Alternative routes from Périgueux to Carcassonne are (1) viâ Cahors, Montauban, and Toulouse; and (2) viâ Rocamadour and Albi (see large folding map at end of this book). In either case the route takes one to places famed for their architectural and historic features.
On leaving Périgueux the river is crossed in a south-easterly direction, and the first turning to the right leads one to a steady ascent out of the valley of the Isle, with the site of the original city on the right among the trees. The view backwards over the dome-crowned city in its setting of richly wooded hills is full of romance and charm. On nearly the whole of the thirty-three miles to Bergerac the road winds in and out among steep tree-clad slopes. It is a splendid drive, and on a clear moonlit evening, with the pale shadows of trees thrown across the road, and the dim mystery of the encompassing forest all around, there is left on the mind a vivid impression of a vast uninhabited country—one of those forest areas of the Dark Ages (fourth to tenth centuries) through which chivalrous knights were wont to travel in search of adventure and fair ladies. Between Clermont-de-Beauregard and Lembras, the feudal fortress of Montastruc stands above the River Condeau, and its Gothic towers fall in well with the spirit of its surroundings.
The last two miles to Bergerac are on a very straight open road, which brings one to the east side of the town, and takes one in a fairly direct fashion to the bridge across the Dordogne.
SECTION IX
BERGERAC TO MONT-DE-MARSAN,
96¼ MILES
(155 KILOMETRES)
DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE
| Kil. | Miles. | |
| Bergerac to Eymet | 25 | 15½ |
| Eymet to Seyches | 19 | 11¾ |
| Seyches to Marmande | 15 | 9½ |
| Marmande to Casteljaloux | 22 | 13½ |
| Casteljaloux to Houeillès | 16 | 10 |
| Houeillès to St. Justin | 34 | 21 |
| St. Justin to Mont-de-Marsan | 24 | 15 |
NOTES FOR DRIVERS
Hilly from Bergerac to Seyches; after that a flat road, with a moderately good surface.