Fortnight in France:
Our sun-soaked sojourn in the
Dordogne, Languedoc and Provence
Our sun-soaked sojourn in the
Dordogne, Languedoc and Provence
Dordogne - 3
June 14
We got up early, bought some breakfast goodies from the boulangerie,
then set off for Sarlat to experience its Wednesday market. It was a good
thing we got there as early as we did, because it became rather crowded,
rather fast. We were able to park in the Place Republic with relative ease.
By the time we left at around 11:30, the large lot was completely full and
people were jostling for our space.
At the market, we saw vendors of all types, including lots of food stalls and
some souvenir items. Allie got a few souvenirs – a small, tie-dyed purse
and a bracelet. Otherwise, we took lots of photos. The city itself is a
remarkable mélange of old buildings and squares, with tons of
restaurants and cafes. We’re sure the character would be much different in
the evening.
Next we drove to Beynac for “take two” at finding the road to the castle. This
time it was so apparent. How did we miss the sign the night before?
Beynac Chateau is old and storied, with roots dating to the 1100s, and it is
wonderfully restored. Among the notable occupants was Richard the
Lionheart. Parts of the castle were lit only by oil lamps, just as in the
original times. Views from the castle were exceptional; some of the best
we observed on this trip. Overall, a very enjoyable self-guided tour.
We pressed on; this time, the destination is Le Marqueyssac – chateau
and gardens on a hill on the same side of the river as Beynac, about half
way between it and Castlenaud. The Chateau has acres of well-groomed
gardens. Perhaps its most impressive feature is its commanding location
on the hill, with stunning views to all sides. We started out with lunch at the
restaurant. Food was decent, if overpriced. Service was lousy. Views were
great. And we were visited by a large, extroverted peacock.
After our 50E lunch, we planted Allie with her book on a shady bench and
walked through quite a bit of the gardens. A very nice break from the
sweltering sun.
We then headed back to Daglan, where we rested, relaxed and rehydrated.
Marisa and Chris ventured out for another drive, with the primary purpose
of visiting Monpazier. We stopped first in Villefranche du Perigord, another
bastide town, but we much preferred Monpazier. It has a very attractive
central square with a covered market and colonnaded arcades…and a
well-deserved reputation as the best preserved original bastide town in the
region. Would have liked spending more time here, but we needed to be
heading back. We drove back by way of Belves, and decided we might stop
there the next day.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Allie decided it was time for some exercise,
so she did 200 sit-ups, 100 jumping jacks and some running (apparently
indoors).
Around 8 pm, we set off for dinner in Beynac at the Hotel du Chateau, right
on the main road. The star of the meal was the garlic soup, which we all
had. Good scallops and salmon with goat cheese wrapped in cabbage.
Grilled duck in honey sauce was good but a bit chewy. Allie did not like her
steak au poivre (a large serving, ordered medium, but prepared rare).
Desserts were good – especially Allie’s chocolate/raspberry tart with
whipped cream.
We drove back and walked around Daglan in the late twilight, then
wrapped up the night with music and a game of Uno.
Day 9
Breakfast this morning included the tartes fraises, purchased the day
before from the boulangerie. The are a delicious combination of pastry
crust, custard and sugar-coated strawberries. Health food!
Our ultimate destination today is Font de Gaume at 3:15 pm, so we
decided to sleep in for a change. We decided to visit Les Milandes and
Belves beforehand – two stops on previous days that we were unable to
enjoy due to timing of our visit.
Les Milandes occupies a wonderful setting above the river, across from
and just to the west of Beynac. It is the former home of Josephine Baker,
the American entertainer who enjoyed stardom in France in the 30s and
40s, but died penniless. We took the self-guided tour through the chateau,
at times hung up behind a French tour group. Highlights included the room
of Josephine’s gowns. Allie didn’t care much for all the nude photos of
Josephine.
The grounds also are very nice. We did not arrive in time for the falconry
exhibit, but we did get to see some of the resident owls and eagles.
As lunchtime approached, we decided to set out for Belves. We consulted
the map, backed out of the parking space, and BAM. Oops. Right into a
black Mitsubishi SUV. Not much damage to it, maybe a cracked tail light.
Our little Peugeot, on the other hand, now has a large dent on the back
panel.
(It is worth pausing to note here that Chris has driven many hundreds of
thousands of miles over the past 25 years without putting so much as a
ding in a car…prior to this incident.)
