could stay if necessary. Groupama, our insurance, managed to find a working breakdown company local to us and we received a call very quickly to say he could come, but not until after 2pm – ha! We were booked for lunch at our favourite spot in St Cyprien as we also treat Sunday lunch as sacrosanct (go out or cook a traditional roast at home!) so we called to let the guys know we wouldn’t make it to either of our traditional tables (in the summer they reserve our garden table and our indoor table so we can choose which one is best on arrival – or use both!!).
Happily, by 3pm the breakdown guy had arrived and fixed the step enough to park it away so we had to jump in and out but at least we could drive home. Our mini Horatio – Hercules convoy thus made it back that day albeit after a rather makeshift lunch of leftover stuff as the campsite fridges chose that day to fail as well – stars in the wrong place perchance?!
Compare and contrast – dinner at Le Recre Gourmande just outside Brantome – Sunday lunch waiting for repairs!