Monday 3 December 2012

Perigueux: medieval urban exploration


I have been living in Perigueux for two months now and I am ashamed to admit that before last weekend, I had not embarked on any urban exploration adventures! Usually, it's the first thing I do when I move to a new place; I walk around, get lost explore a bit, and try to familiarize myself with the neighbourhood. I was just being a snob, thinking that I had inevitably seen everything that my tiny new city had to offer. Spoiler alert: I was wrong!

A view of the Isles river and the Barris bridge, some old houses, and the cathedral at the back
Last weekend, another assistant (Gabrielle) from Bordeaux was visiting and I suggested we go on a self-guided walking tour of the medieval district, which is more or less my neighbourhood. For only 50 cents, the P-town Tourism Office gave us a little map featuring medieval touristic streets, medieval buildings, and cute medieval plazas. One or two of the "medieval buildings" were built in the 60s but to the untrained eye, they look mad medieval.


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Passage Taillefer

Place Saint Silain

Place Saint Louis



Inside Perigueux' Saint Front Cathedral

To be honest, the map wasn't that great. It suggested a route but it hardly gave any information about the different points of interests. Then again, it was 50 cents! Gabrielle and I eventually diverged from the route and did our own thing. To anyone who is really interested in the history or architecture of medieval Perigueux, I would recommend researching a bit online and crafting their own tour before coming to town.

Two assistants came to visit this weekend (Holly and Siwan) and I tried to take them on a similar tour but, like with Gabrielle, we ended up taking different roads after a while. On both occasions, I took a lot of cool pictures and I had a lovely time looking at old crooked medieval and fake-medieval buildings. I guess I could say now that I've seen everything that the center of Perigueux has to offer but I am not so sure. I mean, could go on the same walk everyday and depending on the weather, my mood, the people around me, or the time of day, the experience would be different every time... Also there's a lot left to eat in this place!









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