Not far away is the mediaeval town of Cahors with its magnificent architecture and internationally famous bridge. The town has also given its name to a wine growing region which is now producing some of France's most exciting young wines. There are plenty of vineyards where you can taste the wine. Cahors itself has a large weekly market full of the very best regional produce. Moissac also has an excellent twice-weekly market, while Montaigu-de-Quercy, Valence-d'-Agen and Montcuq boast their own stalls, crammed with regional specialities like asparagus, artichokes, melons, fruit, duck, goose and wild mushrooms. Markets (shown below) start early in the morning and continue at full steam till about lunchtime.

The castle of Bonaguil (photo above ) was mostly built between 1480 and 1520 by Bérenger de Roquefeuil, a powerful baron from the South of France. Supposedly based on XIIIc foundations, some parts are thought to date back to the XIVc. Today it is a perfect specimen of military architecture at the end of the XVc. It is now considered one of the most significant surviving examples of feudal France. Its isolated position in the midst of the densely forested hinterland of the Haut-Agenais, on the boundaries of the Quercy and Périgord, adds to its already considerable charms.