Advent postcards, Grignols Dordogne

Advent postcards, Grignols, Dordogne

Advent day five

Today’s cycling advent-ures postcard is another from our Périgueux trip in June, where the village of Grignols and its impressive château caught my eye, thanks again to the Terra Aventura app.

 

We left Périgueux under perfect blue skies, taking the cycle path that follows the river Isle towards St Astier, enjoying the cool shade provided by the water and tree canopy, with the delicate scent of tilleul flowers in the air. I can almost feel the heat of that day, just from looking back at our photos.

Grignols was a sleepy place with a market halle and auberge (closed) at river level, a Renaissance château commanding a position high above, and narrow lanes with houses between them. It was a hot climb up to the château which really is a beauty and as the road wound up and around, there were no end of lovely views and vistas of Renaissance architecture and Dordogne countryside. The château is a private residence, so there is no access, but it was definitely worth the effort. 

 

It wasn’t just the château that I loved about Grignols, in the market halle I found several paper booklets, available for free, with a variety of treasure hunts to follow as you explored. This great idea for tourists of all ages, really showed the pride they have in their history and heritage. The only thing the village seemed to be missing was a picnic table for us to enjoy our ham and cheese baguettes, but just over the river Vern, we found a bench by a church where there was a sad little vide grenier (car boot sale) to entertain us too.