Meymac-près-Bordeaux

Mini-hike in the small town of Meymac, the birthplace of Bordeaux wine merchants.

Details

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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 0.95 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 0h 20 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 22 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 21 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 679 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 657 m

Description of the walk

In Meymac, park in the Place des Porrots car park: on the D979 which crosses the village, turn onto the D30 towards Égletons and Tulle and you will immediately find the car park on your right.

(S/E) Return to the D979 and follow it to the left until you reach the war memorial and the post office. Take Rue de la Montagne (one-way street) on the right, towards the Tourist Office. At the fork, keep left to arrive at a square with the Fontaine du Rat fountain in the centre.
Turn right onto Grand Rue, continue straight ahead at the junction with Rue de l'Horloge, then turn right onto Rue Neuve and walk to the Maison des Ventadour (16th century building with a turret, mullioned windows and half-timbered wall above a narrow street).
Back on Grand Rue, continue to the right to reach Place de la Croix. This is on the left (15th-century openwork cross). Continue straight ahead to reach Place de l'Église.

(1) Opposite, on the left, is the covered market dating from 1597. To its right is Saint-André Abbey (founded in 1085 and home to the Archaeology Museum) and Saint-Léger Church. Enter the church to admire the Black Madonna (also note the carved holy water font).
Leaving the church, turn left, leaving the museum and a priest's garden on your left, and note the Maison de Gaye-Bordas opposite. Pass to the left of this house, then immediately turn left onto a lane to pass behind the old abbey and church.
You will come to Rue des Moulins. Follow it to the left, then immediately turn left onto Rue de l'Hospice to return to Place de l'Église. Walk past the church again, then to the right of the Maison de Gaye-Bordas to reach the D979. Cross the road and continue straight ahead to return to the car park on Place des Porrots (S/E).

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 657 m - Place de Porrots
  2. 1 : km 0.83 - alt. 666 m - Church Square
  3. S/E : km 0.95 - alt. 658 m - Place de Porrots

Notes

Very easy walk, no special equipment required.

Worth a visit

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Some photos here

An extraordinary character, renowned for his romantic adventures and eccentricities, Jean Gaye-Bordas' life was a succession of fortunes and bankruptcies.
He was born in 1826 in Davignac, in the canton of Meymac. He became a peddler and, around 1845, started trading Bordeaux wines in northern France and Belgium, using a new concept based on door-to-door sales and credit. His success was instant and considerable, but remained unpredictable.
Each period of success was marked by the construction of houses: in Bordeaux, Davignac, Meymac in 1881, and then Ambrugeat. The house in Meymac, which he named "Château des Moines Larose", was the most successful and original.
Followingthe example of Gaye-Bordas, several thousand people from Corrèze traded in Bordeaux wines and then, from the 1930s onwards, gave a tremendous boost to the wines of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol by acquiring vineyards there.

At the end ofthe 11th century, the Viscount of Comborn founded a Benedictine monastery and had the abbey church built. Construction of the building continued throughout the12th and13th centuries. The bell tower porch features a multi-lobed portal in the Limousin style. The porch is decorated with Romanesque capitals in an archaic style. The nave is lined with wide arcades and vaulted with ribbed vaults. On the side of the nave, you can see a12th-century black Madonna, characteristic of Auvergne Madonnas.

Reviews and comments

4.3 / 5
Based on 1 review

Reliability of the description
4 / 5
Ease of following the route
4 / 5
Route interest
5 / 5
hilaire.vachon
hilaire.vachon

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 21, 2022
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good
Very busy route : No

The route offers a very well-organised visit to the centre of Meymac.

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