The surrounding district is rolling vineyards and woods, with glorious wildflowers and birds, hen harriers, buzzards, hoopoes, golden oriole, black redstarts to name a few. The fauna, too, are rich and varied – deer, hare, red squirrels, coypu, lizards and loir (edible dormice). The insects are spectacular and range from wonderful butterflies and moths to praying mantis. It is very rural with some lovely walks and bicycle rides.
For wine enthusiasts Monbazillac offers its own renowned sweet wine, but also Bergerac white wine, red and rosé, as well as Pécharmant, an excellent red wine, the best of which is comparable to Bordeaux, although St. Emilion is only 45 minutes drive away. You can walk or bicycle to some of our favourite vineyards.
You can find a good local market on any day of the week including Sunday. Many of them are in attractive bastide villages like Issigeac, Eymet, Beaumont or Monpazier and Bergerac has a covered market, large open markets on Wednesday and Saturday and a delightful small market across the river on Friday, which is excellent for fish. The area is famous for good eating and there are many excellent restaurants, one of the best, the Tour des Vents, is in Monbazillac itself, with a fabulous view of the Dordogne valley, as well as delicious menus.
The Dordogne is one of the cradles of civilisation. The caves at Lascaux and Les Eyzies are the best known relics of Neolithic Man, but there are many other fascinating ‘grottes’ to see. Aquitaine was probably the most civilised area of France in the early middle ages and was part of the Plantagenet's huge domain. Courtly love was born in the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her son Richard, the Lionheart set off with crusading knights drawn from castles like Beynac and Biron on the 3rd Crusade. Local people still talk about the ‘Guerre de Cent Ans’ in the 15th century, the hundred years of warfare that ebbed and flowed through the Dordogne and even today everyone knows which bastide village was English and which French. Later on Monbazillac was the last protestant stronghold to fall to Cardinal Richelieu and even in the last war Bergerac and the surrounding countryside was home to the Resistance and the graves among the vineyards are memorials to where the Gestapo shot local resistance heroes at the end of the second World War. There is something in every historical period for visitors to see including the Renaissance period with Chateaux Castelnaud and Les Milandes, which in the last century belonged to Josephine Baker.
The first class championship golf course at Chateau des Vigiers is 20 kms away close to Ste Foye la Grande, or Château des Merles, 20 minutes away has an excellent 9 hole golf course, swimming pool and good restaurant. The Dordogne and Vezere rivers offer either tranquil or exciting canoeing and there is a riding stable very close to L’Eyssalle next door to Chateau de Bridoire. For the young there is karting (age 7 upwards) 10 minutes away and an Aquaparc with slides. Parc-en-Ciel, close to Biron is fun for all ages. High-wire rides and assault courses varying in difficulty for children aged from 3 to 16. In addition, the centre has picnic areas, a farm animal centre and Mini-golf.