Château de Montréal in Issac, has a Jardin Remarquable and will open for the Journées du Patrimoine, 21-22 September
Again my little red car was my best ally on this trip to the center of France where roads are larger than in Cornwall but still extremely narrow. My aim was to get to Périgueux to visit an aunt who is the best cook in the world. But I stopped on the way in Alfred de Vigny‘s childhood house which now sells Pineau des Charentes and cognac, and went on south to Château de Montréal in Dordogne, Clairac and Monflanquin, in Lot et Garonne, Montauban and Toulouse, to see the renovated Fondation Bemberg. A short week of gastronomy and art, friendship and many castles.
Abbaye de Moissac and its cloister ordered by Urban II in 1100 are on the Camino de Santiago near Montauban
The advantage of driving versus “training” is that you can stop every time you see an attractive sign like Abbaye de Moissac (VIII th to XV th century) between Montauban and Agen. I loved seeing the heroic pilgrims who walk to Santiago de Compostela and seemed so tired… They get their pilgrim’s credential stamped in the church. I had just visited again the Ingres-Bourdelle Museum in Montauban where the fairly strict exhibition devoted to “Ingres and Delacroix, Objets d’artistes”, is so well presented that every little letter or photograph becomes interesting.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Portrait of Madame Gonse, 1845-1852, Montauban Musée Ingres-Bourdelle
A parallel is made between the two painters, who were antagonized as classical (Ingres) and romantic (Delacroix). Maurice Denis wrote in 1933 how wrong it was to underestimate Delacroix (1798-1863). Jealousy led Ingres to postpone for twenty years, his election to the Académie des Beaux Arts. He was 18 years younger.
Eugène Delacroix, Leda and the Swann, circa 1834, fresco, Paris Musée National Eugène Delacroix
The museum has a fabulous collection of Ingres 1780-1867, (who was born in Montauban) and an exhibition of Jean Michel Othoniel‘s Murano glass bricks in the lower floor Salle du Prince Noir (Edward of Woodstock, the Black Prince). Its scale is very impressive though too dark for me. And the city built in red brick is so beautiful that it is worth wandering in the streets near the museum. There is a good bookstore and a “Droguerie Couderc” rue de la République, which is almost as famous as the museum for its utensils.
Jean Michel Othoniel’s work in glass conveys all the darkness of the Black Prince, the hero of the 100 year war, at Musée Ingres Bourdelle
The next stop was in Toulouse to see the renovated Fondation Bemberg, the beautiful Hôtel d’Assézat, where Georges Bemberg (1915-2011) a determined Argentinian collector, kept his Italian XVI th century treasures by Veronese, Tintoretto, Bordone, Giambologna but also Zurbaran, and XVIII th and XIX th century French painters such as Largilière or Boilly. It is a true esthaetical shock to walk into the 12 galleries with a large group of Bonnard, Sickert and Vuillard on the second floor. The collection is now run by his family under the firm hand of Alfred Pacquement, and the rooms are very airy and beautiful, even though maybe less atmospheric than before.
Giambologna, “Mars”, end of the XVI th century and Mattia Preti, “St Sebastian”, circa 1650-1652 at Fondation Bemberg in Toulouse
Downstairs, Leticia and Stanislas Poniatowski’s collection of Latin American photographs features “The Latin Paradises”, portraits by Chilean, Mexican, Ecuadorian, Cuban, Argentinian… between 1910 and 2023. It marks the resistance and survival of artists in often dictatorial states. Some pictures are by famous photographers such as Graciela Iturbide, others are anonymous, but all describe a colorful and kitsch world.
Vesunna, the Gallo Roman museum in Périgueux was designed by Jean Nousvel
In Périgueux, there were two good surprises: the beautiful center for archeological finds Villa Vesunna designed by Jean Nouvel which enhances the collection of Roman columns from the 1 st century ac, and attracts loads of children. And a great restaurant, L’Atelier, run by Cyril Haberland. The dining room is charming with a colorful wallpaper and Anne, the chef’s wife, serves about thirty people with a menu at 65€ (lunch 35€) and fabulous wines. We had a red Sancerre 2021, from Paul Prieur, which was delightful with the sweetbreads, foie gras and summer truffles.
At l’Atelier in Périgueux, summer white truffle over a vichyssoise with egg and grilled hazelnut
I ended my tour of the region in Clairac where my guide was Clair Morizet, the President of the historical society. After making me taste de Jambon de Tonneins, made famous by Louis XIII th, while explaining the importance of Protestantism in the 16 th century, in this town which counts three temples for 2 500 inhabitants, but also a beach on the Lot and grows plumbs d’Ente used for pruneaux d’Agen. He then drove me to Latour-Marliac in Temple sur Lot, the garden in which the waterlily was developed in the 19 th century.
