Périgueux is remedy for the winter blahs

Cleverly decorated for the holidays with vintage lampshades,
this narrow street is located in Périgueux’s Renaissance neighborhood.

Remember way back to the last day of 2017? It was sunny and warm … a most welcome respite from this gray rainy winter. Eager to take a break from hibernation, we head to Périgueux in the heart of the Dordogne.

Built in the 1st or 2nd century, the Tour de Vésone in Périgueux
is dedicated to Vesunna, the the tutelary goddess of Pétrocores.

Our first stop is Vesunna, the incredible Gallo-Roman museum, which I have written about here. Several relics of ancient times are scattered throughout the city including the Tour de Vésone and remnants of the amphitheater.

The site of Périgueux’s ancient Roman amphitheater is now a park,
le Jardin des Arenes.

We’ve caught the final week of this year’s Fête Noël that has assembled in the city center. After checking out the vendor booths and watching some ice skating, we eat lunch standing up at one of the tall tables. A friendly couple who has arrived on battery-powered bikes patiently answers our questions about their velos — a “big-boy toy” my husband covets.

Périgueux’s Fête Noël, 2017 includes a market, ice skating and spectacles.

An ice skating rink in the center of Périgueux is a popular attraction
during the city’s Fête Noël.

The tourism office is closed so I rely on the map in my Eyewitness guidebook to identify landmarks as we explore the Renaissance neighborhood. My map doesn’t mesh with reality, however, so we meander through the narrow pedestrianised streets and allow ourselves to get a little lost.

A small market is held each day in Place de Coderc in Périgueux.

This fish fountain is located on the exterior wall of the
covered market in Périgueux’s Place du Coderc.

Maison du Pâtissier, also called Maison Tenant, on
Place Saint Louis is a notable example of Renaissance architecture.

Périgueux has a long rich history and the city does a great job showcasing it. The city is situated on the site of the Roman city of Civitas Petrocorium, or Vesunna, which was built in the first centuries AD. Over the centuries, another city rose above Vesunna.

The ruins of Château Barrière sit upon the ancient Roman
wall in Périgueux.

The “new settlement” of Périgueux dates to the 13th century, and today vestiges of this era remain. Blocks of medieval structures have been preserved as a thriving city center where shops, cafés and restaurants make this quarter attractive to locals and tourists.

Cathédrale Saint-Front in Périgueux has five domes and a bell tower.
Its bells are famous throughout Europe, according to the church’s guide.

The most recognizable feature of Périgueux’s skyline is Cathédrale Saint-Front. Set into a hillside, the church contains a large network of crypts and half-buried chapels. Above, five domes and a bell tower rise toward the sky. The interior is somewhat austere but warm. At the time of our visit the church is still bedecked for Noël, and the nativity scene is accessorized with children’s art.

The Stations of the Cross inside Cathédrale Saint-Front
in Périgueux were painted by Jacques-Emile Lafon,
a native of the Périgord.

A trickle of water drips from the lion fountain in Périgueux’s
Jardin du Thouin.

Although we were considering going to the Musée d’Art et d’Archéologie, the weather is too nice to spend the afternoon indoors, so we promise ourselves we’ll come back soon to visit both that museum and the Musée Militaire. Instead, we take a leisurely walk along the river and stop to admire the Quayside Houses and an odd little building sitting on stone pillars: Eschif de Creyssac. The structure originally was a lookout post.

Maison des Consuls (or Mainson Cayla) is one of the Renaissance houses
along the quay in Périgueux.

Originally a lookout post, Eschif de Creyssac in Périgueux
was constructed in 1347 of wood and wattle-daub.

An ancient structure overlooks the Isle River in Périgueux.

Périgueux sits along the Isle River, a tributary of the Dordogne.

I sometimes wish I live closer to a larger city, as our little village is so quiet, especially this time of year. But now that I’ve taken a closer look at Périgueux, I’m confident we’ll be frequent visitors.

A cannon in Jardin du Touin in Périgord is aimed
across the Isle River.

Virginia City has a heart of silver

The view from Virginia City, Nev., has changed little since its 19th-century bonanza.

Last summer I read Mark Twain's "Roughing It." Although it is not my favorite Twain book, his stories about his time in my former "back yard" provided me with a good excuse to get reacquainted with Virginia City on my recent trip to the U.S.

