Day 11: Sarlat Market

Wednesday was the fruit market, but it was pouring rain so we didn't go.  We'd waited all week for the main market on Saturday, and it delivered!  

The day started out cool and breezy, a little overcast, but no rain.  We were told the market closed at noon, but by the time we got everyone ready to go, it was almost 11.  We finally set off walking to the market.

The center part of Sarlat is the medieval part of Sarlat.  There are small windy streets, some one-way, some stone, and a lot of it is just off limits to cars.  There were people everywhere! Quite a few were speaking English. 

The front part of the market, from where Chips lives, is more clothing and just stuff for sale.  Everything from bras, underwear, shoes, socks, hats, table cloths, towels, decorations, and every manner of tchotchke you could think of.
 
Farther back, you get more into fruits, vegetables, foie gras, sausages, olives, meats, and fish.  There were two booths selling paella, and several olive vendors.  I couldn't count the number of foie gras vendors.  We're pretty much in the middle of Foie Gras Central, so you can't spit without hitting one.

I found a few presents for people, who are reading this blog, so I can't say what they are.  But they're cool!  I'll try to remember to put photos up after I give away the presents.  I also found a summer hat for me.  I've been looking at home so I thought I might as well look abroad too.  It's like a small straw fedora with a brown ribbon around it.

We thought about eating at a cafe in town, but we didn't find one we liked.  Eventually we ended up with half a rotisserie chicken and a pile of fried potatoes.  One of the specialties here is sliced potatoes fried in goose fat.  The rotisserie chicken was really good, and almost falling apart.  And it didn't have that weird flavor that the ones at Sam's have.

After lunch, mom and I went for a drive.  We saw a few chateaus on the hillside, but sometimes couldn't find how to get there.  We went to Domme, which was up in the hills, and we went somewhere else in the hills near Carlux. 

On our way back, we drove to the other side of Sarlat to get gas.  On our way back to Chips' place, we took a wrong turn around a barrier and drove down our normal road in Sarlat.  Which was still full of vendors packing up from the market!  There were one or two other cars coming the other direction, but I think they may have been allowed to do so.  Luckily we made it down the road and around another barrier, and made it home.

Day 10 (Friday)

We had a pretty good day.  It started out cool, but a little overcast.  We headed west towards Bergerac.  The further west we got, the cooler it got, and the wetter.  We passed some pretty towns, some with markets, and got to Bergerac before lunch.  It was sprinkling by then.  We headed towards Monbazillac, which is a chateau and vineyard.  It's south of town, and there were a ton of chateaus and vineyards there.  We stopped at the reception center, but they had already stopped selling tickets, in anticipation of closing for lunch.  It was raining and mom and I weren't sure we wanted to view another chateau anyway, so we left.

 

I saw a sign for a town I'd seen a sign for along the way, so we went back that way, instead of backtracking.  It was Issigeac.  It was a pretty drive, but we kept running into small towns that had the main road under construction and we'd have to figure out how to go around them.  We passed Issigeac and headed towards Cadouin.  There's an abbey there, but we managed to miss it.  I think it's up in the hills.  Instead we stopped near the church in town, because there were restaurants and we were hungry.

After lunch we continued back towards Sarlat.  We got home earlier than usual, about 2:30 or 3:00.  Since it was raining, we figured we'd read or something.

Day 9 (Thursday)

Today we decided to head for Hautefort.  It looked really cool in the brochure I had.  We drove up there and got in before lunch.  The place is huge!  It's another place where there are roped off areas to look at, but you can go through a bunch of rooms.  It's also self-guided, which I prefer.  That way you can wander around how you like. 

We watched a video about the chateau, which had English subtitles.  Then we started exploring.  There was a lot to see and some great views!  I've got a ton of photos of this place too.  There were also some gardens, and a park, but we didn't go in there.  Nearby was an almshouse and some kind of medical museum, but we really weren't sure how to get there.  

The chateau closed for lunch while we were there, so we finished up and left.  We headed back towards Montignac, for lunch.  You may remember that town from earlier in the week.  I drove down these little streets while we looked for cafes.  I saw a few on the river so I pulled into a one-way, took the first parking spot I could find, and we walked down the street towards the food.

We ended up in an Irish place called Flannagan's, although no Irishmen were in sight.  It was a beautiful day, so we sat outside on the terrace, near the restaurant.  There was another terrace that was actually on the river, but it was really windy, so we didn't go there.  They had the table cloths clipped to the tables.

