Chateau de Murol Vulcania. Moulins Ch. The town is an interesting destination on its own merits. Like so many places in this part of France, it bears evidence that it was inhabited from the earliest days of human habitation in Europe, at least 30, years B. The town was also an early participant in the Catholic history of France: a Spanish priest who was eventually canonized as Saint Martin de Brive arrived here in A.
But when a pandemic hit the region sometime later, Brive was largely spared, and Martin got the credit for intervening; a predecessor church to the current Collegiale Saint Martin was built here in the late s A.
That road approximates the placement of the walls built to protect Brive-la-Gaillarde when the Hundred Years War ravaged the area between and The town was actually occupied by an English army for 15 years. Today, though, the walls are all gone, and that ring road is the heavily shaded location of many of the best restaurants in town. Where else can you see an elegant dressing gown hanging over the stuffed head of a deer near an 11,year-old human skeleton?
To be fair, much of its collection is interesting and important, but for me the quixotic presentation made it even more worth the visit! Many other places near Brive offer impressive castles, ancient abbeys, and interesting connections to French history:. And since Brive-la-Gaillarde is only an hour northwest of Sarlat, all the places mentioned above in connection with that town are reasonably within reach from here, too.
Do you have one or more particular places that you like to use this way? This is not so much a comment as a question. My husband and I are seniors in pretty good shape. We are looking for a medium town in which to stay for a month in summer. We would sign up for daily French conversation lessons and try to practice with people as much as possible.
