Hiking

Nérac, a stroll from La Garenne to Château Henri IV

This walk begins in the shaded Garenne Park on the banks of the Baïse River, then crosses the river before winding through the historic streets of Nérac around the Château Henri IV. The town owes its existence to Marguerite de Valois, grandmother of Henri IV, who settled there in 1530 after her marriage to Henri II, King of Navarre. She turned Nérac into an academy welcoming exiles such as Lefèvre d'Etaples, Clément Marot and, most likely, Calvin. In 1548, their daughter Jeanne d'Albret married Antoine de Bourbon, with whom she had a son, the future king of France. In 1572, Henri married the daughter of the King of France and Catherine de Medici, the second Marguerite de Valois, better known as Queen Margot. It was she who created a promenade in the Garenne park. This circuit ends with a passage through the small town of Nérac, which overlooks the river on the right bank.