France Guide
The Limousin, Dordogne and Lot
Monpazier
MONPAZIER, founded in 1284 by King Edward I of England (who was also Duke of Aquitaine), is one of the most complete of the surviving bastides. Picturesque and placid though it is today, the village has a hard and bitter history, being twice – in 1594 and 1637 – the centre of peasant rebellions provoked by the misery following the Wars of Religion. Both uprisings were brutally suppressed: the 1637 peasants' leader was broken on the wheel in the square. Sully, the Protestant general, describes a rare moment of light relief in the terrible wars, when the men of the Catholic bastide of Villefranche-du-Périgord planned to capture Monpazier on the same night as the men of Monpazier planned to capture Villefranche. By chance, both sides took different routes, met no resistance, looted to their hearts' content and returned home congratulating themselves on their luck and skill, only to find in the morning that things were rather different. The peace terms required that everything was returned to its proper place.
Monpazier follows the typical bastide layout, with a grid of streets built around a gem of a central square – sunny, still and slightly menacing. Deep, shady arcades pass under all the houses, which are separated from each other by a small gap to reduce fire risk; at the corners the buttresses are cut away to allow the passage of laden pack animals. There's also an ancient lavoir where women used to wash clothes, and a much altered church.
You'll find reasonable accommodation on the central square and a good traditional restaurant at the Hôtel de France, 21 rue St-Jacques ( 
05.53.22.60.06, 
www.hoteldefrancemonpazier.fr ; Price: €41-50; closed Nov– Easter; menus from €21, closed Tues evening & Wed, open daily July & Aug). A more luxurious option is the Hôtel Edward 1er ( 05.53.22.44.00, www.hoteledward1er.com ; Price: €81-100; closed mid-Nov to mid-March) at 5 rue St-Pierre, a few-minutes' walk from the main square, with its own swimming pool and a restaurant with menus from €28 (reservations required; closed Wed evening & mid-Nov to mid-March). The best of the local campsites is the luxurious Moulin de David, roughly 3km south on the road to Villeréal ( 05.53.22.65.25, www.moulin-de-david.com ; April to mid-Sept).