The waterlilies at La Tour Marliac with the original flower pots
This is where Claude Monet ordered his plants for Giverny in 1894 and immortalized these new flowers created by Joseph Bory Latour-Marliac who developed the hybridization of water lilies with species imported from California or the Tropics. They were presented in front of the new Eiffel Tower, at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. You can visit the nursery and order some specimens which are shipped everywhere. The owner since 2007, Robert Sheldon, is Franco American and teaches business in the winter at ESCP in Paris. A graduate of Sciences po Paris, he is a specialist of water gardens and nympheas and can be seen in the gardens every day.
Lotuses also grow in Latour Marliac
We also visited Monflanquin (1256), one of 40 Bastides established by Alphonse de Poitiers, the brother of King Louis IX, founded in the area of Agen along the Garonne, the Baïse and the Lot. This is how wine was sent by boat to the North of Europe.
At Rody in Castillonnès, you can buy all sorts of chocolates and they are excellent, here the gardening kit
On the way back I stopped on the road, South of Bergerac, to buy chocolates at Rody in Castillonnès. I did not visit the museum but loved the handbags with a logo and the fast cars in chocolate. I had already indulged in the chocolate coated prunes in Lafitte sur Lot and made my way back to Paris with a number of extra kilos… but very satisfied.
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14 Comments on “Charente, Dordogne, Lot et Garonne,Tarn et Garonne and Haute Garonne!”
Belle photographie de l’installation de Jean-Michel Othoniel qui rend parfaitement compte de la monumentalité de l’intervention de l’artiste dans ce lieu si singulier. Et j’irai voir le musée de Périgueux. Merci, Laure, d’ouvrir de nouveaux chemins.
Merci , Chère Laure , pour ce remarquable débriefing de ta dernière virée , doublée de ton humour légendaire ! Passionnant .
Passe de bonnes fins de vacances
❤️❤️❤️
Lovely to hear of your adventures and discoveries…and that soup!! x
Mille mercis Laure . Si belle région. Je vais à Toulouse ds 1mois voir l’expo de photos avec Leticia P. À très vite
tu es tout simplement géniale
généreuse, amusante et surtout débordante de talent
mickey et christine qui t’aiment
mais tu étais à deux pas de chez moi !! fabienne
Merci chère Laure pour ce petit tour dans mon Sud-Ouest natal. Quelles merveilles tu nous décrit ! Nous voyageons avec toi au gré de ta petite voiture flamboyante. Quelques minutes de bonheur, merci !
Thank you Laure it is a very pretty région we call it la petite Toscane and the hôtel d ‘Assezat is the most beautiful hôtel particulier of Toulouse I will go to see the photos exhibition shortly…I have a house there..
AN ENCHANTING INVITATION AU VOYAGE. THANK YOU LAURE FOR BROWTHING THROUGH SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR SOUTH WEST. MAKES ONE FEEL LIKE LEAVING STRAIGHT AWAY 1
Droguerie Couderc, une institution à Montauban. Dommage que la cathédrale soit fermée depuis… novembre 2020 et qu’il ne soit pas possible de voir Le vœux de Louis XIII peint par Ingres. Des fissures sont apparues sur ce bâtiment clos pour des raisons de sécurité.
La petite voiture rouge permet de belles découvertes.
Your descriptions are so vivid and engaging! That is what I call a fantastic Road Trip.
In quite another key, we should make another pilgrimage to Marfa once the updated El Cosmico Hotel becomes the 1st 3-D Printed Hotel, partnering with ICON, which holds contracts with NASA for the 1st interplanetary homes on the Moon and Mars and although we may not live to see that, we could experience the next best thing! Liz Lambert is working with the Danish Architecture company Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). The project opens in 2025 and I’m staying in touch with Liz to get a booking!
Merci, Laure, de nous faire partager cette époustouflante virée dans ce merveilleux Sud-Ouest ! Ingres, Moissac, le chocolat, la Fondation Bemberg, les water-lilies… What a great guide you are!
Grazie mille !
Bravo pour votre humour et votre style léger et fluide qui donne envie de vous lire jusqu’au bout et merci pour vos commentaires sur les expositions de Montauban. À une prochaine fois avec Laure Martin ?
Décidément beaucoup de talent pour rendre compte de ce voyage merveilleux.
Grace à vous je pars prochainement dans cette région , informée comme je ne l’ai jamais été!
C’est toujours un voyage de vous lire.
Avec mon amical souvenir.
Françoise Vitali- Jacob