The observant of you will now have seen that Serres is on a Grandes Randonnées (GR). The red and white rectangular signs indicate the route of the Chemin d’Amadour which runs from Soulac-sur-Mer to Rocamadour.
Why then Soulac – Rocamadour? This burning question will cross the mind of any hiker who dares to risk this new route. To understand the link between these two emblematic cities, it is necessary to immerse yourself in a legend that has crossed the centuries.
It all began when Amadour and his beloved wife, Véronique, landed on the Médoc beaches of the Gironde, not far from present-day Soulac-sur-Mer. The couple then undertook to evangelize the Medullian peninsula as far as Bordeaux. However, Véronique’s death will break their common epic. The tomb of the deceased is now in the crypt of the Saint-Seurin basilica in Bordeaux.
Amadour, now a widower, left Soulac-sur-Mer to cross the Gironde, the Lot-et-Garonne and the Dordogne, in order to find refuge in a hermit’s life on the site that would later become Rocamadour, in the Lot. Thus, history links these two emblematic towns, Soulac and Rocamadour, in a legendary tale that has crossed the ages.
Serres is on the 13th stage from Eymet to Issigeac:
To the south of the Bergerac, the valley of the Dropt and its tributaries presents a varied agriculture: field crops (wheat, barley, sunflower, rapeseed, grain maize), meadows, orchards of Ente plums, hazelnuts, vines. Little by little, the Issigeac plateau appeared. It forms a strong contrast at the end of the Dordogne valley and its vineyards. Here a completely different order: attenuation of the relief, scarcity of vegetation closing the landscape. The views open wide and the horizon is stretched thanks to the large plots cultivated with cereals.
Our particular stretch is designated as Serres to Razac d’Eymet & Saint-Aubin-de-Cadelech:
The silhouette of the church of Serres-et-Montguyard announces the arrival in the village, which is in fact the meeting of two distinct villages in the first years of the French Revolution in 1793. The commune therefore has two churches, the church of Saint-Pierre-ès-Liens, in SERRES, located on the road and the Romanesque chapel of Saint-Pierre, from the thirteenth century, which has preserved its Romanesque choir in MONTGUYARD, part of the village located away from the road.
The route climbs up the hillsides until you reach Razac D’Eymet. A small village located on a hilly plateau, with 282 inhabitants, Razac d’Eymet dominates the Dropt valley.
The ruins of a fortified castle from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries are still visible, as well as a Romanesque church. The communal fountains of Moutard and Touron have been rehabilitated and offer a little of their freshness.
The village of Razac d’Eymet is the junction point between the path that goes up to Bergerac (straight into the village), and the one that goes directly to Issigeac (on the right in the village).
To go directly to Issigeac, the path will cross the village of Saint-Aubin-de-Cadelech, whose current church was built on the basis of a Benedictine priory, and pass near the castle of Bardouly. This sixteenth century castle has the particularity of having underground passages that were used during the Wars of Religion, but also for the resistance during the Second World War.
To the west is the 12th stage running from Eymet to Duras:
The wide Dropt valley crosses the north of the Lot-et-Garonne from east to west. The hillsides are gentle and offer backdrops of hills or wooded ridges. This landscape has a certain amplitude from slight promontories. The Dropt, discreet, runs through a flat bottom. Several villages emerge offering landmarks that punctuate the valley. Duras displays its emblematic silhouette, visible from afar. Isolated farms and mills punctuate this territory.