Travel Around The Clock

Dramatically built on a rocky outcrop overlooking the homonymous village, the Château de Bourdeilles, is one of the four baronies of Périgord  (Beynac, Mareuil, Biron et Bourdeilles). It had an eventful history, especially during the Hundred Years War , and has seen, over the centuries, the construction and destruction of several buildings. Chateau de Bourdeilles Today the site brings together two castles from different eras: a medieval fortress from the 13th century flanked by an impressive keep and an elegant Renaissance dwelling housing the richest furniture collection in Nouvelle Aquitaine , including more than 700 works. Chateau de Bourdeilles The architecture of the 13th century castle is clearly military: the imposing ensemble consists of a courtyard surrounded by fortified walls, an octagonal keep and a stately home.  In the courtyard, there is a gate tower, surrounding walls pierced with niches and machicolations as well as a rampart walk, attesting to the defen...

If every serious fairytale has a castle, then France is the quintessential fairytale country, considering the ridiculous amount of Chateaux in the country. And if a lack of knowledge had made us think that they were merely located on the Loire banks or used as accommodations by the wealthy wine producers of Bordeaux, a 2 weeks trip on the road in Southern France proved us completely wrong. We encountered plenty of castles of various ages and architectural styles; some of them were closed as December is low season but we still managed to visit most of them and were lucky enough to have guides all by ourselves giving us private tours! We started form the Perigord Vert and the Chateau de Bourdeilles , which is itself a double castle, including a medieval building and a Renaissance one, both very well preserved and accessible for a €7 per head. Chateau de Bourdeilles The medieval part is of course much more austere, while the Renaissance building has still plenty of decoration, furnish...