Awhile back I picked up a particularly well designed packet of flyers each featuring a bastide located in the Lot-et-Garonne. The marketing material includes Histoire, évolution, particularitiés, les temps forts de l'année and a walking-tour map of each bastide. Trés cool! I had already visited several, but decided to revisit a village I've been to many times, Lévignac-de-Guyenne, and another, Lamontjoie, that was along the route to another destination.
While both of these sleepy villages have all the usual charms, neither offered enough for a full blog post. So with the added inspiration that comes from alliteration, here's a double helping of petits places.
Lévignac-de-Guyenne
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| View from Lévignac-de-Gueynne |
Located about 6 km from Duras, Lévignac (pop. 598 in 2012) dates back to 1305 when some subjects of Edward I, Guillaume Arnauld de Cogutsante, Gérard de Levynak and his brother Amenerus, desired a relay between Miramont and Monségur. The houses were built in the maisons-remparts style, tight against the village walls and accessible only from inside the city.
After the Hundred Year War, Lévignac's chemen de ronde was created and the village started to branch out beyond its original walls. Lévignac's château was destroyed in 1793 and replaced first by a boys' school and then by the mairie. The church that stands today was built in 1865 in a modern arched Gothic style. A covered market sits in the center of the village.
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| Lévignac-de-Gueynne's covered place de la Halle |
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| Église in Lévignac-de-Gueynne |
Each year the village hosts a springtime flower market on the first Sunday in May. Summer events include a tractor-pull championship, Fête de Sainte-Croix, Friday night markets and the Fête du Cheval on the second Sunday in September.
Lamontjoie
Located about 20 km south of Agen, the village of Lamontjoie can boast of several famous former residents.
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| Stone plaque in Lamontjoie |
La belle maison bourgeoise of industrialist Frédéric Fournet (1815-1895) stands at the edge of the small village (pop. 510 in 2012). Fournet was known for inventing la bouillie bordelaise (a pesticide) and as a village benefactor. The house, which was the birthplace of René Souèges (1876-1967), sits in the center of the village. This son of a baker, become a scientist and was president of both France's Botanical Society and l'Academie de pharmacie. Adémar Sentou (1861-1925), a stone mason and entrepreneur of Paris's first métro in 1900, also came from Lamontjoie and was the mayor from 1908 to 1925. His former residence is just off the town square.
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| Former residence of Adémar Sentou in Lamontjoie |
Also of note is Lamontjoie's church, Église Saint-Louis, built in the Languedocien Classique style in the 16th century. The side walls may date back to the 13th century with Roman-carved windows. Inside, the church contains a magnificent altarpiece.
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| Église Saint-Louis in Lamontjoie |
Each year Lamontjoie hosts "Petits pas au Clair de Lune" (small steps in the moonlight), an evening stroll followed by a meal, on the Saturday closest to the full moon in September.
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| Lamontjoie from outside the original walls |
Even the most "ordinary-looking" bastide holds small gems of history. What village secrets have you discovered here in south west France?
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