Instead of the special, we got a regular entree.  We both had the Enchaud Perigord.  It was listed as roast pork with salad and fries.  It was okay.  But we didn't realize that here, roast pork looks more like ham.  If that doesn't make sense, you'll understand when you see the pictures.  But we had a nice lunch on the river, with wifi.

Afterwards we headed to the Chateau de Losse.  This place had a guided tour, which had just started.  They also had an English translation.  What I didn't like, was that there was no photography allowed.  Most places have up a sign showing a camera with a line through it.  But when you ask, they say it means "no flash."  So I assumed the same here, but then the guide told me it was forbidden.  There were a bunch of English speakers, and some Germans, but the guide only gave her spiel in French.

This place was okay.  It had the rooms you go through and some areas roped off.  But since I couldn't take pictures, and the guide was long-winded, it was kind of annoying.  Once we got outside  there were some garden areas and a few small towers to explore.  There was also a great view of the river.  But after Hautefort, it wasn't as fun.  We ran into some Australians who had been around Domme, and said it was good

We went home a different way and took some pictures along the way.  This part of the country had more cliffs and we came upon some spectacular cliff dwellings!  They were also used during the Middle Ages.  Frank - you get to walk up there and explore them.  We should come back and do that!  There were a few more similar places, including an actual house built into the cliffs.  And, we didn't see them, but there's some kind of cro-magnon village.  This is the part of the country with the cave paintings (which we also didn't see).

Day 8 (Wednesday)

It rained last night.  The temperature dropped, so Chips turned on the heat  By morning it was dry, but still overcast and windy.  We slept late, so it was close to lunch before we set out on the road to Cahors, but we never made it.  We got part of the way and then turned around and headed back towards Sarlat.  We passed some really nice towns.  Gourdon was especially nice.  We also saw a grotto you could visit, but it looked like a lot of walking, so we passed on it.

I'd been wanting to see the Chateau Puymartin, so we drove there.  It was closed for lunch!  So we backtracked to Chateau Commarque.  This was a ruined chateau.  We ran into some Brits there and asked them about it, because you couldn't see it from the parking lot.  The guy said his wife thought it was worth visiting, but he would have passed.  You have to hike a long trail to get there, and then it's ruins, which may also require good shoes.  We passed. 

On the way to Commarque, I saw a sign for some Cabanes, the same ones I'd seen near Puymartin.  So we took the road to the Cabanes, cabins on a hill, and continued past and came out near Puymartin.

Chateau Puymartin was great!  We got there just after they opened for the afternoon.  It was funny, because they thought we were German.  Our car has a big D on it, for Germany, and we've been joking all week that whenever we cause a problem or drive slow, the French are probably saying "Those damn German tourists!" 

This chateau has a guided tour, and they had an English translation available to look at.  The lady giving the tour was very nice.  I also got the student discount with my UA ID.  We started the tour, and the place is beautiful.  This is one of those that's more like a museum, with some roped off areas to look at, and some areas that you walk through.  Since there were several English speakers, at the end of her French spiel, the tour guide would say a few words in English too. 

This site is supposed to be haunted.  The lord came home and found his lady in bed with her lover, so he killed the lover and kept her captive in a small tower for 15 years.  She was fed through a trap door in the ceiling. We got to visit the tower, and I took pics.  I was leaning against the wall while the guide explained that after she died, her body was walled up in the tower, where the ochre colored stone is.  I looked back, and there I was, leaning against the ochre stone! 

We walked and walked!  You had to go up about 20 stone steps in the main courtyard.  Then there were 93 steps up the stone spiral staircase, to the top of the tower.  I know this because my English translation said so.  Mom and I were both worried about our knees by the time we finished.  This was really a great place to visit though.  I took a ton of photos, which I'll post on my website once I get home. 

Afterwards, we headed back and passed by some gardens and chateaus, but decided not to stop.  We had done enough for the day.

Day 7: The Black Duck

We had lunch at the Black Duck, a pub and restaurant.  It's probably been the best overall dining experience I've had so far.  We were on our way to Salignac, but this place advertised wifi and so we turned around and went there.  It's a few km outside of Carcalet, or something like that. When we pulled up, it was full of lorries, so we figured it had to be good.  The guy spoke English there, when he saw us.  He said they get a bunch of English tourists in the summer, so he has to know it. Chips later told us that the owner is British. 

