Everywhere we look, we discover another atmospheric town. This time it is Villefranche du Périgord, a thirty-minute drive away. We walk down the ‘main street’ and we ‘ooh and aah’ at the atmosphere of an old bookshop. On the walls of a few shops and houses hang large posters with works by famous artists from the early 20th century. Strolling leisurely like this, the art, even if laminated, touches me.

An old man with a walking stick addresses us and examines our ‘pays’. He himself is from Flanders and has lived more than happily in the bastide village for 40 years; he wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I chuckle inside. I have already met so many people in France who say: “This is my place, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.” Indeed, we are now saying it ourselves: “How happy we are to have found our house by the river in Le Buisson.” We then list all the wonderful advantages and put the disadvantages into perspective. After all, to settle down somewhere you have to be in love with the place, and there are plenty of challenges in return. Anyway, monsieur Christian is dying for a chat. We switch between Dutch, English and French because he can't always find the words in one language.

And so we get a lesson in history: Villefranche du Périgord is France's first bastide village from the 100 years war. (Monpazier, for example, was once commissioned by the English king.) We stroll through the streets to live the history of the village. Passing through the covered markets we stop to have a drink under the covered bastide terrace. It is quiet. We begin to feel one of the downsides of the village: many elderly people, and little to do for the young. I then resolve to return to the village to see the marché au vendredi, curious to see how France's first bastide village might come alive then.