So why a tobacco museum in the middle of Périgord? Well because the cultivation of this plant has literally saved many Périgord farmers. Especially after the ravages caused by phylloxera in the vineyards, which left many farmers, already not very rich, completely destitute.
– © Magazine L’Édition Périgord
It is also an opportunity to learn a lot about this plant imported from America. A very well articulated film allows us to understand the place that tobacco held in Amerindian societies, then in Western society.
Quite impressive collections are staged. Some pieces are even sometimes very rare and tell 3,000 years of tobacco history across all continents.
It is also a testimony to the know-how and talent of certain craftsmen whose creativity and work resulted from the use of this plant. Many snuffboxes, pipes, a multitude of promotional items and mind-blowing pipes are beautifully highlighted.
– © Magazine L’Édition Périgord
Speaking of rare pieces, the museum can be proud to have a Dalloz machine, almost unique, which was used to carve pipe heads according to the pantograph model.
– © Magazine L’Édition Périgord
It is therefore a different look at tobacco offered by this museum, which reminds us how omnipresent this plant was in our popular culture not so long ago.
– © Magazine L’Édition Périgord
Leaving the museum, you can enjoy the old town of Bergerac and, why not, the Quai Cyrano where you can taste (in moderation, of course!), some excellent local wines?
Article produced with the help of the magazine “The Périgord Edition”.