Page 444 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

27 Musée Municipal des
Beaux-Arts
Agen " ⌂ Pl du Docteur Esquirol
§ 05 53 69 47 23 # Wed–Mon
! D6 ⌂ Lot-et-Garonne ¢ 1 Jan, Easter Mon, 1 & 8 May,
~ £ @ n 38 rue Garonne;
www.destination- 1 & 11 Nov, 25 Dec
agen.com 28
Vast orchards of regimented
EXPERIENCE The Dordogne celebrated pruneaux d’Agen – A self-portrait by Goya ! D6 ⌂ Dordogne ~ £ @
plum trees – producing the
Périgueux
characterize the landscape
around this small provincial
n 9bis, place du Coderc;
city. Crusaders returning from
www.tourisme-
the Middle East brought the
perigueux.fr
fruit to France in the 11th
The ancient and truly gastro-
in the Musée Municipal
century, and monks in the Lot
Valley nearby were the first
its neighbours Bergerac and
to dry plums for prunes in
Riberac, should be visited on
commercial quanti ties. des Beaux-Arts nomic city of Périgueux, like
Agen’s Musée Municipal Daniel in the lions’ den, and market day, when stalls in the
des Beaux-Arts has paintings Original Sin. The bastide town lively squares in the medieval
by Goya, Sisley’s September (p443) of Villeneuve-sur-Lot, part of town offer the pick of
Morning and Corot’s landscape 34 km (21 miles) south of local specialities, inclu ding
L’Étang de Ville d’Avray. Jewel of Agen stands astride the River truffles (Nov–Mar), charcuterie
the collection is the Vénus du Lot. It has a tall 14th-century and the suc culent pies called
Mas, a beautifully propor- tower that once formed a pâtés de Périgueux.
tioned marble statue dating defensive gate way. The red- Périgueux, now the busy
from the 1st century BC, brick Romano-Byzantine regional capital, has long
discovered nearby in 1876. church of Ste-Catherine was been the crossroads of
The fortified village of built in 1909 but contains Périgord. The earl iest part
Moirax, 8 km (5 miles) south restored 15th-century re main ing today is the
of Agen, has a beautiful 12th- stained-glass win dows. Just quarter known as La Cité,
century Roman esque church. to the east of Villeneuve is once the import ant Gallo-
Two of the sculpted capitals the pretty medieval hilltop Roman settle-
depict biblical accounts of village of Penne D’Agenais. ment of

Kayakers on the river at
Périgueux, with Cathédrale
St-Front in the background
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