Commonly called the “Grande Aygue”, the Dordogne models the country-side. The locals have since a long time had to accept the flooding, the caprices and the anger during the periods when the river was in spate.

photo_08

photo_07

photo_03

Fellow walkers, seated on the bench near to the port, you can admire the calm waters, but several centuries earlier, you would have witnessed an almost permanent activity, such was the importance of river as a commercial thorough- fare for the valley, a commercial axe for the valley. You would have witnessed the boats, (locally called a "Gabarre"), passing by with the captain at the helm, an enormous rudder requiring not only strength but also an agile eye. With the autumn and spring-time rains the river became once again navigable. It took three days to descend the river between Beynac and Bergerac, and six days to return upstream. The most direct and sure way of circulating, the river had the advantage of binding the populations far-flung, from those living in the High Auvergne and the Limousin to the "low countries" such as Bordeaux and Bergerac.

photo_09

photo_10