What to do? Chris went to the chateau ticket booth and with the help of
staff, tried to find the owner of the Mitsubishi. No luck. He left contact
information with the staff. We left, a little nervous, but…
The drive to Belves was rather silent. We found parking in the town center
and quickly located a place for lunch. There were several choices. We
opted for one of the two that had good sized crowds – Hotel Le Home. As it
turns out, the hotel has a very serviceable 11 E lunch that includes four
courses – soup, an entrée (ham, pea and green bean salad), a choice of
main course (we opted for steak and chicken with fries) and two scoops of
ice cream for desert. We left completely full.
We arrived at Font de Gaume with a few minutes to spare. After the big
lunch, we needed the few minutes to climb the 400 meters to the cave
entrance; a fairly steep grade. Sadly, Font de Gaume has deteriorated
significantly over the years, so in the interest of keeping it open as long as
possible, they now limit admission to about 200 people per day – some of
whom are the staff members conducting the tours. The tour groups are
only about 12-15 people...and no one knows when even this paltry amount
will be deemed too many and the caves close forever.
This was a fascinating contrast to the other caves. Whereas Lascaux
featured a plethora of bulls, Font de Gaume includes many bison (ancient
clan affiliations? who knows). The figures are faded, but you can get very
close to them. We were glad to have had this chance to visit…it was
certainly worth the trip back to this area.
We were tired and headed home after the cave tour and settled in for the
evening. Our plan was to fix a nice pasta meal, although only Allie was
really hungry. It was delicious anyway, and we enjoyed our fourth and final
meal on the back patio.
We noticed some clouds later in the day and remarked over dinner that the
air was considerably muggier than in previous days. Luckily, the house
came equipped with electric fans which made sleeping a lot easier.
The evening included a phone call from the owner of the home,
presumably wishing us a happy trip and seeing how we liked the house –
but it was hard to tell since she only spoke French. A nice gesture, but
Chris found it a little stressful.
A very low key evening. We mainly wanted to enjoy our little town, so we
went for a stroll, then later packed up our belongings and started the
process of cleaning the house.
Next > Off to Provence
See all of our photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
June 14
We got up early, bought some breakfast goodies from the boulangerie,
then set off for Sarlat to experience its Wednesday market. It was a good
thing we got there as early as we did, because it became rather crowded,
rather fast. We were able to park in the Place Republic with relative ease.
By the time we left at around 11:30, the large lot was completely full and
people were jostling for our space.
At the market, we saw vendors of all types, including lots of food stalls and
some souvenir items. Allie got a few souvenirs – a small, tie-dyed purse
and a bracelet. Otherwise, we took lots of photos. The city itself is a
remarkable mélange of old buildings and squares, with tons of
restaurants and cafes. We’re sure the character would be much different in
the evening.
Next we drove to Beynac for “take two” at finding the road to the castle. This
time it was so apparent. How did we miss the sign the night before?
Beynac Chateau is old and storied, with roots dating to the 1100s, and it is
wonderfully restored. Among the notable occupants was Richard the
Lionheart. Parts of the castle were lit only by oil lamps, just as in the
original times. Views from the castle were exceptional; some of the best
we observed on this trip. Overall, a very enjoyable self-guided tour.
We pressed on; this time, the destination is Le Marqueyssac – chateau
and gardens on a hill on the same side of the river as Beynac, about half
way between it and Castlenaud. The Chateau has acres of well-groomed
gardens. Perhaps its most impressive feature is its commanding location
on the hill, with stunning views to all sides. We started out with lunch at the
restaurant. Food was decent, if overpriced. Service was lousy. Views were
great. And we were visited by a large, extroverted peacock.
After our 50E lunch, we planted Allie with her book on a shady bench and
walked through quite a bit of the gardens. A very nice break from the
sweltering sun.
We then headed back to Daglan, where we rested, relaxed and rehydrated.
Marisa and Chris ventured out for another drive, with the primary purpose
of visiting Monpazier. We stopped first in Villefranche du Perigord, another
bastide town, but we much preferred Monpazier. It has a very attractive
central square with a covered market and colonnaded arcades…and a
well-deserved reputation as the best preserved original bastide town in the
region. Would have liked spending more time here, but we needed to be
heading back. We drove back by way of Belves, and decided we might stop
there the next day.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Allie decided it was time for some exercise,
so she did 200 sit-ups, 100 jumping jacks and some running (apparently
indoors).
