Dordogne River

We have just completed a week in the region of Dordogne, but it was only on the last day that it all fell into place for me as Judith, Ted and I embarked on a cruise down the river on a gabarre. The gabarres are replicas of the boats which were the transport of the day many years ago. The river Dordogne was and indeed is, the lifeblood of the area. The Dordogne begins way up in the highlands of the Massif Central with the join of the Dore and the Dogne. By the time it reaches the valley where we were staying for the week, it has become a stream of substance and was an integral part of the commerce and life of the communities along its banks. As in most places, those who controlled the transport, in this case the river, were the most powerful. The banks are littered with castles bringing to mind the many forces vying for power in a time of particularly friendly co-existence. For many years the river was indeed the boundary between lands held by English and those by French, so it was a real frontier. The barons waged taxes on those using the river, thus becoming wealthy and wielding considerable power. To protect their power, formidable castles were built into the limestone cliffs, and the four of us enjoyed exploring one or two of these, trying to imagine just what life might have been like way back in the 10th century and onwards from which several of the castles date. Of course, there are those built in the early 20th century. Perhaps a rich river baron wanted a castle and none was available, so they built their own. Wealth certainly creates option.
Back a few years, though, the river was the highway of the area. It was said that barge/boat builders built boats high in the Dordogne, transported the produce of the region downstream to Bordeaux and then sold their boats for timber, and returning to the highlands to repeat the cycle. Wine was produced in the Domme region, which caused the winemakers of Bordeaux considerable concern resulting in a boycott. Thus the wine of the Dordogne became well known to the palates of Holland and further afield and virtually unknown to the rest of France. With the coming of the railroad transport the boat traffic on the Dordogne became less and less viable. Hence, nowdays, as in so many places, the boat traffic serves as a legacy to those gone before and is enjoyed by the likes of us, the tourists. Fly fishing is common along its banks and the waters are just perfect for a lazy autumn afternoon of canoeing downstream. Entrepreneurs are making the best of it, as they do everywhere. We were reminded, though, that the river exerts its own influence over the landscape with a flood every few years. With the risk of limestone cliffs collapsing from above and rising waters from below, the residents of places such as La Roque Gageac are in what I’d call a rather precarious position. The river still lets the rest of us know who’s boss, and isn’t that grand.
LouAnne