This time, we are not traveling to Provence, but setting out to trace the roots of our family. We head south, taking a scenic country route with countless roundabouts toward the Dordogne, the region where the Boissevain family began. Along the way, we stop for lunch in a small village café in Verteillac. The three-course meal is excellent and reasonably priced, though we are surprised to see that twice the amount is charged to our card. When we arrive in Bergerac, we find a spot for the car in the hotel garage. At night, the windows and doors must stay closed: after ten o’clock the city is sprayed with insecticide to fight the tiger mosquito.
Bergerac
The old town of Bergerac is a beautiful jewel: restored, clean, and lively. We join a local wine tasting of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The first wine tastes a bit sour, the second is full of tannins. We stroll along the river, past the Tourist Office, the Protestant church, the Église Saint-Jacques, and the statue of Cyrano de Bergerac.
Although there is no official Huguenot walking route, many plaques and street names recall the time of Protestant persecution. We decide to return to the hotel early so we’ll still have things to discover the next day. On the way we reserve a table at a restaurant and later enjoy the local specialty: confit de canard.
The next morning we dive into the history of Bergerac. In 1681, sixty percent of the population here were Huguenots. This wealthy Protestant community could afford an impressive temple and three pastors. But in 1682, the French crown sent soldiers to force them to convert to Catholicism, a campaign known as the dragonnades. That same year, the great temple was destroyed, gatherings had to be held in secret, and with the Edict of Fontainebleau in 1685, Protestantism was completely banned. Pastors were expelled, children were forced to be baptized as Catholics, and hundreds of Huguenots fled to the Netherlands, England, Germany, and Switzerland. Among them was our ancestor Lucas Bouyssavy, who fled to Bordeaux at the age of 25 and arrived in Amsterdam around 1691. He died there in 1705.
We return to his homeland but find no direct traces of the family in Bergerac. The Bellegarde mill, once leased by Lucas’s cousin Isaac, has disappeared and is now a parking garage. Nearby, the Moulin de Piles still stands as an archaeological site, with foundations and canals that recall the many watermills powered by a branch of the Caudeau river since the Middle Ages. These mills once ground grain and later even generated electricity, but industrialization eventually made them obsolete.
After lunch at the charming Place de la Mirpe, we visit the Protestant temple, housed in a former monastery and opened in 1792. The Edict of Tolerance and the French Revolution finally made it possible to establish an official Protestant church again, over a century after the Edict of Nantes was revoked. We cross the Dordogne to the neighborhood near Place de la Madeleine, where ancestor Lucas and Lucas’ brother Jean once lived. We end the day with a visit to the Tobacco Museum, a reminder that Huguenots were pioneers in the local tobacco trade. Their flight spread this expertise across Europe.
Couze
We leave Bergerac and follow the river to Couze and Lalinde, which also hold pieces of our family’s story. Lucas once lived in Couze, where he owned a house and a vineyard. Today, there are no vineyards to be seen, only dry cornfields. Couze is a long village with a hill full of neglected houses. From the top we have a fine view of an old watermill, part of a series of paper mills that operated here since the late Middle Ages. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Couze river powered thirteen paper mills, making the village an important center for handmade paper.
At the local bakery we enjoy coffee on the terrace, where every passerby greets us warmly. We then visit the restored Moulin à Papier de la Rouzique, in operation since 1530 and now a museum showing how paper was once made using water power.
Lalinde
Next we drive to Lalinde, on the opposite bank of the Dordogne. It is a pleasant village with a church, a market, and a large square. In the cemetery we search for possible family graves. Our ancestors once carried the name Bouyssavy, which was later changed in the Netherlands to Boissevain. We find no old gravestones but do see the name Bossavit. Its sound and local connection suggest a family link, though no proof exists. Bouyssavy is recorded as early as the 15th century, including in Périgueux in 1445. When Lucas left for the Netherlands in 1691, his name was phonetically written as Boissevain. The name Bossavit appeared only in the late 18th century, while Bouyssavy remained in use until the 20th century. Everything points to a shared origin.
Sarlat-la-Canéda
From Lalinde we continue to Sarlat, where a protest against government budget cuts forces us to park outside the center. We walk part of the way with the peaceful crowd before checking into our apartment in the historic heart of the town and lose our housekeys shortly afterwards. Thanks to a helpful gallery owner, we receive a spare.
Sarlat is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in France. It grew into a prosperous trading and administrative center in the Middle Ages, later declined, and was beautifully restored in the 20th century. Today it is a culinary paradise, with restaurants and shops selling foie gras, truffles, and walnuts.
Château de Beynac
The next day we visit the impressive Château de Beynac, perched on a limestone cliff nearly 150 meters above the river. Built and expanded from the 11th century onward, it played a key role in controlling the Dordogne Valley and recalls the times of Richard the Lionheart, the Hundred Years’ War, and the powerful Lords of Beynac. From the keep we enjoy a breathtaking view over the river, once the lifeline of the region.
The Cuisine of Périgord
That evening, on the gallery owner’s recommendation, we dine across from our apartment and taste all the local specialties: foie gras, duck, truffles, and walnut delicacy, fine dining at its best. The next morning, market stalls fill the medieval streets with the colours and aromas of local produce.
The Dordogne River
Finally, we leave the Dordogne and head toward the Auvergne, where the river rises in the Puy de Sancy. Our journey through Bergerac, Couze, and Beynac makes it clear how vital the Dordogne has always been to the landscape, economy, and history of the region. For centuries it served not only as a trade route for wood, wine, and grain, but also as a source of power for mills and a strategic waterway during wars and religious persecution. For the Huguenots, the Dordogne was also a path to freedom. It was along this river that our ancestor Lucas Bouyssavy ultimately made his way to a new life in the Netherlands, beginning the story of the Boissevain family.
Jan Willem Boissevain 