Around 8 pm, we set off for dinner in Beynac at the Hotel du Chateau, right
on the main road. The star of the meal was the garlic soup, which we all
had. Good scallops and salmon with goat cheese wrapped in cabbage.
Grilled duck in honey sauce was good but a bit chewy. Allie did not like her
steak au poivre (a large serving, ordered medium, but prepared rare).
Desserts were good – especially Allie’s chocolate/raspberry tart with
whipped cream.
We drove back and walked around Daglan in the late twilight, then
wrapped up the night with music and a game of Uno.
Day 9
Breakfast this morning included the tartes fraises, purchased the day
before from the boulangerie. The are a delicious combination of pastry
crust, custard and sugar-coated strawberries. Health food!
Our ultimate destination today is Font de Gaume at 3:15 pm, so we
decided to sleep in for a change. We decided to visit Les Milandes and
Belves beforehand – two stops on previous days that we were unable to
enjoy due to timing of our visit.
Les Milandes occupies a wonderful setting above the river, across from
and just to the west of Beynac. It is the former home of Josephine Baker,
the American entertainer who enjoyed stardom in France in the 30s and
40s, but died penniless. We took the self-guided tour through the chateau,
at times hung up behind a French tour group. Highlights included the room
of Josephine’s gowns. Allie didn’t care much for all the nude photos of
Josephine.
The grounds also are very nice. We did not arrive in time for the falconry
exhibit, but we did get to see some of the resident owls and eagles.
As lunchtime approached, we decided to set out for Belves. We consulted
the map, backed out of the parking space, and BAM. Oops. Right into a
black Mitsubishi SUV. Not much damage to it, maybe a cracked tail light.
Our little Peugeot, on the other hand, now has a large dent on the back
panel.
(It is worth pausing to note here that Chris has driven many hundreds of
thousands of miles over the past 25 years without putting so much as a
ding in a car…prior to this incident.)
What to do? Chris went to the chateau ticket booth and with the help of
staff, tried to find the owner of the Mitsubishi. No luck. He left contact
information with the staff. We left, a little nervous, but…
The drive to Belves was rather silent. We found parking in the town center
and quickly located a place for lunch. There were several choices. We
opted for one of the two that had good sized crowds – Hotel Le Home. As it
turns out, the hotel has a very serviceable 11 E lunch that includes four
courses – soup, an entrée (ham, pea and green bean salad), a choice of
main course (we opted for steak and chicken with fries) and two scoops of
ice cream for desert. We left completely full.
We arrived at Font de Gaume with a few minutes to spare. After the big
lunch, we needed the few minutes to climb the 400 meters to the cave
entrance; a fairly steep grade. Sadly, Font de Gaume has deteriorated
significantly over the years, so in the interest of keeping it open as long as
possible, they now limit admission to about 200 people per day – some of
whom are the staff members conducting the tours. The tour groups are
only about 12-15 people...and no one knows when even this paltry amount
will be deemed too many and the caves close forever.
This was a fascinating contrast to the other caves. Whereas Lascaux
featured a plethora of bulls, Font de Gaume includes many bison (ancient
clan affiliations? who knows). The figures are faded, but you can get very
close to them. We were glad to have had this chance to visit…it was
certainly worth the trip back to this area.
We were tired and headed home after the cave tour and settled in for the
evening. Our plan was to fix a nice pasta meal, although only Allie was
really hungry. It was delicious anyway, and we enjoyed our fourth and final
meal on the back patio.
We noticed some clouds later in the day and remarked over dinner that the
air was considerably muggier than in previous days. Luckily, the house
came equipped with electric fans which made sleeping a lot easier.
The evening included a phone call from the owner of the home,
presumably wishing us a happy trip and seeing how we liked the house –
but it was hard to tell since she only spoke French. A nice gesture, but
Chris found it a little stressful.
A very low key evening. We mainly wanted to enjoy our little town, so we
went for a stroll, then later packed up our belongings and started the
process of cleaning the house.
Next > Off to Provence
See all of our photos on Webshots
our travels
home
contact us
Spices, Sarlat Wednesday market
Sarlat
Sarlat
View from Chateau de Beynac
Chateau de Beynac
Jardins du Marqueyssac
Monpazier
Chateau les Milandes
