Bonjour from Sarlat!
Boy is it nice being able to shower “regular” rather than “nautical” style! (That is, wet down; shut off water; soap; rinse off...)...also nice not having to pump the toilet 10 times every time ... although it does tend to produce a strong left arm, I’m sure!!! We had a lovely day in the Dordogne yesterday, even though the weather was the most interesting we’ve had this trip. As it was a Sunday, we had breakfast at the Villa; the usual pain au chocolat and croissants, but this time with good orange juice, coffee and hot chocolate! (If you haven’t noticed, chocolate, in whatever form, is definitely the way to go here!) Also yoghurt, but you can keep that, as far as I’m concerned! We all did some laundry (the pleasures of having 1) 3 new Siemens washers; 2) 3 new Siemens dryers; 3) ironing board and iron all set up in the FREE laundry room were a little too hard to resist...
Then, we were on the road. Drove first to Domme, which is a wonderful village perched high on a hill top (ie. Dome...) The usual parking muddles, but eventually got through the village and into a parking space near the town center. Loved Domme! The panorama of the countryside is incredible from there! There is a beautiful park overlooking the Dordogne, with lovely trees and many vista points – many pictures shot from there. We walked through the shops – great soap, and picked up a terrific wooden spoon – and had lunch at the small café with great view next to the park. I had salad – lettuce, tomatoes, lardons and croutons; wonderful; GREAT bacon!! R and Chris both had the steak hache (chopped) with frites (fries) and Brenda had a ham and cheese crepe. It did start to sprinkle while we were eating; rather like a California “June gloom” phenomena; not enough to really get you wet.
Back to the car, then, and drove through La Rocque and Beynac and across the Dordogne to Castelnaud. Parked fairly close to the castle, but boy, what a schlep both up and down hill to get to the entrance! Talk about 10,000 steps! To be honest, my knee is getting WAY better, as I wouldn’t have been able to do that walk two days previous! The castle is great. If you’re unfamiliar with Castelnaud, the movie Timeline based on the Michael Creighton book of the same name, is based VERY loosely on its history. (VERY, VERY loosely, as R would say...) At any rate, an incredible castle complete with armory of ancient weapons. Lots of climbing and incredible views everywhere you looked – especially as we could see people kayaking and canoeing on the Dordogne, as well as some larger tourist-type boats of an old design. This was the point (top of the hill; shorts in the trunk of the car...) when it decided to clear up and get sunny and HOT! Oh well!! There was a variety of really interesting videos produced that told in French (with English subtitles!) about the history of the castle, the history of various armaments, castle design, etc. Really interesting. There was also, for some reason, a video game set up (in English or French!) where you had 6 minutes to rescue your friend from the dungeon of the castle – and you were given three lives! Well...I needed 5, actually ... lost the first life immediately as the approach I took to the castle resulted in boulders crashing down on my head – little angel floating off telling me I was a goner...Took care of the first three lives, then started over ... I know, I know, that’s cheating...My favorite part was when you had two choices near the end – go forward or go back. I chose (with the help of my friends) to go back – and the narrator said “Show a bit of Courage, Please!” So, obviously back the other way – and voila, I saved my friend! Whew! But as a prize for working my way to the secret message, we got a small poster that features the castle and Robert’s favorite death-dealing device (a Trebuchet; see Timeline or Google) and he says we’re going to have it framed! Stopped for some ice cream and water before the slog back to the car .. and my shorts; boy, where is my pedometer when I need it! From there we took the leisurely way back to Sarlat, via Les Ezyies and the French countryside. An absolutely glorious Sunday afternoon on the Dordogne!
Rested a bit, and started out for dinner about 8 p.m. Fortunately a variety of places open, but boy, while the food at our place was good, we really chose poorly! Took us over an HOUR to get our food (Robert ordered grilled fish; Chris had duck, and Brenda and I each had roast chicken (with orange sauce) with fries.) By this time, it had started to rain hard, and while we were eating outside, got really very nippy! Then, after all this time, we wanted to order dessert. Waiter took our order, and we waited...and waited...it was now 10 p.m....at which point he came back to our table to recap what we had ordered for dessert! At that point we just gave it up and asked for the check...they comped us my glass of champagne and R’s glass of wine, but whew, what an ordeal! Oh! When R and I got our drinks, they served with them, a pimento stuffed with goat cheese, which was GREAT! If only it had continued as they started!!! Oh well!! Back to the room, and what we’d hoped to be an early night turned out to be late after all!!
Up now on Monday, and we’re going to see if/what caves we may be able to visit this morning, then Brenda has requested an afternoon here in Sarlat, as there are many things to see and many stores to look at ... just waiting now on R to return from wherever he went with some breakfast, as I’m starving!!!
More later!
Love,
m
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