There was a bar when you first walk in, then some steps down to the restaurant area, with a TV in the corner.  We got one of those tables in the corner, where one side is like a booth, which is where the dog liked to sleep, so she came over and napped under the booth seat near mom.

The food was 13 euros for the lunch plate, so we got that.  There was already a bottle of chilled tap water on the table. 

Our first course was soup.  It was a kind pea-ish looking soup, with onion, and some meat in it.  It also had lots of bread torn up and soaking in it.  It was good.

The second course was pasta salad.  It was really long macaroni noodles, I mean, about 2 inches long, in a little whitish sauce.  There were also bits of egg, hot dog, tiny pickle, fake crab, and something else we couldn't figure out.  Maybe it was egg yolk.  It was quite good.

The third course was our main course.  It was described as pork ribs, but it was a pork chop, well done and dark on the outside, like there was a skin.  Maybe it was floured?  It was accompanied by fresh mashed potatoes and a light brown gravy.  Light in color and flavor.  Also quite good.

The fourth course was a cheese dish, which we politely declined.

The fifth course was described as a cherry cake.  It was in a low, round dish, like you might keep a washing scrubby in at your sink.  It tasted like there was a small cake there, and cherries were baked on top and the juices allowed to run through the cake and make it wet.  Also quite good.

Finally, we were offered coffee.  Again, politely declined.  I'd like to remind you at this point that this whole thing cost 13 euros each, and there was free wifi and a dog.  What more could you ask for!!!  We thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance and stayed for over an hour.  They even had a toilet with a seat, and soap, and a hand towel.  Definitely our best dining experience!

Day 7 (Tuesday)

Today was really fun.  We ran around a lot but didn't really stop anywhere.  We just kept driving around the little towns and chateaus.  We drove to Montignac and took pictures of the chateau.  There was simply too much climbing involved for us to want to do that again, after yesterday.  We drove around the Nut Museum too.  At some point we drove through a beautiful village with an old church, but everything is on a hill.  I can really feel my quads after all the climbing yesterday!

Then we headed back and found a sign for a chateau, so we followed it.  We had a great scenic drive, over a one-lane stone bridge, but the chateau didn't open until 2pm.  We followed another sign, another scenic drive - including a Scenic View official stop - but this chateau turned out to be a hotel.  Frank - it's in the middle of nowhere and very scenic.  Might be fun to stay there.  I think it said 3 stars.

We kept driving these little roads.  Several times we were almost run over by tractors.  We went towards another chateau in Salignac, but got distracted by the gardens.  Les Jardins du Manoir d'Eyrignac are gorgeous.  We didn't go in, because it cost 12.50 euros, although the parking was free.  There's over 10 hectares of sculpted gardens and 200 hectares of private woods.  There's 2.5 km and 4.5 km walking trails.  We decided not to walk, so I bought postcards instead.

We kept driving, but heading back towards Salignac.  We decided to hit the chateau there, but it was under construction!  At that point it was getting towards late afternoon, so we headed back to Sarlat.  We took Chips shopping at the new big Leclerc supermarket and then had supper.

Supper was ham, mushroom, and olive pizza.  The olives still had pits!  We also had a great salad with some dressing that was really good. Almost like a creamy Italian, but lighter and not Italian.  Which probably maked no sense. But it was really good.

Day 6 (Monday)

Mom and I had a big day planned for today.  We went to Chateau Beynac.  They had a parking meter where you could buy time, and I got 90 minutes for 2 euros.  The chateau itsef was 8 euros.  The toilets were very open.  I took a photo.  But the chateau was great!  I've got a lot of pics I'll post later.  It's an old chateau set above a river.  You have to drive up some really small winding roads, which seems to be the norm in this area.  The chateau grounds were paved with rocks.  Not nice paving stones, like inside, but sometimes randomly shaped rocks and stones.  It was rather difficult to walk on.  The view was amazing, though!  I climbed all the way to the top ramparts, but mom stayed downstairs because of her knee.  Afterwards, my knee wasn't so good.  Outside the chateau was a church, which I started to walk to, but the entire way was downhill on those darn rocks, so I gave up and turned around.

