...one of France's many 'storybook' villages

If you have never heard of Nérac, in Lot-et-Garonne, south-western France, please don't feel that your knowledge of France is lacking.

Although in the 16th century it was an important stronghold of the princes of Bearn, and a bolthole for Protestants such as Calvin, fleeing persecution, it is now a picturesque but sleepy town dozing on the banks of the Baise river.

Archeologists believe that there has been a settlement here since the Bronze Age, and mosaics from the Gallo-Roman era have been uncovered. Founded in 1088AD, it began as a fortified town with a market and a priory and the building of churches.

The 16th century saw these half-timbered buildings constructed and surely their thick walls kept many secrets, and no doubt harboured dissidents as this was where many Calvinists gathered during the Reformation.

Today they mix the old and new with ease. TV aerials sprout from rooftops, cars park beside them and mobile phone shops are house at ground level.

In the eighteenth century, Nérac's tanneries, mills and flour trade to the West Indies brought more prosperity again.

Now, though, the town has more industrial activity – several metallurgical plants, two breweries, factories, shoes and sandal makers, a pasta factory, and a more multicultural population.

The Neoclassical Saint Nicholas church remains, its 18th-century murals still glorious.

From 1578 to 1579, Catherine de Medici came to negotiate peace in conferences in  Nerac. Three additional wings were added to the castle, as well as mansions and the royal park. Much later, the French Revolution marked the destruction of three of the four wings of the castle. The remaining wing, restored and open to visitors, dates from the XV.

A year after this home was built, in 1621, the town bowed to the royal army and the Duke of Mayenne, marking the end of the town's power and the transfer of major institutions to Bordeaux and Pau.

Henry III of Navarre, the future Henri IV, spent part of his youth in Nerac. A local legend suggests that he wooed Fleurette, daughter of gardener, who drowned herself in the waters of the river in desperation because he left her. All that remains is this marble statue and plaque in the royal park.

Just visible through the trees is the 16C pavilion once used as a private place to undress before bathing.

++++++++++++++++

Looking for something else to do? If you are in the vicinity, Moncrabeau, a few kilometres away has an annual Liar's Festival.

Nérac is also in Armagnac country and that can be sampled at local producers.

There is a lively market on the Cours Romas on Saturday mornings, full of fresh local specialities.

Words and pictures: ©Sally Hammond

Video: ©Gordon Hammond