Keeping a southward course, the straight stretches of road bring one to a descent to the Charente, where there is a fine view beyond the river, with the village of Mansle down below on the southern bank. On crossing the river there is a pretty view of white walls with bright green shutters, low-pitched brown roofs, and a twelfth-century church raised above the road, with large empty niches by the western door. Outside Mansle there is a fork, where one goes to the left. The trees lining the road have their trunks covered with velvety moss, which forms a beautiful contrast to the pale blues, browns, and purply greens of the distant country. After passing Tourriers, where there are imposing ruins of a château and a church of the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, a short run brings Angoulême in sight, with the Touvre joining the Charente in the foreground. SECTION VIII ANGOULÊME TO BERGERAC, 84 MILES (135 KILOMETRES) DISTANCES ALONG THE ROUTE Kil. Miles. =Angoulême= to Dignac =15= 9½ =Dignac= to Mareuil =21= 13 =Mareuil= to Brantôme =20= 12¼ =Brantôme= to Château-l’Évêque =15= 9½ =Château-l’Évêque= to Périgueux =10= 6¼ =Périgueux= to Vergt =22= 13½ =Vergt= to Bergerac =32= 20 NOTES FOR DRIVERS =Angoulême to Périgueux.=--A hilly road, with two level stretches between =La Rochebeaucourt= and =Monsec=, and between =Puy-de-Fourches= and =Périgueux=. A long climb out of =Périgueux=, with an easy descent to =Vergt= through the forest. For a long distance the road winds through a beautiful valley. PLACES OF INTEREST ON THE ROUTE =Angoulême.=--A considerable town on a raised tabular space, surrounded by boulevards on site of ramparts; Romanesque cathedral, 1110-1130, with ornate west front; _Évêché_ of same period, but greatly restored and altered; Hôtel de Ville built 1858-1866, incorporating two towers of the feudal castle, and contains the museum. =Dignac.=--A pretty village, with a Romanesque church. =La Rochebeaucourt.=--Small village, with picturesque château and Romanesque church. =Mareuil-sur-Belle.=--Village, with a partially ruined castle of thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; now a farmhouse, and can be entered. =Brantôme.=--A very attractive little town on the River Dronne; ancient monastery, with caves containing rock sculpture; a gateway and a remarkable Romanesque church, with a detached tower of the eleventh century; several old houses and a fifteenth-century parish church, now the market-house. =Château-l’Évêque.=--A small village, with a very picturesque château of the fifteenth century. =Chancelade.=--A village with great stone-quarries, and an abbey church dating from 1120.