After Beynac we were going to stop for lunch.  We stopped at a nearby market for drinks, but the restaurant next door was closed on Mondays.  We were going to Castelnaud next, so we headed that way.  We saw a foie gras store and stopped in there.  We got some foie gras samples, and mom had a wine sample. The lady waiting on us was English, and the husband of the owner was chef at a restaurant in town. The English lady said the best thing to do was just drive and get lost, and see what you find.

We went into Castelnaud and drove the winding roads to the chateau.  Parking was 3 euros.  This was another place with no toilet seats and only a sink.  Le sigh.  We walked towards the chateau and found the restaurant where the foie gras' lady's husband works.  We ordered hamburgers, because that was easy and relatively cheap.  The burgers were huge!  Neither of us could finish them.  After that we headed towards the chateau.  The walkways were all blacktop but it was very hilly.  We had gone down, and now had to go up a really steep bit to get to the chateau.  Mom and I both decided that maybe we should just take photos from outside.  So we went back to the car.  Just getting there was a steep walk.  A lot of the hills are like the ones near our house.  Which are pretty steep!

We'd seen some signs at the roundabouts (there's a ton in France!) and we headed back to follow them.  One was to a garden, but when we followed the sign we ended up at someone's house.  We found another chateau sign and followed it.  The road led along the river and by a private chateau and a church.  Eventually we got to the chateau we were looking for. 

This chateau was the one that had belonged to Josephine Baker.  Parking was free but the entrance was 9.20 euros.  The chateau was really neat.  You got to go through 3 floors, with costumes and furniture set out, like a museum.  It was pretty well done, mom and I both liked it.  Unfortunately, you couldn't take pictures.  There's a bar and restaurant on site, and the first bathroom we saw with toilet seats, soap, and a hand dryer!  We arrived just in time for the bird show.  They had some hawks, a number of owls, and a bald eagle!  I took some photos.  The show was in French, so I could only undertand bits and pieces.  At one point they took out a ferret and brought it around so everyone could see it was real.  Then they let it run in the yard, and let the hawk lose.  I was a little concerned, because I love ferrets.  But the guy had said something about ferrets being domesticated animals, and when he released the hawk, it ignored the ferret.  Then they sent out a mechanical rabbit and it pounced on that. 

We went back to Sarlat after that.  We stopped off for some bottled water at the Casino, and headed home.  We had leftover korma for supper and then starting planning the rest of the week.  One thing I haven't mentioned is dessert.  There's a local specialty that we've been having all week.  It's a thin crust, with chopped up walnuts, almost like a very thin pecan pie.  But on top is a dark chocolate.  It's very good, but very rich, too.

Day 5 (Sunday)

Not much to tell about today.  We went to the grocery.  There are two main ones in town, Carrefour and Casino.  We took Chips shopping at the big Carrefour and then went home for lunch.  Afterwards, we hung around and napped.  We had chicken korma for supper and tried to plan out our next day.

Day 5

Not much to tell about today.  I'm currently in a pub called the Black Duck, but my writeup is on my laptop. I think we're near Carculet?  It's near Salignac.

Day 4: Driving Sarlat

Thus begans the next part of our saga.  Chips had given us directions to her house, but we couldn't find it.  We stopped in the middle of Sarlat, to tell here where we were, which is when she realized we had come in from the opposite direction than she had thought.  So she gave us new directions.  We tried to follow those, but they didn't work either.  So we're looping around the middle of town, several times.  This time we ask a man in one of those flourescent vests, and he says our road is ahead on the right.  But we can't find it. 

We keep looping and I'm turning random directions, hoping to find a landmark we can use.  We pass a hospital and a cemetery.  I finally pulled over and turned on my phone to try and google her house, but I couldn't get any telephone service! 

We had passed a sign for an Ibis, the hotel we stayed at in Paris, so we go there.  Mom went inside to pee and ask directions, while I tried to connect to wifi.  But the wifi was different and needed a password.  But we lucked out!  There was a local woman working at the hotel who knew exactly what we were looking for, and gave us a town map and directions. 

So we follow the map and end up getting really close to our destination.  It turns out the man we asked was correct.  Our road was up ahead on the right.  But you had to turn onto another road which became the road we needed.  The one Chips had given us the name of.  So we finally get around the corner from her place and she comes out and we've arrived!  Huzzah!  Then it's time for drinks and later, supper.