Today's Virginia City, Nev., is a small tourist town, tucked into the Sierra Nevada, about a 35-minute drive from Reno along winding roads. This quintessential boomtown sprang up when the country's first major silver deposits, known as the Comstock Lode, were discovered here. At its peak in the mid-1870s, the city had a population of 25,000. Its most famous resident was Samuel Clemens who some say "invented" Mark Twain during his two years in Virginia City (1862-1864). While living here, he wrote for the Territorial Enterprise newspaper.

C Street in Virginia City, Nev., contains souvenir shops, clothing stores, lively
saloons and several candy makers.

Today, the city has about 850 residents as well as wooden sidewalks and an fine assortment of historical 150-year-old buildings including mansions, churches, saloons and shops. On this late autumn weekday morning there are few visitors, but doors to the souvenir and candy shops, bars and restaurants are wide open.

A mural on the side of Grandma's Fudge shop in Virginia
City, Nev., honors the town's heyday.

Virginia City, Nev., is seen from the Silver Terrace Cemeteries. 

We take a silent stroll through the Silver Terrace cemeteries, a collection of graveyards where the miners, merchants and residents of 19th-century Virginia City are buried. The Catholic cemetery occupies a places of honor on a hilltop, and a sign points in the direction of the Jewish cemetery, located a few miles to the north. There are no famous people buried here, but tours are offered that bring the cemeteries' occupants to life.

Masons, pioneers, Odd Fellows, firemen and Knights of Pythias are among
those buried in Virginia City, Nev.

An iron fence surrounds a grave in Virginia City, Nev.

Shops, restaurants and saloons stand along wooden
sidewalks in Virginia City, Nev.

We pop into a few shops along C street, but resist the temptation to have Bloody Marys at the Bucket of Blood saloon. If we had brought along friends who had never visited Virginia City, we would have taken them to museums and monuments like the Fourth Ward School, Piper's Opera House, the Storey County Courthouse, the Comstock Firehouse Museum or The Way it Was Museum. (Most Virginia City attractions are closed in the winter.) First-time visitors shouldn't pass up the chance to tour a silver mine; the Ponderosa mine tour operates all year round and is accessed inside the saloon of the same name.

The Comstock Firehouse Museum in Virginia City, Nev., displays 19th-century
firefighting equipment. The Great Fire of 1875 caused $12 million in damage
and left thousands homeless.

Visitors can pan for gold from May to September at the Virginia City
Mining Co. in Virginia City, Nev.

Piper's Opera House in Virginia City, Nev., is one of the West's most significant
vintage theaters. President Grant, Mark Twain, Buffalo Bill and Al Jolson
were among its headliners. 

A camel stands in the Virginia City Visitor Center. Each September the
town hosts camel and ostrich races.

I stop in the local tourism office to pick up a map and other materials. The free map is unimpressive and hard-to-read, but the office itself is fantastic with red walls, a gold ceiling and fancy chandeliers as well as a life-size camel. Among Virginia City's annual events are International Camel and Ostrich Races (on Labor Day weekend), Outhouse Races ( in October) and the Rocky Mountain Oyster Fry (on Saint Patrick's Day). My European friends who are reading this blog post may not know that Rocky Mountain Oysters are definitely not oysters.

Built in 1867, the Carpenter Gothic-style First Presbyterian
Church is the oldest in Virginia City, Nev.

St. Mary's in the Mountains in Virginia City is Nevada's
oldest Catholic church.

After the fire destroyed the original church in 1875, St. Paul's
Episcopal Church was built the following year.  

Also built in 1876 after the Great Fire, the Storey County Courthouse is
Nevada’s oldest continuously operating courthouse. The ornate Victorian-era
building contains a Lady of Justice statue without her blindfold. 

The Miner's Union Hall in Virginia City, Nev., honors "the glory of solidarity
and fraternity." The union was essential to the mining industry and provided
care for disabled miners and deceased miners' widows and orphans.

A few years ago I spent a couple of days here on a work-related retreat, which included a scavenger hunt and a humiliating evening of karaoke. But my fondest memory of a Virginia City visit was with my dad and two sons about 20 years ago and included a ride on the Virginia & Truckee railroad. The V&T was rebuilt in 1974 and offers rides to Gold Hill and Carson City. During the peak of the silver boom, as many as 45 trains a day ran between Virginia City and Gold Hill, Silver City, Carson City and Reno.

St. Mary's of the Mountains and sagebrush-covered hillsides in Virginia City, Nev.

For more information about Virginia City, visit the visitvirginiacitynv.com website.