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Mediterranean/Catalan Food You only have to travel a few kilometers in France and you are in a different region with different cuisine and specialties. The Dordogne area is foie gras, duck, truffles, goose, mushrooms, with Cahors and Bergerac wine. These are the main products raised and served there. This area, the Roussillon region on the Mediterranean Sea, is all about seafood such as mussels, oysters, shrimp, and fresh fish notably anchovies, cod, sea bass, turbot at this time of year. Mussels and fries, plates of raw oysters, fish soup and bouillabaisse, paella, and grilled fish dominate the menus. Starter courses are often delicious anchovies, raw and marinated, served with olive tapenade, bread and grilled sweet red peppers. Fresh fish is simply grilled. Olive oil, balsamic and exotic vinegars are used to flavor the foods. But there ... read more

Earlier this month we had the opportunity to share an apartment for a week in Paris with our daughter, Tracy and her husband, Randy. It was their first time to France so we re-did a lot of the things that you do on your first time to Paris, which was really fun. We visited sites that Sandra and I hadn't been to in years. The weather wasn't fabulous but we had some nice days, and it didn't stop us from doing anything. Paris is a very walkable city and we walked, walked, walked. One day we left our apartment in the fourth arrondissement, we toured Ile Saint Louis, Ile de la Citie, walked along the Seine, through the Tuileries, to Arc de Triomphe, shopped the length of Champs Eysees, and took the Metro back home. Tracy ... read more

There are many touristy things to do in Dordogne, even in winter. Some of the more popular activities such as canoeing on the Dordogne River or camping are seasonal, but others are available. Some are even better in the winter, due to the limited number of tourists. Cave Visits The cliffs of Dordogne are riddled with caves and rock dwellings that were occupied by prehistoric people for thousands of years. Humanity's beginnings are revealed by archaeological finds and in large natural caves and grottoes. Sophisticated paintings and drawings of now extinct animals have been discovered. Some like Lascaux have been sealed from public view to prevent further degradation of the art found within. Lascaux has been accurately recreated in a replica cave that is marvelous. Font-de-Gaume, near Les Eyzies, is a cave that is considered among ... read more

We have spent several holidays in France, including twice before in the Dordogne area in the SW of France. The last time we rented an apartment here in Carlux from a couple originally from Toronto. They manage two other properties in Sarlat as well as their own. These can be seen at www.yourfriendsinfrance.org They spend the months of January and February in South Africa and we were presented with the wonderful opportunity to stay in their home during that time. This is a large stone house set on hill among wonderful gardens, with beautiful landscaping and two pools of goldfish. There is a date 1782 carved in one of the stones but this may date from a renovation with the actual building being older than that. There is an outbuilding, a bake house, Le Fournil in ... read more

The storm that is remembered is the storm of 1999. Exactly 10 years later is the next great tempete. Caught unawares last time there was plenty of advance warning for this one. We are situated in the South eastern portion of Dordogne, most of the devastation was south-west of here, stretching down past Toulouse into Spain. We have experienced more severe winds in Florida and even in Northern Ontario where our cottage is located. However we were on the fringe of this one and there were trees and forests destroyed and lives lost. Our immediate neighbour had the wind catch his satellite dish like a sail, pulling down part of the chimney which, in turn, shifted the tiles on the roof. Surveying the damage he mused that he would have been better off if he hadn't ... read more